A new Desktop manager and Shell replacement for Windows 95/98/NT/2000. Aston fully replaces the standard Windows Desktop and gives you a lots of new features: nice looking, easy-to-change interface; detailed setup of any element; very simple visual configuring (no need to learn about complicated *.cfg files); toolbars of any size with plenty of levels; skins for all the elements; any size & shape icons, maybe animated; plug-ins (Litestep's also); hotkeys; and so on. Aston contains all the main Windows Desktop elements, like Desktop, TaskBar, Tray, Main Menu, DDE (without it, installers may corrupt), Drag&Drop, etc. Aston is based of fully original code and it is not a clone of any other shell......(shareware, $28 after trial).....

Open Source GPL-licensed application made in Delphi. It's purpose is to replace the Windows Shell by a 3D-OpenGL interface in which you can walk in your desktop world. There will be many features, as showing an application window in a full-3D window that supports alpha blending, shortcuts to pop up apps or files, a 3D file explorer built as a maze, a rotating textured Earth planet to connect/disconnect/monitor an Internet connection. A real-time clock and calendar are featured too. Many other management features based on Control Panel are to be included: printers, networking, hardware, fonts, system time and date........(free).....

DesktopX is a powerful object framework for Windows. It allows users to create completely customized user environments. With it, desktops can be broken into individual parts that are called DesktopX objects that can be exchanged with other DesktopX users. As a result, virtually anything that doesn't require user input can be created quickly and easily. Creating a DesktopX theme or DesktopX object does not necessarily require any programming skill. DesktopX themes are resolution independent and are created via a simple GUI. DesktopX is part of Object Desktop, it is the component that gives users and corporations the power to decide their own interface to Windows in order to suit their needs and increase their productivity......(shareware, $19.95 after trial).....

Emerge Desktop is a replacement windows shell -the desktop environment normally provided by Windows Explorer - for Windows 2000 and Windows XP (Home and Professional). In order to replace Windows Explorer as a shell, it provides a system tray (the area that collects the icons collected at the lower right corner in Explorer), called emergeTray. It will also provide access to the users programs (normally accessed with the windows "start" button) via a right-click on the desktop, via emergeCore......(free).....

Thoughts about the future of Desktop customization. Biased towards shells, of course! What should such a third generation shell be?.....(free).....

Our favorite minimalist shell uses very little memory and few resources. According to the developer, "All the simple command lines I've found have either option after option after option or are too easy to close accidently or come in many pieces (dlls, hlp, ini, etc...) or are large files or skinned or shareware or require installation or bla bla bla. Go is one file, requires no install or uninstall, leaves nothing behind when deleted, requires no special dll files, is bonehead simple to use and can only be closed by a single route, "!quit". Go is set to idle cpu usage which means it doesn't gulp your runtimes. Go can be used as a shell, which means you can start with system resources above 90% (Millage may vary). Go supports 36 hotkey application launches via shortcuts within Go's own homefolder." (GO now has an EasterEgg, a fully animated, realtime firestorm background).....(free).....

The emulated DOS command shell found in Windows is a shallow farce by comparison with the Linux command shell, and Microsoft has done little over the years to imbue it with greater power. Now Microsoft is prepared to augment its antiquated command line with a revolutionary new shell that will provide Windows users with a whole new level of control. The Microsoft Command Shell (MSH) features a unique object oriented syntax, extensive support for versatile .NET technology, and an adequate assortment of commands. Available for free download from Microsoft's Beta site, the second MSH beta release provides profound insights into the future of the Windows command line .....(free).....

A command-line interface for JavaScript and DOM. You can enter statements and expressions at the same prompt. The result of each non-void statement or expression is shown. User-defined variables. User-defined functions. JavaScript error messages are shown in red. Previous statements and expressions are available through Up and Down arrow keys. Tab completion. Multiline input (Shift+Enter to insert a line break). If the shell is opened using a bookmarklet, JavaScript typed into the shell runs in the context of the original window. Works well in Firefox, mostly works in Opera 8 and in IE 6 for Windows.....(free).....

When experimenting with alternative shells one often needs to get back to Explorer quickly and easily without having to edit the registry and reboot. Kansas is an executable which changes the shell back to Explorer and logs off without any user interface.....(free)..... (scroll down the page to find)

This is big. The very popular KDE Windows manager, long used by Linux lovers, is now ported to Windows and the Mac. If anything pulls Windows and Mac users to Linux, this will do it. Get the feel of Linux right inside your own OS. Alpha release .....(free).....

Fast, smooth, powerful, and handsome 32-bit, TrueColor Starfleet-standard GUI with many LCARS games, applications, and utilities, the real thing, programmed from scratch in C, not Visual Basic or Flash.....(free).....

A new Litestep news site. Themes, modules, and news. Also covers other Windows shell replacements.....(free).....

As Microsoft is quite aggressive about its own explorer-shell, there are a few registry settings you need to change in order to get LiteStep running to your full satisfaction. Most conveniently you setup each user his own shell. Then you might want to enable multiple window browsing for the explorer filemanager. Last but not least the autocompletion feature from Unix is also available under win32 - you just have to edit the registry a bit... .....(free).....

New site with links to everything you need for the most populat Windows shell replacement.....(free).....

Windows desktop meets the 3D game. Explore your desktop in 3D. Look around and move around as in a 3D game. Instead of power-ups and players to watch out for, you have 3D icons and views to look at. Organize your stuff logically as meaningful 3D icons in a matching virtual reality world (ROOMS icons are like Windows shortcuts). Download worlds from the internet or create your own. Theme worlds on your favorite game - or virtual den, or office, or personal picture album - or create your own surreal world. When you want a change - load another world (just like wallpaper)......(free).....

A simple but effective Run dialog replacement. We think it could also be used as your Windows shell.....(free).....

One of the most complete lists of Windows replacement shells currently available, with links.....(free).....

Rootrider, formerly of FPN, has opened up his own shell shop, and it's looking pretty good. News, replacement shells (with the focus on Litestep), and quite a bit more. Put him on your daily rotation, he's going to be on ours.....(free).....

One of our favorite sites for a long time. Shell and software news and downloads. We know you'll like it.....(free).....

The SphereXP is a new Windows replacement shell in 3D. Taking the known concept of three-dimensional desktops to its own level. It offers a new way to organize objects on the desktop such a icons and applications. The SPHERE (SphereXP) is a 3-dimensional workspace for Windows. It replaces and extends the regular desktop. It offers a different way to organize elements of the operating system like programms, icons ... Although the app is experimental, the concept can serve as a theory for the future .....(free).....

Shell replacement for WindowsXP and Windows Server 2003. Replaces the taskbar, start menu and system tray.....(free).....

Windows PowerShell is a new task-based command line shell and intuitive scripting language for system administration that provides comprehensive control and automation for Windows administrators. Windows PowerShell makes administrators more productive by improving the manageability of the Windows operating system and applications that run on Windows. From Microsoft .....(free).....

Advanced Windows shell replacement, a branch of Blackbox with integrated SystemBar and Slit + a whole lot more.....(free).....

Not really a full Windows shell replacement but rather a replacement for the start menu, which is superseded by a panel, on start button mouse click. This panel has many functions. You can see a number of sections, each of which allows you to add your own function. You can execute programs placed in start menu, manage your files, switch between virtual desktops, customize system. Also permits you to group programs

GreenGnome is a free, modern desktop environment for Windows XP. Written completely from scratch, it aims to become the first Windows like operative system and follow the Windows architecture designed by Microsoft from the hardware level right through to the application level. This is not a Unixlike based system (as GNU/Linux). The main goal of the GreenGnome project is to provide an operating system which is binary compatible with Windows. This will allow your Windows applications and drivers to run as they would on your Windows system. Additionally, the look and feel of the Gnome desktop environment is used. The ultimate goal of GreenGnome is to allow you to remove Windows and install GreenGnome

Carry your whole desktop around on your thumb drive. No need for a notebook

ColorConsole brings a little color to the black and white world of Windows console. Installation of ColorConsole is not required

DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, joystick, modem, etc., necessary for running many old MS-DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux and FreeBSD. However, it is not restricted to running only games. In theory, any MS-DOS or PC-DOS (referred to commonly as "DOS") application should run in DOSBox, but the emphasis has been on getting DOS games to run smoothly, which means that communication, networking and printer support are still in early development. DOSBox also comes with its own DOS-like command prompt. It is still quite rudimentary and lacks many of the features found in MS-DOS, but it is sufficient for installing and running most DOS games

Kidsmenu is designed to be a child friendly replacement windows shell, and is also functional as a normal launcher-menu application. kidsmenu avoids some of the complexity and danger introduced by the standard windows shell (explorer) when put in front of young children. for example, as there's no start menu, hitting the windows key accidently while playing a game won't show the start menu. (note this functionality currently requires kidsmenu to be running as the replacement shell). And of course, we denizens of Shell City can find more uses for it. For example, how about in computer labs where you don't want the kids to screw anything up?

KDE is a desktop environment originally built for UNIX. But now it's available for Windows. You can use this installer to download and install the various binary packages that you need to run KDE applications on MS Windows. KDE is free and open source so you can build all the applications "from scratch" from their source code; but as a convenience for others, volunteers create these pre-compiled packages and make them available on the Internet

Try the new Microsoft Windows 8 Power Shell right now, even on Windows 7.....(free).....

WinMetro is specially designed to bring the newly introduced Windows 8 Metro UI to Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. It offers an easy solution for old versions of Windows users to try and enjoy the tile based Metro UI. By displaying useful information such as weather, calendar, news, stocks, and frequently used programs, it turns your desktop into an informative and productive work station. It also offers the option to boot to Metro Start Screen directly.

SharpEnviro (or SharpE) is an open source shell replacement system for Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. When using SharpEnviro the default Windows desktop is replaced by a new and more powerful desktop environment. The goal of SharpEnviro is not only to create a user friendly desktop environment which provides many advanced and modern desktop features, but to also create a desktop environment which is easily configurable and which you can customize to your needs. You can decide how your desktop will look like and how it will work adjust your desktop environment to work like you want it to. (BETA - Abandoned?)

QTTabBar is a wonderful shell extension adding tabs and many other features to Windows Explorer

YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer), is the successor to our MultibootISOs. It can be used to create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more. Contrary to MultiBootISOs which used grub to boot ISO files directly from USB, YUMI uses syslinux to boot extracted distributions stored on the USB device, and reverts to using grub to Boot Multiple ISO files from USB, if necessary.

The IconsExtract utility scans the files and folders on your computer, and extract the icons and cursors stored in EXE, DLL, OCX, CPL, and in other file types. You can save the extracted icons to ICO files (or CUR files for cursors), or copy the image of a single icon into the clipboard.

A nice console alternative for windows. Tabbed interface and dockable windows, Putty integration and a plugin system.

Cmder is a software package created out of pure frustration over the absence of nice console emulators on Windows. It is based on amazing software, and spiced up with the Monokai color scheme and a custom prompt layout. Looking sexy from the start.

WYSIWYG Bash Prompt customization for linux bash. Pick your options and colors and insert the result in your ~/.bashrc