Desktop Managers, only seen one - Are there more?

[Coldkilla]

I've been looking to spice up my mod/gaming computer now I know the desktop manager: Aston Shell (http://www.astonshell.com/aston) however, I've used it before and didn't like it too much. Is there another (good) desktop manager that you use that you can recommend?

 

[jlbenedict]

Darkstep

LiteStep

Talisman Desktop

LDE(X) for Windows

SharpE

 

[shortylickens]

Litestep is a good one because it works well and consumes very little resources.

You can find tons of info and tools here,
www.wincustomize.com

Thanks for the link to that game StarBlaze. I try to look for shooters wherever I can. Got tires of Jets'n'Guns a long time ago.

 

[QueBert]

I love Litestep, I ended up paying for Astonshell, there are things I absolutely love about it too. Litestep has a butt load of plugins, and does a few things Aston doesn't. I really change between the 2 from time to time. I honestly think the most important thing is to either make your own, or find a really cool/solid theme.

No matter how you look at it, your box is better off with one of them as opposed to explorer

after using Ubuntu+Beryl I almost had a heart attack, that's almost exactly how I want my PC desktop to be

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: QueBert
I love Litestep, I ended up paying for Astonshell, there are things I absolutely love about it too. Litestep has a butt load of plugins, and does a few things Aston doesn't. I really change between the 2 from time to time. I honestly think the most important thing is to either make your own, or find a really cool/solid theme.

No matter how you look at it, your box is better off with one of them as opposed to explorer

after using Ubuntu+Beryl I almost had a heart attack, that's almost exactly how I want my PC desktop to be

Another :thumbsup: For Beryl +AiXGL. It is some sweet eye candy and so customizable.

 

[Coldkilla]

I tried to find something on: Ubuntu+Beryl but all I keep reading in some articles is about Vista. Is this the "theme" in vista? Or, is this a 3rd party app that I can download somewhere?

 

[QueBert]

Ubuntu is *nix and Beryl is a desktop manager. you gotta run Ubuntu to use it.

So basically you download Ubuntu install it then install Beryl, no Vista/XP at all.

 

[Coldkilla]

Say I am currently using XP. Can I download and install that while having XP installed?

1. Will this slow my PC down having both XP and Ubuntu?
2. I went to Ubuntu's website, and I have to say I am confused. How would I go about downloading and installing this?
3. Can I keep my files? Or do I need to do a format?

 

[Coldkilla]

bump

 

[QueBert]

1. no
2. download the 64 bit version if you have a 64 bit CPU, download 32 bit otherwise, get 6.10
3. you'll need to partition your HD, no need to format.

if you've never used Unix, you should probably do some reading, it's drastically different then Windows, and getting Beryl to work isn't as simple as double clicking and installing" it will be frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, Ubuntu is pretty nice. But like I said you don't sound like you have any Unix experince, so if you do this, don't expect it to be up and running in a few hours

 

[shortylickens]

I'll supplement the above info.
If you've never used anything besides Windows you should download a Live CD or Live DVD version of linux and burn it do a disc.

Then you can boot up your machine with the CD in the drive and try linux without commitment.
Its also good to have around in case your computer gets really fudged up and you cant boot Windows at all.

EDIT: I currently have Suse Live DVD 9.2.

 

[Schadenfroh]

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/articles/download-managers.html

 

[Looney]

Yeah, Kubuntu and Beryl is really awesome. I always thought it would just be 'neat', but being able to do on-the-fly transparencies is actually useful. In fact, even the cube is incredibly useful, it's great being able to fly to different desktops so effortlessly.