Did anyone try ALTERNATIVE SHELLS ?

Filippo · 23rd October 2003

I would appreciate some advice from NORMAL PEOPLE.

I do Linux, and there one's spoiled with alternatives for
- command line interfaces
- graphic "servers" and other solutions
- window managers
- desktops
- skins
- themes.

All of a sudden, I stumbled into the equivalent for WINDOWS, and I shudderingly remembered that back in DOS days there was talk about the wonders of "X-Windows" add ons, which later begat the XFree infrastructure now common on Unix.

Now, MY IMPRESSION IS THAT THOSE WHO SUBSTITUTE THE WINDOWS GRAPHIC SHELL HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH THE REST OF NORMAL COMPUTER USERS. No offense, but there's a lot of shellchangers' sites, yet I hardly ever heard about normal, sedate, Windows users practicing this noble discipline.

My Win9X box was violently hacked and rejigged for stability and survivability - with good results, in spite of being WinME. As I see that Explorer is the main party crasher in my box, I wonder if anyone has tried alternative shells with good results for reliability - never mind the eye candy.

Two cents anyone?

rambler · 23rd October 2003

I'm not NORMAL, so I can't comment.

**Miz** · 23rd October 2003

I fix computers. I'm good at it. I make good money doing it and I enjoy every minute of it. Is that "normal"? Oh, yeah....I use "alternative shells" because I like the eye candy.

I suppose "normal" depends on who's doing the defining. What is a "normal" computer user? Somebody who plays graphics-intensive games? Somebody who edits videos? Somebody who downloads and tests every free demo available? Somebody who spends hours arranging and organizing spreadsheets, complete with graphs and charts? Or just somebody who is constantly tweaking their system for "best performance"...just in case they ever decide to do anything with it other than tweak?

The majority of computer owners view their computers as tools. They want to be able to turn it on and it works and they can do what they intended to do when they turned it on. That's all they want and when it breaks, they pay somebody like me to fix it. Since those people are in the majority, I guess they are the "normal" computer users. Many of them like the eye candy, too.

I pay somebody to do regular maintenance on my pickup. I have only a basic understanding of how it works and that's all I want to know...other than I turn the key and it starts and then goes where I steer it. When it doesn't work right, I pay somebody to fix it. And, yes, I buy pickups with paint on them and then I trick them out because, as I said, I like the eye candy.

merlin · 24th October 2003

Hi Rambler !
You are not alone here ...
regards

**Johanna** · 28th October 2003

Miz,
I like your analogy of taking your pick up to the mechanic. I do custom leatherwork. I try to remember that people don't pay me for what I DO, they pay me for what I KNOW. So I can justify charging $10 to set a rivet, because I have the tools and I know how to do it right.

I think you made a good point about people wanting their computers to turn on and do the job, whatever that may be. There is no such thing as a "normal" computer user, except, as you pointed out, they want it to turn on and work, and when it doesn't, they are willing to pay someone like you to fix it.

I like eye candy, too. If I have a choice, I'd rather it be pretty. But I'll take function over decoration, any day. Doing leatherwork, I have seen lots of beautiful art, but if the gun doesn't fit, or the flap doesn't shut, it's junk. Someone can write a lovely proggie, but if it doesn't do what I want it to, or, worse, it interferes with something else, it gets dumped. Junk is junk.

Cheers from Ohio,
Johanna

Filippo · 1st November 2003

Lesson learned. Next time I'll ask around about the definition of normal, sedate PC user and I'm sure I'll be overwhelmed with replies dealing with the stability and performance of alternative shells.

Jokes aside, thank you for all your comments, which I find invaluable.