KVR Audio

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 7:59 am

... assuming that's possible. To keep things civil, we will only talk about what we like, unless disagreeing with some other ignorant c u n t. What is it about it an operating Environment that you like? I'll start.
Using the "Windows" key to launch the Start menu is a fantastically simple way to get to your programs. In XP they've added that list of most-used icons on the left side which means I almost never have to go beyond the intiial fly-up to get to the thing I want. Now that I use it all the time, it is sheer genious.
I also really like WindowMaker, a Window Manager for Linux. Its very cool and you can access it's version of the Start menu by rightclicking anywhere on the desktop. It also has a smal Dock, which is a 64x64 tile, that you can dock application icons to, another very good way to get at the things you use all the time. you can also add "Dock-Apps" like a clock or CD player controls, etc to the dock to put that kind of stuff where you can get at it easily. it is very elegant and simple.

glurgle · Post by **glurgle** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:28 am

not really a discussion of OS's per se, but have you tried liteshell for windows? it does a right-click start menu of sorts that can also appear when you hit the windows key.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:47 am

Sounds cool. I have used WindowBlinds but it seemed to make my system unstable. Pity, I had my screen looking dead sexy. I wish it was easier to customise the look of Windoze.

mandolarian · Post by **mandolarian** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:55 am

A skinnable OS? Make your desktop one giant VST interface. Launch programs from your midi keyboard. Adjust the volume of spam from your midi control surface. Windows VXP. You could build it in SE!

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:19 am

I hate the Windows Start button. I just find the menu system cumbersome because it takes so much mousing around to get to the shorcuts. I tend to rely on a custom launcher menu that I made using an app called PowerPro. I have a menu bar residing at the top left of my screen, hidden until my mouse touches that area. I then have a set icons that, when clicked, open single menus that have my most commonly used apps.

http://powerpro.webeddie.com/

I also hate the Windows file Explorer and use Total Commander instead. It's an extremely efficient Norton Commander style file manager. You can put icons, for different apps, on it's menu and just drag and drop a file right onto the icon to edit it. This is great if you want to choose an app other than the one that is associated to it. You can also have a menu with shorcuts to your most commonly used folder. It is very customizable and has a ton of third party plugins to extend it's functionality, most of them are free too. There's a ton of other cool features but what I like most, is that it tends to be more keyboard centric and therefore faster. I also just prefer the Norton's windows. That Explorer tree thing makes me nuts.

http://www.ghisler.com/

These two apps are the real interface workhorses for me.

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:22 am

BONES wrote:Sounds cool. I have used WindowBlinds but it seemed to make my system unstable. Pity, I had my screen looking dead sexy. I wish it was easier to customise the look of Windoze.

I'm not a big fan of skins but you might want to check this out...

http://www.tgtsoft.com/

There's also a hacked version of the Windows UXTheme.dll available that allows the use of third party (or self made) XP themes without the need of any overhead eating or unstable utilities.

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:30 am

Also not OS related... but there are BlackBox variants for Windows, ranging from a completely compatible one to the linux/unix world (meaning configurations) to the more advanced ones, like xoblite and bbLean which is the one I use (offers the most usable features to me plus seemed more stable than the others).

Apart from idiots commenting "why you want your Windows to look like Linux", people who've checked my config out have been impressed and have gotten at least into trying it out

I'm a complete alternative shell whore though, I doubt there is one available for Windows I haven't tried... it's my neverending quest for the most usable one that also happens to be stable - a rare combination really. BlackBox variants have so far given me the best stability combined with the level of configurability which I want.

Oh, it also allows, via a plugin, to skin the windows and change some of their functionality. It's limited in this area, as it isn't meant to do those horrible skinned crapfests from hell like 99% of WindowBlinds skins are.

Check 'em out, I'm sure you'll love them. No dock though, the equivalent thingamajig was never my cup of tea, no need for such gadgets with GUIs when the shell replacement itself allows me to do things faster.

Regarding StyleXP that John suggested... he mentions the patched DLL thing, which is Neowin's uxtheme patcher and it allows you to use all those themes available. Not that there are that many usable ones - I went through hundreds, found less than 10 that are really finished and good looking and don't contain any stupidities (like some of my favorite ones contain 2 pixels high invisible lines on top of windows, because the author never bothered to do everything properly).

Can't stop before commenting on a filemanager as John addressed that too. My favorite is Xplorer2, it just "works righ" for me. Yet another brand of utilities I've tried and compared over and over. Settled on this one as it caters my need perfectly while retaining usability - and eats less memory than Windows' own File Explorer. (Memory usage was one reason why I started trying out alternative shells - and it shouldn't surprise anyone that bbLean excels in this area too)

I can dig up URLs if anyone's interested.

Regards,

JMH

Steven West · Post by **Steven West** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:16 pm

I still like Windows2000 myself. I have my icons in a square around the parameter of the screen, and can almost immediately access any program I want. And if the program I'm using is in full window mode, the handy little 'show desktop' at bottom left is a cinch to click and pull up another program. XP is just to fidegty to get used to. The hidden icons bottom right, finding a empty space on the tool bar to right click and select 'show desktop' from the menu. I suppose it's fine for just pulling up Orion and WaveLab and going with those - but if you want to fire up a VL Editor, a BPM Calculator, and re-examine say your MIDI settings/virtual patchbay, I can't imagine XP improving anything for these?

I hope MS goes back to the 2000 layout with Windows007 or whatever Bill is planning to unleash next? I won't buy a new lappy simply because they all offer XP now, and refuse to sell 2000 versions anymore.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:29 pm

I thought there were some winders power tools that allowed a start menu anywhere you right click. Im pretty sure that tweak UI allows that..

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/down ... rtoys.mspx

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:54 pm

jmh, I'd like url for the blackbox thingy. I used to prefer blackbox when I had a linux system.

thx

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:58 pm

I tend to forget what OS I'm in a lot of the time. The app's the thing.

Favorite environment: Linux command line. Second favorite: Linux desktop, K or Gnome, doesn't matter.

Doogle · Post by **Doogle** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:34 pm

Silly question, but does anyone else put their Start Bar in windows to the top of the screen? I mean, they're not called 'drop up menus'! I think I do this because I was an Amiga user, but people always think I'm wierd cos of it.

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:09 pm

I prefer a really minimal shell myself, but with easy access to stuff I run commonly. I use BBLean myself, with WinXP.

In either BBLean or Explorer (we're not allowed to install customization stuff at work unless the boss happens to like it) I'll often start things from the command line, with Win-R. Forget clicking on "My Computer", I just hit Win-R,\,Enter. I usually start Calc and Notepad that way too, and sometimes URLs.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:16 pm

Doogle: Heh, the Amiga conventions are among the few things that bother me (but not much) about my favorite 3-D modelling and rendering program, trueSpace. (I still use version 4.3, can't afford to upgrade.)

Not only is TS4's menu and (tiny) caption bar at the bottom of the application window by default, but you can close dialog boxes by clicking in a blank area, dragging outside the dialog's border, and releasing when you see a big red X over the box. :-D Not what I'm used to! (Dialogs also have a standard Windows close button, and you can change the menu position.)

pHz · Post by **pHz** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:24 pm

start menu ??? shells ??? pah !!!

slainte

rob

Serious Discussion About Operating Systems