Been awhile since I last posted so here is an update. A couple new shells have popped up on the web.
The first one is called Desktop Lite, it uses few resources ~4 meg and contains most of the things you need in a shell, task switching, tray, quicklaunch, access to programs etc. The real beauty of this app is that it is only one .exe file with no configuration...it doesnt get easier than that. Find it here: http://www.nymtec.com/
The second shell and one I find interesting is called Ciliegia, it is a scriptable shell and also light on resources. A bit hard to get started since you have to edit a text file and the documentation is all in Japanese :) but there are some samples to get you there. Just replace the login.scm file with your custom file (tweak the one from the examples folder) and you have a shell running. I really like how the tray is implemented in a popup menu. Find it here: http://nicht.s8.xrea.com/2006/02/ciliegia/
Here's proof that old shells never die :} I have always loved minimal shells.. there was one I liked a long time ago called EVWM, used to use it back in the win95/98 days. I was thinking about it so decided to download it again...was hard to find, but found a site that still had it here:
http://www.skinnables.org/apps.php?section=shells
the thing is it still works fine on XP... sure there are some missing XP tray icons, and the popup menu is loaded statically and not dynamically, also some startup programs dont load..but these are easy things to get around and I found I still like this shell. It is also extremely light in resources ~2-3 meg and just feels light and fast.
There is a lot of concern that the new Windows Vista will kill off the remaining shells being worked on...It might have some impact but I think there are still people like me out there that like changing their desktop and making a more minimal faster experience... At least I hope so :)
