Windows XP Taskbar customization/replacement
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by hydrotemplar | Discussion: Customization Software
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c51/hydrotemplar/IdealDesktop.jpg
I've got Object Dock running, which gets the dock I want, but I still have the hideous Windows taskbar. Is there a program that can get me that end result, be it a customization program or a shell replacement?
Thanks,
David
 |
|
Page 2 of 2 | |
|
|---|
Reply #22 Monday, March 24, 2008 9:56 PM
It's interesting that some people will wax lyrical about a newcomer shell replacement and at the same time 'diss' the only 'successful' alternative to explorer.exe.
Yes, there were squillions of attempts at shell replacements... I used Calmira on Win3x ...and a thing called 'Gorin Desktop' in Dos ...though the latter was a simple GUI interface more so than a 'shell'...and yes, they dated back to '95 or so....as did the origins of Litestep.
There 'was' a time when all the 'serious' modder needed was LS and a cut-down skin of Windowblinds to match. [eFX was just too buggy] [cut-down because there was no startmenu/taskbar in LS to skin].
As for 'enhancements'...there's Stardock's....and then there's the rest.
Wincustomize is about a lot more than altering 'functionality'...it's all about visual change...and that's where a product's skinnability is paramount....
Reply #23 Tuesday, March 25, 2008 2:10 AM
what it didn't do was work smoothly. at least not with emerge. when i tried to bring up the menu, it would either flicker and go out, or i would get two menus at once - the regular rightclick menu, plus the 'add items' menu. the system tray function showed 2 out of the 7 items in my tray, even when i select 'expand tray'. and the taskbar item filled the whole menu with buttons, but in emerge, it makes a nice, clean pop-out menu. overall emerge's menu is quicker and leaner - that's what i am looking for. plus, the biggest thing that emerge's menu does that stardock's doesn't is that it provides me with what i want for $0 instead of $10. every little bit counts.
edit - i just tried it with explorer. the system tray function worked there, kind of. it was pretty buggy, but at least all my icons showed up. biggest problem is that when you tell it to take away your taskbar, it doesn't reserve part of the desktop, so you have to access the menu via a hotkey. if i'm on the keyboard, i don't use the right-click menu, i use launchy. i only use the menu when i am using a mouse-intensive program and don't want to switch to the keyboard to open a folder or bring up a program quickly. so why would i want to use a hotkey to bring up a mouse menu??
sure i could install objectdock and let it reserve the desktop, but that would just be another program installed that i really don't need. so thanks, but i'm going to stick with what works for me.
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
|
|
Page 2 of 2 | |
|
|---|
Reply #21 Monday, March 24, 2008 7:41 AM
I would be interested in what you found that the emerge menu could do that right-click cannot. Right Click has support for embedded gadgets, RSS feeds, and scripting via plugins which Emerge does not. Both have the ability to show running tasks, but Right Click can also show the System Tray.....please enlighten me....