List of alternative shells for Windows

This is a list of software that provides an alternative graphical user interface for Microsoft Windows operating systems. The technical term for this interface is a shell. Windows' standard user interface is the Windows shell; Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1x have a different shell, called Program Manager. The programs in this list do not restyle the Windows shell, but replace it; therefore, they look and function differently, and have different configuration options.

Shell	Software license	Windows versions									Development status
		3.1x	9x	2000	XP	Vista	7	8	10	11
Blackbox	GPL	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Active
BumpTop	Apache License	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Discontinued
Cairo Shell	Apache License	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Active[1]
Calmira	GPL	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued
Central Point Desktop	Proprietary	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued
Classic Shell	Proprietary	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Discontinued[2]
Emerge Desktop	GPL	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Discontinued[3]
LDE(X)	GPL	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued[4]
LiteStep	GPL	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Stalled[5]
Norton Desktop	Proprietary	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued
Open-Shell	MIT License	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Active
Packard Bell Navigator	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued
NewWave	Proprietary	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued
Program Manager II	MIT License	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Alpha
ReactOS Explorer	GPL	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Active[6][7][8]
SharpEnviro	GPL	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Discontinued[9]
TabWorks	Proprietary	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued
Talisman Desktop	Trialware	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Stalled[10][11]
Xerox Rooms	Proprietary	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Discontinued

See also

• Comparison of Start menu replacements for Windows 8
• Comparison of X Window System desktop environments
• Desktop environment
• History of the graphical user interface
• Microsoft Bob
• Removal of Internet Explorer

References

1. "Cairo Shell Homepage". Cairo Development Team. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
2. "Classic Shell no longer in development. Source code released". Retrieved 3 January 2024.
3. "emergedesktop.org has shutdown". Emerge. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
4. phil (18 April 2007). "The road ahead is a cliff face". LDE(x) Forums. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
5. Donelle (11 January 2017). "Re: Added .NET Framework interoperability to the core and started a c# binding library". GitHub. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
6. "ReactOS Explorer". ReactOS Project. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
7. "ReactOS Explorer source code". ReactOS Project. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
8. Fuchs, Martin. "ReactOS Explorer (original author, details)". Retrieved 16 May 2014.
9. "Download SharpEnviro". Retrieved 3 January 2024.
10. "Talisman Desktop". LightTek Software. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
11. "Talisman Desktop News, no updates since Aug 15, 2011". LightTek Software. Retrieved 15 July 2016.

External links

• Liming, Sean (August 2003). "Windows XP Embedded – Different Shells for Different Users". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft. Retrieved 15 November 2011.