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LiteStep Explained
Originally appeared on LS2k.org
Original Credit goes to Jalist
The following was adapted from an original work by Jalist, who maintained LS2k.org when it was up and running. I've
only changed a few typos and link references to be more current. Everything else is the same.
LiteStep is a shell replacement for Windows. The default Windows shell, knows as Explorer, is what provides you with
your start menu, system tray, taskbar etc, but this shell can be turned off and replaced with a much more configurable
and user-friendly desktop environment.
LiteStep replaces these standard items but also adds a whole slew of new, useful and totally configurable features.
You have complete control over how your desktop works, looks and feels. You can switch back to the standard
Explorer shell at anytime as no files are removed or overwritten, but once you've tried it you'll realise how basic
a shell Explorer really is.
And the best thing of all? It's absolutely and completely free.
The first version of LiteStep was released in 1996 by Francis Gastellu (known online as Lonerunnr), who wanted a
Linux AfterStep desktop environment, but under the Windows operating system. LiteStep quickly caught on, mostly
due to it's open source nature, which means anyone can download and alter/tweak the code to there own liking. Pretty
soon a development team was set up to overlook and implement any changesto the source code. This team is still in
existence, although many members have come and moved onto other projects over the years. The current dev team
work on the code and release new buildscontaining new features and updates on a regular basis.
Francis Gastellu now works for NullSoft, whose best known program is Winamp, a popular (and free) mp3 player.
The control centre of LiteStep is known as the Step.rc, a text file which holds all the settings and
configurations. Making simple alterations to this file will completely change the way your desktop looks
and feels, although if you are not confident in doing this, over 3000 ready made themes are available for
download, again completely free. The main theme repository is at Litestep.net, and
just browsing throughthe themes section there will give you a good idea of what LiteStep is capable of. Also,
add-on programs, called Modules, add more power to your LiteStep desktop, there are hundredsof these freely
available which do pretty much everything you can think of. Have a look through shellfront.org's
Modules section to see what's possible.
I'll explain some of the features LiteStep will give you. The Popup Menu replaces your start menu, but will do a
whole lot more. Just adding a few lines to your Step.rc file will give you a clock, a list of running tasks,
a run dialog box, controls for your mp3 player and more. You can define how the Popup is displayed, either by
simply clicking on your desktop to clicking on a predefined Shortcut.
Shortcuts allow you to place custom made images anywhere on your screen, and clicking on them will produce
whatever action you define, from launching an application to closing the computer down. Any or all of your
shortcuts can be defined with a mouseover image, a clicked image and sounds.
The Virtual Window Manager, or VWM, is a asset of LiteStep that onceyou've used you'll have trouble living
without. Instead of having the single desktop to work on, you can define as many 'virtual desktops' as you want.
Imagine a row of six monitors on your desk with a different application running on each one. Well, instead of having
six monitors, imagine each screen is on one monitor, but hidden behind the screen you're looking at. You can switch
between these screens by clickingon the VWM module, which is a graphic display of what is on each desktop. This
system really increases productivity, and you'll never run out of screen space or have to minimize a program to
get access to another one again.
There are many many more features to LiteStep than this brief outline, again I suggest you have a look at some
themes at Litestep.net for a more detailed look at what can be done.
If you're interested in givng LiteStep a try, head over to LSDistro.com, where
you'll find thorough installation instructions and the actual program download. (A list of LiteStep distributions
can be found on LiteStep Log's links page.)
Or, if you'd like more information, please feel free to login to #ls2k, #lshelp, and/or #litestep in IRC. All can
be found on UnderNet.
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