My Step ...
Thought I'd write a bit more on LiteStep to try and encourage people to try it and give an idea of its possibilities. So, this page is all about my own LiteStep theme (or maybe even themes, in time ...) and what goes on behind its surface. To make things easier to understand, click here to get a screenshot (58 Kb gif picture) in a new window (it's 1280 by 960 so it doesn't really fit into my frames :-). And remember, none of the things I've got on my desktops have to be there, or have to look the way they do! Virtually anything can change looks with LiteStep! Notes on different parts follow ...
The Wharf
Right, the wharf is the bunch of icons on the top right side of the screen. The top one hides a menu for reaching a few key parts of LiteStep, like step.rc and so. Reaching step.rc is the only thing I use it for really, so maybe I should turn it into a standard button just for that ... Then there are the buttons to start Explorer, IE, Outlook and Tetris, of which the Tetris button sees the least use. The last button is one to toggle the console in the upper left corner of the screen, also a pretty seldom-used button. Finally, there's the bottom tile of the wharf, configured to recycle LiteStep when clicked. Recycling is the way to make changes in step.rc take effect, so it's always good to have an extra button for it lying around ...
It may not be all that appearant, but the Virtual Windows Manager is part of the wharf as well. That's the four little windows with white rectangles inside right below the recycle button. Each square represents a full desktop, and each white rectangle an open window. Windows can be clicked and dragged between desktops in the VWM, and a right-click changes to the clicked desktop. Changing desktops can also be achieved by dragging the mouse pointer off the active one on a side bordering to another desktop.
Taskbar Replacement
Below the wharf are icons for each running application, working just like those that appear on the windows taskbar. This one shows popup windows and stuff too though, something I really like (so annoying to lose one under lots of other windows and have to minimize them all to find it).
This task is handled by a module called Tasks and, like most modules in LiteStep, has tremendous amounts of customizability built in. You can have it anywhere, any size, make the icons any size and appear in any direction and even make the icons movable if you like.
Systray
My systray replacement, Systray2, also closely mimics the function of the Windows one. Also highly changable, not much more to say ...
The Console
This is a real goodie! Behind it is a wonderful module called LSXcommand, and it can do the jobs of the Windows run prompt, clock and calculator as well as do internet searches, execute !bang commands (basically commands for different actions built into modules) and user-defined text shortcuts and it scrolls Winamp song titles as well! There is actually a whole theme built around this one module's flexibility. It's called DOS2000 and looks like a good old DOS-prompt when you start it. Got to love ideas like that :-) ... I use this module more and more, just focusing it with Win-F and typing in "sync" to start the Palm sync program is so much quicker than navigating a deep start menu and takes less space than a wharf button ...
The Popup Menu
The popup menu is basically the Windows start menu, only better! Sure, you can have a classic start button to click on for bringing it up if you like, but why do so when you can right-click anywhere on the desktop to get to it? Hiking all the way down to the bottom left corner of the screen is such a waste of time. Apart from changing the skin, the popup menu is probably the thing I've changed least since getting LiteStep, my version came with all the options pre-configured and I've seen no reason to change them. And the "Programs" option points straight to the Start Menu programs folder, so all Windows apps that add to it show up properly in the popup too. That can be done with any other folder as well by the way ...
What more?
Having LiteStep frees you from the problem of accidental Win-key presses minimizing games and other mischief. That also means the Win-key is free for assigment in any keyboard shortcuts you may want to have. A module called Hotkey handles this, and I think it comes with any standard LiteStep distribution. These shortcuts can execute any program or !bang command you like, very handy ...
Sometimes some windows may get lost completely in LiteStep. Seems they end up somewhere outside the desktop area and refuse to come back in, unless they're maximized. A program called DeskLite is able to bring such windows back in line, so I've got a console shortcut to that one as well. Hated when that happened to WinZip :-) ...
Oh, and there's 2xExplorer of course! Not shown in the screenshot though, but very nice nevertheless. Replaces old Explorer with something entirely better, if you ask me anyway :-) ...
All the modules mentioned here, and heaps more of course, can be downloaded from
http://floach.pimpin.net. Tons of themes can also be found there, for installation or just inspiration. Personally, I think it's more fun to do my very own theme of course ...
Back to LiteStep!
