I have been using Blackbox for about a year now, and I love it! It is lighter than the default windows shell, and MUCH more user-friendly with some tweaking. Here, I will tell you about Blackbox and its clones. Early FAQ: What is Blackbox? Blackbox is a Linux Window Manager, and has a clone for Windows. You run blackbox.exe instead of explorer.exe (the standard windows window manager). It is MUCH more customizable than explorer. How much does it Cost? Its free! Its open-source, as is all Linux things. Do I lose any of my Files? No! Its just like any other program, it doesn't delete anything! Can I go back to explorer if I want? Of course! In fact, you can run it OVER explorer if you want, to try it out. Where can I download it? I'll give you links to the different clones later. The default style is not to my liking. What do I do? Download other ones! You can find some good ones here I want to add more to the interface, how do I do that? Download plugins! You can find them http://www.xoblite.net/plugins.html Can I still play my Windows games? Yes! They will work perfectly! What are these "clones" that you speak of? There are two major clones of Blackbox for Windows. They are: BBLean (the one I use): Lightest, most flexible. xoblite: Easiest to use, recommended for beginners. If you have any questions, or want to know more, please PM me! - Mori
Thanks for your comment. It takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, its SO much better than windows...I've never used ACTUAL Linux myself though...
Its a very clever concept - Similiar to the Aston Shell Replacer - And is fine if thats what you're after. I, however, prefer having Windows and a Linux distro on separate partitions with a bootloader to choose between the two.
Personally I havent used blackbox, but in Aston (an alternative shell-replacer) it has an option to choose between Aston and the standard Windows Explorer. I'm sure there is an option to unload it.