3d Shell For Windows


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I was surfing some Macintosh rumor websites, and came accross this program. 3dosx.

Although it is clumsy to use, it looks great in concept. Does anyone know if there is any similar thing for Windows XP. I found a few 3d desktops by searching google, but none of them have the polish that this macintosh shell replacement had. Also on that note, other than a lightstep or afterstep, is there any shell replacement for Windows that has the wow look both in functionality and in looks.

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this one is similar in nature, but it seems more focused on a theme than normal gui: 3dna

i know ive seen a few others in the past, but im not sure where to get em anymore.

Also on that note, other than a lightstep or afterstep, is there any shell replacement for Windows that has the wow look both in functionality and in looks.

ive heard good things about talisman 2, but havent tried it. Desktop X is very easy to use, but isnt a shell replacement so that may not be what your looking for

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How about 3DNA Desktop

3DNA_FrontPagePromo.jpg

&

Multiscreen_strip.jpg

I've used this.... and it is actually very intuitive.......

also very customizable but it doesn't replace the shell all-together.... it's like a crazy version of the quick launch bar.... but really crazy......

Peeeeeeeeez

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Thanks thornz0 and xahid. I downloaded the 3dna desktop and it looked pretty cool, and actually works pretty good. Although I do believe that they have to come a long way before it is good enough for everyday use. As you were saying lean & aleni, all it really is, is a quick launch bar, except it takes longer to open somthing than just simply clicking a button at the top (or bottom) of your screen. Who knows what the desktop will be like in 15 years, as microsoft, I believe, has been quoted as saying that they want to move on from the old desktop metaphor.

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Actually, Microsoft _HAS_ a 3D desktop.. But unfortunatly only as screenshot on their internal research team.

I found a page, about a year ago, where Microsoft told on their developer site they were researching different kind of desktops (including a 3D one). But still not released any of them :(

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personaly i don't think 3d desktops will be usable untill "default" screen resolutions increase alot..to like 1600x1200+ so all those icons far away will still be readable/recognizable.

I agree, also it would help if people had better video cards(a voodoo 3 is crap, no matter what people try to tell you). I wish game makers would just stop supporting anything less than a Geforce 2 eqivalent(sp?), becuase even a geforce 3 can be found for under $100 usd.

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Actually, Microsoft _HAS_ a 3D desktop.. But unfortunatly only as screenshot on their internal research team.

I found a page, about a year ago, where Microsoft told on their developer site they were researching different kind of desktops (including a 3D one). But still not released any of them :(

yep.... you can see it here.... TaskGallery.... I watched a presentation on it... and it seems that MS are thinking more deeply than how do we make windows 3d.....

Peeeeeeeeeeez

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Personally, I don't see a need for a 3D desktop/shell. What advantages does it offer over 2D shells? Aside from looking pretty, they're really hard to use most of the time, and use alot of resources up. I'd rather go with an extremely customizable 2D shell, such as LiteStep, GeoShell, or Blackbox, all of which completely own explorer :D

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Personally, I don't see a need for a 3D desktop/shell. What advantages does it offer over 2D shells? Aside from looking pretty, they're really hard to use most of the time, and use alot of resources up. I'd rather go with an extremely customizable 2D shell, such as LiteStep, GeoShell, or Blackbox, all of which completely own explorer :D

If you read the stuff under the link I posted you'd see that microsoft agree with you... they reckon that most of the time we will still work 2d, one app, full screen and they are probably right.....

Peeeeeeeeeeeez

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Actually. Instead of having a complete 3d shell, why not just have 3d navigation? for example take mobydock or yz dock and instead of a single bar, make it a 3d ring that you can rotate around.

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Hm, 3D desktop reminds me of Microsoft Bob.

Oh the horror....

WTF is M$ Bob?

Peeeeeeeez

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Where a 3D shell is good at is enhancing your daily use with windows, so long as it doesn't detract.

The new project microsoft has been working on is info-bowl, which is close to that OSX3D shell post first in this thread.

Microsoft has realized that fancy 3d complete worlds aren't productive to power users. Having 3d shelves in a fancy 3d room to put files is something microsoft tried with microsoft bob. Albeit it was on a more 2d level.

Where microsoft will use 3d effects is in manipulating and working or navigating files, as-well as enhanced effects for minimizing/maximizing etc.

This is not a new concept either, as the first 3d file navigator was by sgi called 3dfsn. It made its appearance in the movie jurassic park.

3dwall.PNG

Another area where 3d works on the desktop is volume. Normally your windows that are open have 3 states, minimized, maximized, or restored up/down to a specific size. You can title multiple windows on your desktop but only on a 2D layer.

The demo I saw allowed windows to not only be on the desktop in the normal fashion, but also instead of being minimized to make room, they could be pushed back, the further back they go, the more they are scaled down.

Giving the feeling your monitor and desktop has volume.

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What microsoft is planing to do (as far as i can remember) is use the gpu to render the gui, in other words it would use flat, textured polygons on a 2D plane. Resulting in very flexable, very fast (pretend your gona have a NV30 by the time Longhorn's out) gui with lots of fancy effects! :woot:

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hmm, i wouldn't use a 3d gui. explorer takes enough resources to run, imagine if it was 3d. yeesh it'd take like 500mb of memory. i feel that 3d desktops are something like desktopX, it's there, but doesn't reall improve anything, just looks different.

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