Difference between revisions of "ReactOS Explorer"
BrentNewland (talk | contribs) m |
BrentNewland (talk | contribs) m |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Stub}} | {{Stub}} | ||
'''ReactOS Explorer''' is the default graphical shell that comes with [[ReactOS]] from version 0.2.0 forward. It is meant to be the equivalent of Windows Explorer on Windows operating systems. It was originally created and maintained by [[User:Martinfuchs|Martin Fuchs]]. | '''ReactOS Explorer''' is the default graphical shell that comes with [[ReactOS]] from version 0.2.0 forward. It is meant to be the equivalent of Windows Explorer on Windows operating systems. It was originally created and maintained by [[User:Martinfuchs|Martin Fuchs]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Components== | ||
| + | ===[[Explorer.exe]]=== | ||
| + | Explorer.exe | ||
==FAQ== | ==FAQ== | ||
Revision as of 05:45, 4 March 2012
The page ReactOS Explorer is a short article on something that should have a lot more information written on it.
If you know anything else about it, you are STRONGLY encouraged to add the information in. If you are unsure of proper formatting or style, add it to the talk page or this page itself as you think best and others will help.
ReactOS Explorer is the default graphical shell that comes with ReactOS from version 0.2.0 forward. It is meant to be the equivalent of Windows Explorer on Windows operating systems. It was originally created and maintained by Martin Fuchs.
Contents
Components
Explorer.exe
Explorer.exe
FAQ
The ReactOS GUI sucks! Why don't you use another shell?
When ReactOS is more complete you will be free to use any other alternative shell. But we need a Explorer like shell, to be fully compatible. Your moaning won't change anything...
ReactOS desktop looks quite old! Why don't you create a new explorer.exe?
ReactOS is an Alpha Operating System. Currently our devs have other tasks in our TODO list, as Improving software and hardware compatibility, that must be completed first. Anyway, we have a branch where a explorer-new.exe is being developed. Currently its development is stopped due to unimplemented COM/OLE background code which is needed to make it work.
There are alternative Shells out there, when ReactOS is compatible enough it will be able to load them. Also an Italian dev (Dax) is developing an alternative explorer (currently unofficial) that seems to be a nice replacement. It is written in C++, so if you want to help its development just download the sources and play with it.
About the shell: Why don't you add KDE4 to ReactOS?
- KDE 4 is gonna run on Windows. But that has nothing to do with ReactOS. We do not need nor do we want to have KDE4 within the source repository. Alternative shells fall under the "user installable and not needed for compatibility" category and thus will not be included.
- We are alpha software, ReactOS can barely boot at times, we are not going to release "distros" any time soon. So no custom GUIs with KDE 4 or whatever else... Feel free to make your own if you want, but the dev team will not do so.
- ReactOS Explorer is the default shell, this will not change anytime soon. And any change to its coding will not dramatically change the way it looks either.
- We appreciate your suggestions about icons, themes, fonts and all that jazz... ReactOS doesn't have theme support, the default "theme" is going to stay there for some time. (ALWAYS use the design forum for these suggestions).
Which GUI can I use?
To answer this, one must understand how the GUI functions in ReactOS/Microsoft(R) Windows(R): - The DIB Engine (in the graphics subsystem), along with your video card's driver, provide rendering primitives, such as rectangles, lines and BitBlit operations. - Then there is the Win32 subsystem (CSRSS), which provides the windowing functionality, including console windows. - The USER32.DLL library provides slightly more complex windows, such as buttons and checkboxes. - The library COMCTL32 provides even more sophisticated windows, such as file open dialogs. - The shell (for instance Explorer) is an ordinary program, which is started upon bootup. It creates the desktop with its icons, and the start menu. It is this last component which can be changed out with another shell. There are many popular open source "Explorer replacements" like LiteStep and BlackBox available, which we intend to support.
Summary
So to finally clear everything up lets lay out all the facts:
- Well KDE 4 is gonna run on Windows. But that has nothing to do with ReactOS. We do not need nor do we want to have KDE4 within the source repository. Alternative shells falls under the "user installable and not needed for compatibility" category and thus will not be included.
- We are alpha software, ReactOS can bearly boot at times, we are not going to release distros any time soon. So no custum GUIs with KDE 4 or whatever else... Feel free to make your own if you want, but the dev team will not do so.
- ReactOS Explorer is the default shell, this will not change anytime soon. And any change to its coding will not dramatically change the way it looks either.
- We appreciate your sugestions about icons, themes, fonts and all that jazz... ReactOS has basic theme support, but the default "theme" is going to stay there for some time. (ALWAYS use the design forum for any suggestions).
