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  XSWEEKLY Shell Related News 21.10.00 - 27.10.00
 -------------------------------------------------

	With M$ coming out with the next generation NT platform, 
some are wondering if shell's are at there end.  Because of the 
ability to completely skin the new NT, it may seem that way, but I
don't think so.  I think that it may give some good competition to
programs like WindowsBlinds and the like, not actual shell.  Why?
Simple, shells add so many extra things like load meters, active
shortcuts, fully customizable popups, etc.  Think about everything
that you have running or don't have running in your shell right now.
Do you think M$ will EVER give you that level of customiziability?
I really don't think so.  They may allow you to have a better looking
interface and MAYBE a vwm, but never the customiziability that we
enjoy on a daily basis.  Remember, no matter how buggy your shell
may be, it is still better than straight explorer for functionality
and imo looks.

- demigod
	
  ----------
 [ Mail Bag ]
  ----------

  This weeks mailbag question is:

  What other shells/alt os's should I preview here?

  e-mail - demigod@meganet.net
  url - http://www.xsweekly.com/mail.html

  -----------
 [ Spotlight ]
  -----------

- Seal and DrDos

  While I usually Spotlight a shell page here, I thought I would break
  out of the norm and do up a SEAL page.  This site is run by Florian
  Xaver and has a lot of info on SEAL, SEAL distros, and DrDOS.  Great
  site if you have a DOS box kicking around like me.
  
  url - http://www.seal.de.vu/

 .................................................
               -= Shell Specific =-
 .................................................

  ------------------
 [ Top News Stories ]
  ------------------

- Teknidermy Opens Nov 1st (10:18 27.10 na)

	"NEW ONLINE MAGAZINE FOCUSES ON INTERFACE DESIGN (SKINNING)

	"On November 1st, a new magazine will go online to serve the
	Interface Design community, also known as "skinners". The
	magazine is called "Teknidermy" and is located on the net at:
	www.teknidermy.org.

	"Teknidermy is a community magazine, written for, by and
	about "skinners". The first issue features  interviews with
	Russ Schwenkler (Dangeruss), Shoggot - the master of
	moderation at Skinz.org, Gorman, the top dog at Deskmod, and
	Alex Jackson (Commodore Perry), a winamp skinner with a
	vision.  The first issue will also include a detailed article
	on that great freeware art program "The GIMP", as well as a
	look at skinning the Handheld PC.

	"Teknidermy is an International effort, with primary layout
	being done in the USA, and web mastering being done in the
	UK. Currently, Teknidermy is an English-language publication,
	but the magazine is actively seeking contributions from all
	over the world. 

	"Whats up with that name? Teknidermy?

	"Well, its a take on the concept of taxidermy. Funk &
	Wagnalls defines taxidermy thusly:  "Taxidermy - the art or
	process of  stuffing and mounting the skin of dead animals
	for preservation or exhibition."  Teknidermy Magazine defines
	Teknidermy thusly: "Teknidermy - the art or process of
	mounting new skins on pre-existing programs for personalization
	or exhibition."  Note: No animals were harmed during the
	making of Teknidermy Magazine.

	"Thanks you for your time.
	"We hope to see you at Teknidermy!

	"Kenray
	"Editor@teknidermy.org
	"www.teknidermy.org"

	url - http://www.teknidermy.org
	e-mail - editor@teknidermy.org
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net)

  ---------
 [ Modules ]
  ---------

- grdAmp 1.00 ~ grd (14:11 23.10 ls)

	"This is not a normal winamp-frontend-litestep-module. It's a
	module that wraps the basic functionality of winamp but
	WITHOUT using winamp itself.  This is achieved by interfacing
	the winamp input and output plugin architecture."

	New in this version:

	- Now you can type !grdampplay/!grdampadd <dir> and also
	  enhanced the open-common-dialog-box to support multiple
	  files.
	- Among the general bug-fixes this time, there is the fact
	  that unplayable files are not added to the playstack in
	  the first case.

	%%UPDATE%% (14:27 24.10)

	- the whole playstack routine has been rewritten... main
	  reason to this was that I couldn't get the stl::list to
	  work, so I replaced it with something completely "mine"... =)
	- coded support for !grdamprandom to constantly choose
	  randomly from the playstack and !grdampshufflestack to
	  rearrange the playstack.
	- !grdamprepeatone and !grdamprepeatall has also been added,
	  and even !grdampback is there. this is because the playlist
	  never gets deleted from memory (until you do a !grdampclearstack
	  or start a new !grdampplay <file>/<dir> or whatever)

	url - http://floach.pimpin.net/grd/
	e-mail - grd@swipnet.se
	(source: LS Mailing List ~ when everbody else is sleeping)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- lsxwharf ~ whytheluckystiff (14:15 23.10 ls)

	This is a modification of Visigoths lsxcommand that allows
	you to run lsxcommand within the wharf or LSBox.

	url - http://www.litestep.net
	e-mail - whytheluckystiff@mailcity.com
	(source: http://www.ls2k.org)

                           +-------<*>-------+

- LSXCommand 1.8.2 ~ Visigoth (9:11 24.10 ls)

	LSXCommand is the swiss army knife of LS modules.  It is
	a command line that allows you to launch program, run
	bang commands, open web sites, and about a million other
	options.

	New in this version:

	- Fixed !CommandMove home making LSXCommand invisible                   
	- !CommandMove has absolute position support.

	url - http://floach.pimpin.net/visigoth
	e-mail - gandhimail@worldnet.att.net
	(source: http://floach.pimpin.net/visigoth)

  ---------------
 [ Latest Builds ]
  ---------------

- LiteStep
     o 24.6 build 100600
     o http://builds.litestep.net/builds/ls-0246-dev-20001006.zip

- DarkStep
     o 0.971
     o http://www.darkstep.com/files/DarkStep971.zip

- geOShell
     o 4.6.5a
     o http://news.geoshell.com/Plugins/Download/geoshellr465a.zip

- PureLS
     o 052900
     o http://209.46.69.134/purels/binaries/00-05-29r.zip

 .................................................
               -= Alt OS Specific =-
 .................................................

  ----------
 [ Programs ]
  ----------

- BlueSEAL ~ ZANE DthWlkr(12:49 26.10 sel)

 	I "have created BlueSEAL...
 	
	"I mixed and matched various features from various SEAL
	distruations to make one that I like...

	"I reworked all the colors created a different start screen
	and included a SuperNintendo and Sega Genesis emulators. I
	included some wallpapers. ZOS VII(the newest version written
	in PowerBASIC 3.5).... this is really worth your while to
	download..."
	
	url - www.dthwlkr.com
	e-mail - ZANE@DthWlkr.com
	(source: http://pub8.ezboard.com/bsealsystem)

  ---------------
 [ Latest Builds ]
  ---------------

- SEAL
     o 1D (042900)
     o http://www.home.sk/public/seal/sealexe.zip

- V2_OS
     o 0.70
     o ftp://vp.dyn.dhs.org/0.70/v2_os.img

 .................................................
            -= Beyond the Specifics =-
 .................................................

  ----------
 [ Programs ]
  ----------

- ibICQ

	itty bitty ICQ is a small, fast, win32 clone of ICQ.  While
	it is still in the very early beta stages of conception, it
	looks as if it will become a nice lean alternative to the
	adware bloated ICQ.

	url - http://nasiry.stormloader.com

....................................

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