Aston shell

Aston (also: Astonshell, Aston Shell, etc.) is a commercial explorer shell replacement for Microsoft Windows 9x and up. Developed by Gladiators Software beginning in 1999, Aston is shareware & is currently sold for $28 (US). There are a myriad number of shell replacements - GeoShell, LiteStep, BBLean to name a few - and most of them free, Aston is apparently targetted for StyleXP or WindowBlinds users.

Like all Windows shell replacements, Aston is based on a small core that can be configured to replace explorer and uses 2/3 less resources.

It would be easy to assume Aston suffers from a small subscriber base as users would look to free alternatives - especially for something as basic as the GUI of their Windows-based machine; however this is not the case as can be seen in the fact that Aston has over 450 downloadable themes created by community members, which boast animated buttons & transparency effects & over 100 plugins including side toolbars, clocks, weather monitors, disk monitors & resource counters.

Aston has three interfaces, the Theme Wizard is self-explanatory as is the Aston Setup, but the Shell Swapper allows the user to logoff & switch between the Aston interface and their normal Windows desktop, as well as other options like running explorer-based programs (or not) & whether Aston should be used globally or as a per-user setting that quickly seperates Aston from free shell replacements.

Aston themes are highly configurable since it is based on script configuarations stored in .rc or .plg format, conversion of any themes element is done by the mouse via point-and-click or drag-and-drop and required plugins, if missing from any one Theme, can be downloaded by the user, and installed easily ( the plugins skinned in any particular Theme may vary due to the creators preference ). Aston is so configurable that one is only hindered by imagination & it is easy to confuse an Aston desktop as being a different operating system or desktop environment entirely.

Aston 1.9.1 has not been updated since late 2004 because Gladiators Software is working on Aston 2 (codenamed A2). A2 is expected to be a major overhaul in the Aston base, and is going to support only Windows Windows XP/Windows 2000. A large demographic of the Aston user base runs Windows 98 and there has been much criticism of the move. Gladiators Software is encouraging users to post what they would like to see in A2, at the Aston forums.

=External Links=

*[http://www.astonshell.com Aston Homepage] *{http://www.astonshell.com/forum/viewtopic.phpt=2819 Comments about A2]