Okay, I've been considering switching to Litestep for about a month now, and I wanted to know what everyone here thinks about it. Pros, cons, the whole bit.
just dive right in...ish a blast. http://lsdistro.litestep.com all ya really need right there...one easy to swallow package. wait..this isn't an infomercial? damnit! check out litestep.net for themes and junk and ls2k.org for news and junk..good luck.
I think Aero summed it up for ya, i have been usign LS for about a year now and i love it, i havent had any major problems, its fast clean and customisable, just the way i like it, one thing you may wanna do is read the whole manuel so that you dont screw yourself over :p..... good luck
*the-EnDeR* Jesus drank wine, but he didn't drive.
I do have many problesm with Explorer when I use it with Litestep. I use Powerdesk instead of Explorer now! Litestep is great there is no reason to not use it. I suggest you downoad ShellOn first. Then set ShellOn as your shell. Every time your comp starts up you get to choose what shell you want to use..Explorer, Litestep, or whatever shell you add to the list in ShellON. You really don't have to download the disrto version either. It's a fairly large file and it's filled with crap themes. I suggest you download a full theme. Jafo and Escopedo both release full themes that are nice too. A full theme includes everything you need including Litestep itself. Only certain themes work with the LSDisrto version so you have to make sure the themes are LSDisrto compatible if you go that route.
Most themes available are 'full themes', but most of those don't come with the core exe and modules, whereas some of us include 'em all to make life easier. The Distro versions [various] are good for people new to the game.....[12 months is 'new']...;)
Since I started, there have been quite a few 'distro' attempts, but the latest appears to be hanging in there as 'popular'. I'm yet to experiment with it....[silly me created my own system...all 3,400 files of it]...;)
litestep pros: (1) totally customizable. you have full control of the way it looks and works. (2) can be smaller and faster than explorer.exe. (3) it's a higher lifestyle. compile LS by yourself, build your own theme... it's so rewarding.
litestep cons: (1) it takes a while to get used to step.rc, which sooner or later you'll have to deal with. (2) totally customizable means the overwhelming amount of options and modules may scare you off. (3) still doesn't live very happily with explorer.exe. few quirks here and there.
that said, go get it at lsdistro.litestep.com and see for yourself. it can't hurt to install litestep.
If you use LiteSTEP that means you do not use exploder.exe, not even as a file manager....It's a crappy file manager anyway. Use Powerdesk instead....;)
egoHeights, it is by your own fault your computer messed up, you must read all the documentation in order to have proper function. i have been using litestep for over 2 years as i have said before.
LiteStep is wicked if you know how to use it, and if you have a theme that fits you. customizing it can be a problem, just be sure than when you uninstall it to change the system.ini file back to exploror.exe
unfortunately, if you don't like it, the uninstallation process in windows xp takes much longer.
I've been using LiteStep for a few years now. I began using it when I knew nothing about desktop modification, and I was amazed by how it could change the way I work on my computer. I really like it alot, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wanted to get more from their computer (it's not just for looks, you know!).
Although it gets difficult in configuring, if you just read the documentation you should have no trouble getting the hang of it.
imtoomuch, yeah i did...reversion was about the only theme i didn't modify for 8x6 as it was just too hard without losing a lot of functionality...sorry man
i just want to know how you customize litestep. i am brand new to it all, i downloaded a skin and i read the file. it said copy all the files to c:\litestep, but i dont have a folder by that name. i downloaded ls4dp is this the right thing? can someone please help me.
"I just want to know how to customise litestep" Litestep is customised to fit your desires in the step.rc file, this file is located in you litestep directory (c:\litestep or c:\lsdistro somthing along those lines). If you have Ls Distro it is easily modified by customising the shortcuts folder and the popup.rc and so on. READ THE DOCUMENTATION.
"I dont have a folder by that name [c:litestep]" Ok if you have downloaded ls4dp it has probably installed Litestep to another directory, assuming you did install it. Anyways I would suggest getting getting rid of ls4dp and downloading LsDistro from http://lsdistro.litestep.com LsDistro is a modified version of litestep which makes it easier than pie to customise. Making it WONDERFUL for newbies. AFTER you have read the docuementation install it, then go to www.litestep.net and you will be able to find nice little themes with a little LsDistro icon telling you if they are compatable with lsdistro. Download a theme with this icon. unzip that into your lsdistro folder then set up your shortcuts directory and your popup definitions, hot keys etc, etc.
This is about all I can help you with, considering I was never a big fan of ls4dp and I have no clue what theme you are using. Anyother questions feel free to ask.
imtomuch: thanks for the clarification
*the-EnDeR* Jesus drank wine, but he didn't walk, or ride a donkey.
Another thing that was mentioned before, liteSTEP has a nasty habit of making windows explorer crash, to fix this I would get an alternate file manager known as 2xExporer. It is entirely free and you can download it at:
Sounds like you were doing 2 different things....LSD4P won't necessarily work for/with the theme you downloaded. If you just get a basic Dev build release of LiteSTEP, all it is is the executable, modules, and docs....then you add a theme...but that way requires reading and effort on your part. Alternatively, the 'newbie' solution is to dl something like LSDistro, which is both the executable, AND a few packaged themes...all ready to go with minimal fuss...[I never tried this one, tho....allways too busy with my own system].
My advice would be to use the Distro....then, when you have got the hang of it, you will be able to consider downloading other themes to set them up to work with the distro too...;)
has anyone tried to use litestep with windowsXP yet? i did and for some reason it takes about three times as long to log in.... although that was back when i had build 2481
Aero....way back when I started using LiteSTEP, that was the way the graphic/script was written.....when the logo was a scorpion....long before the logo became the blue 'LS' lettering. So, I'm just showing my age...;)
ParadoX... Yes...I'm running LiteSTEP in XP...as I type this..... The loading of the shell is a little slower than Exploder...but you only do that once in a blue moon....the OS is stable enough that you might only have to ever do it once....;)
oooOOOooo I love litestep. I have been using it basically since I got my own computer. Rough start, but once you get all the kinks worked out its ncie.
well ive been sitting on this fold-up steel chair reading all dis shit about litestep...
so.. persuaded, i download a turtlesoup theme, praying that it'll work with LSdistro.
and.. can someone email me that reversion theme please? u'll be such a buddy since ive never messed with my u know..desktop OS and all. i hope i dont fuck myself over.. =( if you can provide any bit of useful info to my email, i'll owe yah one!
I've used LiteStep for 2 years now. And for someone new I recomend getting LSDistro, I use it, it works nice and skinz are pretty easy to install plus you can edit the step.rc, and you can switch skinz easily which spices up life alittle. The only problem is you can't find that many skinz, but I make my own :-)
