Recently, I’ve been thinking about how there are multiple versions of linux and how they are all built on a similar kernel. And I was wondering if it was possible with Windows. In this case I am thinking of having the first program loaded after the kernel has booted up and started all the devices, would be the what pops up instead of the windows login screen.
The reason for this is because I was wondering if it was possible to have the system render all the objects on the screen in a distint styling, but still process it as if it were running on a normal windows machine.
Any Thoughts?
Initially I thought this was a naive question, but Mooing Duck’s link in the comments proved insightful. There are projects that do just this: EmergeDesktop, SharpE, even the KDE.
They’re open and on sourceforge, go get them and dink around to your hearts content.
I’m not sure that the login screen is part of the shell however. So your alternate shell would only show up after you log in.
However, in the long run, alternate shells have no hope of competition. Microsoft controls the environment and they don’t play too nice with competition.