CairoShell

Cairo Shell is a replacement shell for the Microsoft Windows operating systems. Like other shell alternatives, it replaces the default Windows Shell. Cairo Shell is licensed under the both the GNU General Public License and Shared Source Initiative. Cairo Shell is currently in pre-beta stage. The official team of the original Cairo Shell has disbanded. However they still exist on GitHub.
Official Builds
The first public alpha was released on September 22, 2009. Prior to this build, there was suspicion that Cairo Shell was vaporware due to the fact that it had been under development for several years without public releases.
On April 16, 2010, an update was released to the official Cairoshell branch, bringing its version number up to Milestone 1 1.10.
Open Source
Cairo Shell was declared open source on 13 January 2010.
Element Software branch
On April 5, 2010, the Milestone 4 branch was released, which delivers CoverFlow browsing and . Windows 7 is also now officially supported by this build. Cairo Shell now features a functional Explorer with the release of the M3 and M4 builds thanks to development by Element Software.
On June 12, 2010, the Beta branch (M5) was released, which fixed issues that existed in previous builds and introduced new features, including a new system preferences application.
On July 19, 2010, The second Beta (Milestone 6) was released, which introduced a native 'My Computer' view in the Cairo File Browser and fixed numerous bugs that existed since the first alpha.
Features
Currently, a comprehensive feature list is unavailable. However, the Cairo Shell website states:
The problem with much of today's interfaces isn't that they don't work, but that they don't necessarily work for everyone and don't provide the best experience possible. With Cairo you can transform your desktop from the dated Windows user interface to a brand new system that will change the way you use your computer forever. Taking advantage of proven functionality, and with stability and performance in mind, the Cairo Desktop system aims to give users a productive and easy to use shell that advances current technology standards.

The Element Software branch website states: Cairoshell brings you a new way to do things on your desktop, and makes your computing experience more easier, faster, and most importantly, more fun. With features such as Stacks, Enriched Taskbar, and the Dynamic menu bar and desktop*, your computer enters a new level of enriched and enjoyable experiences that can simplify your workflow and makes performing tasks easier.

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See Also

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