List of alternative shells for Windows
This is a list of software that provides an alternative graphical user interface for Microsoft Windows operating systems. The technical term for this interface is a shell. Windows' standard user interface is the Windows shell; Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1x have a different shell, called Program Manager. The programs in this list do not restyle the Windows shell, but replace it; therefore, they look and function differently, and have different configuration options.
| Shell | Software license | Windows versions | Development status | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1x | 9x | 2000 | XP | Vista | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | |||
| Blackbox | GPL | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Stalled |
| BumpTop | Apache License | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Discontinued |
| Cairo Shell | Apache License | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Active |
| Calmira | GPL | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| Central Point Desktop | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| Classic Shell | Proprietary | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Discontinued |
| Emerge Desktop | GPL | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| LDE(X) | GPL | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| LiteStep | GPL | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Stalled |
| Norton Desktop | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| Open-Shell | MIT License | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Active |
| Packard Bell Navigator | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| NewWave | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| Program Manager II | MIT License | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Stalled |
| SharpEnviro | GPL | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| TabWorks | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |
| Talisman Desktop | Trialware | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Stalled |
| Xerox Rooms | Proprietary | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Discontinued |