Innovative desktop environment

A Question of Settings

When it comes to configuring theShell, the developers have taken an unusual approach. From the panel bar at the top left, you can access system information. If you click on Clock, a dialog opens in full-screen mode where you can modify the system's time and date. You can view additional system information from System Status, Network, and Notifications. The information always appears in full-screen mode.

At the top right on this screen, click on System Settings to open a comprehensive configuration dialog for theShell, which also launches in full-screen mode (Figure 3).

Figure 3: By clicking on System Settings, you open a dialog where you can more or less configure the entire system.

In the Settings and Important Information dialog, you can select a category from a list on the left, to set the usual parameters, including desktop and application appearance, various access methods, and power settings for mobile computers. The settings dialogs available on the default desktop are not available in a theShell session.

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TheShell briefly flashes up system notifications in an area overlapping the Bar and then saves them. You can view the messages at any time by clicking the Notifications button at the top of the panel. The desktop then displays the notification history in full-screen mode (Figure 4).

Figure 4: The Notifications window saves all the messages during a session.

If the history is too long, or you no longer need older notifications, you can click on Clear All at bottom right in the window. Also note that theShell automatically deletes all notifications after a session ends.

Resources

Contrary to what you might think due to the sometimes demanding visual effects, theShell is very economical in its use of resources. At around 330 to 370MB RAM in idle mode (Figure 5), the interface not only keeps pace with other lean environments like MATE, Xfce, or LXDE, but it even outshines them in some cases, making theShell ideal for older computers.

Figure 5: In terms of memory, theShell is more economical than many lean desktops.

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