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<td> <font color="white"><b>Emerge Desktop - An Alternate Windows Shell</b></font> </td>
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<p><a href="http://www.emergedesktop.org/"> Emerge Desktop</a> is a replacement windows "shell" (the desktop environment normally provided by Windows Explorer) for Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, and 7 (both x86 and x64 builds, since XP). The last Emerge Desktop working version for Windows 2000 is 6.0.0.599. In order to replace Windows Explorer as a shell, it provides a system tray (the area that collects the icons collected at the lower right corner in Explorer), called emergeTray. It will also provide access to the users programs (normally accessed with the windows "Start" button) via a right-click on the desktop, via emergeCore.</p>
<p>Emerge Desktop is implemented with <a href='http://mingw-w64.sourceforge.net/'>MinGW-w64</a>, an OpenSource implementation of the GNU C compiler and utilities. Up to this point, closed source commercial projects have mainly been used (Microsoft Visual C++, Borland Delphi) to develop alternate shells as they use proprietary Microsoft API features. With Microsoft releasing more detailed information about these API calls, the MinGW win32api is now quite complete. Additionally, several web sites on the internet have started to include documentation and code that illustrate how to access and use these functions.</p>
<p>Emerge Desktop has an open API, which allows for applets to be coded with compilers other than MinGW if someone wishes to do so. In fact Microsoft Visual C++ project and workspace files are available in the Mercurial Repository and Source files in case someone wants to use them.</p>
<p>Emerge Desktop is written in C++, primarily developed with <a href="http://mingw.org/">MinGW</a> and is licensed as OpenSource (under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GPL</a>). All the source is available in <a href='http://emerge.hg.sourceforge.net/hgweb/emerge/'>Mercurial</a> at <a href="http://sourceforge.net">Sourceforge</a>. Project files for Emerge Desktop developement using <a href="http://www.codeblocks.org/">Code::Blocks</a>, an IDE for MinGW, is available in the Mercurial Repository and the Source archives.</p>
<p>From a design point of view, Emerge Desktop applets are capable of being run as both standalone as well as being integrated. In order for Emerge Desktop applets to communicate with each other, emergeCore must be running. Without emergeCore, each applet will run independently (if, for example, you wish to use them in conjunction with another desktop shell).</p>
<p>If you want to participate in this project there are <a href="http://emergedesktop.org/phpBB2/">forums</a>, and an irc channel (<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/emergedesktop">#emergedesktop</a>) on <a href="http://freenode.net/">FreeNode</a>. Please feel free to try <a href="http://www.emergedesktop.org/">Emerge Desktop</a>, and provide feedback! </p>
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