After ditching Litestep on Win98SE a couple years ago, I've decided to give it another try on my WinXP system. I like Litestep because it is much faster than the Windows shell, and much more stable, but...

I'm finding the same problems that forced me to go back to the Windows shell, plus a new one.

The first and most annoying problem is that if there are any errors in Litestep of any kind (most of which appear when switching themes), nothing will work at all. I downloaded one of the few themes that caught my eye, switched to it, and received a module error. I had to dig around for the prog to switch back to austerity, and then reboot to fix my problem. I was pretty adept with Litestep in the past, being able to add icons to my modules and edit the paths according to my needs. I now remember nothing about it, except the problems I had out of it. I've read the various FAQs and they've lead only to more confusion. A new problem that is bothering me is the inability to search through the themes according to popularity (as far as I can remember, this could be done in the past). Most of the themes I see are boring, have a lack of functionality, and are just plain difficult to navigate with. I really like the Linux OS and the similarities that Litestep shares with it, so if anyone could help me out in solving these problems I'm having, I'd appreciate it.

Errors are solved easily. as long as u tell us what the errors are??. If u are using WinXP or Win2k, rebooting is never required. Use the task manager.

As for the "browse themes by popuplarity" feature... that isnt available and probably isnt going to be.

Themes are made by users using litestep - for themselves. what may not be functional for you may be the perfect theme for somebody else. so the best way to find out is by downloading many themes and u will find one that matches exactly your tastes.

Its easy to find a solution to a problem that you may face. Follow three steps ::
1) Read the docs + Read the sticky posts here in the forums.
2) If 1 doesnt help, post a query here in teh forums with details.
3) "Do the IRC thing" for instant solutions. #litestep at irc.freenode.net 6667.

Hope this helps ya.

ctrl+alt+f1 will always work unless litestep has completely failed and died.

it sounds like a user error to me. furthermore, i have no clue what "adding icons to my modules" even means.

try reading some documentation thoroughly and understanding the concept of how litestep works and you will run into far less errors.

moreover, if you are unsatisfied with the theme selection (as they are boring and lack functionality as you so eloquently put it) then go out on a crazy limb and make one yourself. the only person you'll have to blame if it sucks is yourself. believe me, i blame myself all the time for my themes sucking and i find it quite easy to live with.

Hey, this sounds a little familiar! I also used LiteStep religiously on '98SE during my days at the Help Desk of a dotcom that wouldn't let me install Linux, then didn't need it anymore when the dotcom job evaporated. =P

But I also agree with mojomonkee ... if you don't like the theme selection, make one yourself!! The only reason I'm here again now is that I'm stuck in a project group with goons that don't have computers of their own and have to use the University's winboxes ... so I've got to interface the Unix stuff to Windows stuff in order for anything to get done ... and by golly, I need like 5 desktops! So I've written my own Litestep theme that has a VWM. And that's it. And it took me all of 30 minutes to make the images I wanted and write the .rc file.

At first I thought the theming and the whole process of changing things had gotten bloated and complicated, but on closer inspection, it's just a series of references which you don't *have* to use. If I decide to expand my theme beyond a VWM, it'll probably still only have a single, flat (albeit long) theme.rc file.