[General Questions and Answers] nir36:
"which shell is the best shell?"

people tend to ask a lot of questions about different WM shells while the most popular one is "which is the best shell?"

honestly, it is very hard to answer this question if not impossible. customizing your today screen depends solely on your individual preference.

of course, there's the issue of usability. some shells are heavy on weak devices... some shells are more into the looks rather than being as usable as one wishes.. and so forth.

so in favor of redepmtion...ing you from this constant dilemma, let's elaborate on this issue.

I obviously forgot about a few shells.. i will edit this guide until I get the majority of them :)

"Which shell is the best shell?" (this is written mainly for search purposes)

I will specify the most popular shells, some created by users from xda-devs..

downstairs you will find a link to a file containing some photos of the shells.. just so you can get a feel of them.

1. Ultimate Launch AKA UL

xda-devs thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=389019

official website: http://www.ultimatelaunch.de/

UL IS NOT FREEWARE

resolution support: not resolution depedent

The reason for which i'm starting this list with Ultimate Launch is single and pure. Ultimate Launch is a "naked" and endlessly configurable shell. People who want to be 100% specific about their today screen looks, should use it.

Ultimate Launch consists of different tabs (or one only, if needed) while each tab can contain either icons, separators, or - yes, OTHER TODAY PLUGINS in it. This makes ultimate launch immensly usable as you can pretty much put whatever you want in any of the tabs.

You can move between tabs either by sliding the screen or by clicking the tab icons - that is, if you want to save screen space, you can have the tab icons at invisible and switch tabs only by sliding - this simulates a regular today screen .. doubled.. tripled.. quadrupled.... you get the drift.

To create a fitting today screen you will have to do some work, that's where my advice comes: if you want something work-ready, don't use UL.

In the picture below you will see only 3 tabs of the tabs in my UL setup.. just as a demonstration. The first tab contains FEWidgets, the 2nd contains contains contact icons, the 3rd tab contains app shortcut icons..

2. SPB Mobile Shell AKA SPBMS

xda-devs thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=389106

official website: http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/mobileshell/

SPBMS IS NOT FREEWARE

resolution support: theme dependent

SPB Mobile shell is definately one of the most popular shells as it is nicely customizable, fast, responsive and very nice looking.

Unlike UltimateLaunch, SPB Mobile shell is not directly customizable. you can change some of the options directly, but to completely customize the today screen you will have to download and install a skin (a lot of themes can be found in the xda-devs thread URL above). SPBMS works differently than UL. It doesn't allow different plugins and icons. SPBMS is independent and although it provides tabs for different information, it doesn't allow the same customizing power UL does.

What SPBMS does tho, is allow you to have an extremely sleek, fast and easy to use today screen, and since it is so popular, you will find endless amounts of skins for it.

3. rlToday

xda-devs thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=1601960

official website: http://rotlaus-software.de/projects/rltoday/

rlToday IS FREEWARE

resolution support: theme dependent

rlToday is much simpler than the previous shells. It consists of one screen, no tabs. Thing is, that rlToday is good for different purposes as well. the skin files are read from an XML file, which makes things megaeasy. you can write an XML file to view images, read registry data.. pretty much do everything you can do in an XML file.

Think of it this way, you can put rlToday as a today plugin inside UltimateLaunch if you want a tab to read information from a specific xml file.

4. FEWidgets AKA FEW - by nicodega

xda-devs app thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=430190

xda-devs widgets thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=450668

FEWidgets IS FREEWARE

resolution support: QVGA/VGA/WVGA/WQVGA/WWVGA/WWPGAPGA.. lol.. you get the point

FEWidgets is wonderful. I'm sorry that i can't hide my personal opinion of it.. but FEWidgets is... wonderful :) It uses flash widgets (just like the omnia.. and better) which can be moved across the today screen. you can create your own widgets using FECommands in flash (instructions supplied in a doc file in the app thread).. AND, AGAIN, you can integrate it into Ultimate Launch if you want it to be contained in one of your tabs (that's what i did).

currently the built in widgets are.. a flipping diamond clock (looks even better than the TF3D one.. and is good for people who want to get the feeling of TF3D's digital clock without actually having TF3D).. there are shortcut buttons, analog clock, weather check, tasks widget, appointments widget, calendar widget, wallpaper changer, automatic SMS popup, unread messages and calls indicator, battery and signal indicator... and many many more. You need to have flash 7 installed for it..

here is the cab for flash 7 for mobile:

http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flash/devices/pocket_pc/installers/fp7_ppc_en.cab

5. ThrottleLauncher AKA TL - by APBilbo

xda-devs thread: not needed

official website: http://www.throttlelauncher.com/portal/

TL IS FREEWARE

resolution support: theme dependent

Throttle Launcher is the closest shell you can use to get the TF3D feel.. without actually having TF3D. That's if you use the TF3D pack. there are other packs as well. you can remove tabs, use a flash clock instead of a regular one, use flash widgets (a bit less customizable than FEWidgets.. and slower), use Rumball's weather pack (you can find it here) to get the exact feeling of TF3D's animated weather effects and more, you can use different contact interfaces, like the TF3D's contact swaper.. you've got a music tab, pictures tab, a new stocks tab (created by Rumball as well), a settings tab.. and more. You even have the scrolling feature in the home tab just like in TF3D. Even if you end up using something else, I suggest you at least try TL. it's definately worth the 15 minutes it'll take you to install and look thru.. and you might not want to let it go.

6. Manila2D AKA M2D AKA TouchFLO2D - ported from HTC by herg and others.

xda-devs app thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=398173

xda-devs VGA thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=429224

xda-devs skins thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=451702

M2D IS FREEWARE

resolution support: QVGA/VGA(partially)

Manila2D was created by HTC for the latest set of touch phones like the HTC Touch 3G and the HTC Touch. it consists of a specific number of tabs (now changable by a customizer created by mpenguin14 (found here), it has a Home tab with a clock, alarm status, missed calls status and next appointment status, a speed dialer tab, sms tab, email tab, internet tab, photos tab where you can slide thru your photos, music tab where you can play music and view album covers and an app shortcuts tab. In the last version, there's a Footprints tab. Footprints lets you take a picture of a place, and save it with its GPS position, a video, phone number, googlemaps shortcut.. and more.

M2D fits most HTC's devices today thanks to our lovely forum members who ported it. tabs can be removed and change a bit using the customizer.

7. TouchFLO3D AKA TF3D - ported by Chainfire

xda-devs app thread: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=2758694&postcount=240

customization thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=437777

TF3D IS FREEWARE

resolution support: QVGA/VGA

TF3D is different than all other shells as it requires a good gfx engine to run properly. most devices can't run TF3D.. so unless you have.. a Kaiser and up (Polaris, Touch3G, Diamond, Raphael...) don't try it. I won't give anymore details. whoever wants to use TF3D will have to dig in deeper into the forum and read about it.

Currently, the new Touch HD TF3D is being ported to fit HTC devices other than the Touch HD.

8. iFonz - by ssj5trunks

xda-devs thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=436656

official website: http://thedogcorner.blogspot.com/

iFonz IS FREEWARE

resolution support: QVGA/VGA

iFonz is the best way to turn your device into an iPhone.. as much as possible.

nuf said :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHELL PHOTOS:

http://rapidshare.com/files/192258550/Shell_Previews.zip.html\

If you found this guide useful please Donate.. (all donations go to TZABACH Wounded Animal Service)