Windows shell
Its readily identifiable elements consist of the desktop, the taskbar, the Start menu, the task switcher and the AutoPlay feature.
Recycle Bin, Libraries, Control Panel, This PC and Network are examples of such shell objects.
Windows taskbar is a toolbar-like element that, by default, appears as a horizontal bar at the bottom of the desktop.
When the user holds down the Alt key, Aero Flip causes only the contents of the selected window to be displayed.
When the ⊞ Win key is released, the Flip 3D view is dismissed and the selected window comes to the front and into focus.
Windows 10 removed the charms and moved the commands associated with them into the system menu of each application.
Depending on the version of Windows, the menu features the following: AutoPlay is a feature introduced in Windows XP that examines newly inserted removable media for content and displays a dialog containing options related to the type and content of that media.
[verification needed] File Explorer is a Windows component that can browse the shell namespace.
However, the task switcher, the charms, or AutoPlay operate even when all instances of the explorer.exe process are closed, and other computer programs can still access the shell namespace without it.
The first public demonstration of Windows, in 1983, had a simplistic shell called the Session Control Layer, which served as a constantly visible menu at the bottom of the screen.
Files could be filtered for executable type, or by a user-selected wildcard, and the display mode could be toggled between full and compact descriptions.
Unlike Desktop Manager, these groups were housed in a single window, in order to show off Microsoft's new Multiple Document Interface.
Program Manager is also included in Windows 95 for backward compatibility, in case the user disliked the new interface.
Internet Explorer 4.0 was redesigned and resulted in two products: the standalone Internet Explorer 4 and Windows Desktop Update, which updated the shell with features such as Active Desktop, Active Channels, Web folders, desktop toolbars such as the Quick Launch bars, ability to minimize windows by clicking their button on the taskbar, HTML-based folder customization, single click launching, image thumbnails, folder infotips, web view in folders, Back and Forward navigation buttons, larger toolbar buttons with text labels, favorites, file attributes in Details view, and an address bar in Windows Explorer, among other features.
Improvements were made in Windows 2000 and Windows ME, such as personalized menus, ability to drag and sort menu items, sort by name function in menus, cascading Start menu special folders, customizable toolbars for Explorer, auto-complete in Windows Explorer address bar and Run box, displaying comments in file shortcuts as tooltips, advanced file type association features, extensible columns in Details view (IColumnProvider interface), icon overlays, places bar in common dialogs, high-color notification area icons and a search pane in Explorer.
Windows XP introduced a new Start Menu, with shortcuts to shell locations on the right and a list of most frequently used applications on the left.
For the first time, Windows XP hid most of the shell folders from the desktop by default, leaving only the Recycle Bin (although the user could get them back if they desired).
However, when Longhorn was reset the integrated sidebar was discarded in favor of a separate executable file, sidebar.exe, which provided Web-enabled gadgets, thus replacing Active Desktop.
Windows 10 also added Cortana to the Start menu, to provide interaction with the shell through vocal commands.
