PExplorer vs Starling

PExplorer is the shell component of WinXShell, intended as a freely available replacement for Windows Explorer in Windows PE. The portable shell includes desktop, Start menu, taskbar and notification area components, and the project says it is based on ROS Explorer. It is available for Windows and WinPE, with the repository listing Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10, plus Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2019.

Listed capabilities include support for x64 environments, desktop wallpaper on Windows Vista and later, desktop icon drag and drop, and tray icons for x86 and x64 software. Users can bind a third-party file explorer, change Start menu actions, and adjust taskbar color and height. PExplorer also supports ClassicShell and includes a file explorer styled for the host Windows system, with automatic refresh when files change. The project is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and welcomes contributions, feedback and bug reports. The repository's master branch page lists August 4, 2019 as its update date.

Starling is a desktop environment with a 2D workspace and an optional 3D city workspace. Its Linux desktop combines a Wayland compositor, window manager, dock, spaces, and nine first-party apps in a session alongside the existing desktop. It runs native Wayland clients and X11 apps, can launch applications installed on the machine, and includes an App Store for installing more. The supported Linux package target is Ubuntu 26.04 LTS on amd64; the desktop can also run through Ubuntu 26.04 on WSL2. Starling’s Windows shell supports Windows 10 and 11 on x64, and its page says Store apps keep working. The shell, apps, build tools, documentation, and host code are open source under Apache 2.0, and the product is free. The Linux session runs without elevated privileges. Starling labels the desktop an early preview and says users should expect rough edges, missing pieces, and bugs. Its Windows preview installer installs per user without administrator privileges, but is unsigned and prompts SmartScreen on first run.