Software Alternatives & Reviews

BB4Win VS Cairo Shell

Compare BB4Win VS Cairo Shell and see what are their differences

BB4Win logo BB4Win

BB4Win (Blackbox for Windows) is an alternative shell for Microsoft Windows.

Cairo Shell logo Cairo Shell

Cairo is a desktop environment for Windows.
  • BB4Win Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-14
  • Cairo Shell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-19

BB4Win

Categories
  • Image Optimisation
  • OS & Utilities
  • Personalization
  • Note Taking
Website bb4win.sourceforge.net
Details $-

Cairo Shell

Categories
  • Image Optimisation
  • Cloud Computing
  • Cloud Infrastructure
  • Note Taking
Website cairodesktop.com
Details $

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to BB4Win and Cairo Shell)
Image Optimisation
31 31%
69% 69
OS & Utilities
37 37%
63% 63
Note Taking
25 25%
75% 75
Personalization
47 47%
53% 53

User comments

Share your experience with using BB4Win and Cairo Shell. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, BB4Win should be more popular than Cairo Shell. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

BB4Win mentions (3)

  • I Still Use Windows 95 (archived, 2008)
    I used this Windows port of Blackbox many years ago. Perhaps time try again. https://bb4win.sourceforge.net/. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Alternative Windows Desktop
    Cool, that still exists. Some years ago I was into all that desktop customization and tried this, LiteStep [0] and Blackbox/bb4win [1] but ended up with BlackBox. Nowadays, all the customization I need is a tool to fix the taskbar position that someone who probably uses a portrait mode monitor moved to the wrong spot [2] and a launcher [3] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiteStep [1]:... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Riced out my desktop a bit - who says Windows isn't customizable?
    You can go farther but it might become buggy http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/ I have not tested it for along time but it was fun to play with. Source: over 1 year ago

Cairo Shell mentions (2)

  • Microsoft is turning Windows 11's Start Menu into an advertisement delivery system
    Back when I was an edgy teenager I tried every Windows desktop shell replacement available. My favorites were LiteStep and Emerge Desktop. I was there when Cairo Shell first emerged but has never tried a working version since I moved to other OSes before any usable version was out. I am now using Windows for work and I think it’s time to revisit these options. Source: over 1 year ago
  • My first personal server
    Hyper-V Server 2019 gets my vote, with the Cairo Desktop it's a near unbeatable setup. Add the FoD pack, browser of your choice, Windows Admin Center for local management of the entire system including virtualized guests. It's a very robust enterprise grade server that requires NO LICENSE and ends up having a very nice GUI for a core server. Source: over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing BB4Win and Cairo Shell, you can also consider the following products

WindowBlinds - WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface.

SecureUxTheme - A tool that removes signature verification of styles on Windows.

bug.n - Provide views (i. e. virtual desktops) for showing only those windows, which you need to do your work..

Talisman Desktop - Talisman Desktop is a configurable Windows shell replacement introduced in 1997 by Lighttek...

VirtuaWin - VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop manager for the Windows operating system (Win9x/ME/NT/Win2K/XP/Win2003/Vista/Win7/Win10). A virtual desktop manager lets you organize applications over several virtual desktops (also called 'workspaces').

bbLean - Alternative Windows shell