Software Alternatives & Startups

Rainmeter VS ShellNewHandler

Compare Rainmeter VS ShellNewHandler and see what are their differences

Rainmeter

Rainmeter is a desktop customization platform.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
ShellNewHandler

SourceForge.net: ShellNewHandler details page

Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Rainmeter should be more popular than ShellNewHandler. It has been mentioned 6 times since March 2021.

social mentions
6 vs 2
Monitoring Tools popularity
93% vs 7%

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Rainmeter
ShellNewHandler
Website rainmeter.net sourceforge.net
Pricing
Open source
—
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Rainmeter 5 features
ShellNewHandler 0 features
  • Customization
    Rainmeter allows users to highly customize their desktop with a wide range of skins, widgets, and themes, enabling a personalized user experience.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source application, Rainmeter is free to use and has a large community of contributors who add new features, skins, and plugins regularly.
  • Lightweight
    Rainmeter is designed to be lightweight and efficient, having minimal impact on system performance compared to other customization tools.
  • Extensible
    The software allows for extensive customization through scripting, making it possible for tech-savvy users to create their own skins and functionalities.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community offers a wealth of resources including forums, tutorials, and repositories of user-created skins, making it easier for new users to get started.

Possible disadvantages

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive customization options and support for scripting, beginners may find Rainmeter difficult to learn and use effectively without investing a significant amount of time.
  • Limited Official Support
    While the community is active, official support channels are limited, potentially making it challenging for users to get help with specific issues quickly.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Some skins and plugins may not be fully compatible with all versions of Windows or other software, leading to occasional bugs or crashes.
  • Resource Usage
    While generally lightweight, resource usage can increase significantly with more complex skins and animations, potentially affecting system performance on less powerful machines.
  • Time-Consuming
    Setting up and customizing Rainmeter to one's liking can be time-consuming, particularly for users who are not familiar with scripting or graphic design.

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Rainmeter
ShellNewHandler

No analysis of Rainmeter yet.

Overall verdict

  • ShellNewHandler is a niche, lightweight utility hosted on SourceForge designed to give users more control over the Windows 'New' context menu (the ShellNew menu). It can be considered good for its specific narrow use case, but it is an older, minimally maintained tool that may not suit all users, especially those on modern Windows versions.

Why this product is good

  • Provides direct control over customizing the Windows right-click 'New' menu, allowing users to add or remove file type entries
  • Lightweight and free, without bundled bloatware typical of some other free utilities
  • Simple and focused in scope, making it easy to understand for its specific purpose
  • Open distribution via SourceForge allows transparency and no-cost access

Recommended for

  • Power users who want to declutter or customize the Windows New context menu
  • IT administrators managing standardized desktop environments across multiple machines
  • Users comfortable with older utility-style tools and Windows registry-related tweaks
  • Not recommended for casual users seeking modern, actively supported software with regular updates

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Rainmeter 2 videos + Add
ShellNewHandler 0 videos + Add

Rainmeter - A Free and Open Source Customization Tool for Windows (Overview & Demo)

More videos

  • - Rainmeter Desktop Customization Review

No ShellNewHandler videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Rainmeter
ShellNewHandler
93% 93%
7% 7%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Rainmeter and ShellNewHandler. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Rainmeter no reviews yet
ShellNewHandler no reviews yet

We have no reviews of ShellNewHandler yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Rainmeter 6 mentions
ShellNewHandler 2 mentions
  • Persona 3 FEMC Rainmeter Wallpaper
    I decided, to make it easy, I'd add all the files needed into a compact Google Drive for you to Download everything needed ready made. Before you download what is inside the google drive, you need rainmeter to download this set. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Rainmeter site download
    No issues here either opening rainmeter.net. As u/SaberAkiyama mentioned, the the GitHub site. Source: almost 5 years ago
  • Heavily customised Windows 10
    Use Rainmeter "Mond" skin (Mond Skin; Rainmeter Site), just look up some rainmeter tutorials on youtube, it can get pretty confusing. Source: almost 5 years ago

View more

  • I recently got libreoffice, but now the new option in right click looks like a mess. Can someone help me get rid of them please?
    Use Shell New Handler. Run the portable app and simply untick the items you don't want to appear in your new context menu. Source: about 4 years ago
  • This menu should be easy to add/remove programs to... Who is really creating Access Databases from this menu often enough to keep it here? (Not me!) Is there an easy way to edit this?
    I've always used ShellNewHandler for this. It's a really simple portable utility that allows you to remove most of the items from that menu. Tested it out on Windows 11 and it's still compatible. Source: over 5 years ago

Alternatives to Rainmeter and ShellNewHandler

When comparing Rainmeter and ShellNewHandler, you can also consider the following products.