What is Windows Shell?
Windows™ shell refers to the graphical user interface (GUI) program that displays the Windows desktop, its icons, system tray and taskbar. Windows shell acts as the face Windows presents to the user, making programs and files accessible through a point-and-click landscape of icons, pop-up menus and toolbars. It might be news to learn that the Windows shell can be replaced with a third party shell that can be used to radically customize the desktop and its elements, drastically changing the look and feel of Windows. Since Windows 95 Microsoft™ has used explorer.exe as the Windows shell program. This program is also known as Windows Explorer™, different from Internet Explorer, a Web browser used for cruising the Internet. Some readers might be familiar with Windows Explorer as being the program used to bring up the resident file manager in Windows, unaware that it also functions as the Windows shell. Explorer boots with Windows automatically, but can be closed down by using control + alt