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Sort of. Already mentioned classicshell allows for some customisation. Things like FancyWM introduce window tiling to the os, but none of it is comparable to what android launchers can do.
Also an obligatory linux mention. If you do not depend on certain, windows only, applications, Linux provides much more customisation. Different desktop environments can be though as something analogous to android launchers.
I lot of people think they rely on Windows programs when they would be perfectly fine using a Linux alternative.
Always funny to me that Windows seems to be this OS that you can't escape from cause everything requires Windows to run. But nobody brings up that issue when you talk about MacOS and having to find alternative apps when switching there
I'm using linux on my (mostly work) laptop already. The only real reason I'm still using windows on my pc is riot games lol
I have used fancywm. Overall it's decent but I did find it to be a little buggy. It did scratch the tiling window manager itch that I had for a while but ymmv
Because android focuses on one app per screen, having a main launcher makes sense. But for windows, that idea doesn't really translate. You can download programs to replace or change certain aspects, like rain meter or classic shell, but I don't think anything exists that bothers to overhaul everything.
There is a similar thing to launchers on Linux though, called desktop environments. These will change the behavior and ui of the entire desktop experience.
In the 3.x era, fully replacing the windows shell was easy and there were lots of options. These days, the windows taskbar+start button is just such an efficient use of space and resources that few alternates exist.
There are plenty of way to customize the appearance, though. Stardock has lots of products that change the look and feel of Windows. Start10/11 to alter the start menu behavior. Windowblinds to skin the overall look and feel of windows themselves. Then there are other launchers that sit (mostly) on top of the existing MS look such as Launchy or RocketDock.
In the 3.x era, fully replacing the windows shell was easy and there were lots of options.
That's such a good occasion to share a video I found recently, here: https://youtu.be/iD7AezjG5YE
I think what you're referring to is called shell in windows. Replacing the desktop interface.
Cairo is an open source, alternative shell. https://cairoshell.com/
Wow, I might genuinely download this
I wanted to use it because of some bad Win11 start menu/window bar changes. But I had other issues/deficiencies with Cairo. I worked a bit on it but ultimately didn't land or finish any of my changes, and haven't been using it.
It's certainly different and with various settings. Worth a look or try.
Power Toys Run (from the paper toys suite) is a fantastic launcher that's better than the start menu.
i'm already using ueli, which (on first glance) seems even more powerful than that. it's great, don't get me wrong, but again it's just an addition to what is already there
The only one I knew (before checking the other comments lol) is WinLaunch:
not exactly what i have in mind, but definitely the right direction. thanks!
This is what I use as a launcher tool when on Windows - it's keyboard/search based and incredibly powerful. Definitely has a learning curve. https://executor.dk/
Google linux window managers and desktop environments (obviously this is for linux not windows, but maybe it will entice you to ditch windows 😏)
You know, there's certain programs that don't run on linux. Especially a few games by that one indie company Roti games