Webtop

Easily build your own desktop using NodeJS and Electron.

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What is this?

Webtop is the Windows 10 only solution to the ugly default Windows desktop--and by default I mean only.

Windows themes come with a multitude of problems.

• It's time consuming to install them.
• Some they require paid apps for the full experience.
• They need to be updated when Microsoft changes things.
• Making them is a hassle, and Googling tutorials only gets you tutorials for default Windows themes like this. Rather than tutorials to create what you're actually looking for.

Webtop has advantages over these problems.

• Since both Webtop and the desktop modules are created using NodeJS and Electron, programatical functionality can be added easily.
• [Planned Feature] You can set a different desktop for each monitor.
• It's very easy to install new desktops. Just drag them into your desktops folder, change the desktop setting in your config.json file (config.json hasn't been implemented yet, change this line to point to the folder instead), and restart Webtop.

How do I make one?

There is no documentation yet.

Take a look at the AnimeJS example desktop.

Change this line to point to the folder inside of desktops that contains your desktop so that Webtop will load it.

How do I run it?

Git and NodeJS are required to run Webtop.

Download/update Webtop.

git clone https://github.com/KyzaGitHub/Webtop.git

As a first time setup for whenever you update Webtop, install the required npm packages.

npm i

You are now ready to run Webtop.

npm start --verbose

Provided that you haven't changed anything, this will run the AnimeJS example desktop on your primary monitor.

Closing the desktop will restore the default Windows taskbar.

Why does Webtop only work on Windows 10?

Webtop only works on Windows 10 because there's no point to having this on Linux, and I don't have a macOS system to test anything on.

Known problems.

• There's no easy way to index files for replicating the Windows Start Menu search feature yet.
• If the first window that is opened using node-window-manager was maximized, it restores it down.
• Minimizing windows makes you lose them. This can be counteracted for now by restoring them.
• Windows that get moved to the hidden icon tray on the default taskbar--such as Discord when you close it--makes you lose them.
• The program crashes after prolonged use because of a memory leak in Electron.
  • This is due to a regressed problem with Electron's desktopCapturer.
  • The latest known version without a memory leak is Electron 4.2.12.
  • Webtop will stay on the latest verion of Electron until a newer version has a fix because downgrading the Electron version will bring back even more significant problems with desktopCapturer.