LCARS 24 (DOS version) is a fast, smooth, powerful, and handsome 32-bit, TrueColor Starfleet-standard GUI with file manager and various LCARS games, applications, and utilities plus DOS program launcher and file library. Standby mode features a large clock with MIDI alarm and calendar, with hot-key access to a calculator, phone book, etc. Runs best under DOS, can run on a Windows 9x machine in pure DOS mode or under XP with power management off. Handles .txt, .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .wav, mp3, .mid, and .htm files. Compatible with FreeDOS and FreeDOS32. Open-source (DJGPP [c]). Porting to Linux, BSD, etc. from sources possible with modifications (change the LCARS DOS Service to Unix Service?). Internet functions possible without Windows on a machine with a hardware modem. Free download available soon. Here are some screenshots:

Not a desktop, but a working clock and calendar with hot keys.

Left: Standby screen on an 800 x 600 flat-screen display or set to 800 mode for a CRT display. Right: 1024 mode on a 1024 x 768 flat-screen display.

One-touch access to your phone book, with a convenient place to type in more numbers and info as the need arises. One-touch access to a calculator with no mouse foolishness. The DOS box looks similar to this and provides an editable command line and neat, friendly output. It's not just a clone of COMMAND.COM. DOS users will be surprised.

Launch your DOS programs from this screen or try an instant-on LCARS program.

Games? Ferengi Blackjack (split up to four hands, three levels of a powerful card-counting system provided), Borg Solitaire, master-level chess, Trek crossword puzzles!

The file manager: The upper-left quadrant is currently selected here. This is like having two Explorer windows, a floppy disk window, and the Recycle Bin all open at once. Quick browsing, copying, deleting, etc. View pictures, hear sounds, even look at Web pages! Very fast and smooth!

Lots of reference stuff. You can imagine how big this world map is!

This is not a complete Web browser, but it does render Web pages, albeit not in their intended colors! They get an LCARS twist. We're working on making it more complete, but you'll need a hardware modem. For now, if you've got the right hardware, you can install Arachne and launch it from LCARS 24 to get e-mail and Web-browsing functions. For Unix versions of LCARS 24, our own browser would really be unnecessary.

You can install all kinds of DOS text editors, etc. but this one is true to LCARS form and expands partial words or predefined macros when you press Alt (great for scientific writing) and does word wrap and spell checking with .txt files.

Just a file picker, but nothing like the annoying little things we're used too!

This could actually come in handy. It even converts Arabic to Roman numerals. Anyway, it's fast and fun, also an excuse to use an LCARS panel design. Spin the numbers with the arrow keys. No mouse needed here or anywhere in LCARS 24. You can operate a laptop on a waterbed!

The startup screen does some showing off with animation, but this puts the planets out to Saturn in their relative positions according to the date and sends them through their orbits in a 3D representation, without using a huge database.

There's plenty more. We're not asking you to dump your existing system. But just having LCARS 24 on an old, otherwise useless laptop can provide at least a clock but also a lot of quick reference, entertainment, and more, not to mention some nice music you haven't heard before (for the alarm function).

LCARS 24 comes as a Winzip file that contains floppy-sized DOS-based self-extracting zips to make it easy to transfer to a computer that only has DOS. Just copy those zips and their little installer script and type "INSTALL." Then type "800" if you want 800 x 600 screen output or "1024" or "LCARS24" to start in 1024 x 768 mode. On a laptop with 800 x 600 screen, either mode looks the same. A complete MIDI patch set is included.

Check here for download info.