What is Maui Shell (and what it isn't)

Overview

Maui Shell aims to deploy a convergent desktop shell for various form factors, from mobile phones and tablets to desktop computers. It will adapt to these, so there's no need for multiple versions targeting different form factors.

Maui Shell is composed of two parts:

• Cask is the shell container and elements templates, such as panels, popups, cards, etc.
• Zpace is the composer, which is the layout and places the windows or surfaces into the Cask container.

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What Maui Shell is

Maui Shell is a convergent (read: adaptable to multiple form factors) desktop shell (read: interchangeable definition to refer to the graphical workspace of an operating system, not specifically or exclusively to the desktop form factor; also see "Paper paradigm).

A desktop shell or graphical shell is but one of the components of a desktop environment (read: an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that shares a standard graphical user interface).

Not to be confused with a Unix shell (read: command-line interpreter or command-line shell) that provides a command-line user interface for Unix-like operating systems, i.e., Bash; and not to be confused with the shell scripting language (read: A shell script is a computer program designed to be run by the Unix shell, a command-line interpreter.)

Comparable examples include:

• Plasma Desktop+Plasma Nano.
• Gnome Shell+Phosh.
• Lomiri (formerly Unity8).

Comparable user experience examples include:

• Samsung DeX.
• Huawei Easy Projection.

What Maui Shell is not

1. Maui Shell is not a Linux distribution.
2. Maui Shell is not a Unix shell.
3. Maui Shell is not a fork of KDE Plasma Desktop or KDE Plasma Nano.
4. Maui Shell is not exclusively a desktop (form factor) interface.
5. Maui Shell is not a desktop environment but only the convergent desktop shell.
6. Maui Shell is not an Android launcher replacement.
7. Maui Shell does not require a docking station to operate.
8. Maui Shell is not an Android ROM.