LCARS 24

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LCARS 24

LCARS 24 screenshot
Developed by	Bill Morris
Latest release	4.0.2 / February 18, 2007
OS	FreeDOS, FreeDOS32, MS-DOS, Windows 98 and Windows XP (unstable.)
Genre	GUI
License	GNU GPL
Website	lcars24.sf.net

LCARS 24 is a GUI desktop environment inspired by the LCARS interface found in Star Trek. It currently runs on DOS variants as a DPMI application. It makes use of the Allegro library and DJGPP compiler.

Styled pages are generated using SFML (Starfleet markup language) that is very similar in syntax to HTML.

The recommended configuration is to install it onto a 1998-era laptop on its own.

[edit] Main Features

(From the project website)

LCARS 24 lets you turn an old TrueColor laptop into an LCARS (Starfleet-style) musical or talking alarm clock and calendar that is also an agile 32-bit DPMI system shell with many bundled LCARS programs, with plenty of eye candy and animation but quite a bit of utility and reference material, as well. The OS can be MS-DOS or FreeDOS, both of which are small and easy to install, and non-LCARS DOS apps can be accessed from the LCARS 24 program launcher.

Games

Ferengi Blackjack, Borg Solitaire, Chess, Crossword, Warbird Standoff

Utilities / Apps

File manager, text editor, calculator, unit conversion, DOS command service, program launchers, system info, one medical app

Reference

Large world map, world time, user phonebook, periodic table, 5000-word SAT vocab dictionary, various library files, Star Trek Web pages

Animation

Clips from Star Trek movies/TV, 3-D sim of orbiting planets out to Saturn, Windows parody demo

Viewers / Players

Offline Web-page viewer, image viewers, MIDI, MP3, WAV players

The software employs SFML (Starfleet markup language, an HTML-like markup created for the program) for graphical rendering of application elements such as buttons, text, and animation objects.

System audio

MIDI musical alarm, vocal misoperation scolding, starship panel beeps

[edit] Project Future

(Partial roadmap and feature list; Please visit the project forums for more information)

Provisions are being made to enable LCARS 24 to have instant on capability for applications. Applications in LCARS 24 already have a small footprint which enables quick startups and with the move toward ever increasing features, future applications will include a list of ported/recreated DOS applications as well as other popular 16bit and 32bit applications.