True3D*Shell 1.3 review

True3D*Shell is an open source 3D desktop environment that allows users to experience 3D browsing in a virtual reality universe where

License: LGPL (GNU Lesser General Public License) File size: 4368K Developer: Riccardo Pompeo

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True3D*Shell is an open source 3D desktop environment that allows users to experience 3D browsing in a virtual reality universe where information is organized in 'bubbles' connected by 'pipes'. True3D*Shell is based on POSIX, Win32, FreeGLUT, OpenGL and MQ4CPP, and runs on IA32 and IA64 SMP platforms.

A user can browse local and remote filesystems and download and run selected files. It includes a robot mode that allows you to browse automatically.

Here are some key features of "True3D Shell":
Shell : provides access to the kernel services
Desktop environment : offers a graphical user interface (GUI) solution to operate a computer
Avatar : provides a fantastic representations of a person's self with witch user can explore the virtual universe.
Virtual Reality : users can interact with a virtual environment either through the use of standard input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, or through multimodal devices.
MVC paradigm : is a software architecture that separates an application's data model, user interface, and control logic into three distinct components.
Multithreading : Threads are a way for a program to split itself into two or more simultaneously running tasks. Multiple threads can be executed in parallel on many computer systems.
Grid computing : provides the ability to perform higher throughput computing by taking advantage of many networked computers to model a virtual computer architecture that is able to distribute process execution across a parallel infrastructure.
MOM paradigms : Message Oriented Middleware is a category of inter-application communication software that relies on asynchronous message passing as opposed to a request/response metaphor.

Requirements:
OpenGL: binaries are usually included in OS distribution.
FreeGLUT: OpenGL Utility Toolkit, a window system independent toolkit for writing OpenGL programs.
MQ4CPP: middleware implementing distribuited messaging between threads.

What's New in This Release:
This release integrates the DOTCONFPP project to handle configuration files and the LIB3DS project to handle Autodesk files.
Meshes are separated from the engine and loaded during startup from .3DS files within a texture in .BMP 24 bit RGB format.
A user can now fully customize this product through a configuration file specified by using the "-f" option at startup.