Hi, from what I experimented so far, you can't make coexist regular windows icons and shelves/drawers on the desktop unless you are happy with the latters overlappping the formers. Am I missing something?

As long as the shelves or drawers are docked (i.e. not floating) you can make them reserve screen space at the edges (Shelf Properties -> Position tab -> Prevent maximized windows from overlapping the shelf). This also prevents collapsed shelves/drawers from overlapping the Windows desktop icon area.

But to me much better than this is using a "Desktop" type tab in the Shelf and using that to access the icons in the desktop rather than the actual Windows desktop. That is what I do here and my desktop icons are always hidden, do not need them to be visible at all.

I'm using the setting "Prevent maximized windows from overlapping the shelf" but shelves/drawers still overlap desktop icons, plus I'd never use this method as it'd be too "intrusive". I see what you suggest about using a "Desktop" type tab and it make perfect sense but I like my current "mixed" workflow and I'm sorry to have to give up on using both drawers and shelves

If the "Do not allow maximized...." setting is enabled, shelves and drawers will only partially overlap desktop icons when fully open, but not when collapsed. The whole idea of collapsed shelves, etc, is that they are only expanded by the user when needed.

If you are running Winstep Xtreme you can also use the 'Reserve Screen Space' functionality in the General tab of NextSTART Preferences to manually reserve your own screen areas on a per-monitor base. Desktop icons will not occupy this area.

Anyway, life is made of choices. Merry Christmas, Frank.

Life's made of choices, no doubt about it! But fortunately software are bigger than life and can be improved, upgraded etc.

Happy holidays, Jorge.

And choices have consequences. I have just replied to your email to Winstep support. Thanks for the greetings and the early Christmas present.

Ah, and for the benefit of anyone else reading this also wanting to have their cake and eating it too, there is actually a 3rd option that was implemented so long ago I completely forgot about it:

Open the Shelf Properties dialog, go to the Behavior tab, make sure "Activate shelf by bumping the screen edge with the mouse pointer" is enabled. Then click the Auto-Hide settings button and in the dialog that pops up enable "Hide tabs when the shelf is collapsed.

This ensures that not even the tabs are displayed when the shelf/drawer is collapsed, so the whole desktop remains visible. Personally I think it kind of defeats the purpose of a shelf collapsing to tabs, but some users might find it useful.

The 3 options suggested do not work by a long shot.
I'm more sorry than you, Jorge

Exactly WHAT does not work and why?

Just in case, I just tested it here and it is working as intended, so now I am really curious.

As you can see from the screenshot, the drawer overlaps the desktop icons and none of the 3 workarounds suggested work

No, I actually can't see anything with that tightly cropped screenshot.

First, the drawer is fully open. Are you suggesting that you should be able to access and see desktop icons through the open drawer?!

Second, hard to say, but it looks to be a "floating" drawer instead of a drawer docked to a screen edge. Make sure 'Dock to screen edge' is checked in the Position tab of the Drawer Properties dialog (and choose an edge).

If or when the Drawer is indeed docked, go to the Behavior tab in the same Properties dialog and enable "Auto-Hide after a short delay", "Activate drawer by bumping the screen edge with the mouse pointer", "Activation acts as a toggle..." then click the Auto-Hide Settings button and enable "Hide tabs when the drawer is collapsed"

Now press Ok to apply the settings and close the Properties dialog, let the Drawer auto-hide and post the same screenshot again please.

Sorry, but I am starting to feel that this discussion is becoming unproductive.
Yes, if a drawer had a reserved space (as in Fences), there would naturally be no icons underneath it, that is precisely the point of the issue.
Please, refer to the email I sent to @support, and let's consider this matter closed

Ah, NOW I understand! If you wanted Stardock Fences, why didn't you stick with Fences then?

Drawers/Shelves/Docks and Fences are two COMPLETELY different animals. Fences is designed to be an "extension" of the Windows desktop, i.e. "corralling" desktop icons and using the desktop itself as its work area to "fence" icons into categorized boxes. It works INSIDE the desktop, not outside of it (or above it, like shelves, drawers and docks do).

What you wanted was for the desktop icons to "flow" around the open shelf/drawer, when that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the purpose of a shelf or drawer.

It is not the software that does not work as intended, it is YOU who wanted to force the software to do something it was NEVER designed to do. Winstep applications are designed so you need to access the Windows desktop LESS, not MORE.

Nowhere in the Winstep Xtreme product description is any type of functionality even remotely similar to what Fences does described. Furthermore, you used ObjectDock Plus before, so you knew exactly - or should - what to expect from an application like Winstep Xtreme, the same way you know very well that NO DOCK EVER had labels underneath the icons. It would not be a dock if it did.

Anyway, this discussion has indeed become unproductive, as it is now perfectly clear for all to see what the problem REALLY is - and it's not Winstep Xtreme.