[Bedwyr]

Is there a way to use a launcher to run windows explorer when you're running Kodi as the shell? What I want to do is run the launcher, get my taskbar and start menu back, and then have AEL hand control back to Kodi. Currently, AEL hands control over to explore.exe until that shuts down (which isn't going to happen).

Complicated... if you use Kodi as a shell then AEL will tend to work erratically (for example, the launched app being in the background and not the foreground, Kodi capturing the joystick instead of the launcher app, etc.) Note that AEL simply executes (or calls) the launcher app, and then it lets the operating system to handle the app. What you propose will require platform dependent code. 

 Hmm. What about simply using the launcher to start explorer and then shut down Kodi in a compound command as kind of a universal escape tool? If not, I'm not entirely too fussed. I mostly just want to keep the system in media mode and invoke explorer when I need to.