I was taking a look through the WindowBlinds gallery, and I came across a bunch of new and updated WindowBlinds skins for Windows XP and Vista.  I even see some skinners have already started updating their themes for Windows 7. 

Get more info about WindowBlinds at www.windowblinds.net and find out how you can change your Windows desktop to cool skins like these.

Pandora by TomRichter

Carbon Fibre GTV by Mirsguy

Simplicity (Vista) by Sc4rfy

Tracer by theAVMAN

Here we are on our sixth edition of ILDX and halfway through the year. As promised, this issue we’ve got another Community Spotlight: Master Vad_M, generally known as the DX Coding King. And if I’ve learned anything from this interview it’s that hard work, persistence, and a penchant to learn really do pay off.

In an effort to keep the reading time down, Tips and Tricks is on hiatus until next month.

But first, the picks!

Outstanding General Info

Tracer Widget by philmar83

This is a simple, compact, information widget. It has weather, calendar, processor, drives, and network activity. I’m especially liking the Tracer look and this is a great addition to the whole suite.

Great job by the author.


Most Original / Creative

Wing Widget Deluxe by Anakey

I love the dragon. It’s very detailed and something out of the ordinary. The design overall is very consistent from the scaly background, to the fancy font style and the gemstone-looking meters. The widget includes weather, meters, system information, media player, calculator, calendar, volume control, and an analog clock—hence the ‘deluxe’.

Overall, it’s a well executed creation.


Most Innovative / Resourceful

dxPerspector by Skarnivorous

It seems every time Skarn puts something out I’m amazed at what can be achieved with DesktopX. This time he’s created a Perspector. What’s a perspector, you ask? The dxPerspector takes an image, any image, and transforms it so it appears to have perspective. You really have to see it to know what I’m talking about:

The imagemagick.dll is the real power behind this widget, and you can see the widget’s page for more information on that. If you’re using Vista, like me, the script (to date) won’t work for you, but with a few changes I got it to perspectate successfully! (See the comments section on the widget’s page)

There’s a lot DX can do and the ability to utilize plugins gives DX that much more power.


Theme of the Month

Tracer DX by RedneckDude

Did I mention I just love the look of the Tracer theme? It’s cool, smooth, seamless and eye-catching with nice details like the animation on the start menu. All the standard goodies are included.

Overall, the author has pulled off a striking composition; not a single thing looks out of place or inconsistent. It’s a true testament to how big a contender he is in the DX theme arena. This theme will be on my desktop for a good while.

Master Vad_M has been a member of WinCustomize since 2004. From his first skin to his latest, he’s produced some of the most astounding gadgets, widgets, and themes on this site. You name it and he's probably already done it. Here are just a few of his works:

Vad recently became a Master in 2008, and he continues to earn his keep with every skin he uploads and with all the help and advice he continues to give on the forums. He’s truly an integral part of the DX community. Without further ado, I give you Vad_M.


ILDX: Most of us just know you as the Master DX Coder. Would you like to share a little more about yourself?

Vad_M: What can I say? Long ago, I was an engineer and worked on repairing and setting up computers. Then I worked on 3D graphics and visual effects for TV a few years. But I've never been a programmer and I didn't know anything about VBScript and coding until I found DX on the internet at the end of 2004.

I was so struck by the possibility to change Windows UI and create widgets/gadgets/themes that I began to learn DXScript and VBScript. It took about 3 years until I understood how make a scripts. It was hard work... However, my widgets can do all that I want on my desktop at the present. And I'm really happy.

-How'd you come across DX and what about it appealed to you?

There was one reason - my sons just showed me how modify Windows UI with StyleXP. And I began to use it. Then I found WindowBlinds and DesktopX and understood that Stardock's software is more powerful and useful. I uninstalled StyleXP, bought DesktopX Pro, Object Desktop, ObjectBar, ObjectDoc etc... and began to work on Windows modifying. It was around 5 years ago...

-What in your background do you think helped you do well at DX, specifically DX scripting? Did you have a lot of prior experience or did you learn as you went?

As I told earlier, I didn't have any experience with scripting. I began to learn VBScript day-by-day through Internet (with Google) because I understood that only my own knowledge will allow me to make my own, original widgets/gadgets.

During a few years, my motto was - never use the old scripts! I always tried to create (add) new methods to increase the functionality and usability of widgets each time I began a new project. Now you may see the final of this way - skinnable DX Clock with full support for WindowBlinds.

Honestly, I had planned to make a complete series of similar widgets (ToDo, Weather, Programmable Calendar with Events, Productivity Meters, etc...). But my experiment with selling Master Skins showed me that this has no sense. So much work but so little support from the community... As a result I've stopped all projects and I'm not sure that you will see something else from this series here...

-About your widget-making process: How do you come up with an idea for a gadget or widget? Is it born out of necessity, or just experimenting?

Seems to be both things together. For example what do we need to know about weather? This may be a simple widget like "made in Wincistomize" that show us simple messages.
Or a more complex tool like WeatherLab which shows you a lot of details like weather forecast for hours, days and nights, moon phases changing, etc... I nearly finished the 7th version of this gadget which will contain:

1. Temperature diagram for the nearest 36/48 hours.
2. Weather forecast for the nearest 36/48 hours, 10 days and 10 nights.
3. Changing of Moon Phases for nearest 10 nights.
4. Detailed Text forecast for nearest 10 days.
5. Navigation Display which show coordinates of "Home" and "Current" locations. As well as time difference and distance between these two points on the World Map.
6. A special display which show animated Images like Doppler Radar (for US, Canada and Greenland), Satellite, Weather forecast, Cloudy, Precipitation, High/Low Temperature etc...
And many, many other...

This is exactly my approach to gadget development - many different functions in one complex gadget instead of many simple functions in a few simple gadgets.

- With DX, starting a project is one thing, finishing it can be a vexing process. What drives you to create the amazing (and complex) skins we've seen from you over the years?

Just my Great Love of DesktopX and widgets/gadgets development. Now this is my Main and Lovely Hobby. Why download something from Wincustomize if I can make the same things but much better? And then upload them to the WC for other people.

-On average, how long does it take to complete a project? Which of your skins took the longest to make?

Hmmm... It took from 1 week to many, many days, weeks, months and even years... For example, I've worked on SD Desktop more than 1 year. As well as I continue my work on WeatherLab which was created about 3 years ago! As you can see, there are very different values...

-Which of your creations are you most proud of and why?

There are a few things:

1. SD Desktop - because I was able to combine the functions of more than 10 complex gadgets in it.
2. WetherLab - because this is the best and most powerfull Weather Informer around.
3. Rainbow Clock - because this is the first (and seems the last) gadget totally integrated with Stardock WindowBlinds.

- Willistuder is curious about the new desktop you're working on (mentioned in the description of Chronos.) Can you tell us about that? Will it be like SD Desktop?

I had a grandiose plan to create the next generation of SD Desktop for Vista/Windows 7 called "Chronos". It would be (or precisely - "may be") the incredible and complex tool for desktop! But I've stopped this project on the same reason as "skinnable" gadgets, sadly, but I don't see a sense to continue this "game" right now. May be later?

-RedneckDude wants to know if you'll be making more widgets or objects in future, so we can learn from the scripts. I know you've mentioned before that you're more inclined to do gadgets in future. Would you like to share how you came to that decision?

The problem is that only people who have DesktopX installed can use "widgets". But the "gadget" can be run on any computers with Windows. So I think that gadgets are more universal and useful than widgets. I can make widgets with Script Examples in future. But all of the finished projects will be saved as a gadgets only. Besides I paid money for DesktopX Professional which first of all is designed for creation of standalone gadgets.

- In the April edition of ILDX, I opinied on the market for DesktopX and what I thought could be done to expand DX's user base. What are your thoughts on the future of widget-making and DesktopX? What areas need improvement?

This is very complex question for me. I'm not an expert in the marketing or software development. So I can't give any advices for a professionals that I'm sure are working for Stardock. However I think that widgets have no future if we do not see a new and really "revolutionary" version of DesktopX in the nearest half of a year. Otherwise DesktopX may die like ObjectBar...

-Finally, why do you love DesktopX?

Because it helped me to find a new Great Hobby and learn VBScript. A little time and I'll be a programmer! May be it will be even my next job?
So big thanks to Stardock for this Great Software. And I hope that it will be alive at least in the next 10 years that will give me (and no doubt - all of us) much more pleasure...

---

Thank you, Vad_M, for your time, and for all the amazing skins you’ve shared with the community.

Be sure to check out his gallery here -- LINK



Got questions you'd like to ask a fellow DXer? A nominee for DX community spotlight? Content suggestions? Drop me a PM or EMAIL.

Until next month, happy DXing!

After a nice long weekend last week, TWiS is back and with it’s brand new icon courtesy of MindlessPuppet from our TWiS icon contest. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Weather goody R & L by Richard Mohler I like how this gadget fits into the side of your desktop, and looks like it came with Windows.
	Leviathan by CarGuy1 The color of this looks amazing on my desktop, and the animation is smooth as usual.
	Pure handwork by tongzhenming This ‘08 GUIC entry is just an amazing set of icons.  Very unique and detailed.
	Internet by Libardo I was looking for some new icons for ObjectDock, and this one just happened to catch my eye this week.
	The Knight and the Lady by vlad I always enjoy the wallpapers from vlad.  They just have such a beautiful and creative design.
	Laguna by essorant This new Master skin by essorant is awesome.  It’s a minimal skin with great use of colors.

Another month has passed and so I bring you another edition of "I Love DesktopX." Community Spotlight is coming up next month, and this time I thought I'd include a few questions from you guys. Our interviewee is none other than Master Vad_M! So, you've got all month to come up with some good questions for him on DesktopX and the world of widget-making, and get them to me.

On to the picks!

Outstanding General Info

Stargate Clock by Doubird

I deliberated a while in this category, as there were quite a few skins that caught my eye this month. One of the reasons I wanted to do this article series was to give more exposure to not just the best of the best of DX, but the up and coming DX enthusiasts as well.

Therefore, I’d like to give it up for Doubird. This author submitted four creative general information widgets last month and out of those, I like Stargate Clock the best.

Having a look at his gallery, you can see that creativity is evident in all his skins as no two widgets are alike.

An all around great effort by the author.

Most Original / Creative

Worms Hopping Sheep by 3Mo0

DX needn’t be all about productivity or displaying information on your desktop. Nay, I say! Sometimes you’ll just whip up something for your own amusement. This is one of those objects.

I like it for the sheer LOL factor. It’s a sheep that runs across your screen width (with a minor modification to the script) and hops over your mouse, should it be in the sheep’s way. I had this running in the background for a long while. It’s fun to play around with if you’re bored or just need a laugh.

Most Innovative / Resourceful

Chronos (W) by Vad_M

Another beautiful widget by Vad_M. The description says it all: moon phases, day/night indicator, CPU usage, RAM, drive meters, system information, and an analog clock all in one cool package. If you don’t need the analog clock, you can double-click to move the hands out of the way.

Plus, it’s a widget, which means you can study his scripts to learn how to do all kinds of cool stuff! Which I find similar to studying Einstein’s work to learn basic algebra.

I kid, I kid. Download it. Enjoy it. And if you’re so inclined, have a gander at the script. Ya might learn sumthin’.

DX Theme of the Month

Naked DX by RedneckDude

We’ve all seen them streaking WinCustomize, them nekkid skins. With the advent of Naked WB by vStyler, it seems May was the month to go au naturel.

In keeping with the ‘stripped down’, yet tasteful look, Jim has created a DX theme to match the WB. From the screenshot, you might think, “Where’s the rest of it?” But it’s all there: meters, shortcuts, media, weather, clock, and calendar, all in one central object.

It’s compact and the graphics are really streamlined. This, like much of the Naked suite, has a really airy and lightweight look, which can give your desktop a much more spacious feel.

With this version, it’s best to use a medium to darker wallpaper, but Jim’s also created the Noir version which is darker and works on lighter walls.

It’s another winner from RedneckDude.

Happiness Runs in a Circular Motion

“How can I make an object move in a circular motion?” A similar question was posed on the forums once before. I scratched my head and said it had something to do with a complicated algorithm.

Fast forward to 2008: I’m working on an information starfield theme/widget, which I called the ‘Infomatrix.’ I need to know how to clone an object several times and arrange the clones in a circumference around the first.

Google to the rescue, and I found the pertinent piece of code.

Fast forward to 2009: I’m working on theme called ‘Microbe: Red’. I figure it’d be cool to have one free molecule moving in a circular motion. I scratch my head and figure it has something to do with a complicated algorithm.

Light bulb goes off. I take the original code I found on google and modify it with a timer and some other adjustments. A couple hours of hammering out the details later, and happiness runs in a circular motion!

To do this, you’ll need two objects; one acts as the center point, and the other moves in a circle.

Create 2 objects:

“circ_center”
“circ_mover”

This script goes in “circ_center”:

Dim MovingObject,deg,dir,r,t

MovingObject = "circ_mover" '--Name of circulating object
dir = 1 '--Direction: 1 = clockwise, 2 = counter-clockwise
r = 100 '--Radius
t = 50 '--Degrees in a full rotation, i.e., how many points along the circumference: more = slow, less = fast
 
'Called when the script is executed
Sub Object_OnScriptEnter
 object.SetTimer 1, 10
End Sub

Sub Object_OnTimer1
 Circulate
End Sub

Sub Circulate
 a = (3.1415296 * deg / t)
 x = object.left + Int(object.width/2)
 y = object.top + Int(object.height/2)
 xa = round(x + r*cos(a))
 ya = round(y + r* sin(a)) 
 nx = xa - Int(DesktopX.Object(MovingObject).width/2)
 ny = ya - Int(DesktopX.Object(MovingObject).height/2)
 DesktopX.Object(MovingObject).move nx,ny
 If dir = 1 Then
  deg = deg + 1
  If deg > (t*2) Then deg = 0
 Else
  deg = deg - 1
  If deg < 0-(t*2) Then deg = 0
 End If
End Sub

Now this is mostly experimental, but as far as I know it works. The only stuff in the code that needs adjusting are the four variables listed at the top. That’s it.

Goings-On in the Community

Well, I had a look round to see what all goes on and looky here --  LINK

Two new themes in the works by RedneckDude: Tracer and Excalibur. They are part of two community suite projects lead by AVMAN, and comprised of several outstanding artists.

I have to say, Tracer DX is looking AWE-some! I had a chance to play around with it, and my oh my! You will want to get it as soon as it's available.

And here’s something interesting -- LINK

Prometheus Dark by Automan. It looks to be chock-full of useful functions, from weather radar, to media player. Can’t wait to see the finished product.

OCCAM is still in the works -- LINK

Keep up the good work, Po. The suspense is killing me on this one! But who am I to talk? It’s been 5 months since I started my current WIP.

So what goes on with you fellow DXers? Working on your first DX skin? Need help getting started, moving forward, or just finishing up some last function that won’t cooperate? Share with us and see what the community has to say.

And don't forget those questions for Vad_M next month. PM or EMAIL them to me, or post in the replies here. Until next time, happy DXing!

The end of the month is just about here, and another weekend is upon us.  This is an especially great week as we have the TWiS icon contest voting going on.  If you haven’t seen the finalists, head over to this thread to check them out and vote.

Now for this weeks picks!

	CEP by Richard Mohler A beautiful cursor set that has a design that can match so many themes.
	Naked Clocks by theAVMAN The Naked WB skin has some great accessories, this one is a set of clocks to match.
	Motion by NGTV This is an awesome, subtle .dream that makes great use of colors.
	Little Chromys by ahabkaba This is a sleek set of tiles for ObjectDock.  Great job!
	Dark Horizons by welshdragon I just really enjoy the design of this.  Looks great on the desktop.
	Skyui Offical Theme [XP] by skyui08 This WindowBlinds skin is from the ‘08 GUI Champs, and I really like the bold colors used.

Long weekend!  I think Fridays that are before a long weekend are always much better, and to end off this week we have another edition of This Week in Skinning!  We have some great skins from the past week, so lets get right into it.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Naked DX by RedneckDude Naked is just an awesome new WB theme, and here is a just as awesome DX theme to match.
	Peipir by PiscDong This was an entry in the ‘08 GUI Champs, and it’s a beautiful icon pack that works well with many themes.
	The Traveling Tree by vlad Another amazing wallpaper by vlad.  Just download it and see for yourself.
	Molten by Richard Mohler The colors in this wallpaper is what really caught my eye.  Great job!
	serenity (XP) by lleonbox Another GUI Champs ‘08 entry, which is a very clean and smooth WindowBlinds skin for XP.  Nice job.
	Modern Elegance by kittycat670 Here is a really cool Winstep theme, with a slick design.

The end of the week at last!  We had a great week, and a bunch of new skins, including some additions from the 2008 GUI Champs.  The wallpaper and WindowBlinds galleries were really moving this week, so be sure to check those out.

Now for this weeks picks!

	More Ribbons by CarGuy1 This is a real nice animated wallpaper, very smooth and nicely animated.
	Fortune Box by sc5vtuqi This icon pack is from the ‘08 GUI Champs, and it’s a beautiful set of icons.
	Magic Hat by ahabkaba This is just a beautiful wallpaper, simple but very creative.
	Bluebells by vlad This is another simple design, and like the one above, it looks stunning on the desktop.
	Criterion by essorant The latest Master skin from essorant is another winner.  Smooth lines and a slick design make this a must have.
	Waterwalk by TomRichter I can’t say much about this skin.  It’s just fantastic.  Download it, that’s all you need to do.

This has been another great week for skinning, but I’m starting to see the signs of the usual summer slowdown.  Lets not let it happen too much, so keep those skins rolling in.  I’m planning on some mini-contests this summer, along with some community projects I have in mind.  Any suggestions are welcome for summer activities.

Speaking of contests, the TWiS icon contest has produce some phenomenal icons already.  Keep them coming in and thanks to everyone for their support.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Signals V2 by DaRkFuSsioOn This DX theme has plenty of goodies, and has a great design to go with the other Signals V2 skins.
	Chronos (W) by Vad_M I’m always amazed at some of the cool things that Vad_M can do with DesktopX.
	Unconditional by werram/cacbig I just really like this image, and it looks great as a Vista logon.
	Mother Day by vlad Decorate mom’s desktop with this beautiful wallpaper from vlad.
	Nearing Shore by kenwas I was looking for a calming landscape scene, and this one fits the bill perfectly.  Great job.
	Gold by Kavel The colors in this wallpaper really stood out to me.  Wonderful work on this.
	StarFighter Vista by Vampothika As usual, a bold and brilliant design that is well worth the download.  XP version available as well.

Do you love DesktopX? You're reading this article so I'm assuming you do. If so, be sure to visit this thread: "What would you like to see in DX 4.x"

Lots of great ideas and suggestions being tossed about there, so head on over and put in your 2 cents. The future of DesktopX depends on it!!!

But first, the picks.

Outstanding General Info

Carbon Fibre GTV by Mirsguy

This is just a beautifully made combo widget. It includes weather, calendar, and a clock. I especially like the clock, but the entire package is very sleek.

Most Creative/Original

Tok 'Dok by HAPTORK

Haptork is one of my favorite DXers, so I'm always excited to see what he does next. And he's come out with this amazing widget.

It works just like a real dock. Drag and drop your shortcuts, delete, add a separator, configure the target, image, tooltip, and display properties.

I love the display effects, the 3D elliptical zoom & scrolling (how the heck did he do that?!) It has a boatload of controls for how the dock moves and displays, so you can tweak it to just the way you like it.

I know a ton of work must've gone into this thing and it definitely shows. My hats off to the author!

Most Innovative/Resourceful

DeskNotes by _Martin_

This gadget goes way beyond sticky notes. I'm not much of a desktop notes user, but this is the one I'd go with if I did.

Let's talk about the weather note; it's powered by WeatherBug.com so you get access to an amazing amount of information: video, maps, hundreds of more precise locations, and much more.

How about the stock note? You can watch stocks at a glance or open up the stock graph. It also quickly retrieves Yahoo! Finance feeds.

The RSS note works for the 5 majror news sites and it has quick access to different news categories.

It's also got a calednar note, clock note, and search note. Of course, you've got your note note, which is really more of a super note. There are so many useful options on that alone (hyperlink, alarm, pin on top, etc.,) you just have to try it for yourself.

Buy the pro version and you get tons more features and options.

Did I mention it comes with a user's manual? This is a profesional gadget made by a long-time DX expert. It is definitely worth downloading.

Theme of the Month

Alien Farstar DX by RedneckDude

Awesomeness. Yup. I think that prety much sums it up.

This theme matches the WB of the same name by madcat21. I love the color combination. It has a dark and menacing feel to it with the black semi-transparent elements. And it just looks good on the desktop.

It's fully loaded with the usual goodies: drag and drop menus, media, weather. This is Jim (in case you've not been around lately, PuterDudeJim is now RedneckDude,) so expect nothing less than the real goods.

Which is why I do have to make one teeny, teeny-tiny request form the DXtheme Extraordinaire: could we have some new images for the media buttons? We've seen a plethora of amazing styles from this artist over the years and I'd like to see him continue being unique and different.

Other than that, it's pure awesomeness! You must give it a spin.

Global Hue Changer (or brightness or size or...anything!)

DesktopX.Objects is another one of those features in DX that can be a very powerful function. It wasn't until _Martin_ offered a tip in the "What would you like to see in DX 4.x" thread (you think I've thread-dropped enough times?) that I realized how little known it was.

He's uploaded a very nice Multiple Object Manipulation Slider to the object gallery, and it's a great example on how to use this function.

Expanding on Martin's tip, I thought I'd show a few other ways you can use the DesktopX.Objects namespace. Since the point is to control several objects, you'll want to create three or four objects to see how these scripts work.

This first script will shift the hue of ALL objects in your project on l-click. Create an object; create a new script; copy and paste; apply.

'Called when L-click is released
Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, dragged)
 If dragged Then Exit Function
 For Each obj In DesktopX.Objects
  If obj.states("").hue => 255 Then
    obj.states("").hue = 0
   Else
    obj.states("").hue = obj.states("").hue + 10
  End If  
 Next
End Function

You could just as easily make obj.hue, obj.width, obj.left, or any other object property.

This one will toggle ALL objects in your project on l-click, except the toggle button. Create an object; name it "toggle"; create a new script; copy and paste; apply.

Dim ToggleButton

ToggleButton = "toggle"

'Called when L-click is released
Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, dragged)
 If dragged Then Exit Function
 For Each obj In DesktopX.Objects
  If obj.name <> ToggleButton Then
   If obj.visible = False Then
    obj.visible = True
   Else
    obj.visible = False
   End If
  End If
 Next
End Function

As you can see, with the .name property you can easily target specific objects to exclude from the action.

And for the heck of it, here's a script I use a lot to get the total number of objects in a collection that are NOT grouped. (To get the total number of grouped objects use: DesktopX.GroupObjects("groupname").count)

So I've got a bunch of objects I don't want grouped, for one reason or another, but I give them similar names--"point_1", "point_2", "point_3", etc. I can have this function search for and tally all the objects with "point_" in their names.

Again, DesktopX.Objects is the key. Using the same "toggle" object you created above, replace the entire script with the one below.

'Called when script is executed
Sub Object_OnScriptEnter
 SearchString = "toggle" '--string to look for
 TotalObjects = countObj(SearchString) '--call search function and assign value to variable
 msgbox "There are " & TotalObjects & " objects with" & Chr(34) & SearchString & Chr(34) & " in their name."
End Sub

'--Count how many similar objects not grouped--
Function countObj(strg)
 total = 0
 For Each elem In DesktopX.Objects
  'If string found in object name, add to total
  If Instr(elem.name,strg) > 0 Then total = total + 1
 Next
 countObj = total
End Function

The message box should say it found one object with "toggle" in its name.

So you can see there's a lot you can do with DesktopX.Objects. It's all explained HERE in the user's guide under Namespaces and Enumerators.

How to Get to the Market

People love stuff. What's more, they love stuff that does stuff. DesktopX is a program that makes stuff that does stuff.

There's lots of stuff people would love to have and use--you know, the "hey, I wish I had an XYZ that did ABC" type stuff.

You probably have an XYZ idea. There's probably tens of thousands of XYZ's out there, floating around in the minds of the masses. If only there were some program that could harness that creative energy and bring those ideas to fruition.

The ideas are there. So, I ask myself, why isn't there a mob of people using DesktopX? Where's the market?

If we get right down to it, many people love stuff that does stuff without them ever having to do stuff to make it do stuff. And if they have to do something, it better be as quick and painless as possible. Pick it up, turn it on, use it. Download, execute, done. Learning curve? Preferably not steep.

And that's where DesktopX stumbles; that's where widget-making in general stumbles, be it Yahoo, Apple, or whatever. The two major stumbling blocks, IMO, are scripting and configuring, otherwise known as painful & time-consuming.

As far as configuring, I've given my thoughts on an intuitive interface and one-click object creation in the aforementioned DX 4.x thread (one more mention wouldn't hurt,) so I won't become a broken record here.

But learning to script is like learning a second language. Having to script in order to create the really amazing widgets is akin to saying 'batteries not included.' How do we get around this stumbling block?

I imagine a truly easy-to-use widget engine would never have the user encounter coding. Ever. Unless they wanted to. That means creating a proxy by which they could add functions without knowing they're scripting.

Supposing you had a list of actions--something quite like the Filters in Photoshop: "Shift hue on l-click," "Shrink on mouse away," "Grow on mouse over," etc. All the user would have to do is select the action, enter a few settings, and DesktopX could build the script and put it into the object for you. Add to that the repository idea RomanDA has mentioned before and DesktopX could come with a whole library of scripts, ready to use.

I've said it before, I think accessiblity is the key to opening up DesktopX for the general market. The biggest obstacle is getting all these ideas implemented. There's not much we can do on the user end of the DesktopX community besides offer suggestions. In the end, it's all up to how much time, money, and resources Stardock is able to invest in upgrading and mainstreaming DesktopX. I understand they'd have to weigh whether that investment would be profitable, whether it's got a viable market, but I believe the market is there and it's broader than just the die-hards and coders; we just have to make DesktopX more accessible to them.

Of course, this is just my take. How do you think DesktopX can get to the mass market? Is it even possible or will DesktopX be another one of those much-loved but little-known softwares? Share your thoughts below.

Thanks for reading. Until next month, Happy DXing!

A new month starting on a Friday, but for some reason it seems like that should be reserved for a Monday.  Oh well, since it is Friday it’s time to catch up on the skins submitted to WinCustomize throughout the past week. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Signals V2 by DaRkFuSsIoOn A great cursor theme for CursorFX, with some slick animations.
	Clear view_gadget by Richard Mohler I have always enjoyed the clear view series, so I was happy to see some released as a gadget so anyone can use them.
	Light Mark Docks by Mirsguy These are made to match the Master skin from Z71, and what a perfect accompaniment they are.
	Windows 7 Alternative Default Wallpaper by vlad Master skinner vlad gives us his own take on the popular Win7 wallpaper.
	Designa by Lightstar Pink isn’t my thing, but this is still a great WindowBlinds skin with a beautiful design.