Another week down, and another weekend is upon us.  This was another week where I had a difficult time choose the picks for this week.  I shouldn't complain though because that is actually a good thing. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Conspiracy for CursorFX by J. Aroche J. Aroche always comes through with some great CursorFx themes.  I especially like the animations on this one.
	Conspiracy for Iconpackager by J. Aroche Well I guess the cursor theme was made to match something, and that is this superb icon pack.  Over 100 icons in this pack.  Great job.
	Twilight Zone 3 for LogonStudio Vista by DEVJIT This is the LogonStudio Vista version of DEVJIT's wallpaper, both are great, but I thought this looked really good at the logon.
	Wood Glass Dock Backgrounds for ObjectDock by Mirsguy This set of dock backgrounds for ObjectDock has a wood and glass look.  Beautiful design!
	Warp13 in Wallpapers by Boom13 This is a really stunning wallpaper, and looks really good with the Stardust WB skin.
	Port in Wallpapers by LightStar Very minimalist and a perfectly clean design.  I hope to see more of this style of wallpaper added to the gallery.
	Temple Oblivion in WindowBlinds by kittymalone The details in this skin are amazing.  I can't image how long it took kittymalone to get this done, but the work definitely paid off.

Great job to everyone featured this week.  The galleries are full of more submissions, so take the time to see all the other works that you might have missed this week.  See you next week!

WindowBlinds 6.1 was recently released, and one of its new features is the ability to change the background in Windows Explorer.  This is a really cool feature, and adds another level of customization to Windows.  There are several ways you can customize the Explorer backgrounds.  There are over 20 included backgrounds you can change them to, and you can also change the color and opacity. 

You can find these options in the "Explorer Backgrounds" tab under the "Look & Feel" section in the WindowBlinds configuration.

As you see in the screenshot below, you have the Explorer background preview which will show you the changes you make in real-time.  The bottom portion of the configuration is divided for the active and inactive backgrounds, but the functions are the same for each.

To change to one of the included backgrounds, simply click the box and a list will come up showing the various styles available.  Select the one you want, and if no further customization is needed, just hit "apply changes" and the background will apply.

Using the Hue, Saturation, and Opacity sliders you can further adjust the background image to your liking.  If you just want to add transparency then just select the default background.  You can see your changes in the preview window, and when you are finished, just apply your changes.  Take note that transparency is only available on Windows Vista.

This is a pretty simple to setup, but has very powerful looking effects.  Remember, if you want to get back to the default settings, just click the "reset defaults" button and apply.  Here are some examples of how the Explorer backgrounds can look with some of these settings applied.

You can find more information about WindowBlinds and its other features at the link below.

Link: WindowBlinds

When it comes to skinning the OS, I'm a fanatic. I've been into changing the look and feel of the OS for nearly 15 years now.  From Object Desktop on OS/2 to working on the very first GUI skinning program on Windows, skinning is a passion of mine.

Over the years, I've seen a lot of programs, companies, and ideas come and go.  On the software side, there's been great programs like eFX and Chroma (to name two) along with the ubiquitous WindowBlinds.  On the content side, there's been teams of artists who have created some cool stuff like Pixtudio, The Skins Factory, SkinPlant, LIghtStar, and so forth.

When Windows XP came out, all of the third-party skinning engines went by the wayside except for WindowBlinds. WindowBlinds had an advantage in that Windows XP came with a skinning engine called uxtheme that was essentially a derivative of WindowBlinds 2 (i.e. they function the same way, have very similar formats, etc.). So rather than being hurt by XP, WindowBlinds got a free boost.

So back in 2001, the skinning world kind of branched into two groups. You had those who used WindowBlinds to skin Windows XP and you had those who used uxtheme to skin Windows XP.  Each solution had its own pros and cons. 

WindowBlinds costs money ($19.95) but had a much wider variety of skins and was a superset of features of uxtheme. 

On the other hand, uxtheme was free but to use it, users had to apply a patch to crack the theme protection. Microsoft didn't want people making skins for uxtheme so they added digital signing protection to their skins. To get around that, hackers patched out that check and allowed the creation of third-party skins for it called msstyles.

So the division in groups largely rested on whether the 20 bucks for WindowBlinds was a sticking points. The people who went with WindowBlinds would say that they have a lot more skins, could use any msstyles skin converted to WindowBlinds and had a lot more features. Users of uxtheme rationalized their choice by pointing out it was free and it wasn't hard to patch the file.

And so for 7 years the two skinning communities developed on a parallel course. WindowBlinds, being a commercial product, continued to be developed over that time. uxtheme, of course, remained unchanged.  Some companies began making skins for money. The first were Pixtudio, The Skins Factory, and Skinplant. They all made skins for WindowBlinds.  But others made pro skins for uxtheme such as LightStar. 

In 2006, Stardock, the makers of WindowBlinds had a new idea for skinning called MyColors.  The idea was that Stardock would create a new group called Stardock Design and go out and partner up with major brands starting with sports teams and universities to sell branded themes. These themes would have the necessary software embedded in them. To make this happen, Stardock Design would also need artists.

The existing studios such as Pixtudio, The Skins Factory, and Skinplant simply couldn't produce enough content per year.  Instead, Stardock Design went out and brought in house the skinners who made up these studios. All of Pixtudio and Skinplant work at Stardock. 

This is where things get interesting...

The owner of The Skins Factory saw Stardock Design as a competitor and relations between the two soured. Moreover, The Skins Factory made it clear that it was going to work to create its own skinning solution rather than rely on Stardock's solution so that it wasn't dependent on what it perceived as a competitor.

Since The Skins Factory was (and still is) a one or two man shop that contracts freelance artists, the steady work at Stardock Design in creating content for major brands led some of the free lancers to join Stardock full time which further soured things with The Skins Factory.

Thus "HyperDesk" was born. Hyperdesk was discussed on WinCustomize considerably so I won't go into all the technical details here. Since it isn't released at the time of this writing, I have to go by informed speculation. It is essentially a uxtheme patch combined with a theme manager that will apply icons, wallpaper, along with specific support for applying skins to specific applications (like Winamp or Media Player).  The problems with patching system files are well known, particularly the long term viability of patching uxtheme.dll from a consumer point of view.

Now for the commentary:

Hyperdesk and MyColors are similar in that the idea is to let people buy a "theme". You want your desktop to look have a complete look? Don't want to mess with a bunch of programs to do it? Then just buy the theme and with the press of a button Hyperdesk or MyColors will apply it.

Hyperdesk seems to go with the longstanding Skins Factory tradition of quality over quantity. Ironically, because they're stuck with uxtheme, they're very limited on the GUI skinning (it's no coincidence that their teasers are limited to shots of the media player as the few hints of the actual skins are pretty typical 8+ year old msstyles based tech which is pretty bland now). They will be hard pressed to approach the quality in their existing portfolio. That's because their existing portfolio was based on the technology that serves as the precursor of MyColors.

MyColors, by contrast, is powered by something that can offer better quality but the need for quantity to get serious distribution attention has spread Stardock Design thin.  This means that there just isn't the marketing bandwidth to spend the time to create an incredible web presentation.

The presentation of say the Hyperdesk Sony Ericson skin absolutely blows away the presentation for MyColors themes.

For example:

MyColors Mustang vs. Hyperdesk Ericson

But you'll notice that they aren't showing very much. They show one icon (which ironically was made by someone who works at Stardock) and just bits of GUI. But the presentation if first rate.  The MyColors Mustang page, by contrast, looks like an Amazon.com page or something.

Because Hyerdesk hasn't been released yet, I can't comment on the actual quality of the Ericson suite.  I can point out some facts that The Skins Factory has made public.  First, it won't support Vista which, in 2008, is pretty catastrophic.  The number of people so into skinning that they'd pay money for premium themes but have stuck with XP is not very large. Secondly, unless Hyperdesk gets a miracle soon, there won't be any significant distribution channels. The uxtheme patching means he won't be getting it preloaded (not to mention the lack of Vista support) and he has no native channels to get started in which has relegated to him to having to post "teasers" in forums.  In fact, this article is probably the most significant publicizing Hyperdesk has received so far.

The thing about selling these all-in-one themes is that it's based on conversation rates. That is, N% (where N is typically less than 2%) of people exposed to it in a significant way will actually buy something.  So if you get 1,000 people to download and try Hyperdesk (or MyColors) you might get 10 to 20 of them to pay for it. 

A decent theme made by non-slave labor costs tens of thousands of dollars to make.  Let's say $10,000 to break even on a minimal theme. If you sell your theme for say $12.95 you're probably netting around $10. This is assuming it's an inspirational theme (i.e. has no royalties attached to it).  To break even, you have to sell 1,000 of them. That means you have to have a channel that can get 100,000 people exposed to it. That's a lot of people - just to break even. And I'm being cheap on the cost.  It costs Stardock Design more than that to produce a suite once you count associated costs.

Worse for Hyperdesk, even if they somehow get a uxtheme patch solution for Vista, the msstyles format on Vista is completely different and doesn't have a nice editor like XP msstyles did.  At the very least, it would require creating a whole new msstyles for Vista which would increase the cost.  So now you're probably closer to $20,000 to produce a single theme -- and this is if it's purely original work. If you were doing, say a Disney based theme, you would have royalties and upfront payments and approvals involved which drive up the costs even further.

The Business Model

Now everything I mentioned here were things we considered when doing MyColors.  The only way MyColors succeeds is if it gets massive distribution. That means getting preloaded or doing special distribution deals with major brands. That's why MyColors uses WindowBlinds OEM technology (its skin format is a bit more restrictive to ensure maximum compatibility). It's also why it includes gadgets. Gadgets can be branded and remote control any media player instead of having to make a skin for a specific media player. 

Over the past year, Stardock has signed on several major distributors and PC makers to begin phasing in MyColors distribution. So by end of this year, MyColors will be on millions of computers.  But this was only possible because a) MyColors doesn't tamper with system files and MyColors has a library of hundreds of themes. Those were the two pre-requisites because most distributors aren't that interested in distributing something that brands them as much as finding ways to generate measurable increases in revenue using their massive distribution. 

And that combination is what I think will be the death blow to Hyperdesk.  You can argue I'm biased or whatever but you can look at the facts for yourself:

• Companies with big distribution channels aren't that interested in increasing their "brand awareness" with a skin because they already have massive brand awareness because they have big distribution channels.
• The above companies generate additional income by selling things through their massive distribution channels
• These companies will only include things likely to make a lot of money which in this case means a large library of content
• These companies will not tolerate support issues from what they bundle. Hence, something that patches system files is DOA to them. People will flame WindowBlinds but the reality is, it has a long successful history of enterprise-level robustness when the content for it is provided by professionals.
• These companies will want to support the current version of Windows (obviously).

Without the above criteria satisfied, Hyperdesk can't get massive distribution. And without that, he's stuck selling to the hobbyist community - except Hyperdesk doesn't have a community to sell into. Posting on a personal page on deviantART isn't going to cut it and deviantART isn't going to get into the business of trying to sell a handful of premium themes on their site any time soon.

Now, does that mean you, the reader, shouldn't buy a Hyperdesk theme? Oh no. If it's good stuff, you should buy it. I will probably seriously consider buying Hyperdesk themes if I like the themes. I can, after all, always convert the msstyles to WindowBlinds to avoid patching anything and then I get to run it on Windows Vista.

You have heard a lot of Skype lately, mainly due to the fact that we use it to record the WinCustomize SkinCast.  It's a great way for people across the country, or world, to communicate and participate in podcasts.  While Skype has some advanced features, it's really easy to get the basics setup, and within just a few minutes you can be online.

Once you get it installed, just signup for your account, add some contacts, and you are pretty much set.  You do need some type of microphone and a broadband connection to use Skype. 

If you would like to participate in one of our SkinCasts, or would just like to leave a voice question or message for the show, then just PM me, e-mail me at sscott [at] stardock.com, or add me as a friend on Skype.  We can then arrange something from there.

Link: Skype

Yes, the week is finally over!  I have spent a bit more time in the galleries this week than usual, and I saw some really good stuff come through this week.  Now I get to share some of that with you, and always feel free to link to skins that caught your eye this week.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Bluerr in Bootskins by sydneysiders Change that plan default image to something really cool, like this "blue" boootskin by sydneysiders.  Very nice.
	Clockwork for CursorFX by Artur Berk A "clock from inside" is how Artur describes this, and that's a pretty accurate description.  This is a really cool so be sure to check it out.
	Grey Matter in DesktopX Themes by Richard Mohler Richard Mohler brings us a DX Theme week, and this theme has a slick sidebar, and several other matching widgets.  Fantastic theme!
	the_rose in Dreams by muckyman This .dream of a "spinning fractal" is a great addition to the .dream gallery, and works well with a wide variety of themes.
	Star Trek LCARS in ObjectDock Backgrounds by J-Nius LCARS skins are always cool, now we have an ObjectDock background to add.  Great job on this.
	Alpha Centauri SMX for SysMetrix by windoe Here is a SysMetrix skins made to match his new WindowBlinds skin.  Be sure to check that out as well.
	Galactic Spectrum in Wallpapers by Bebi Bulma Bebi says she spent about a week on this one, and it shows as it's come out looking fantastic.
	TransFactor for WindowBlinds by Themerboy Themerboy shares a new WindowBlinds skin with us, which has a really cool and sleek design.  This is for XP, and hopefully a Vista version is coming.

Lots of good stuff this week, and thanks to all the skinners who contributed.  See you next week!

Here is the screencast to accompany the article I wrote recently, which gives users an introduction to MyColors from Stardock.

Take Windows to the next level

A look at how to completely transform your Windows experience.

Executive Summary

Object Desktop is a suite of desktop enhancement utilities that can completely transform the Windows experience. Once installed, a user can literally remake Windows to fit their specific needs. Its capabilities include the ability to alter the Windows GUI, icons, display animated wallpaper, create and use widgets, and much more.

What’s new from Object Desktop 2007

Historically, there has just been Object Desktop. But over the years, the number of programs and features in Object Desktop grew to the point of being intimidating to new users. This year, Stardock took the path of creating two versions of Object Desktop:

• Object Desktop ($49.95)
• Object Desktop Ultimate ($69.95)

Object Desktop provides the core components of the suite to allow users completely customize the desktop experience. It does not include the various editors and utilities that Object Desktop Ultimate includes.

Figure 1: Object Desktop makes it easy to control the Windows experience

Specifications

Title: Object Desktop 2008
Publisher: Stardock Corp.
Price: $49.95, $34.95 to renew access to new features after 1-year.
Website: www.objectdesktop.com
Requirements: Windows XP, Windows Vista
Hardware: 1 GHz Processor or faster with at least 512MB of total system memory.

The Windows Experience: A Primer

If you wanted to change the Windows experience, what would you need to change? How would you do it?

First, you would need to consider the different pieces of your desktop experience:

1. You have the Windows graphical user interface (the GUI). This would be the windows themselves, the start bar, the buttons, and other standard controls you see.
2. You have the icons like folders, the Start menu icons, the recycle bin, and the dozens of default file types. As Apple has demonstrated, nice looking icons can significantly enhance the perceived “polish” of the desktop.
3. You have the wallpaper which is typically static but in an age of 3D accelerated video cards can now be animated without slowing down the computer. Windows doesn’t support animated wallpaper out of the box, however.
4. You have the sound scheme. That is, the start up sound, the logoff sound, and optionally sounds for virtually any activity on the desktop you may want.

What Object Desktop does is provide 4 programs to change each of those 4 pieces. In addition, it also includes a program called DesktopX (the X stands for eXtend) for users who want to extend their desktop with new features like widgets or sidebars and such).

And lastly, it includes a program that lets those 5 programs work together to apply premium themes created by professional designers.

With Object Desktop, there are, literally, thousands of free icon packages, WindowBlinds skins, DesktopX widgets and themes, and so forth. Plus there’s the professionally created MyColors themes. For users who are looking for the ultimate desktop experience, Object Desktop is a one-stop solution.

The Components

Object Desktop comes with 6 components. Each program is designed to allow users to customize a certain aspect of the Windows experience. These components are:

	WindowBlinds – WindowBlinds applies new visual styles to Windows. A visual style can change the title bar, title bar buttons, push buttons, radio buttons, scrollbars, the Start bar, and much more. New controls can be added to the user interface of Windows such as roll-up buttons, always on top buttons, media player controls, and more.
	DeskScapes – Give Windows Vista animated wallpapers. DeskScapes supports both video as animated wallpaper as well as dynamic animated wallpaper.
	IconPackager – IconPackager can apply “packages” of icons. A user who wants to change all their icons in one click would simply download a package of icons and apply them.
	MyColors – Apply premium MyColors themes to change your entire desktop experience in a single click. Object Desktop comes with several MyColors themes with additional ones available for purchase.
	DesktopX – Suites include all of the above into a single file called a .suite file. When a suite is applied your GUI can be changed, your desktop changed, your icons changed and gadgets added to your desktop to give your Windows experience a complete makeover both visually and functionally.
	SoundPackager – Windows no longer allows users to easily exchange different sound schemes. SoundPackager makes it very easy for users to exchange packages of sound schemes.

WindowBlinds

Figure 2: WindowBlinds lets users change the Windows GUI (title bars, push buttons, Start bar, etc.). Thousands of free skins are available to choose from.

WindowBlinds allows users to change the Windows graphical user interface. It works by applying a new “skin” to Windows XP or Windows Vista. It’s not commonly known but the default Windows XP and Windows Vista looks are actually “skins” that replace the “classic” look of Windows. WindowBlinds works by extending the “skin engine” of the operating system to support additional features including enhanced hardware acceleration, additional buttons, animations, free form borders, and much more.

Highlights of WindowBlinds:

• Enables users to add more visual styles to Windows.
• Can change the color or brightness of a visual style on the fly.
• Allows additional title bar buttons to be added (roll-up, always on top, MP3 player controls, etc.).
• Allows users to change their Internet Explorer and Explorer toolbar icons.
• Allows users to change their Windows progress animations.
• Supports hardware acceleration in nVidia and ATI cards to improve system performance.
• Right mouse click on title bar can be used to minimize applications.
• Supports different visual styles for different programs.
• Can skin non-theme aware applications.
• Supports animated Start menus

Figure 3: A WindowBlinds skin with an animated Start menu. Explorer background is semi-transparent.

Figure 4: WindowBlinds can move buttons, add buttons, add new functionality to the Windows GUI.

IconPackager

IconPackager allows users to change all their Windows icons at once by applying different sets of icons called “icon packages.” It also lets users create their own icon packages to save for later or distribute to others.

Figure 5: IconPackager allows users to apply packages of icons that can change virtually every icon in Windows.

Highlights of IconPackager:

· Can change icons on both Windows XP and Windows Vista

· Supports live-folder icon changing on Windows Vista (only program available that does this)

· Allows users to change the colors of icons on the fly.

· Will automatically upscale older icons to support the new Windows Vista icon format

· Thousands of icon packages available on the Internet for free.

Figure 6: A complete icon package can alter the Windows experience dramatically

Figure 7: Users can add effects and alter icons on the fly with IconPackager.

SoundPackager

SoundPackager is a program that makes it easy for users to manage various Windows sound schemes.

For years, sound schemes were very popular with consumers in the Windows 95 or 98 time line. When Microsoft went with the Windows NT code-base with Windows XP, the easy sound scheme support of the Win9x builds disappeared.

SoundPackager restores this functionality and takes it a step further by making it easy for users to package and customize their own sound schemes.

Figure 8: SoundPackager UI

DesktopX

DesktopX does what its name implies – extends the Windows desktop. The previous programs of Object Desktop customize existing elements of the Windows experience. DesktopX is there to let people take Windows a step further.

DesktopX is arguably the most powerful desktop enhancement program in existence. It can create user interfaces that exist virtually anywhere. Docks can be made with it. Sidebars. Entire new shells. Even video games have used DesktopX for creating their UIs (including the award-winning Galactic Civilizations and The Political Machine).

DesktopX breaks down user interface creation to its fundamental component: Objects. These objects can be put together to create things like widgets or to build entire desktops:

Figure 9: Individual objects

Figure 10: Objects can be given functionality and combined together to create widgets

Figure 11: Or objects can be put together and used to build entire Windows desktops.

Object Desktop 2008 includes DesktopX 3.5 which can even create Windows sidebar gadgets!

Figure 12: An individual object

DesktopX works by extending Windows support true desktop objects. A user can create a new object onto their desktop and then assign what it looks like to different states. Users can use Javascript or VB Script to give the objects functionality and DesktopX supports animation as well. When done, users can export their creations as either a widget, a Sidebar gadget, or a desktop depending on what their goal is.

If this seems too much for the casual user that’s because it is. Most users will simply make use of the thousands of objects, widgets, and desktops created by other users that are available on WinCustomize.com (Stardock’s customization website). But other users who are interested in dabbling in development or just want to create something cool can do so as well.

MyColors

Figure 13: MyColors allows the components of Object Desktop to work together by applying MyColors themes.

MyColors is a new feature of Object Desktop whose themes contain everything the user needs. A user of Object Desktop will receive at least 4 free MyColors themes over the course of a year after purchase with additional premium themes available for purchase (typically for $8 apiece unless it’s licensed content).

MyColors uses the various parts of Object Desktop (WindowBlinds for the GUI, IconPackager for the icons, SoundPackager for the sounds, DesktopX for the gadgets, DeskScapes for animated wallpaper) to apply MyColors themes.

MyColors provides a great way for users who don’t want to hunt down quality content to simply press a button and have the desktop they want. Put another way, MyColors lets users who only care about the themes to focus on that.

Impulse

Impulse is Stardock’s next-generation digital distribution client. It will not be formally launched until June 17^th but Object Desktop users are able to make use of it now.

Figure 14: Impulse in action

Impulse allows Object Desktop users to download updates and new features to Object Desktop as they are made available. It takes care of installing and configuring for the user. It can even keep track of themes.

Having Impulse available to Object Desktop users before the rest of the world is one of the hallmarks of Object Desktop – it lets users see the future today. Impulse also allows users to access features of Object Desktop that are still in beta if they so choose.

On June 17^th, 2008, Impulse will be made available to the general public and allow users to purchase software from most of the major PC game publishers as well as a growing number of utility and application developers and publishers. It includes community support, blogging, live chat with the Stardock team and much more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are questions we receive from reviewers and end users on a regular basis.

Q: Will Object Desktop slow down my system?

A: In general no. In most cases it should make Windows perform faster thanks to extended use of hardware acceleration.

However, some content is designed for more of a visual punch and that can come at the cost of performance. For instance, DeskScapes supports playing video as an animated wallpaper. But playing video as your wallpaper will affect performance some since the video has to be decoded.

Q: What do I get when I purchase Object Desktop?

A: Object Desktop includes all of its components, plus a full year of updates, along with any new programs added to Object Desktop during that year. At the end of the year, users can renew their access to new updates and new components at a discounted price of $34.95.

Q: MyColors is new, I don’t like the idea of paying for themes.

A: An Object Desktop user can turbo-charge their Windows experience without having to pay for any content. However, for those users who want professionally designed themes, MyColors premium themes are an option. Object Desktop users get 4 premium MyColors themes for free each year.

Q: Impulse is the new distribution client, what about the old one? Stardock Central?

A: Existing users of Object Desktop can continue to use Stardock Central to manage their digital content. It will be supported for the foreseeable future.

Q: Does Object Desktop support 64-bit Windows Vista?

A: Yes.

Q: What about Object Desktop Ultimate?

A: Object Desktop Ultimate targets power users. It costs $20 more but adds programs such as IconDeveloper, Keyboard LaunchPad, ObjectBar, SkinStudio, TweakVista, and WindowFX.

After a full year of effort, Stardock has officially launched MyColors to the general public.

Users in the skinning community are already familiar with MyColors but to recap:

MyColors makes applying premium suites a snap. A MyColors theme includes everything a user needs to completely transform the Windows experience - a new Windows GUI, a new set of icons, gadgets, wallpaper, etc. 

MyColors includes all the technology needed to apply the theme and the technology itself is provided for free. Instead, the focus is on the actual content -- the MyColors themes.  The NBA, NHL, Ford, General Motors, the NCAA, and others have teamed up with developer Stardock to create premium MyColors themes.

Now available on CNET, MyColors includes the "Diamond theme" which gives Windows XP and Windows Vista users a glimpse at Aero Diamond (one of the concepts Microsoft considered for Windows Vista before going with Aero glass).  Diamond includes a completely new icon set, gadgets and more.

Users who already have WindowBlinds or Object Desktop can still download MyColors and get the Diamond MyColors theme, it will simply install the component parts into the appropriate locations.

The Diamond MyColors theme is free and MyColors itself is freeware. For those who don't want to purchase additional themes, at the very least you get an outstanding stand alone suite at no cost that gives Windows XP users the Windows Vista look and Vista users a glimpse at how Aero might have been done.

Screenshots:

Download: mycolors.stardock.com

Friday is finally here, and it took way too long to get here.  I'm starting to see a slight slowdown in skins, so I hope that is just something temporary. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Maja Pearl CXP for CursorFX by Xiandi Xiandi gives us another great looking cursor theme this week.  Great job.
	Rogue Proton Meters in DesktopX Widgets by philmar83 Here is a set of meters that are made to match the very popular Rogue Proton WindowBlinds skin.
	Aphrodite's Necklace in Dreams by TheMasterBaron This is another unique, but beautiful .dream from TheMasterBaron.  Be sure to download this one.
	MB-AesTeK for IconPackager by ModBlackmoon Icon packs are starting to roll in again, and here is another fantastic addition by ModBlackmoon.
	Conspiracy My Computer in ObjectDock Icons by J. Aroche This is a new series J. Aroche is working on, and I can say it's off to a great start.  Check the galleries for more of this series.
	The Lighthouse in Wallpapers by kenwas A beautiful landscape scene of a lighthouse, and this make a nice addition to a Spring desktop.
	Underwater 4 in Wallpapers by vlad This wallpaper looks so good on the desktop.  I really would like to see something like this as a .dream.
	Rogue Proton G for WindowBlinds by I.R. Brainiac You should know what to expect from an I.R. Brainiac skin....nothing but pure creativity.  This XP skin has several colors available, and several matching accessories as well.

Be sure to check the skinners personal sites on WinCustomize for more of their works.  Great job to everyone who submitted work this week.  See you next week!