Suffering from Longhorn or Tiger envy?
Upgrading Windows with Object Desktop 2005
Thursday, May 5, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: OS Wars
With the recent release of MacOS X "Tiger" and Microsoft talking about the next major version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn", Windows 2000 and Windows XP users might be feeling a bit of tech envy. If so, Stardock has a cure for those OS blues in the form of Object Desktop 2005.
Object Desktop is actually a collection of OS extension utilities designed for Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP. When installed, users gain a host of new features that often go far beyond what future operating systems will provide. For example, Object Desktop 2000 was allowing users to "skin" the entire Windows UI, including the Start bar, before Windows XP was even a twinkle in Microsoft's eye. Object Desktop was providing features such as alpha bended shadows under windows before Apple had even coined the term "Aqua" to describe the MacOS X interface. And today, while Apple and Microsoft are playing technological leap-frog, Object Desktop 2005 has features that offer a glimpse of what may be coming to an operating system near you.
One of the features of Apple's new MacOS X Tiger operating system is "Dashboard". Dashboard allows users to add "widgets" that provide useful functionality and information on the desktop. Object Desktop 2005 not only has widgets but allows them to live on the desktop full time. Hot keys are available to show and hide them as needed but they can also live side-by-side with your desktop icons. It was Object Desktop that delivered enhanced, end user created, mini-application functionality onto the desktop long before anything similar appeared on Windows or Mac in the form of DesktopX (one of the programs that makes up Object Desktop). DesktopX, however, doesn't stop at just widgets. Users can literally design their own desktop environments with it and export them for later use or to share with others.
Another hot-topic in the "OS Wars" has been Avalon. Avalon is a new display system that debuts in its full form in Longhorn. It allows all kinds of interesting effects to be achieved on the desktop. But Windows users need not wait until Longhorn to get a small taste of what Avalon can do. Object Desktop 2005 has WindowFX, a program that lets users scale windows on the fly, create transition effects and window morphing, shadows, and a host of transparency options. And as the Longhorn beta approaches, Stardock is already at work to make sure Object Desktop takes full advantage of new features available in Longhorn for developers. For users who are looking to have their Windows desktops appear similar to Longhorn today, they can do that with WindowBlinds. WindowBlinds allows for enhanced visual styles to be applied that can change the look and feel of Windows completely. It also speeds up the drawing of windows when they're being moved and resized over the base "Luna" visual style in Windows. It's so powerful that Alienware recently licensed it to create their Star Wars based desktops.
But Object Desktop isn't just about making Windows look and feel better. It's about productivity and functionality. A new program in Object Desktop 2005 is RightClick. RightClick lets users replace their desktop right-click menu with one of their own creation that can have links to programs, system information, virtual desktops, and much more on it. It can be brought up at any time by hitting the Windows key and is powerful enough to be used instead of the Windows Start bar (and includes an option to hide the Start bar). Major updates to other programs that make up Object Desktop along with the inclusion of a new Object Desktop LaunchPad help make Stardock's award-winning package compelling to power users and administrators alike.
All told, Object Desktop includes nearly two-dozen programs and has won numerous awards including PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award. It's $49.95 for the whole suite and entitles the user to a year's access to ObjectDesktop.net where new programs and updates to existing programs to Object Desktop can be found. With Longhorn looming, that means users of Object Desktop 2005 will be able to get the best of both worlds and not have to worry that their Mac-using friends have something over them. After all, the upgrade for Mac users to Tiger is $129, over twice as much as Object Desktop costs.
Product: Object Desktop 2005
Developer: Stardock Corp. (www.stardock.com)
Price: $49.95
Requires: Windows 2000/XP.
|
Icon-A-Day, Icon # 86, RAM Drive
One for the power users.
Wednesday, May 4, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: Icons
| Icon 86 (RAM Drive) Today's icon is pretty obscure. Not many of us use RAM Drives these days, but it is supported in the default icons in an Icon Package. This one is always kind of odd, but I tend to use a Memory Chip. Today we will do the same. The techniques for doing today's icon are once more almost the same as the last two days. | ||
| Step 1: We will start with several rectangles, making up the basic shapes of our chip. .jpg) |
Step 2:
Now again we use the Perspective Tool to give our chip the basic perspective we want. |
Step 3: Now we need to add some depth to the icon. So I copy some of the rectangles, mirroring them and shading them to see if they work. .jpg) |
| Step 4:
Now to round the shape of the chip a bit, I replace the to main rectangles with two Mesh Rectangles. |
Step 5: Just to make the chip look a bit more realistic we give it some texture with our Interactive Transparency Techniques. |
Step 6: Now with some rectangles and the Text Tool we create some printing to go on the drive, using the Perspective Tool to lay the image on the chip. .jpg) |
| Step 7: Once more our last step is to polish it off with our Shadow and Reflection Techniques. .jpg) |
Finished Icon Image. .jpg) |
SS.jpg){kind=icon} Click here to download the finished icon. |
|
Tomorrow we will polish of the Default Drive types with the Removable Drive icon. | ||
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Icon-A-Day, Icon # 85, SD Card
Moving on through the Drive icons.
Tuesday, May 3, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: Icons
| Icon 85
(SD Card) Moving on through the Drive icons, these days I find myself using SD Cards as my primary form of flash memory. Since I use it the most I want to get it out of the way right away. The steps for this are almost identical to yesterdays icon. The only real different is the basic shapes. So lets do it. | ||
| Step 1: First we draw out the shapes of the media with several rectangles, tweaking them a bit with the node edit tool. .jpg) |
Step 2:
Once more we group our objects
together and use the Perspective Tool to lean our disk back. |
Step 3: Quickly we add some detail to the edge of the card with a few rectangles. I quickly fill in the shapes so that I can tell the shading is ok. .jpg) |
| Step 4:
Now we give the Card their final
colors, including the yellow lock. I also give the full card a bit of texture
with our
Interactive
Transparency Techniques. |
Step 5: Now using simple Text Tools and
the basic drawing tools to make an SD logo and some text to place on the card. |
Step 6: Now we use the Perspective Tool and some basic drawing tools to give the label some details. I also give the the label a bit of Gloss. .jpg) |
|
Step 7: |
|
SS.jpg){kind=icon} Click here to download the finished icon. |
|
There we go, a nice SD
Card icon. I think tomorrow we will take care of the Ram Drive icon. See you all
then. | ||
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Icon-A-Day, Icon # 82, 5" Floppy
Why? Because it's there.
Thursday, April 28, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: Icons
| Icon 82 (5" Floppy) Tonight we will start polishing off the rest of the Drive icons. I will also be doing some bonus drive type icons, but that will be in a few days. As for today we will do the one of the simplest icons, and yet one of the most useless. But it is still supported and I am sure if I did not include it,there would be someone, somewhere who would miss it. So with no further ado, I give you the 5 Inch Floppy Disk. | ||
| Step 1: We start off with a circle and some rectangles, giving us the basic shape and elements. .jpg) |
Step 2:
Once I have my disk elements I group them using the Perspective Tool to slant it back. |
Step 3a: Quickly I give the shapes some basic fills to see how the elements work together. .jpg) |
| Step 4:
Now we copy the face of the disk and off-set it just a bit, giving the first one the darkest fill, so there is a visible edge. |
Step 5: Now I copy the face of the drive again and change the fill to black. I also give the new copy a Transparent texture. |
Step 6: Now we touch up the rest of the fills giving the label and the inner disk some gradients. .jpg) |
| Step 7:
Now with our usual techniques we give the disk a Shadow and Reflection. |
Finished Icon Image. |
SS.jpg){kind=icon} Click here to download the finished icon. |
|
Tomorrow, we will do the much more useful 3" floppy disk. | ||
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Montage-a-google... weird concept...
but fun nonetheless
Thursday, April 28, 2005 by historyishere | Discussion: Google
While I do believe the searches are safe(the "adult" filter is on), there is still the possibility that something naughty could pop up in your montage, but I doubt that it would.
In preparation for this article, I decided to see what the picture would look like if I used the search term "JoeUser" and the following was produced.
which upon looking at it, I see a lot of content that I am familiar with from the past.
And then, I tried the search term "SPMBT", because I wanted to see what would pop up... and was pleasantly surprised to see a few pictures from my own article about the game pop up as part of the mosaic.
I think the thing that I really liked about this whole process was that you can go right to one of the individual pictures if something interesting comes up(as all the pictures are also links) , and you can find out if it was something that you yourself posted or created.
So try it out and if you get something weird or interesting as part of the process, I'd love to hear about the search term or see a picture of what came up. I just hope I don't end up killing the site by posting it here.
Icon-A-Day, Icon # 81, Search
Time to start tieing up the lose ends.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: Icons
| Icon 81 (Search) Tonight we can finish off another lose end. The start menu is mostly done, however I seem to have skipped the Search icon. I always like to try and come up with something clever when doing these, but when it comes to Search, I never can. I almost always end up doing a Magnifying glass. The only thing I can think of to do to make these match the rest of the icons is to make sure the colors match, as well as the perspective. | ||
| Step 1: First we will start with a few squares and circles. I Rotate them a bit, and group them. .jpg) |
Step 2:
Now we take our group that we just made and slant it back with the Perspective tool. |
Step 3a: Once I have a perspective I like, I ungroup the top of the glass, and do some Copying and Trimming to make a simple extrusion. .jpg) |
| Step 4:
Now with two mesh fills and a bit of gloss, I draw over our boxes to make a handle for the glass. |
Step 5: Now I use standard Gradients to make the upper part of the glass look like metal. |
Step 6: Now we place a new circle in the center of the head and using the interactive transparency tool I give it a radial transparency. .jpg) |
| Step 7:
Now we give the glass some glare. |
Step 8: Now using our standard reflection techniques we give the icon a reflection, |
Step 9: Last we have to give the icon a new shadow using our normal techniques as well. .jpg) |
Finished Icon Image..jpg) |
SS.jpg){kind=icon} Click here to download the finished icon. | |
|
I think that wraps up our Start Menu icons. This is also a good element that we may find more use for later. See you all tomorrow. | ||
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Palladium delayed
We shall see only a particle of Palladium in Longhorn
Wednesday, April 27, 2005 by sssnake | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Icon-A-Day, Icon # 74, Scanners & Cameras
So it turns out, I'm not dead. I have just been missing in action for a month.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: Icons
| Icon 74 (Scanners & Cameras) So it turns out, I'm not dead. I have just been missing in action for a month. For those of you who do not know, but were wondering, the reasons why the Icon-A-Day icons came to a screeching halt last month, I will explain. Well at least sum up. Reason # 1. I just moved, and as it turns out, moving seems to take up some time. Getting my studio set up the way I like, as well as all the piles of boxes and piles of crap ordered and placed in to new boxes of crap took way longer than I thought it would. Reason # 2. I HAD NO INTERNET. I know it is hard to imagine, but thanks to Charter Cable, those bastards who just sent me a bill for a service that I never actually got, I was without Internet access for 3 weeks. I have Internet at work, but was very busy with the Galactic Civilizations II Beta and so could never make time to get anything else done there. Now that that's over, lets make an icon. | ||
| Step 1: First step is to take some mesh rectangles and mockup what we are looking for, keeping in mind the perspective and style of the rest of the pack. .jpg) |
Step 2:
Now we start "sculpting" the meshes to give our scanner some details. If you look close you will see that the top of the scanner is quite simple. Four mesh points on each edge, to give it a bit of a bevel, and two in the center for the glass. |
Step 3: Now I do almost the same thing with the lid, except I make the center white, and give it a bit of a bevel to make it seem like it is coming out of the bottom of the lid. .jpg) |
| Step 4:
By editing the bottom 2 meshes on the scanner I give it a bottom, making sure the top edge color of both the meshes match the edge color of the top piece. This helps it all look like one. I also give the scanner glass a little gloss. |
Step 5:
Now we move on to the camera. This is done in almost the same way. Each mesh rectangle is given 3 points along the edges and by adding black and white I give it a bit of a rounded edge, making all 3 pieces look like one block of metal. |
Step 6: Now I use 2 more mesh rectangles to make the eye piece and several circles using regular radial gradients fills to make the lens. To polish them off I give them both a bit of gloss. .jpg) |
| Step 7: To make this match our existing style of metal in this pack, I go in with the mesh tool and give the camera a few panels. I also add a button to the top of the camera with one new mesh rectangle. .jpg)
|
Step 8: Now to give us that "Icon-A-Day" look we need to make sure we have the reflections. Using our "Reflection Techniques" we go in and add a reflection of the camera and the lid to the scanner glass. .jpg)
|
Finished Icon Image. Today we used a lot of mesh fills; make sure you check out the Mesh Fill Tutorials 101 & 201 to get a better idea of how the mesh fill works. .jpg)
|
|
Tomorrow we will push on through the folders. We only have a few left, then we will get down to polishing up the pack for the final release in about 20 or 30 icons. | ||
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
JR's BiggerWheel Adventure 4.15.05
ahhhh Tax Day
Friday, April 15, 2005 by Flyin | Discussion: Developer Journals
Well, this week has been a decent week in that not too many pressing things were slammed onto my plate which was great!
Still, did some bug fixes and am in the middle of a project with Andrew_ to speed up those personal pages!
Bug Fixes:
1. Posts on WC would duplicate the linetext of the articles! Bad bug! This was fixed by updating one of our stored procedures
2. Some Posts were being saved with blank lines within the articles DB
3. If a skin author who owns a personal page creates his first skin within a particular skin category and the skin goes into moderation and/or processing, that skin is no where to be found within his personal page. This has been fixed.
4. Within the Gallery Section of each personal page, there exists a drop down list and if that author has skins in moderation, there should is an item of the drop down list that says “In Moderation” that you can select to see skins that have not yet been approved. Well, Skins’ status can also be “In Processing”, so I added that entry within that drop down list so you can also see skins that are in processing
5. In the MySkins.aspx page, if a skin author doesn’t have any approved skins, but has skins in moderation or in processing, there was no way to view these skins. This bug has been fixed.
MISC Things worked on this week.
1. Andrew_ and I have tag teamed on making the personal pages faster. First let me say I love when things work smoothly between co-workers. By Splitting the duties, this little project will get done a bit faster, but most importantly, it will be done in a way that is much more expandable because there is twice the man power to implement the correct system!
The duties were split as follows:
a. Andrew_ is in charge of all the usercontrols we want to make static. He has created a system such that they will inherit from this nice little class and will create static files from these controls to save from db activity as well as server side processing. That system, in tandem with implementing them with all the controls is a tall task, and he basically finished it by wed which was awesome.
b. What I’m in charge with is setting up the proper tables within the DB and also some internal things that interact with his system such that if a control needs to refresh itself, the system I created will send a message to his control, and the control will refresh itself.
The system should be done by Monday or Tuesday and the team will Test and debug it, and hopefully the system will be in place live by wed or thurs.
I’ve learned a few things from this project that I can carry over to my next project which is implementing moderators for our forums. Once this project is done with, that is the next beast to tackle! Oh fun it will be let me tell you!
Well, have a great weekend all!!
Flyin
Longhorn and icons
Is it over for iconists?
Friday, April 15, 2005 by Thomas Thomassen | Discussion: Icons
| But while the OS bears plenty of similarities to Tiger, Allchin stressed that Microsoft has broken new ground in Longhorn. For example, document icons are no longer a hint of the type of file, but rather a small picture of the file itself. The icon for a Word document, for example, is a tiny iteration of the first page of the file. Folders, too, show glimpses of what's inside. Such images can be rather small, but they offer a visual cue that aids in the searching process, Allchin said. |
Now, I wonder how that will affect the iconists out there. I assume that icons we are used to is still usable depending how high ou set the graphics setting, but what will this new icon system work? Do you think that we will be able to customize how the preview is rendered?