Microsoft is expanding their network of retail stores in the coming years.  There’s only a handful of them now, but over the next 3 years they are going to expand to at least 75 new stores around the country.

Via Neowin:

Here's a great article about Stardock from a local website.

http://plymouth-mi.patch.com/articles/plymouth-based-software-game-development-company-looks-to-future

In lieu of a front-desk receptionist is a young, bearded man in a purple t-shirt, cut-off shorts and flip-flops. This is Matt Bertsch, a technical adviser for the independent software company. On his desk sits a variety of emptied craft-beer bottles, statuettes, a variety of props and an opened deck of playing cards.

Bertsch explains that the usual receptionist just moved to Dallas for other Stardock-related duties as he retrieves Brad Wardell, the president and CEO of Stardock, who occupies a top-floor office with his dog.

Happy July everyone!  It’s great to kick off a new month especially with our friends here on WinCustomize.  Just a reminder that we have the Summer CursorFX contest going on, and we are taking entries until July 11th so there’s plenty of time to get an entry in. 

Now for this weeks picks!

How cool is this? I’m a big fan of Tekzilla, an excellent online tech show found on the Revision3 website and on one of their Tekzilla Daily videos they features Fences as a cool way to customize and organize your desktop.

Here’s the video:

Pretty cool to be on Tekzilla. Way to go Stardock.

I use Google Reader to browse through a variety of websites many of which are design related.  It’s a great way to get some inspiration and tips.  Some of these sites also have lots of free downloads like Photoshop brushes and patterns.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Tripwire Magazine
• You the Designer
• Hongkiat
• Planet Photoshop
• Think Design

Got any to share?

We are about ready to knock out another month, and I’m very excited about all the skins we have seen throughout the month of June.  Summer is typically a slower time as people go on vacation and take off for school, but we have had so many superb skins this month, especially in the WindowBlinds area.  Don’t forget we have a Summer contest going on for CursorFX themes.  CursorFX is a fun skinning platform and hope to see some exciting skins come out of it.

Now for this weeks picks!

We have a Summer CursorFX contest going on, and I wanted to post some helpful resources for people getting started with both using and creating CursorFX themes.

Contest details: https://forums.wincustomize.com/409745

Getting CursorFX

CursorFX has both a free and Plus version available.  The Plus version adds features such as effects, cursor trails, cursor resizing, coloring, and much more.  More information and downloads can be found at the CFX website - https://www.stardock.com/products/cursorfx/.

Creating Custom Cursors

Both versions of CursorFX include a cursor editor which lets you easily create new cursor themes.  You will need to create your graphics in another application, but the CFX Editor will allow you to put those images together into a cursor theme.

The WinCustomize Wiki has a bunch of resources for CursorFX and many other skinning programs.

• http://wiki.wincustomize.com/wiki/Main_Page
• CursorFX: Creating a Custom Cursor

Additional Resources

• Adobe Photoshop CS 5.5 Trial Download
• Adobe Photoshop Elements Trial Download
• Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Trial

Happy Friday WinCustomizers!  We are at the halfway point of June and just this month alone we have seen some awesome skins including a few top notch WindowBlinds skin.  I’m hoping to get a contest started here next week with a summer theme, so stay tuned for updates on that.

Now for this weeks picks!

Summer is heating up and some of the popular searches for wallpapers are for things like tropical, beaches, etc.  I searched through the galleries and came up with my top 5 Beach wallpapers!

1. Ocean City Beach by teddybearcholla

2. Paradise Beach by boss0190

3. Tropical by amitsaran

4. Love Island Night Scene by DEVJIT

5. Summer’s Over by Island Dog

Windows 7 has become very popular, and it is the top operating system that people use when visiting WinCustomize.  With eyes already on Windows 8 I wanted to create the “definitive” guide to skinning Windows 7 based on skins, themes, and the best associated software you can find on WinCustomize.com.  The items I list below will be a mixture of freeware and paid software, and links to downloads and product pages will be included.

There are also plenty of resources to show you how to use these apps in more detail.  One of the best is the WinCustomize Wiki where there are tutorials and documents for all the applications mentioned here, plus many more. 

If you would like to see more video demos, please visit our YouTube page.

Customizing the Boot Screen

With changes made in Windows 7 is not as easy to change the Boot screen as it was in say Windows XP.  There are some free tools out there that can change the boot screen, but the risk of your system not booting can be quite how so I do not recommend changing this.  Having to repair or reinstall your operating system is not worth the boot screen changing.

Changing the Win7 Logon Screen

Now we get to something much easier to skin, and best of all the tool to do it is free!  LogonStudio is an application that lets you change your Windows 7 logon screen with just a few clicks.  You can use your own images simply by dragging and dropping them into the LogonStudio window, or you can download logon skins from WinCustomize.

LogonStudio (free)

LogonStudio Theme Gallery

LogonStudio	Skinned Windows Logon

Applying Cool Cursor Themes

Having a customized cursor theme is one of my personal favorites as there are so many creative cursor themes out there to use.  Again, this is quick and easy to customize and the results are fantastic.  Everyone will want to know where you got those cool custom cursors from.  For this we are using CursorFX which has both a free and paid version.  CursorFX Plus gives you several advantages and advanced features such as effects on mouse clicks, trails, cursor resizing, and more.

There are literally thousands of custom cursors available for download, and CursorFX also includes an editor for making your own cursors.

CursorFX (free and Plus version)

CursorFX Theme Gallery

CursorFX Interface	CursorFX Effects

Change the Complete Desktop Theme

So far we have done a few things to change the Windows experience, but next up we are going to change just about everything of the Windows user interface.  Over the years this has been done by hacking resource files in Windows, or using a 3rd party app like WindowBlinds.  Hacking resources was used because it was “free”, but technically limited on to what could be skinned, and of course hacking system files can lead to system instability and problems.  Now at version 7, WindowBlinds has continually been updated to support the latest Windows operating systems and to include features to enhance the look of Windows.

WindowBlinds is the recommend choice as it does not hack system files, uses virtually no resources, and is developed by a Microsoft Gold Partner.  Aside from that, it has some phenomenal features like adjustable transparency, wallpaper management, textures, Aero skinning, and much more.  Check out this demo video to see it in action.

WindowBlinds ($19.95)

Video demo

WindowBlinds skin gallery

WindowBlinds Skin Menu	Transparency options
Apply textures	Skin Example: Eclipse

Animated Wallpapers

With the introduction of Windows Vista, we were able to see the first effective use of animated wallpapers on the Windows desktop.  DreamScene didn’t last long though as it was removed with Windows 7, but during that time Stardock had released DeskScapes which took animated wallpapers to another level.  DeskScapes not only brought animated wallpapers to all versions of Windows (XP and up), it also introduced dynamic wallpapers, multi-monitor support, wallpaper effects, and many more features.  The .dream format was also made available so designers could easily take video footage or 3D renders, and quickly make them available to use and share.

DeskScapes ($19.95)

Video demo

Animated wallpaper gallery

Changing Desktop Icons

Icons in Windows are another things that you interact with quite often.  There’s really nothing more plain than the default icons in Windows, but as with mostly everything else, they are also easily changed with just a few clicks.  IconPackager has been around for years and is really the only solution to change your entire set of Windows icons at once.  Instead of changing icons one by one, IconPackager uses an entire package of icons to change nearly all the icons at the click of a button.  Of course you can change icons individually, but there are thousands of icon packs available that can apply a matching set across your entire Windows PC.

IconPackager ($19.95, free trial)

Icon Pack gallery

Desktop Organization

Make your desktop look good is one thing, but making it productive is another production in itself.  Two items that are mostly found on all desktops are going to be the icons and active or inactive windows on your screen.  We have all seen people who have literally hundreds of icons spread out over their desktop, and I know you cannot easily find something wading through that mess.  There are two really good applications that can help you organize and manage your desktop icons, Fences and ObjectDock.

ObjectDock

ObjectDock puts a “dock” on your desktop that can either be a normal zoomer-type dock, a tabbed dock, or a mix of both with the Plus version.  I use ObjectDock to keep application icons in an organized set of tabs that I can quickly access. 

As you can see in the screenshot above, I have tab categories for Office applications, game shortcuts, etc.  When I need to launch an application I don’t have to search through the start menu – I can easily open it by going to ObjectDock.

ObjectDock (free and Plus versions)

Video demo

Fences

Next we have Fences which is designed to organize your desktop icons to help reduce clutter and allow you to sort icons for quick access.  You can create “fences” that can be labeled to place your icons into which then can be moved around and placed on your desktop however you like.  You can adjust the size and shape of the fences to fit your needs, and the Pro version adds the ability to add advanced sorting features, fading Fences, and icon sorting rules. 

Fences (free and Pro version)

Other Great Desktop Applications

What we talked above are some of the best applications for changing the look of Windows.  There are so many other apps that do cool things and compliment the other applications well to give you a complete desktop transformation. 

Sysmetrix – This is a fantastic application that puts all kinds of meters, weather info, clocks, and so much more on your desktop.  It’s a favorite among skinners and there are some truly awesome theme designs for it.

Rainmeter – Another desktop favorite is Rainmeter.  This also put all types of mini-applications on your desktop and has a great community behind it making some beautiful themes and applets.

Rainlender – Need a calendar on your desktop?  Look no further as this is one of the best there is.  This is a customizable calendar app that puts events and tasks right in front of you.

Winstep – Winstep has several different applications that can really transform your entire desktop into something sweet.  There’s a lot to checkout about Winstep, so visit their site for all the info!  You can also find Winstep themes at WinCustomize.