Alright, a new month is upon us!  This was an especially super week for skin submissions with a bunch of new submissions in many galleries across WinCustomize.  Since it is October, the Halloween-themed skins are starting to slowly make their appearance, and I hope to see more soon.  We also had quite a few updates this week, so be sure to fire up Impulse and look for updates for DeskScapes and ObjectDock Plus 2!

Now for this weeks picks!

	Stripe Poker by theAVMAN This is a matching skin for the Master WB skin by the same name, and this is a first-class CursorFX theme.  Great work!
	Aqua Box (TM Suite) by Philly0381 Once again, Philly has taken the time to put together a bunch of fantastic skins based on RND’s DX Theme.
	Display Array Sidebar Clock by RedNeckDude People still utilize the Windows Sidebar, and RND created this sleek clock gadget for it.
	Abstract Something by Rohillio I just love the burst of colors in this wallpaper.  Nice work!
	Hardwired by Xiandi Tons of detail and attention in this WindowBlinds skin make this a must-have download on the list.

The latest beta for DeskScapes 3.2 was released earlier this week, and one of the new features is a level slider on some effects in which you can increase or decrease their intensity.  Effects are cool on their own, but being able to adjust them even more is just another layer of coolness added.

Remember you can apply effects to static and animated wallpapers in DeskScapes.  Just note that the level sliders are available only on certain effects like blurs, smears, etc.  When you select an effect, a slider will appear over the thumbnail and you can adjust the level of the effects to your liking!

Here is a quick video showing how.

Get DeskScapes here!

How is everyone doing this fine Friday?  Pretty good I hope, and this was an exciting week as not only did some great skins come into WinCustomize, we also had some fantastic updates for WindowBlinds and ObjectDock Plus 2.  I’m hoping to see more Fall season, and Halloween skins coming in soon, as they are both a great base for themed skins.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Needles by B2R This is a fun and colorful cursor theme for use with CursorFX.  Nice job!
	Bar Tender DX by RedneckDude I can always count on RND to deliver the goods, and the new Bar Tender theme is another gem.
	Stripe Poker Tabbed by WebGizmos A fine set of tabbed dock backgrounds made to match the Stripe Poker WindowBlinds skin.
	Miners Castle 2010 by eddyhaze This is a beautiful image and deserves a placement on your desktop.
	Ace by navigatsio This is a dark WindowBlinds skin, with lots of great details.  Definitely one to check out.  Great work!

I created a new demo video for WindowBlinds 7.1 for another project, but I wanted to post it here so you could share with friends.

Happy Friday everyone!  The end of the week is finally here and it is time to wrap up the happenings in skinning this week.  No major news to report this week, but skin submissions are picking up now that summer is coming to a close, so there is a bunch of good stuff to check out.

	XBOX ELITE by Chasbo Great to see some skins from Chasbo, and this is a cool weather widget you should check out.
	Lava Planet by amitsaran This is just an awesome design, and perfect for an animated wallpaper.  It’s also available in other skin formats too.
	Windows 7 (2010) Dark Edition by DEVJIT This wallpaper has a cool and unique take on the Window 7 logo.  Nice work!
	PlasticXP by Stardock Design PlasticXP originated in 2001, and now has been updated to run on Win7.  Give it a try!
	Aura Xtreme by WebGizmos WebGizmos has been busy putting out some fantastic Winstep themes, and this one based on a Stardock Design is another great one.

I have been helping some people on the Microsoft forums lately with issues resulting from using registry hacks to change basic things in Windows 7 like the logon screen.  The good thing about customizing Windows is just that – you can customize as much or as little as you like.  However, be careful when using registry hacks to change things, you might just end up hosing your system.

If you are ready to step in the customization world for Windows 7, then follow these tips to do it safely and effectively!

Change the Windows 7 logon

When you want to change the background of the logon screen for Win7, don’t worry about registry hacks.  Just head over and download the free LogonStudio app.  With LogonStudio you can change the background to one of the included images, use your own just by dragging and dropping, or download thousands from WinCustomize.com.

Replace the Default Cursor

The default Windows cursors are pretty boring, nothing special to see here.  CursorFX is another application that can change the default cursor into something really special.  There are all types of custom cursors available with some wild animations, cool effects, and more.  You can even find some that emulate other operating systems.  CursorFX is free as well, but a Plus version is available with even more features!

Get a New Skin and Theme

Windows 7 has the ability to download themes for use, but they are very limited and really don’t change much but the color.  If you want to give Windows a real custom look, come check out WindowBlinds.  WindowBlinds gives you the ability to change the look of the entire user interface in Windows with literally thousands of skins and themes available for download to use.  WindowBlinds 7 also allows you to “skin” Aero which you can apply textures and other effects to enhance Aero on your own.  A free trial is available, and the full version is just $20.

When talking about WindowBlinds, we most often talk about changing the actual skins and modifying them to make your desktop look super sweet.  That is perfect, but WindowBlinds 7 also has an integrated wallpaper manager that I use quite often.  WB can add folders of your choosing that contain wallpapers and you can easily browse through them and apply them as needed.  There are more advanced features though, like being able to automatically change wallpapers at certain intervals.

In the WindowBlinds configuration window, just select the Wallpapers tab at the bottom.

Clicking the Settings button will open a window where you can choose and add folders that contain wallpapers.  Here you can also adjust the wallpaper modes to ones such as tile, stretch, etc.  Clicking the Random Wallpaper Settings button will take you to more advanced options.

Here you can select individual wallpapers (or add them all) to use in a random setting.  You can select the wallpapers to be changed on set intervals such as every morning, every hour, etc.  It’s a great way to keep a fresh wallpaper on your desktop often!

Get WindowBlinds here – www.windowblinds.net

Summer is coming to a close and we can start merging into the Fall season soon enough.  This week on WinCustomize we had a couple new Master WindowBlinds skins, both of which are definitely worth checking out.  Since Halloween is coming up next month, I hope to see some more Halloween themed skins coming in, and I have updated one of mine and have some more planned as well.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Robotic Defiance Digital by theAVMAN A slick set of clocks that are gadgets, so they can be used on your desktop without any additional software.
	Strokes by amitsaran These are my favorite types of animated wallpapers.  Subtle animation with beautiful colors.  Nice work!
	Robotic Defiance (TM Suites) by Philly0381 The Robotic Defiance suite contains skins from several WC skinners.  Another great package delivered!
	StarFighter by Vampothika Not new, but a big update brings Win7 updates and new colors.
	Dimentia by butch123 A clean and minimal style is always a favorite.  Great job on this!

InfoWorld has published an article of the “Truly Awesome tools for Windows 7 power users”, and has included Fences by Stardock as one of them!

If you're anything like me, Stardock Fences is essential. My dual-screen desktop was littered with icons for docs, videos, PDFs, folders, and so on until I found Stardock Fences. This tool helps clean up and organize all those icons. There is a free version and a Pro version (with more customization features) for $9.99. In less than five minutes, I had my desktop organized into fences that made sense for my needs.

Link:  Truly awesome tools for Windows 7 power users

This has been a very long week, and I am sure glad the weekend is nearly here.  It’s also crazy that September is just days away, and hopefully some cooler weather will accompany it. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Transcend by theAVMAN It’s cursor themes like these that make CursorFX such an awesome app.  Fantastic job on this one!
	Display ArrayDX by RedneckDude This is a new “original” DesktopX theme from RND.  This is one of my top favorites so far.
	Light Streaks by amitsaran A very cool looking animated wallpaper that isn’t too busy to look at all day.
	Lovely As A Tree by Frankief This is just a really beautiful scene.  Thanks for sharing it!
	Dulce by 2of3 This one almost slipped past me, but I’m glad I saw it as this is an impressive WindowBlinds skin.  Soft color makes this another winner!