Windows 7 Launch Events Around the Country
Monday, August 17, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
With the launch of Windows 7 growing ever so close, Microsoft is now promoting the Windows Launch events which will take place in cities across the United States. These launch events are targeted at IT Professionals and Developers, and the best part is you get a free copy of Windows 7 for attending. Did I mention these events are free as well?
I attended a similar event for the Windows Vista launch a couple of years ago in Orlando. It was actually an interesting event, I learned quite a few things, and I got to talk and network with tons of IT professionals from all around the state. If you have the time to attend one of these, I highly recommend it.
You can find the cites and dates available at the following link.
This Week in Skinning - August 14th
Friday, August 14, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
I’m certainly glad it’s Friday, aren’t you? Today we end the Summer ‘09 wallpaper contest, and it has been a great success. We will definitely have another before the year is over.
Now for this weeks picks!
Impulse Weekend Buys - August 13th
Thursday, August 13, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
Another weeks speeds by and before you know it, it’s time for the next Impulse Weekend Sale! Grab some games to add to your current collections, and know that you can always download them from Impulse and not worry about losing the box.
Check out this weekends sale!
Corel software on sale $27.99 $39.99 50% Off $4.95 $9.95 $9.95 $19.95 $9.95 $19.95
You can get more information about Impulse, and your free download at www.impulsedriven.com.
MyColors Gloss Pack Free for Object Desktop Subscribers
Thursday, August 13, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
We are happy to offer the latest free MyColors theme to Object Desktop subscribers! This one is an entire pack of free themes from the Gloss series.
Object Desktop subscribers can download them via Impulse in the “My Software” area. If you don’t have Impulse, get it from www.impulsedriven.com .
Dell Launches Nickelodeon Edition Netbooks
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
Dell made a really cool announcement yesterday.
“If you've got young kids at home like I do, you know the answer to that question is the one and only SpongeBob SquarePants. I'm betting you can probably sing the rest of the theme song as well. Why am I talking about this? Because we're partnering with Nickelodeon, Whyville.net, Walmart and others to introduce a netbook for kids.
It's or first product that focused on kids. Since it's a netbook that weighs less than three pounds, it's easy for kids to bring it from room to room or in the car during a road trip. From a spec standpoint, the Nickelodeon edition is based on our popular Inspiron Mini 10v. Kids (or their parents) will be able to choose from three different Design Studio designs: SpongeBob, iCarly or Green Slime (pictured below—click image to see a larger version). “
And of course Stardock partnered with them to create the interface and skins!
Weekend Impulse Buys - August 5th
Thursday, August 6, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
It’s Thursday, so by now you should today is the day for some sweet sales on Impulse. I’m really excited as the pre-order for the upcoming Tropico 3 is here, along with a 10% pre-order discount!
Check out the deals!
Pre-order $35.99 $39.99 $34.99 $49.99 $35.99 $39.99 $9.95 $19.95 Pre-order $39.99 with bonus $9.95 $19.95
You can get more information about Impulse, and your free download at www.impulsedriven.com.
WindowBlinds 7 – Beta 2 Released!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
Stardock is excited to announce the release of Beta 2 for WindowBlinds 7. WindowBlinds is an application that lets users change the look and feel of Windows XP, Vista, and now Windows 7 by applying themes (also known as skins). This latest beta release introduces a wide range of improvements and features over earlier betas.
This beta 2 update includes:
- Live previews. See the changes you make in settings in real-time
- Completely new user interface which includes grab and throw scrolling, reflections, and a simpler layout.
- Improved Windows 7 support
- Improved skin coloring (see video)
- Improved sub-style selections, and skin search
WindowBlinds 7 – Beta 2 is available for download via Stardock’s Impulse for Object Desktop subscribers. Purchase WindowBlinds 6 now, and you will get the upgrade to WindowBlinds 7 for free when released!
For more information, please visit www.windowblinds.net.
Make XP or Vista Look Like Windows 7
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
The release of Windows 7 is just around the corner, and while I’m confident Windows 7 will be a big seller, there are people who are still hanging on to Windows XP. XP is still a fantastic operating system, but you can make XP look just like Windows 7 without much trouble at all.
This is what your default Windows XP desktop looks like.
Changing that desktop into one that looks very much like Windows 7 will take just a few minutes in all, and the result will be surprising! First thing you need to do is download WindowBlinds. This lets you change the themes, or skins, of Windows to one of thousands available for download on a variety of sites such as WinCustomize.com.
After you get WindowBlinds installed, you will need to find a great looking Windows 7 theme to use. There are plenty available, and you can find one that looks exactly like Win7, or one that modifies it with different styles. Either way, it’s your choice.
The two themes I recommend are Windows 7 Ultimate RC3 by saorpirbd and Windows 7 – Build 7057 by butch123.
Once downloaded and installed, just open up WindowBlinds and you will see a list of pre-installed themes, and themes that you may have downloaded yourself.
All you have to do now is browse through your installed skins, and select the one you want to use. You will see a preview before you apply the theme, and there are several features available that will let you recolor your skin, or add and adjust transparency and blur. When ready, just click Apply.
Now your desktop should look much like this.
Looks great, huh? You might have noticed the icons in that screenshot look like Windows 7 as well. I changed those using IconPackager, which changes all the Windows icons at once. You don’t have to stop with just the desktop theme and icons, you can also change the logon screen with the free application LogonStudio.
With very little effort we took the boring, standard look of Windows XP and turned into a near identical look of Windows 7. The best thing about using WindowBlinds to get this look is you can just as easily change it to look like anything else, including tons of custom created themes.
I did all of this on a Windows XP system, but you can get similar results on Windows Vista as well. For more information, visit www.windowblinds.net.
WinCustomize 2009 July Update
Friday, July 31, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
I wanted to give an update on the current status of WinCustomize 2009. We are finally in the final stretch, and the majority of the new site is done. Visually, it’s a big change and I think many of you will like how clean and well designed the new site is. It’s also much easier to navigate to find the skins you want, something that can be a bit difficult at times.
In the next couple of weeks I’m going to need a small team of testers to tear the site apart and list any kinks you might find so they can be corrected as quickly as possible. If you would be interested in helping with this task, please let me know in the comments. It’s going to be a very select few who will help, and I will PM you when the time comes.
Thanks for your patience!
Weekend Impulse Buys - July 30th
Thursday, July 30, 2009 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
Where has this week gone? I can’t believe we are already at the end of the week! That’s OK though, because that means our Impulse Weekend Buys are live and ready to go.
Check out this weekends deals!
$39.99 $59.97 $29.99 $39.99 $4.99 $9.99 $4.99 $9.99 $4.99 $9.95 $4.99 $19.95
You can get more information about Impulse, and your free download at www.impulsedriven.com.