We are getting into the final stretches of summer, and I for one am looking forward to fall. We still have some weeks of summer left, so let's take a few minutes and show off those hot August desktops to our community! 

Post your desktops to the monthly thread here: https://forums.wincustomize.com/506171/

(This is a news thread and will be locked. Screenshot taken by LightStar)

How is that for a dramatic post title? Well, I'm only exaggerating a little as the WindowBlinds gallery has had a considerable number of beautiful skins added over the past few weeks. Some of these are new skins, some are updated, and some are being re-uploaded by "retired" members of the site.

It's nice to see a wide range of distinctive styles and colors being used, and it's been fun to combine these themes with various static and animated wallpapers from DeskScapes to create some awesome Windows desktops.

Here's a few of our recent favorites but be sure to check out the entire WindowBlinds gallery here.

Sunset II

Primo

Veritas

Dreadnaught

Major Version Update for Fences Now Available

Stardock released a major update to Fences, its popular Windows desktop organization software, today. Fences creates a one-of-a-kind experience for users by automatically organizing their Windows desktop shortcuts and icons in shaded areas, offering a clutter-free workspace for creating.  

Fences tucks files and folders away in plain sight with designated portals while also providing the functionality of pulling specific content onto the creative workspace. Based on preference rules, users can customize how icons are viewed and where files originate from. 

The 3.1 version update for Fences adds a new feature: Target Based Rules. Using this option, users can access something like a Steam link, or any other .lnk, .url, or .website files right within their fences. In addition, v3.1 improves startup times and disables icon move animations, plus makes several other improvements based on user feedback. This includes eliminating folder portal ‘flickers’ and incorrect sorting of icons outside of the fences on the desktop. v3.1 also improves the way icons and fences work on multi-monitor setups. 

Users have several options for customizing fences. The “portals” feature allows users to create a desktop portal from any folder, which automatically populates the folders’ contents into an easy-to-find Fence. Quick access to a commonly used folder without having to open Windows explorer is just one of many things that makes Fences ideal for organization and easy to use. 

 

Users can create “pages” on their desktop, accessed with a simple right or left swipe. Choose which Fences remain on each individual page and find them easily when switching between tasks. For people who use their PCs for dozens of different assignments and activities, the “pages” feature allows for easy organization and a seamless flow from task to task.

Get it now through Stardock or on Steam.
Fences is also available in our Object Desktop Suite, which contains over a
dozen programs for customizing your Windows PC.

The Public Beta for DeskScapes 11 is Now Available
Popular desktop background management application brings animated background creation,
cloud wallpaper library integration, and more

Buy from Stardock  |  Buy from Steam

Back in May, DeskScapes 11 arrived as a beta exclusive to the Object Desktop suite. Now, the beta for this popular desktop customization app is publicly available to everyone. DeskScapes allows users to manage and apply both animated and traditional desktop backgrounds with seamless access to cloud-based computer wallpapers.  A powerful design tool for creating animated wallpapers called DreamMaker Pro is also included. 

With DeskScapes, You Can:

• Create your own animated backgrounds with pictures and video
• Explore dozens of different customization options including drawing tools, brushes, logos, particle effects, and much more using a powerful design tool
• Customize your backgrounds with dozens of special effects
• Share your creations easily thanks to seamless cloud integration
• Browse thousands of user-created backgrounds right from within the app
• Add backgrounds of your choice to a playlist and cycle through them on your desktop as often as you like
• Display your system resources or add a clock directly on your desktop background

Fans of desktop customization will love the ability to apply animated wallpapers to their PCs. If you like to create your own, the included DreamMaker Pro is powerful and easy to use, giving you endless possibilities for both creation and enhancement of backgrounds. Seamless integration with cloud-based services make it easy to both find and share backgrounds with the entire DeskScapes userbase.

DeskScapes 11 is designed to extend the Windows built-in desktop background manager to support features such as adding custom directories for backgrounds, fast searching, timed playlists, playing videos as backgrounds, online cloud integration, similar background search, additional scaling and sizing options, advanced multi-monitor customization, colorization, wallpaper filters, scheduling and more.

The DeskScapes 11 beta is now available to anyone for $2.99 (special beta pricing!)
Buy from Stardock  |  Buy from Steam

Major Version Update for Fences Coming on July 22nd

Stardock announced a July 22nd release for a major update to Fences, its popular Windows desktop organization software. Fences creates a one-of-a-kind experience for users by automatically organizing their Windows desktop shortcuts and icons in shaded areas, offering a clutter-free workspace for creating.  

Fences tucks files and folders away in plain sight with designated portals while also providing the functionality of pulling specific content onto the creative workspace. Based on preference rules, users can customize how icons are viewed and where files originate from. 

The 3.1 version update for Fences adds a new feature: Target Based Rules. Using this option, users can access something like a Steam link, or any other .lnk, .url, or .website files right within their fences. In addition, v3.1 improves startup times and disables icon move animations, plus makes several other improvements based on user feedback. This includes eliminating folder portal ‘flickers’ and incorrect sorting of icons outside of the fences on the desktop. v3.1 also improves the way icons and fences work on multi-monitor setups. 

Users have several options for customizing fences. The “portals” feature allows users to create a desktop portal from any folder, which automatically populates the folders’ contents into an easy-to-find Fence. Quick access to a commonly used folder without having to open Windows explorer is just one of many things that makes Fences ideal for organization and easy to use. 

 

Users can create “pages” on their desktop, accessed with a simple right or left swipe. Choose which Fences remain on each individual page and find them easily when switching between tasks. For people who use their PCs for dozens of different assignments and activities, the “pages” feature allows for easy organization and a seamless flow from task to task.

Fences v3.1 will release on July 22nd.
The beta is currently available exclusively for Object Desktop members.

Don't have Fences? Get it now through Stardock or on Steam.

Since the DeskScapes 11 beta has been out for a few weeks, along with the release on Steam, I wanted to show off some more of the dynamic wallpapers we have for DeskScapes. These are dynamic wallpapers that will change based on the time of day to give your desktop a fun, changing background throughout the day!

Here are some of our favorites, and you can find many more in the DeskScapes gallery here!

Beach Time

Outset Island Throughout the Day

Mountain View

Islands Day to Night

DeskScapes is Now Available in Steam Early Access
Stardock’s popular desktop background management application brings animated background creation, cloud wallpaper library integration, and more to Windows Users

Join Early Access on Steam

Stardock released their popular desktop management application, DeskScapes, into Early Access on Steam today. DeskScapes brings a host of desktop background features to Windows, including animated wallpapers, advanced background customization, and more.  

The newest version, DeskScapes, builds on the successes of all the versions that came before it and adds several highly desired features, including seamless cloud integration for downloading and sharing backgrounds, cycling playlists, and many new special effects. 

“The new version of DeskScapes is compelling both for animated and standard wallpapers,” said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. “For fans of animated wallpapers, we include DreamMaker Pro, which is both powerful and easy to use for creating or enhancing desktop backgrounds.  We also added seamless integration to cloud-based services for finding desktop backgrounds.” 

DeskScapes is designed to extend the Windows built-in desktop background manager to support features such as adding custom directories for backgrounds, fast searching, timed playlists, playing videos as backgrounds, online cloud integration, similar background search, additional scaling and sizing options, advanced multi-monitor customization, colorization, wallpaper filters, scheduling and more. 

The included DreamMaker Pro tool makes it easy to create animated backgrounds. It includes dozens of different effects, drawing tools, brushes, logos, particle effects, and much more. 

With DeskScapes, users will be able to: 

• Create animated backgrounds using pictures and video 
• Explore different customization options including drawing tools, brushes, logos, and particle effects
• Customize backgrounds with dozens of special effects 
• Share creations easily via seamless cloud integration
• Browse thousands of backgrounds from within the app 
• Add backgrounds to a cycling playlist
• Display system resources or add a clock directly to the desktop background 

DeskScapes is available in Early Access on Steam for a limited time special pricing of $2.99
The beta available through Stardock's Object Desktop 

We are back from break and hope that everyone who celebrates July 4th had a fun and productive holiday. It seems like summer is halfway through, and it's certainly been a hot one so far!

Danioc has been remarkably busy over the past couple of weeks creating some new Curtains themes to share on WinCustomize! I wanted to take a few minutes and share what he's been working on.

Check out these and more in the Curtains gallery here.

Alpha 7

Eleven

Eleven Dark

Eleven Blue

We hope you had a fun holiday weekend, and July continues to be a hot one! We love seeing your summer inspired desktop screenshots, so be sure to share with us what skins and themes you are using!

Post your desktops to the monthly thread here: https://forums.wincustomize.com/505719/

(This is a news thread and will be locked. Screenshot taken by DrJBHL)

Independence Day is coming next week for us in the United States! As with many holidays it can also be a fun time to put some related content on your desktop. Fireworks are obviously a popular one, and we have quite a few of those in the animated wallpaper gallery. There's also a variety of other types of themes, and we'll highlight a few below!

Let us know what you're doing for July 4th this year!

American Flags

American Flag

Colorful Fireworks

USA Flag

American as Apple Pie