Tag: CUSTOMIZATION

DeviantArt has a fairly active community of people tweaking and customizing Windows 7. One of their favorite tricks is to replace a whole bunch of system and software icons with desaturated or monochrome variants. This "unifies" the system visually, and the whole thing feels like one "package" instead of a bunch of disparate applications. Usually, this is a manual process, and it's fairly ...

Jeffrey Morley of the Rainmeter development team has decided to grace us with our very own Download Squad Rainmeter skin! As you can see on the screenshot, the skin shows current DLS headlines right on your desktop. They're clickable, so it's very easy to get to the post that you want to read. You also get a temperature reading and a clock/date display. You can't see it very well on the ...

Just about everyone customizes his or her Windows desktop somehow, but most probably don't bother tinkering with the Welcome screen. After all, you really don't see it that often unless you're a stickler for security and always log off when you're AFK (which is a good habit to get into, really). If that's how you roll, take a look at Windows 7 Logon Reworked. It's available in three variations ...

I have a confession to make: my desktop is completely stock. It's vanilla. There are no weird add-ons and no funky widgets. The only thing "special" about it is that the taskbar is vertical, and it's on the secondary monitor. This is a testament to the enormous improvement Windows' stock UI has seen over the past few versions. I have been an avid LiteStep user for around ten years, and I've also ...

A few of the gazillion people who commented on the Snagit Giveaway post seemed more interested in my Foobar2000 theme than in the giveaway. Far be it from me to disappoint. I hereby present MonoLite Plus by Junior-Spirit! This post is not a tutorial. If you don't know what Foobar2000 is, you might not find it very interesting (it does have pretty pictures, though). I also will not be covering ...

If you weren't totally enthused with the themes Google themselves produced for Chrome, I've got some good news for you. Just added to the Chrome themes directory is a whole new tab featuring designs created by artists and designers - like Mark Ecko (pictured), Anita Kunz, and Todd Oldham. There are several really slick themes, and you're at least more likely to find one you like now due to ...

When Apple introduced the new shelf-like dock in OS 10.5 Leopard, users were up in arms over how ugly it was, with some even switching their docks to the side of the screen to avoid seeing it. If you hate the shelf, or just wish you could make it look better, you should give Dock Library a try. It lets you replace your dock with a custom design, and works in both Leopard and Snow Leopard. Sites ...

With the impending flood of Windows 7 into the retail channel, you'd think that all related initiatives from Microsoft would be gearing up. After all, this looks like it will be the biggest launch in Microsoft history. Based on the number of Vista systems I see on my workbench that don't even have the sidebar enabled, gadgets are likely a low-priority item. For most users, personalization is ...

Rainmeter, a Windows desktop modification app, has entered version 1.0, and now comes with the popular Enigma theme as its default skin. Setting up all of Enigma's various widgets on Rainmeter is extremely simple. In fact, Rainmeter is basically code-free. You can enter all of your settings once using the GUI Configuration tool, and they'll be applied to any theme you want to use. It's also now ...

Looking for a way to conserve a few extra pixels of vertical space on your display? You might want to give WinSuperMaximize a look. Launch the app and it minimizes to your system tray. To "super maximize," just tap win+F11 - a second press will bring the bar back. You can also right-click the tray icon to activate the effect, though sometimes it targets a window other than the currently active ...

Firefox may never catch up to Chrome in the speed tests, but Mozilla has a huge lead when it comes to customization. The newly-announced Jetpack project might well ensure that they stay well ahead of the pack. Jetpack aims to make browser addons easier to create by allowing developers to do so using only HTML, CSS, and Javascript (newer tags like <canvas> <audio> <video> are ...

There are quite a few apps out there for OS customization junkies, but Magnifique for OS X stands out from the crowd for a few reasons. First and foremost, it's free. Second, it doesn't require a full restart once you apply a theme, just a restart of the Finder and the dock. Third, there seems to be a pretty good community of theme designers and users around it, which means help with designing and ...

We love customization around here. Computers would be a sad, sterile place without being able to alter, to any degree, your workspace. Applications often provide "skins" for various reasons (usually just for fun). But the skins that provide a cool theme can also turn a workspace ugly in a hurry. In this case beauty is often in the eye of the beholder. Just as with clothes, there are plenty of ...

When I bought my MSI Wind netbook, I immediately went searching for Firefox addons to help me maximize my screen area. Initially, I used the simple Hide Menubar addon to give Firefox the IE7-style . Later, I switched to Personal Menu, which provides a few additional functions that are extremely handy. Apart from being able to hide the main menu, Personal Menu can add additional buttons for ...

The world of web browsers is a very unfair place. Internet Explorer isn't the best, yet everyone's using it, and it seems like Firefox gets all the cool add-ons and customizations. The Opera web browser is popular, but primarily with the mobile crowd, and as for Safari, well, it's nice. Safari add-ons aren't exactly the latest craze, but the few that exist are fairly useful. Introducing: Safari ...