CursorFX 2.0.008 has been released! CursorFX is a program that brings the Windows mouse cursor into the 21st century with fluid animation support, alpha blending, motion smoothing, cursor sizing, effects for different amount events and more. CursorFX was designed to replace CursorXP. The initial roll-out of CursorFX was a little bumpy, demonstrating the challenges of developing a brand new desktop enhancement in a world divided between Windows XP and Windows Vista users. Here's what's new ...

Windows Vista has gotten a lot of bad press. A lot of it is unfair but as any Vista user can tell you, a lot of the bad press was avoidable. Even the finest product can be marred by a handful of minor decisions that affect the overall experience. In the case of Windows Vista, Stardock has identified these problem areas that Vista needs to resolve (either in a future SP or in Windows 7): We need an OS, not a nanny. Vista has too many nags, confirmations, and reminders. Vista is too m...

When skinning first got started, there was a kind of unspoken understanding between the people who made software and the people who used the software. There would be a symbiotic relationship between 3 groups.  The first group, the developers, would create software to customize the look and feel of your applications and desktop. The second group, the skinners, would create the content for these programs. And the third group, the users, would work with the first two groups to help test and...

Stardock updated CursorFX today with a minor update to make it able to use CursorXP themes a bit more seamlessly. Thanks for everyone's feedback. www.cursorfx.com  

Stardock is pleased to announce the official release of CursorFX.  CursorFX is a free program that allows users to customize their mouse cursors in ways far beyond what Windows is capable of doing on its own. The default Windows mouse cursor technology is the same today as it was in 1993 when Windows NT 3.1 was released. It lacks functionality and visual effects that are easily possible with any remotely modern PC. CursorFX updates the Windows mouse cursor engine to support fluid anim...

In a few hours, our friends at deviantART will hit their 50 MILLIONTH submission (deviation). But for me, the most amazing thing about deviantART is its popularity.  It is now in the top 50 most visited websites in the world.  Let me put that in perspective. deviantART is more popular than MSNBC.com, CNET.COM, MTV.com, Gamespot, IGN, and many other extremely well known sites.  In fact, more people go to deviantART.com on a typical day than CNN.com.  That's how popu...

The latest free skin from Stardock Design arrives for WindowBlinds 6.

In March the next-generation edition of Object Desktop becomes available. Check out some of the changes coming...  

For those of you who are interested, tonight (in like 5 minutes) I'm on G4's X-Play demoing Sins of a Solar Empire .

For years, power users have been customizing their Windows desktop by applying skins, themes, icon packages, wallpapers, widgets, etc.  To the new user, the number of steps in order to achieve a completely new desktop has often discouraged them from getting into it.  How do they get their normal desktop back if they want? What programs are free and what programs aren't? Do I have the latest versions of the various programs? The answer for most users to those questions has bee...

The cliche "beauty in the eye of the beholder" is so overused but is so universal. A better phrase would be that value is in the eye of the beholder.This past week, Apple updated the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Apple is charging existing users $19.95 to get some of the new features. Thus ensued a lot of bitching and moaning about the price.  Maybe it's because I'm a sick, scummy, evil capitalist who eats babies when I'm not on here flaming web hippies but what is it with non-producer...

DeskScapes provides animated wallpaper for all users of Windows Vista. Animated wallpaper isn't just for Windows Vista Ultimate users anymore.  With the release of beta 1 of DeskScapes 2.0 on Object Desktop, all users of Vista can use the hundreds of available .DREAM files here on WinCustomize as their animated backgrounds. Object Desktop users also get some exclusive animated wallpaper content including four dynamic dreams (Water Dream, Earth Dream, Water Color, and Box Sample).&...

 Stardock has released WindowBlinds 6.02. WindowBlinds is a program that allows users to change the look and feel of Windows XP and Windows Vista by applying a new visual style. Users can download thousands of free visual styles from websites such as WinCustomize.com, deviantART, SkinBase, Customize.org, and more. Thanks to years of optimization, WindowBlinds not only won't slow down your computer, it is faster than Windows XP or Windows Vista is by default thanks to making use of vid...

Stardock Design has released another free WindowBlinds 6 skin. This is the first in a series of Aero-derived visual styles for Windows Vista and Windows XP. [Get it here]

In the next couple weeks Stardock will begin officially rolling out MyColors 2008.  This may be the single most significant event in skinning in the past few years. Check out the tour below.