Happy New Years folks and that means it's time for New Years resolutions. We have some suggested resolutions for the PC Industry that will help them...and us! #1 To the PC Makers: Stop pre-loading shareware. Nothing is more annoying than getting a new PC loaded with "trial versions" of programs. Just stop it. #2 To Microsoft: Get Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista out there ASAP and make sure IE 7 doesn't hang anymore for no apparent reason. #3 To Apple: Get that 3G iPhone out the door so...

A look back Exactly one year ago, I wrote an article about how Stardock failed the skinning community .  It outlined 4 key issues that needed to be addressed this year.  So how did we do? Challenge #1: Make it easier to create "stuff" for our software This past year we saw the development of SkinStudio 6. A complete rewrite of SkinStudio from scratch.  It's still not quite done but it's in usable form and skinners seem to really like the direction it's going.&nb...

After a year of work, the successor to CursorXP is now available in beta form. Free download available. Fully compatible with CursorXP themes. [ www.cursorfx.com ]

  GameSpy has awarded Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar with its coveted expansion pack of the yeard award and rated it as the 4th top overall PC game of 2007 (just behind BioShock). Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar was worked on by myself, Mormegil (the icon master), Boogiebac (gadget maker), and others! Go here to read more about it.

For those of you who are interested, I have written up a brief tutorial on how to write articles for the Internet. Since starting WinCustomize ~7 years ago, we've seen a lot of people post blogs, articles, news items, etc. And many people just haven't ever been shown a handful of tips and tricks that can make creating web-based articles much easier. I learned the hard way, so to spare others the years of grasping at new techniques, I present to you: "Writing Effective Articles in HTML...

Stardock has released WindowBlinds 6.01.  WindowBlinds is a program that allows users to completely change their Windows XP or Windows Vista visual experience. It does this by applying system-wide skins called visual styles. Visual styles can change nearly every element of the Windows GUI from the Start menu, task bar, title bar, push buttons, scrollbars, and nearly everything other part of either Windows XP or Windows Vista. WindowBlinds works by extending the native drawing routines...

Stardock has begun writing the SkinStudio 6 tutorials. The first chapter is now available. If you've ever wanted to try your hand at skinning, pick up the SkinStudio 6 beta and check out the tutorials.  

Starting next week, we will be adding three new components for Object Desktop users! They will be: Premium Suites  Premium WindowBlinds Skins Premium Icon Packages These 3 new components will be updated throughout the year with new skins, icons, and suites. The first one we plan to deliver will be the Turbo WindowBlinds skin which will also be available as a $4.95 Master skin for users who don't have Object Desktop.  The next one will be the Quest theme which will be fr...

Try your hand at making your own GUI for Windows XP or Windows Vista with SkinStudio 6. You will need WindowBlinds 6 to apply them. Please give us feedback on how we can make it easier and more effective to use.

I should be downsized. Those bastards at Stardock should downsize me.  When I was in my 20s, I was able to get so much done it was crazy. Some people spend hours a day playing World of Warcraft or other such things.  That's the kind of person I am.  Ever see the South Park episode of World of Warcraft where the kids are playing against this griefer who lives on his computer?  That was me in my 20s and early 30s. Except I wasn't playing games.  I was writing them and s...

Do you have WindowBlinds 6? If so, learn how you can easily create your own custom color presets! [Fun with WindowBlinds 6 coloring]

For the uninitiated: SkinStudio is a program that lets users creates skins to change the look & feel of the Windows GUI.  These skins are applied by the program called WindowBlinds .  Both WindowBlinds and SkinStudio come as part of the suite of programs called Object Desktop . SkinStudio 6 is a complete rewrite of the program designed to make it much easier for users to make skins.  Over the years, as WindowBlinds got more powerful, the existing version of SkinStudio (ve...

Aroche is a skinner who has been around for 2 years now and has created a significant library of great CursorXP cursors.  With CursorVista in development, the role of cursors is set to become increasingly popular over the next year and Aroche has led the way for awhile. According to his stats , he has commented on his and other people's skins and cursors many times and his activity has helped make WinCustomize the kind of community that people enjoy being a part of. If you don't...

Wallpapers on WinCustomize have been a bit hit or miss over the years.  I admit, from time to time I've found myself going to other sites to get my wallpapers.  But lately, the wallpapers on WinCustomize have been really nice.  Below are just a handful I've noticed from the site that are quite good.  Check out the gallery for a full tasting.             ...

 Icon packages that provide full support for Windows Vista are few and far between. That's because they require significant effort. What, with the 256x256 pixel resolution for every icon and having to make folders in a special way to support live folders, it's a lot of work. Luckily for all of us, Quentin94 has released his Arileen icon package updated to support Windows Vista completely. It has 209 different icons in the icon package.  Check it out!