( zoom ) So SkinStudio 4.5 is finally out for the general public. This version is the version that lets people create Start menus that have per pixel alpha blending: (courtesy of A^J). It also has a great deal of optimization for the importation of .msstyles. So msstyles authors can now much more easily also make a WindowBlinds version of their own skin which greatly increases their potential user base. Moreover, if installed on the system, WindowBlinds 4.5 will show ".msst...
The people who purchase WinCustomize premium subscriptions, or as they're known in the office "Givers of life and food" get a lot of really cool stuff. Of the 3 million people who visit WinCustomize.com each month, fewer than 0.01% of them purchase a WinCustomize subscription. Perhaps it's because people don't know all the cool stuff they get such as the photo album support, the personal pages, the unlimited bandwidth use, the premium suties. Or perhaps they don't know just how cool the new W...
2005 What's new & cool! Introduction Object Desktop 2005 is the yearly mile-stone snapshot of Stardock's premiere desktop enhancement suite. Installing Object Desktop is a lot like upgrading Microsoft Windows to the next level. It adds features and functionality to the base OS that allow you to do amazing things on your computer. Over the past year, Stardock has worked hard to improve its award-winning product suite to make it easier, more powerful, and more...
July 2005 Contents IconPackager 3 Multiplicity & Gaming Object Desktop in action ObjectDock 1.2 Can Gadgets trump Widgets? Show us your computer setup! DesktopX 3.1 Windows Vista Pre-Beta Preview Icon-A-Day: Making the final package TotalGaming.net Phase 2 Farewell to OS/2 July Skinning Highlights... IconPackager 3 Change all your Windows icons at once with IconPacka...
The Skinning Primer A comprehensive look at Windows customization 2006 Edition by Brad Wardell Don't be a drone. Don't let your desktop look like this! Be an individual! Make your desktop LOOK and FEEL however you want it to! Disclaimer : I work at Stardock . I'm a guy who is so into messing around with the OS that I made it a large part of my career. But since I w...
Thanks to programs like yZ Dock and ObjectDock there are now a TON of .PNG files easily accessible. Personally, I still find myself going to Google, clicking on the Image tab and then typing what I want followed by a .PNG to list only PNG files. With Halloween approaching, I'm getting a lot of email from people asking how they can decorate their desktops. Probably the quickest, easiest way to do neat stuff isn't to go to a skin site at all but rather to just do it yourself with PNGs. H...
One of the age old questions in computer customization is what looks good? This is a skin I've been using. Yea, it has gigantic borders and it's not nearly as usable as many other skins. But for me...It's fun. It's neat. It's different. In the old days, a skin like this would slow my computer way down. But as software such as WindowBlinds gets better and hardware gets faster, there's really no penalty anymore. You really have the freedom to do some weird stuff with your com...
I've shown friends my beta of Windows Vista and they love the clean look, the glass UI, the dark Start bar. But I wonder how they'll feel about it say a month after they've been using it. As I've begun to mess around with the betas more and more, the sexiness starts to wear off and my desire to personalize my experience for my own preferences returns. What looks like glass at first starts to just be a bitmap that's at 20% opacity with a blur effect on it. Sure, I can change the...
For over 11 years, Object Desktop has been delivering future technologies to users long before they show up for the mainstream. If you want to know what's going to be in the OS someday, get Object Desktop. Going back to 1994/1995, the earliest days of Object Desktop for IBM's OS/2 gives hints on things to come to the mainstream years later. Take a look at these screenshots: Look at Object Navigator. Designed before there was a Windows Explorer (anyone remember File Manager?) it b...
It's like being a kid in a candy store. Two days from morning to late night meeting with people from Microsoft. Big kudos to Microsoft's Nick White for putting together these meetings as it's been incredibly educational. See the link below for the latest info.
Tonight at CES Microsoft announced the DreamScene Ultimate Extra. DreamScene is a new feature designed for Windows Vista Ultimate users that enables them to display high-definition video content as their desktop background. Users of Windows Vista Ultimate will be able to download it from "Ultimate Extras". Moreover, Microsoft has tapped WinCustomize.com as the premier repository for DreamScene content distribution and content by end users. The gallery and landing page will o...
Microsoft officially introduced the world to Windows Vista today. Windows Vista is Microsoft's next generation operating system to replace Windows XP. At the launch today (see video here ), the major features of Windows Vista were demonstrated. One feature we here at Stardock are particularly proud of being part of is the Ultimate Extra called Windows DreamScene. DreamScene allows users to play high-definition video content as their animated wallpaper. Microsoft selected Star...
It's been awhile since I've done one of these but this is certainly a pivotal year in skinning. The term "skinning" has really expanded in what it means. In the beginning, it simply meant changing the graphical elements of an application (such as Winamp) or of a character in a computer game (like Quake). Today, skinning is loosely used to describe customizing in general. From phones, to PDAs, to computer caess, skinning has become an all purpose term. Heck, I read on a car f...
Last year was another great year for skinning. Users from around the world created some incredibly fantastic skins. Culturally, skinning is a great deal different today than it was back in the late 90s. Back then, a popular skin might get a 1000 downloads. I remember when the first "Aqua" skins came out and the infamous "WinAqua" from Dangeruss managed to get 5 THOUSAND downloads total which was, back 2000 or so, a real milestone. Now, downloads of 50,000 are common and most of the...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 2, 2007 The National Hockey League and Stardock Launch Custom Team-Themed PC Desktops for Hockey Fans NHL and Stardock to Offer Custom Desktop Content for Fans on NHL.com, Individual Team Websites Plymouth, MI and New York, NY (May 2, 2007) – In an unprecedented marketing move by a professional sports league, the National Hockey League (NHL) has partnered with Stardock Corporation, the world’s leading desktop enhancement company, t...