Since nearly the beginning of the Windows Vista launch back in 2007, animated wallpapers were only available for people who opted for the Ultimate Version of Windows Vista.  This was a very exciting announcement, but as time went on it was obvious other editions of Vista such as Home Premium were becoming the choice of most consumers.  Stardock announced the availability of DeskScapes for Vista Ultimate users which was showcased as an enhancement to Windows DreamScene.  DeskScapes offered many more features like dynamically generated wallpapers, triggered wallpapers, and introduced the .dream file format.

Users of non-Ultimate versions of Vista were asking for a way to use animated wallpapers (.dreams) on their desktops, and with that Stardock released DeskScapes 2.0, which allows any version of Windows Vista the ability to have animated wallpapers on the desktop.  Maybe some of you are asking what exactly are the features and advantages of DeskScapes, so let me give a brief overview of the features of DeskScapes 2.0.

• .Dream format.  The .dream format was created to extend the capability of just playing video on the desktop.  It also allows gives artists a way to get credit for their work, and makes it simple to know that a .dream file is specifically designed for DeskScapes, not just guessing if a .wmv or .mpg file will work.
  
  
• Triggers.  An animated wallpaper showing a beautiful nature scene is great, but how about the wallpaper changing to a day and night scene based on the time of day.  That is just a quick example of how triggers enhance a normal animated wallpaper.
  
  
• Dynamic content.  Playing videos is one thing, but how about having dynamically generated content displayed for your animated wallpaper?  Another huge advantage of dynamic content is it uses very little resources, so it's even more efficient than the normal content you can use with DeskScapes.

DeskScapes 2.0 has a free preview available which allows unlimited use of the 3 bundled .dream files.  These are just a small example of the hundreds of .dreams which are available for use with the enhanced version.  Lets take a look at the included .dreams with the free version.

1. Watercolor.  The Watercolor .dream is an example of a dynamic .dream.  This .dream randomizes your desktop background with variations of shapes and colors and uses very little resources.  Another advantage to a wallpaper like this is DeskScapes gives you options like how fast to draw the wallpaper, and gives you the ability to adjust the performance settings for best performance or quality.

2. Grassy Field.  This is a beautiful scene of a field with the grass "blowing" in the wind.  This is a video based .dream, and is a great example of how animated wallpapers can be subtle and now overpower your desktop. 

3. 3D Bouncing Box.  This is another example of a dynamically generated .dream which displays a 3D box rotating on the desktop.  In the dynamic wallpaper settings menu you can alter the size of the box, and the speed at which it rotates.  Once again, this shows how dynamic .dreams are very light on resource usage.

More information and downloads for DeskScapes 2.0 can be found at the links below. 

Download: DeskScapes 2.0 free

Link: DeskScapes 2.0

Another week down, and another weekend is upon us.  This was another week where I had a difficult time choose the picks for this week.  I shouldn't complain though because that is actually a good thing. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Conspiracy for CursorFX by J. Aroche J. Aroche always comes through with some great CursorFx themes.  I especially like the animations on this one.
	Conspiracy for Iconpackager by J. Aroche Well I guess the cursor theme was made to match something, and that is this superb icon pack.  Over 100 icons in this pack.  Great job.
	Twilight Zone 3 for LogonStudio Vista by DEVJIT This is the LogonStudio Vista version of DEVJIT's wallpaper, both are great, but I thought this looked really good at the logon.
	Wood Glass Dock Backgrounds for ObjectDock by Mirsguy This set of dock backgrounds for ObjectDock has a wood and glass look.  Beautiful design!
	Warp13 in Wallpapers by Boom13 This is a really stunning wallpaper, and looks really good with the Stardust WB skin.
	Port in Wallpapers by LightStar Very minimalist and a perfectly clean design.  I hope to see more of this style of wallpaper added to the gallery.
	Temple Oblivion in WindowBlinds by kittymalone The details in this skin are amazing.  I can't image how long it took kittymalone to get this done, but the work definitely paid off.

Great job to everyone featured this week.  The galleries are full of more submissions, so take the time to see all the other works that you might have missed this week.  See you next week!

WindowBlinds 6.1 was recently released, and one of its new features is the ability to change the background in Windows Explorer.  This is a really cool feature, and adds another level of customization to Windows.  There are several ways you can customize the Explorer backgrounds.  There are over 20 included backgrounds you can change them to, and you can also change the color and opacity. 

You can find these options in the "Explorer Backgrounds" tab under the "Look & Feel" section in the WindowBlinds configuration.

As you see in the screenshot below, you have the Explorer background preview which will show you the changes you make in real-time.  The bottom portion of the configuration is divided for the active and inactive backgrounds, but the functions are the same for each.

To change to one of the included backgrounds, simply click the box and a list will come up showing the various styles available.  Select the one you want, and if no further customization is needed, just hit "apply changes" and the background will apply.

Using the Hue, Saturation, and Opacity sliders you can further adjust the background image to your liking.  If you just want to add transparency then just select the default background.  You can see your changes in the preview window, and when you are finished, just apply your changes.  Take note that transparency is only available on Windows Vista.

This is a pretty simple to setup, but has very powerful looking effects.  Remember, if you want to get back to the default settings, just click the "reset defaults" button and apply.  Here are some examples of how the Explorer backgrounds can look with some of these settings applied.

You can find more information about WindowBlinds and its other features at the link below.

Link: WindowBlinds

Today we announced that the subscription price for WinCustomize was going to go up $10/year from $20 to $30.  Now, of course we had to come up with a good justification for this, something that would fool the sheep of the forums into believing we did this for their own good and that they're getting the better end of the deal.

But, just between you and me?  Complete BS. 

As some of you may know, today's Angie's birthday, so as a gift the company bought her a new car...

So that would have probably accounted for a $2.50 increase per subscription, but some of us were looking at that car and asked "What about us?"  After some haggling and stomping of feet and numerous rude gestures, we sold upper management on the idea of the Stardock Porsche Fleet...

Each, of course, added $2.50 to the unit cost of a WinCustomize subscription. 

That's why the subscription is now $10 more per year.  Gotta pay for the fancy cars!

Now, I know some of you are probably getting worked up about this turn of events, especially considering how we told you it was really about the free skins, and not the Porsche fleet.  To calm your nerves, here's a serene picture of some geese...

That's right, here at Stardock HQ we have a fleet of Porsches AND cute little baby geese!

No kidding.

Hiya peoples! Get comfy, this will be a long one, but worth it I think...

Been in the mood for earth colors this week, so I indulged and downloaded ERRO by Imzadi .

This blind is earthy, and neatly designed. The start menu and buttons are stylized arrows with the Start button animation creating a swirl with the arrow.

I enjoyed the way the Start menu was shaded to look almost like sunglasses, giving it an almost seventies feel to it (you who were there remember how popular the smoked glass look was)

The subtle mix of brown and grey makes for an  interesting look on windows and IE, with IE almost having a woody quality.

This skin is very "fast", easily loaded & utilized and is almost minimalist in design.

I chose Dark Shine by SUNX to compliment the whole earthy look. The package has icons that mimic that smoked glass look I mentioned earlier, with an orangy looking colorization .

 I know I show alot of KittyMalone's work ,but hey she's really a great artist that creates stuff that I can't help but want to use.

Having said that,I'll tell you that her Temple Oblivion CursorFX theme is really sweet!

I did a slight recolor to bring the browns out and it compliments the scheme I have created perfectly.

I love the clawed hand animation and find the pointer easy to use , as it's sharp and easy to find the target.(some cursors make finding the target difficult because of the rounded edges at the point.)

For the completion of this grouping, I used a wall that has depth and beauty. E Nomine by NauticalPixel (formerly Causticfx) is a real diamond.

E Nomine has  many themes within it, yet can be used with a desktop with many icons and still doesn't look "busy". The celtic knotwork within the cross is gorgeous, and the layering gives the medieval looking relief work  a nice 3-D quality. NP says the star is supposed to represent the pentagram, but I  think it just looks like  a plain ol' star, there in the middle of the cross, and doesn't impress me at all as the "devilish symbol".The circling Runes also add a great touch, giving it that timeless feel.

Believe it or not, there's a great sound package that also compliments this look.

I tried out The Beatles by Already Taken, thinking I probably wouldn't care for it, as the screenshot in the library looks like  yellow submarine.. figured it'd be a montage of those sounds. I was pleasantly surprised at the thought put into the clips that were used.

The package is a mellow mix of instrumentals and a few verses here and there from some really superb Beatles songs.I highly recommend that package to anyone who enjoys good music!

Now...,

Here's a fun little trick. I want to show you the difference between what a theme I create looks like before and after modification.

I picked out a wall Galactic Spectrum (widescreen) by Bebi Bulma and created my theme around that.

For windowblinds, I chose StealthOS by MikeB314 He's a great artist and all his designs are a combination corporate looking and spacey looking all at once. Because of the theme of the wall, I opted for this spacy  yet tidy look. The blind picks up the blues and greys in the wall.

I went with Blue by Nimbin for the RightClick menu. The starburst fits nicely with the galactic theme.

CursorFX I used M-Drop (colorpack) by Artur Berk . Artur is one of my absolute favorite Cursor artists. I have never seen a cursor he created that I  could just  pass by. The metallic exterior with rivets and crystal inset really looked pleasant with this grouping. I chose the M-drop blue color from this pack.

I wanted something that would both stand out on this dark theme, and still maintain the space idea. I dug in my personal library and found Core by Bohemy. A real treasure of an iconpackage. Well worth the download.

here is what this combination looked like:

Now here is where the twist comes in,

I recolored the windowblind ** and the iconpackage, and changed the Cursorfx to M-drop Violet, also doing a slight color tweak. I switched the rightclick to Violet Sky also by Nimbin.

and here is the product of that changeover:

Amazing isn't it? it's virtually the same theme, but the look is completely different!!

now one more twist...

I invert the colors on windowblinds & adjust the hue  and this is what it now looks like:

**this is one of those skins that  is Difficult to recolor.  you have to adjust to where you think you might like it and then click "apply changes" to see if it is what you want. takes a bit of getting used to but as you can see , spectacular results!!**

I know it was really only two themes this week, but I made it into four didn't I?

Have fun skinning!!

Wulf