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Written by Don Lee
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Wednesday, 21 March 2007 |
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Page 1 of 2  Object Desktop is a suite of 18 components that can do a variety of
things such as changing almost every aspect of the Windows interface,
clean up your system and eliminate wasted disk space, create hotkey
combinations to handle repetitious commands and enhance the overall
Windows user experience. Now for someone who uses a computer as often
as I do, I am all for a product that can make my time spent on my
computer time more enjoyable and productive so let’s take a closer look
at Object Desktop from Stardock.
Let’s Remodel Some Windows
While Object Desktop is a complete package of 18 components, you can purchase these components individually if you’d like. You should be aware that purchasing Object Desktop will cost much less than if you went and purchased each individual item. I believe that offering both purchasing options is a great sales idea though. Stardock does offer downloadable demos of most of the components in the Object Desktop package. With that said, let’s do a quick breakdown of the components in Object Desktop.
The first one in the package is the wildly popular WindowBlinds. This component is the crown jewel of the package and it was the one that drew me into this customizing thought process. Once I saw what WindowBlinds could do, I was hooked and I wanted to learn more. Using WindowBlinds is a relatively easy process if you just want to do a quick change to your existing appearance. The component comes with a few selections available so all you have to do is select one of them. There are plenty of options to choose from to change the Windows interface in every aspect imaginable. Change things such as the skin, toolbar, buttons and more. IconPackager is the component that will allow you to either change icons on the system or make a custom pack of icons. WindowFX allows you to customize the visual effects and features of your Windows interface.
SkinStudio is the component that functions as the base of WindowBlind skins. The cool thing about Skin Studio is that you can create skins for other applications too. IconDeveloper let’s you make your own icons. ObjectBar let’s you create and customize your own taskbar to suit your personal needs (excellent component). ThemeManager is where you can select from your collection of themes. Just select the one you want and your entire Windows environment will be changed quick and safely.
DesktopX is where you can do a full overhaul of the Windows interface. StarDock Central is the main control application where you do your installing, get updates and interact with other users. Just consider this as the starting point. IconX allows you to push your icons to the next level of coolness. Here’s where you can add cool appearance features such as shadows, animate and more. RightClick allows you to create and customize your own contextual menus.
This is an excellent component for providing quicker access to your system. Virtual Desktops allows you to add virtual desktops to your Start bar, widgets or other programs. Desktop Gadgets let’s you add a little design flair to those typical system objects. Object Edit is a juiced up version of Notepad. This is for those who want a little more functionality out of your text editor. Tab Launchpad gives you the opportunity to set up your interface with tabs. You can set up tabs to keep a certain collection of programs together for quick access. Object Sweeper is a disk utility program designed to clean up all of those orphaned files in your system.
also offers improvements to using Windows itself. For example, I installed the RightClick component because it says that I can customize my own contextual menus. Now this is very appealing because I have files scattered all throughout my two hard drives and I hate having to navigate to certain locations. This component gave me quick and easy access without having to minimize everything.
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