Habit is the second nature indeed. If you start your daily morning at work arranging your desk space, moving around stationery, notepads, calculator, phone, documents and photo frames , let me assume you do the same at every start up of your computer. If so, DesktopX is certainly what you need and will appreciate. It adds/removes objects to/from your computer desktop, changes your desktop looks and, measuring its capacity, can keep you busy all day long pretty well.

At the simplest level, DesktopX extends habitual Windows desktop: gives us a possibility to put on it a lot of useful and pleasing things: CPU meters, photo frames translating slideshows, or web cameras. DesktopX makes Windows support these things (widgets) just like it supports program icons.

Desktop widgets can send and receive messages to each other and to the system. They can have multiple states associated with them. DesktopX is also a tool to create new objects, but this becomes possible often through scripting only. If you have no VBScript, or JScript programming skills, enjoy the funny gimmicks provided or downloaded from the net.

With DesktopX' help we can also change our desktop looks beyond recognition, having piled it up, or downloading free of charge themes from the net.

So, what we can get with minimal efforts is to load and adjust objects, widgets, and complete desktops.

Objects serve as icons with the only difference that they not only provide a program's quick start, but also entertain you. CD and DVD-Rom objects heartily swallow up disks, Adobe and Power Point objects ingratiatingly stretch out their necks when the mouse is on, your mail box is very much pleased with your attention.

What is convenient, we can reset targets for the objects. For example, whatever mail client you use, associate the mail box object with it and enjoy the lid banging.

Widgets are mini programs that populate your desktop and help you, let us say, to convert temperature, weight, angle, etc. units; to display time, calendar, current stock values or disk space available. They can provide you with a Webster dictionary, or give you a "To-Do" list. DesktopX includes some very good widgets with it, namely of the "Silica" series.

We can interact with the widgets via their Properties window and put them on the desk/normal/always on top levels or set their accessibility. Seems convenient.

The next option provided by DesktopX is downloading and creating desktops. Desktop (or theme) is a whole desktop interface that can take over the various Windows desktop elements. Internet offers enormous quantity of desktops, some of them are pleasant for eyes and properly working. Mind, that the main problems with somebody else's themes are resolution and specific systems appliance. Incompatibility is usually connected with them. One way to avoid local wars is to download resolution independent desktops.

One more valuable feature is the possibility to modify these complete desktops. Adding objects and widgets, of course. The saying "what is done cannot be undone" loses its significance here: DesktopX offers to save your present desktop, so you don't need to be cautious of experiments.

That's what I got instead of a standard taskbar and rows of icons. A bit dark, but it will do for a change.

As I've already mentioned, to create your own object, you have to have some scripting skills. Desktop documentation gives instructions how to do this or that, but doesn't teach programming. Though, in some cases it's possible to manage without it. If you have spare time, you might want to create an MP3 Player. It will look plain, but will play. 10-Mb video tutorial on http://www.stardock.com/products/desktopx/video will help you.

Even though I'm not a meccano fan, I end up saving some objects on my new, strangely looking desktop. Let them be. And even though I have some feature requests for DesktopX developers, I find the program easy to use, consistent and competent.

DesktopX keywords: desktop, windowblinds, stardock, widgets, gadgets, objects, desktops, development tools