J. Aroche is one of my favorite CursorFX skinners. He makes cursor themes with some truly amazing animations and effects. He recently put out another cursor that stays true to his style.

Link: Conspiracy for CursorFX

There is a free update for existing users of WindowBlinds available. The most notable feature is the addition of the Explorer Background feature which allows you to apply a background, and adjust the opacity of the Explorer background. Other additions include performance tweaks. WindowBlinds is the easiest, and safest way to change the complete look and feel of both Windows Vista and XP by applying one of thousands of visual styles that are available.

WindowBlinds has a free download available for evaluation, and is $19.95 for the full enhanced version.  WindowBlinds is also part of the Object Desktop suite of desktop enhancements.

Link: WindowBlinds

These are some of the most popular .dreams (animated wallpapers) submitted to Dream.WinCustomize.Com throughout the month of April.  To use .dreams (animated wallpaper) you need to have Windows Vista and Stardock’s DeskScapes (free) installed.  If you are an Object Desktop subscriber, you have beta access to DeskScapes 2.0 which will run on virtually any version of Vista.

Stardock is pleased to announce the “official” public release of MyColors. MyColors makes applying premium suites a snap. A MyColors theme includes everything a user needs to completely and safely transform the Windows experience - a new Windows GUI, a new set of icons, gadgets, wallpaper, etc.

Now available on CNET, MyColors includes the “Diamond theme” which gives Windows XP and Windows Vista users a glimpse at Aero Diamond (one of the concepts Microsoft considered for Windows Vista before going with Aero glass). Diamond supports blurred glass even on Windows XP, a completely new icon set, gadgets and more.

The included Diamond theme is free, and MyColors itself is free as well. Additional suites can be purchased such as themes licensed by the NBA, NCAA, Ford, and others. Even if you don’t purchase additional themes, you still get a phenomenal suite for both Windows Vista and XP.

Download: MyColors

I have been getting quite a few messages lately from people wanting to know how to change their Vista cursors.  Many of them are still using CursorXP, and I guess maybe the CursorFX news just hasn’t reached everyone yet.  No big deal though, lets go through the steps on getting some custom cursors on your Windows desktop.

What is CursorFX?

CursorFX is the successor to the highly popular CursorXP application.  I think it’s safe to say CursorXP was the top choice when needing to apply custom created cursors to your desktop, and with millions of downloads from sites like Download.com, I think many would agree.

CursorXP was great, but it was showing some age and with Vista coming along, it was time to develop a suitable replacement.  In comes CursorFX.  CursorFX is not just an update to CursorXP, it’s a completely new application that works with both Windows Vista and XP. 

Changing Your Cursor Theme

If you downloaded the free version, you just install from the file that was downloaded.  If you purchased CursorFX Plus then you can also download through Stardock Central or Impulse.  So once it’s installed, start the application and you will see the main configuration screen.

CursorFX Main

In the center of the window you see the list of currently installed cursor themes.  CursorFX by default comes with several themes included, but I will also show you where to get more later in the article. You can simply browse the list of cursor themes by scrolling through the list, and when you find one you like, just double-click the selection or hit the Apply button.  That will automatically change your cursor to the selected one.

CursorFX Preview

By clicking the magnifying glass icon on the right of the selection, it will bring up the full preview of all the included cursor states.  It will even preview the animations so you can see exactly what the cursor looks like.

Getting More Themes

CursorFX includes several high quality cursors, but no need to limit yourself to those.  There are hundreds available on WinCustomize.com, and remember that CursorFX cursors are compatible with CursorFX.

There are some really great cursors available in the CursorFX gallery, so be sure to browse through and see all the great works.

Link: CursorFX gallery on WinCustomize

Download: Stardock’s CursorFX (free, Plus version $19.95)

This Cosmos .dream was made to go with the Cosmos MyColors suite, but it’s a fine .dream all by itself.  It’s very subtle, so this is perfect for people who don’t like a lot of movement on the desktop.  For Vista Ultimate users with DeskScapes, or all Vista users with the full beta from Object Desktop.

Link: Download

A few months I released the Vista sidebar gadget that count downs the days until the 2008 Presidential Election. With the release of Vista SP1 it caused some compatibility problems, but I’m happy to say those have been resolved and I can release the updated gadget.

Download 

A new month has started, so that means it’s time as usual for me to create a video featuring some of the best .dreams (animated wallpapers) that were submitted throughout the past month.You need to have Windows Vista and Stardock DeskScapes (free) installed to use these. You can find links to all the featured videos here.

This past week we saw some fantastic skins come through the pipes over at WinCustomize, and I wanted to take a few minutes to share some of them.  

Organic for ObjectDock Backgrounds

On Chesapeake Bay in Wallpapers

You can find the full article of featured skins at the link below.

Link: http://www.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=306826

This is a beautiful landscape based animated wallpaper (.dream).  This was created by brenopoubel and be downloaded from the link below.  Windows Vista and Stardock DeskScapes are required to use this.

Download: Poubel Vista