New and updated features:

• Native Windows 7 support
• Ability to skin Aero
• New user interface
• Skin textures
• Improved skin coloring
• and much more!

Free trial available at Download.com.  More information can be found at www.windowblinds.net.

Screenshots:

DeskScapes 3 also includes a new configuration interface that lets users easily mix and match between different types of wallpaper. Natively, DeskScapes supports its own popular .dream format which lets users use video or dynamically generated animated wallpaper. Version 3 extends this format to support what are called “Hybrid dreams” that let users mix and match static images and animation designed to provide easy to create animated wallpaper that are also practical and visually exciting.

A free trial is available, and you can get more info at www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes

For this weekend only DeskScapes 3 is on sale for just $14.95!

There are many new features, but the focus here is on the new WindowBlinds 7, DeskScapes 3, Fences Pro, and DesktopX 4.  WindowBlinds 7 has received a completely new user interface, and the ability to skin Aero with textures and effects.

More info and screenshots can be found at the Object Desktop 2010 Preview.

Object Desktop 2010 Preview

In addition to its organizing features, Fences offers a quick-hide feature: Double click your desktop, and all your icons will fade out. Double click again, and they’ll return.

More info, screenshots, and videos can be found here.

Download Fences 1.0 (Free)

Fences Screenshot

Since the beginning we have stated that there will be a free and Pro version of Fences, but we really haven’t said much about Pro.  Until now that is!  Of course we’re not going to let all the features out of the bag, but I wanted to start off by talking about a couple that people have been recently asking about.

Skinning

In the free version of Fences, you have some basic customization options, which really consists of the ability to change the color of your Fences.  Fences Pro will introduce the ability to skin your Fences.  Creating themes for Fences will be skinning friendly, and the ability to upload themes to WinCustomize.com is part of the plan.

Here is one example of a themed Fence.

There will be more customization options available as well, but more on that another time.

Auto-Fences

This is a really cool feature.  With the free version of Fences you have the ability to manually organize your desktop icons into a variety of ways using Fences.  With the Pro version, you will be able to assign rules to create new Fences.

Examples:

• Set a rule so that icons of a specific type go into a designated Fence.  Need all Word or Excel files to go to a specific Fence?  That’s what it can do for you!
• Another possible rule is to set any new icons added to the desktop to be assigned to a Fence.  Stop the clutter even before it starts!

This is something you can show off in a screenshot, but when the time comes we will have some videos showing how cool this is, and how it will help keep your desktop organized.

More info about Fences Pro will be coming soon, but for the time being be sure to download a free copy of Fences from the link below.

Stardock Fences

Updates include:

• Live previews. See the changes you make in settings in real-time
• Completely new user interface which includes grab and throw scrolling, reflections, and a simpler layout.
• Improved Windows 7 support
• Improved skin coloring (see video)
• Improved sub-style selections, and skin search

If you purchased WindowBlinds anytime after April 1st, 2009, then you will receive the WB7 update for free.  More info at www.windowblinds.net.

The premise is simple: Create a Summer wallpaper with your interpretation of the summer.  It could be vacations, tropical islands, scenery, the sun, etc., it just needs to have that “summer” feel to it.  How you create it is up to you.  3D, vector, drawing… show us what you got!

We have several prizes up for grabs including subscriptions to Object Desktop Ultimate, SnagIt from TechSmith, and more!

You can see all the rules here, and I hope to see some works from you!

Regardless of which version of Windows you are using, Fences is the ultimate way to keep your desktop organized.

You can download Fences for free via Stardock’s Impulse, or at the link below.

http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/

Fences

Ubisoft joins this week with Assassins Creed, Far Cry 2, and Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East.

"Stardock has a proven track record as a publisher of quality PC games and an emerging platform for digital distribution with Impulse," said Andy Swanson, senior director of strategic sales and partnerships at Ubisoft. "We look forward to offering consumers yet another opportunity to play our award-winning franchises and receive our games digitally."

Additional titles will be forthcoming this summer.  For more information, and a free download of the Impulse client, please visit www.impulsedriven.com.