EPTAs the months have gone by, each progressive month I post my desktop in the "Month Year Desktop Thread" and each and every month, I get multiple PM's asking about my setup, what the icons are, etc. etc..
In an effort to help more people, I've decided to write this guide on how to customize your desktop.
Keep in mind that this is mostly specific to Windows XP, but not 100% limited to XP only.
Getting Started - Rainmeter:
Probably the first thing that you want to decide is what you want to include on your desktop. Do you want a music player? Do you want your icons easily accessible? Does it need to be minimalist? Over the top?
There are many lightweight programs out there to show some of these things, but in my opinion the most effecient is Rainmeter.
Rainmeter is a simple program that can provide various information about your computer (CPU usage, Time, Hard disk usage, and the list goes on). The current default download for Rainmeter is I believe Version 1.2. It's default skin is Enigma, if I remember correctly.
Personally, I feel that Rainmeter 1.2 is too weird and has a frustrating gUI to use. Instead, I use Version 0.14.1. The gUI is lightweight and easy to use, and in my personal opinion you have more customization for your skins. Installing them is a breeze as well, it's about as simple as dragging and dropping the folders.
There are other programs besides Rainmeter, but none are as effecient nor as customizable.
You can download Rainmeter (Both Version 1.2 and 0.14.1) here:
http://code.google.com/p/rainmeter/downloads/list
This is a list of some neat skins that I've found, all should work with Rainmeter 0.14.1:
http://customize.org/rainmeter/skins/47014
http://customize.org/rainmeter/skins/64456
http://customize.org/rainmeter/skins/62898
http://customize.org/rainmeter/skins/58074
If you're not satisfied with these skins, you can find some great ones on both http://www.customize.org and http://www.deviantart.com
Getting Started - Icon Docks:
Icon docks are a major part of my desktop as well. I prefer to keep them simple, and unelaborate. Another thing to remember about Docking stations is that YOU should like how it looks.
The dock that I prefer to use the most is RocketDock. It's not the cleanest, nor the most effecient, but it has some of the best customiziballity(is that even a word?) out there.
After you have RocketDock downloaded, it's important that you find skins that you like, as well as finding how best to dock your icons. I've looked at hundreds of icon packs, and my personal favorite is the Lucid Icon pack from DeviantART, which i'll link later in this post.
If you're going to use a dock, I would also highly reccomend that you consider whether or not you're going to actually use it. If you aren't, then don't bother with one. It's just a waste of your precious gaming memory and processing power. If you ARE going to use a dock though, disable your other icons by right clicking your desktop -> Arrange icons by -> Show icons. Make sure that it's disabled.
Important Note:
If you're using Windows 7, I would reccomend that you just use the taskbar instead to dock your stuff, it's just better. End of story.
You can get RocketDock here:
http://rocketdock.com/
And you can get the Lucid Icon Pack here:
http://leechiahan.deviantart.com/art/Lucid-Icons-104175952
Getting Started - Music Players:
I'll keep this section short. If you're going to use Winamp, then pretty much every Rainmeter skin comes with a winamp skin. If you're going to use anything else, such as iTunes, MediaMonkey, or Windows Media player, you should look for some skins you like.
I use iTunes (I know, I'm lame like that) with the Silent Night Theme, which probably doesnt work with the more recent versions of iTunes. I apologize for that one.
Personally, if you can convert to Winamp, I'd suggest it, but not everyone like Winamp or wants to use it, so that's up to you.
Help! I liked having stuff like 'My Computer' and 'My Documents' showing on my desktop!
Executor, a GREAT, highly lightweight program can help solve this problem. With a simple 'windows key + z' press, you can execute ANYTHING on your computer. It's been my favorite program since a fellow TL'er introduced me to it almost a year ago.
You can get Executor here:
http://executor.dk/
Customizing your Desktop - Making it fit YOUR needs:
When I had my first desktop that I had begun to customize, I started with some REALLY messy desktops, stuff that had unnecessary information, and in general was well, just bad.
+ Show Spoiler [First Customization attempt] +
![[image loading]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/Tranzworld/bg_2009.jpg)
Yeah, you probably laughed. There was a ton of useless information, the icons were ugly, and in general it just looked bad. My second desktop incarnation resulted in:
+ Show Spoiler [Oh boy here we go again] +
![[image loading]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/Tranzworld/Background-Finished.jpg)
As you can see, it looks quite a bit cleaner, and has been minimalized to a greater degree. The icons have been redone, the desktop just feels cleaner, and doesn't look as sloppily done.
My third and final setup, which is the one i've been using since Janurary of 2010, looks like this:
+ Show Spoiler [That's what I'm talking ab…] +
![[image loading]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/Tranzworld/Desktop_June2010.jpg)
As you can see the progression, you can see how Each one has slowly improved, and something I'd love to impress upon you too. No matter how hard you try, your first setup probably won't be your favorite, and you may change it just a few minutes after you finish it. However, don't give up because you don't like it. Stick with it!
If I can impress one final thing in this section on you, Don't use stuff you don't need! It's a waste of your memory and processing power!
Customizing your Desktop - Learning to Wallpaper
Some of the hardest part about customizing a desktop to fit your needs is your Wallpaper. If you don't like your wallpaper, what point is there to having one, right? This is something you need to consider when you're creating your desktop.
I personally custom edit every single one of my Wallpapers to fit a 1680 x 1050 setup (and trust me, some of them are hastily done and look pretty bad, i've deleted quite a few and have quite a few to still delete). On top of that, I use Wallpaper Juggler to Juggle between Wallpapers every 30 minutes, as I have some problem with having a background for more than 30 minutes or so.
You may not want to do this. If you don't then here's my reccomendation. Go lurk either the TL desktop thread OR (and this is probably the only time i'll ever say this) you can lurk /w/ or /wg/ to see wallpapers or setups you might be interested in. If you're interested in anime, Konachan and Pixiv are also good, and if you're interested in regular wallpapers, Desktopography has some awesome high quality wallpapers too. Oh, and don't forget about pleaces like 4Walled, and other sites whose names escape me that you can use for wallpapers.
Customizing your Desktop - Final Tips:
1. Make sure your desktop functions FOR YOU. If it doesn't look as cool as someone elses, that's not your problem. Don't EVER sacrifice looks for functionality.
2. Don't give up because you can't get your desktop to look just right. I've been working on mine since FOREVER, so you can always edit small things as you go.
3. Try to draw out your desktop before you go to work on it. It's always better to have a good idea of what you want to do than it is to just make stuff up as you go along. Find a good icon pack, find a couple good rainmeter skins, and slowly build your plan from there.
My gifts to you:
Some people here may only be interested in getting their desktop to look exactly like how mine is setup. If you DO, then here's everything you'll need to know:
I use every program i've mentioned. I run at 1680 x 1050 Resolution
I use RocketDock, with Lucid Icons (the white ones), with the AngryBlue Font, 57 px icon size, 60% opacity. Zoom Effect, Plateau.
iTunes with the Silent Night skin.
Rainmeter with the Clock being Dark Rainmeter, the HD setups being SimpleMeter, and CPU, RAM, and SWAP being anywhere. You can position them yourself.
The original desktop wallpaper I used was:
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/Tranzworld/Angel_1.jpg)
My other gift is a small Wallpaper Collection. There are 3 folders here. The first is a folder with all of the cycles that I personally use, custom edited(ignore the bad names, most of them are names at like 2am when I just put something random for space filler). I take no credit for any of them. The second folder is a group of random anime backgrounds that you may want to use. The third is my old collection of just plain awesome wallpapers. A lot of them are very popular and you can probably find them well, just about anywhere. Enjoy.
You can get the Wallpapers here:
[url blocked]
Thanks for reading! I'll answer any questions you have about this stuff.
I realize I'm also not the best writer and I ramble every now and then, I apologize if anything is overly difficult to read.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/S5Qs2.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/4259/unbenanntjc.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/3264/desktoppick.jpg)
