desktops

Sometimes static desktop backgrounds can be boring, and you feel the need to make the desktop come alive. This is when Desktop Aquarium Free steps in, transforming the desktop into an aquarium. While the video's nice, the free version ships with a couple of annoying limitations, such as 30-second-only videos and pop-up ads. The app provides two scenes in this version: a "busy coral reef" scene, with dozens of fish species, such as Banded Clownfish, Blue Tang, and other colorful varieties, and a second "Shark paradise" scene, with the protagonists being a couple sharks, Blue … Read more

Judging by the number of e-mails I get on this subject, a lot of folks don't understand the difference between computer and hi-fi speakers. For example, how is an Audioengine A5+ ($399 a pair) functionally different from a PSB Alpha B1 speaker ($300 a pair)?… Read more

Driven by the popularity of tablets, personal computers grabbed a new high in customer satisfaction in the September report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Labeling desktops, laptops, and tablets all as personal computers, the ACSI gave the category a grade of 80 out of 100. That proved a 2.6 percent gain over the 78 score earned last year and in 2010. Though some may disagree with the tagging of tablets as PCs, the iPad and its brethren were partly responsible for the bump in satisfaction among computer buyers.

"The recent stall in demand for desktop PCs comes … Read more

Skins let you totally change the look of apps like media players and image editors, but you can do the same and much more to Windows with Stardock's WindowBlinds. This program makes it easy to change the look of Windows without having to change everything manually in Appearance and Personalization. With preconfigured skins you can customize, WindowBlinds lets you create and customize Windows in ways the built-in tool could never match. WindowBlinds is free to try for 30 days, with a few options disabled.

WindowBlinds' user interface resembles a Windows feature, but with its own touches. It displays available … Read more

Nexus is Latin for both a group of things bound together and the act of binding them. That makes it the perfect name for Winstep's free Nexus Dock utility. Like other desktop docks, it has time and weather widgets, a screenshot tool, and quick access to Windows features like e-mail and the Start menu. But that's just the beginning of what this versatile app can do. It brings just about anything in your PC together on the desktop for instant access -- programs, utilities, files, folders, properties information, and so on -- and displays them in an interactive, … Read more

Post-it Notes, those little yellow pads of sticky-backed paper, changed the world, or at least the way people who live in it leave reminders to themselves and others. When the layers of notes (now multicolor) start to resemble cedar shingles, it's time to clean your computer monitor. That brings up an important point: as big an improvement as sticky notes have been over the old paper napkin method, software versions like Sticky Notes may be better still. For one thing, Sticky Notes lets you organize, search, store, and back up your notes; set reminders, priorities, and alarms; and customize … Read more

Need a good desktop-publishing program? For my money, nothing compares to Serif PagePlus X6. At $99.99, it's a fraction of the cost of Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress (which, against all logic, still sell for hundreds and hundreds of dollars). And it's nearly as capable as both.

For a limited time, you can get Serif PagePlus X6 for just $49 -- oh, and six other programs, too.

It's all part of Avanquest Software's PC SuperBundle, which includes $379' worth of Windows software for that same price.

I'll come right out and say that PagePlus is … Read more

HyperCam 2 is a free software program that gives you a way to capture your screen in AVI video, showing cursor movement and every task accomplished on your desktop.

The interface is a little advanced for a novice computer user. Its overall look is a little crowded and therefore not as easy to navigate as we would hope. Its basic functions are at least easy to use, though it produced video of variable quality. We tested how it would function with a YouTube video capture and Select Window resulted in a delayed and out-of-sync recording. Select Region had good quality, … Read more

It's easier than you might guess to customize your PC's icons with IconPackager. As the name suggests, IconPackager packages icons together so you can replace them all at once instead of the usual way, one by one. It's shareware that you can try for free for 30 days. The trial version only comes with a few icon packages, but more are available to registered users.

IconPackager's unique interface combines some of the look of the Appearance and Personalization tool in Windows with browser-like touches such as tabs. IconPackager sorts its main features by function into tabs … Read more