Free Cursors: Another Way to Dress Your Desktop

Special Interest/Hobbies

Are you a birder? A musician? A weekend mechanic? A movie buff? It might be fun to bring your favorite hobby onto your desktop.

Birds

If your idea of a cute redhead is a duck, you'll enjoy this animated cursor set. Most of the images used for cursors, pointers, and other indicators depict some sort of bird--including a flying mallard for the pointer, an Anna's hummingbird for Help, and a mute swan for Busy. The text cursor is a flashing I-beam that's easy to locate and relatively unobtrusive. Be sure to read the Readme file--it contains important installation instructions.

3D Musical

Here's some fun for musicians. For a basic pointer you get a spinning red electric guitar, while a spinning musical note serves as the text cursor. When the computer is busy, a beating drum signals the delay. Other cursors include an acoustic guitar, an accordion, a wooden recorder, and a soprano sax. The cursors are small enough to be unobtrusive, yet they pack high entertainment value.

Weekend Passion

This animated cursor set is designed for folks who like to work on their vehicles. The cursors--a collection of gears, brackets, and widgets that you might find in a workbench drawer--are a bit hard to describe. A little silver arrow indicator with a working engine next to it serves as a pointer, and in documents you see a big silver I-beam with the same engine. An odometer shows up when the computer is busy. Though a mechanic might enjoy this set, the animations are probably a bit too frenetic for the rest of us to work with every day.

Wizard of Oz

Love old movies? Then it's a safe bet you'll be transported by this set of animated cursors. The pointer is Glinda's magic scepter, tipped with a glowing yellow jewel, and the text cursor is a big I-beam that fades in and out. When your computer is churning away, you'll see the horse of many colors changing hues as it runs. Other cursors include the Glinda herself, Toto, the Wicked Witch of the West, and (of course) ruby slippers. Be sure to read the Readme file, which contains important installation instructions.