Dress Up Your PC

More Apps to Dress Up Your PC

3DNA Desktop

Turn your PC into an immersive, three-dimensional world with this program, which replaces your normal desktop with a 3D view that makes navigating your PC, organizing files and folders, and launching programs more fun. After you install the application, you find yourself in a kind of virtual, 3D loft, and you walk around it to interact with your computer. Want to create or play back media? Walk over to a media center and click a microphone to launch a sound recorder, or click a stereo to launch your media player. Want to surf the Web? Head over to the appropriate area and launch your browser; you can see multiple Web sites running simultaneously on the browser wall.

The environment has similar areas for launching applications. You can even walk upstairs onto the deck to play a game of hoops, look at the daytime sky, and watch birds flying above. Plenty of other 3D worlds apart from the loft are available for download, as well.

Note that this program works only with Windows XP, not Vista.

Download 3DNA Desktop ($30, shareware)

AusLogics Visual Styler

If you're looking for a simple, visually appealing way to dress up your PC, AusLogics Visual Styler is worth the download, as it gives you instant access to many deeply hidden Windows customization features and adds some twists of its own. For example, with it you can adjust your icons' resolution, their size, the space between them, and even whether they should have a shortcut arrow on them. You can also determine which desktop icons to use for Internet Explorer, the Recycle Bin, drives, folders, and so on. The application's wallpaper changer will swap out the background image every time your PC starts, too.

The program has an abundance of features, including one that lets you easily download and use wallpapers from the Internet. Though AusLogics Visual Styler won't let you change Windows to the same degree that an app such as 3DNA Desktop does, it's still a good bet if you want to tweak common Windows elements.

Download AusLogics Visual Styler ($25, 15-day free trial)

Vista4Experts

Ignore this program's name, because if you're a true Vista expert, you don't need it. On the other hand, if you're like most people and you don't know how to disable User Account Control, customize the menu power button, or disable or enable the Aero environment, you want this tool.

Via a simple interface, you can customize many Vista features, changing (among other things) the behavior of Windows Updates, User Account Control, the power button, and Internet Explorer. Nothing big or dramatic here, but the program is free and it lets you make adjustments without having to dig through menus and dialog boxes, so it's worth a try.

Download Vista4Experts (Free)

MagicTweak

MagicTweak gives you countless ways to rework Windows to your heart's content. Change the icons for various system features, such as folders, drives, documents, disks, and more. Create a custom desktop shortcut arrow. Alter the appearance and functionality of Windows Explorer. Optimize your network connection. Hide menus and customize the Start menu. Adjust Windows' security. That's just the beginning. Dedicated system tweakers should grab this program--it's among the most comprehensive utilities you'll find anywhere.

Download MagicTweak ($40, 15-day trial)

BOINC

Here's a chance to dress up your PC and do some good for science as well. This screen saver uses your system's idle cycles to perform processing for various research projects, including those to control malaria, search for extraterrestrial life, help with medical research, and many others.

As your PC goes about its work, it shows exactly what it's doing, in the form of charts, graphs, and data rotating in space. Will you understand the charts and graphs? Most likely not, but they're certainly cool-looking, and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping scientific progress.

Download BOINC (Free)

Microangelo Toolset 6

What do you spend the most time looking at on your desktop? The icons, of course. Wouldn't it be nice to edit them, or better yet, create icons of your own?

That's exactly what this program can do for you--and you don't have to be the next Michelangelo to use it. You can create icons in any size and any color format, including the 256-by-256-pixel icons that Windows Vista favors. Paint tools, drawing tools, and icon-creation tools make the task easy. Particularly useful is the program's ability to import a graphic and then automatically convert it into an icon, permitting you to clean it up if necessary. You also get an icon manager, an icon browser, and an icon animator.

Download Microangelo Toolset 6 ($50, 21-day trial)

Real World Cursor

Replacing Windows's default pointers with your own designs--static or animated--is a lot easier than you might think, thanks to this free program. You can edit existing pointers or create new ones from scratch. In addition, you can import any image into the program, which then creates a pointer from it.

The app includes all the tools you'll need, and has several useful tutorials. It even has links to an online library where you can download free icons and complete icon sets that you can use as-is or edit.

Download Real World Cursor (Free)