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WindowFX allows Windows 2003/XP users to add a host of special effects and enhancements to their windows. WindowFX features include: true shadows under windows, transition effects for minimizing, maximizing, closing, and opening windows. Transparency effects, the ability to have large icons on the desktop while having normal sized icons elsewhere, desktop icon special effects and label effects, maximize to a set resolution, and much more.

Version 3.0 adds additional animations and transitions, popup task switching, taskbar previews, graphical task switcher, easy set-up wizard, updated easy-to-use interface, and updated 64-bit support.
You can download it right now for free and see for yourself. The full version of WindowFX is $19.95 or can be purchased with Stardock’s Object Desktop which is $49.95 and includes WindowBlinds, IconPackager, WindowFX, DesktopX, RightClick, SkinStudio, IconDeveloper and much more.

WindowBlinds is the world’s most popular desktop enhancement utility. With a user base estimated at around 10 million, WindowBlinds is used by both consumers and corporations who want to change the way the Windows user interface looks and feels. It is the only program of its kind used and certified by Microsoft.

WindowBlinds 4.5 includes the new ability to change the color of visual styles through hue shifting along with modifying the brightness and saturation of the visual style. It also includes the ability to have alpha blended Start menus and standard menus which enable users to have semi-transparent pieces to those parts of Windows XP and eliminates the "jagged" look around the edges of the interface. WindowBlinds 4.51 enables users to have semitransparent pieces in the Start menu, adds support for 64-bit version of Windows XP and enhanced support for instant messenger clients.

Consumers can purchase the enhanced version of WindowBlinds for $19.95 which adds the ability to skin more elements of the Windows user interface and can skin even non-theme aware applications.

See http://www.stardock.com/products/directskin/ for information on how you can make your own application skinnable.

Customize the look and feel of Windows XP or Vista with WindowBlinds. WindowBlinds is a program that enables users to customize the look and feel of the graphical user interface of Microsoft Windows. By applying "skins", WindowBlinds can change title bars, borders, push buttons, scroll bars, the taskbar, the Start menu and virtually every element of the Windows environment. Thousands of different skins exist and can be created using a free program called SkinStudio.

WindowBlinds 5.5 is a major update in that it is the first program to allow users to change the look and feel of Windows Vista. Thanks to a new technology called "SmartSkinning", WindowBlinds allows skins created for Windows XP to be used to skin Windows Vista. WindowBlinds 5.5 then transforms the skin, on-the-fly, to conform to the new user interface conventions of Windows Vista to give it a distinctly Windows Vista look and feel. Users of .msstyles files on Windows XP can use SkinStudio to convert their favorite .msstyles to WindowBlinds 5.5 to run natively on Windows Vista.

WindowBlinds 5.51 adds 64-bit support for Windows Vista and support for Vista Aero shadows even on skins that don’t explicitly support shadows.

Users can download WindowBlinds 5.51 directly from the newly re-designed WindowBlinds.net website. The enhanced registered version is $19.95 or can be purchased as part of Object Desktop, Stardock’s flagship suite of desktop enhancement programs which includes IconPackager, DesktopX, ObjectBar, DeskScapes, LogonStudio Vista, and more.

Control the OVER ALL look of your Windows computer with Theme Manager. Manage all your skins, themes, wallpapers, icons, etc. from a single interface. You can even mix and match them together to create full blown suites!

Theme Manager is a front end that seamlessly works with your other desktop enhancements to apply skins, themes, icon packages, and suites all from the same user interface. Once you have your desktop just the way you want, you can take a snapshot of your desktop that is saved as a .suite file.

Theme Manager supports:

- Wallpapers
- Visual Styles (WindowBlinds & MSStyles*)
- MP3 Players (Winamp, Windows Media Player, Cool Player)
- Desktop Themes (Microsoft .theme, DesktopX, Hoverdesk, NextStart, ObjectBar)
- Mouse cursors (both Windows and CursorXP)
- Logon Screens (LogonXP format)
- Boot Screens (BootSkin format)
- Icons (both MS Themes and IconPackager themes)
- Widgets (SysMetrix, DesktopX Widgets)
- Instant Messenging Skinning (Trillian, ICQ Plus)
- Launchers (ObjectDock, WorkShelf)
- and more!

RightClick enables users to extend or even completely redesign the Windows desktop right-click mouse menu. When a user right-clicks on their Windows desktop, RightClick’s custom made menus comes up. Users can add short-cuts, tasks, system commands, and much more to the menu. It’s also fully skinnable and can be set to automatically inherit the user’s current WindowBlinds visual style. For users who normally have their desktop covered up, a hot key can be set up so that will activate it at any time.

RightClick supports displaying running tasks, the Start menu, the system tray and virtually anything else one might imagine having on there allowing the user to replace the Start bar if they so chose (and in fact RightClick supports hiding the Start bar).

A trial version is available for download. Users can purchase it stand-alone for $14.95 or as part of Object Desktop, Stardock?s premiere suite of desktop enhancement programs that let you customize Windows to look, feel and function how you want it to. Object Desktop is only $49.95 and includes RightClick, WindowBlinds, DesktopX, IconPackager, ObjectBar, WindowFX, SkinStudio and much more! For more information visit: http://www.stardock.com/products/icondeveloper/.