May, 2007 - Softonic English

Top 10 desktop customization tools

If you want to give a different style to your desktop, you can always go into the Display Properties and then change your chosen color, wallpaper and screen saver but that’s really pretty much it. In short, if you want to go hardcore in desktop tweaking, you’re going to need some expert help. We’ve selected 10 applications, that were given good ratings by Softonic users, and that let you play around with the aspects of your PC.

Active Multiwallpaper Changer – Manage, set and edit all the images you want to place as backgrounds on your desktop. This program makes sure that you always have a new wallpaper on your PC, thanks to 6 different filtering methods. One thing though, is it really that necessary to set hotkeys to change backgrounds?
Aston – This one ditches the standard Windows desktop for a completely new look with sidebars and transparent effects. The developer page also features a collection of themes based on the Aston look. Some of them are pretty stunning.
Style XP – Instead of offering you a totally new interface, Style XP gives you advanced options to customize the look of your XP desktop. While the many options in this program might frighten off new users, Style XP should delight users who have the patience to tweak things like font size, boot screen or transparency levels of windows.
FlyakiteOSX – Installing this pack is the first step you should take before buying a Mac. Just joking. FlyakiteOSX recreates the look and feel of the Mac desktop on your PC. It looks good and you can even activate the genie effect on icons.
Webshots Desktop – Thanks to a huge library of images, Webshots Desktop can guarantee you’ll never see the same wallpaper all year long. This program doubles as a photo sharing service and you can easily drag and drop your own snaps online or keep them in your Webshots Desktop collection of background images.
WindowBlinds – An all around customization tool, Windowblinds lets you add new skins, themes, toolbars and more to your PC. Just like Aston, this program will totally revamp your PC. The difficulty is choosing the style that suits you most.
ObjectDock – Another tool to get you in the Mac spirit, this program gives your Windows navigation the feel and look of OS X.
XPize – A GUI enhancer for PC, this program will swap your basic icons for new ones. The program completely updates the look of your PC automatically.
Talisman Desktop – Talisman builds a completely new interface for your desktop. The Talisman work space, where programs appear as objects of different forms and dimensions, is another way of structuring your desktop yet you’ll need a bit of time to get accustomed to it.
IconX – Change the icons on your PC and everything will look like new. IconX lets you modify your icons by adding a whole range of cool effects like drop shadow or zoom.

Live Messenger 8.5 Beta – smart new Vista styling

Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta makes online communications fun and easy: chat with your friends, call them via VoIP or join a video conference with just a mouse click. You can also share files and play any game together. Customize your Messenger’s appearance and conversations with visual themes, emoticons and winks. This latest version fixes a few bugs and makes your Messenger experience even better!

MailTags gives extra powers to Mail.app

MailTags icon Mail.app, Mac’s default mail client, is recognized as a solid application yet seen as lacking in terms of excellent features. That’s where MailTags comes along. This little plug-in installs a side panel in your Mail.app window, from which you can consult your iCal, set rules and create smart mailboxes. You can also create all sorts of tags to organize your messages. MailTags is discreet yet improves your workflow and expands Mail.app’s functionalities.

Google ‘Gears’ up for Web 2.0

Google have taken one more big leap in the Web 2.0 revolution with the Beta release of Google Gears – a browser plugin that will let people run Web applications whether or not they’re connected to the Internet. Google hopes that the plugin will become the standard browser add-on that people will need to use applications on and offline. Google Engineering Director Linus Upson told ZDNet that the release was prompted by a need to liberate developers saying:

One of the reasons we’re doing Gears is that developers here at Google have really pushed the envelope on what can be done in the browser so engineers are hitting barriers harder and faster.

The software is based on 3 components – a local Web server, SQLite for offline storage and browser extensions that allows JavaScript to run in parallel. The first application to benefit from Google Gears is Google Reader although more Google apps will follow soon. Once the plugin is installed, users can read RSS content offline and synchronise with it the next time they are online via a green download button.

The Google Gears plugin has already received official endorsement from Firefox developers Mozilla, Opera Software and Adobe Systems. After testing the plug-in with Google Reader, I’m definitely impressed with this plugin. Testing it in Firefox, installation was quick and both sychronisation and offline retrieval took just a matter of seconds. Google have also made it very easy for those with a little Javascript knowledge to enable their own webpages to work offline with Google Gears with this handy tutorial. This open policy, plus the simplicity of the plugin, could mean this rapidly becomes an essential browser add-on for users everywhere. It just depends if the big software giants embrace it but with Adobe already on board, the future looks bright for Google Gears.

Palm releases Foleo: mixed emotions ensue

Palm Foleo Palm announced its latest device yesterday, aimed at filling a gap in the market that many of us didn’t know even existed. The Foleo is a ‘smartphone companion’, designed to connect wirelessly with your smartphone. It features a 10-inch screen, full size keyboard and an ‘open’ linux platform that promises future compatibility with devices other than the Treo range.Opinion on the announcement varies. Carlo Longino at Techdirt finds the Foleo to be ‘not exactly overwhelming’:

It’s hard to understand the point of the Foleo, or why [Palm founder] Hawkins and Palm think it’s so wonderful. There are two ways to see it: first, as an admission that Palm won’t ever be able to create a Treo that will satisfy users’ needs, or an admission that they think their Treos are perfect and this is the only way they can figure out to improve on it. Neither is particularly good for the company.

The argument that for $500, business users can have a laptop with more functions and connectivity than the Foleo is compelling. But at the same time, doesn’t this new device offer just what business users need, without the extraneous functionality (and extra bulk and weight) of a complete computer system? If a business user needs web, email and document access – and not much more – then perhaps the Foleo really is a viable product. The Guardian’s tech blog points out, however, that other products have flopped while trying to provide just this stripped-down capability.

The buzz on Palm user forums also seems to be split, with some users emphasising the fact that the Foleo could be used with other smartphones (by, say, Nokia or Sony Ericsson)… assuming their manufacturers can be bothered to develop APIs for it. But while opinion on the Foleo is split, it’s not split equally. Most coverage and commentary are pretty negative – but offer a sliver of hope based on certain provisos, particularly the openness of its ‘open’ system. If Palm ensures that outside developers and handset manufacturers start working with Foleo, it could succeed.

In other words, the future of Palm’s latest product depends not on its own potential user-base but on a series of other firms, some of which are direct competitors. That’s a risky strategy.

Geekbench measures your Mac’s performance

Geekbench logo Hardcore geeks love to measure the strengths of their Macs, particularly processing power and memory. Geekbench is therefore any geeks’ dream application come true. The program only takes a few minutes to complete a benchmark of your Mac’s performances and spit out a report. But what good is it having this benchmark report if you can’t gloat about it? The application thoughtfully includes the Geekbench Result Browser, where you’ll be able to compare your Mac’s performances with those of other Geekbench users.

Smile! You’re on Google Maps

Google has just released a new feature on its Google Maps service that allows you to view 360-degree photographs of streets. The tool also let you move along the street in a smooth manner and you can change your angle and continue moving that way. The Street View function was announced at yesterday’s Where 2.0 conference and is based on technology acquired by Google from Immersive Media, a company which has pioneered the use of an eleven lens camera capable of taking full, high-res video while driving along city streets. The service is currently available for certain areas of eight US cities including Las Vegas, New York and San Francisco. You can view a demo here

While this is undoubtedly a remarkable piece of technology, it raises serious issues around online privacy, which may explain why Google has been uncharacteristically quiet in its publicity of the new service. The street views are amazingly sharp and through use of the zoom tool it’s possible to identify the faces of passers-by and even peek through windows.

Continue reading “Smile! You’re on Google Maps”

Make your own posters with Posteriza

Let’s say you have a nice photo on your computer. Now imagine having that photo printed in large size and decorating the walls of your room. This is precisely what you can do with Posteriza: create and print posters from your favorite photos. The program also allows you to include text and border to the image. You can even print cut lines to help you creating the perfect poster!

CBS wants to get down with the kids – buys Last.fm

Last.fm – my personal favourite among the batch of music-related social websites of the last few years – has finally been bought out by a large corporation. CBS, to be precise. Both parties have been keen to point out that Last.fm will maintain its own identity and current management team and will remain based in London.

On the face of it, this seems to be good news for all involved. CBS gets access to a key demographic for any broadcaster: the youthful music-listener with too much time on their hands; Last.fm gets tons of cash to bolster and speed-up its already impressive rate of development, as well as giving it some extra clout at the negotiating table; which means that music fans are likely to end up with more music and video available at Last.fm, meaning higher ad revenues for CBS.

The identity of the buyer has surprised some commentators. Most of the rumours up to now have involved media giant Viacom (MTV etc). Others have been surprised by the amount of money paid for the site (about $280 million). But with all the acquisitions currently going on across the web, are we really looking at another bubble? I wouldn’t bet on it. Last.fm, Feeburner, MySpace et al. all have huge user bases and hold a real value for their respective patrons. This looks less like a bubble than the coming-of-age of social media. I’m siding with Fred Wilson on this – he reckons that $280 million might seem pretty cheap in a few years time.

iTunes to launch new version with DRM-free tracks

Today Apple launches iTunes 7.2, which you may already have downloaded through the program’s Update feature. This wouldn’t be really any news if it weren’t for the main change included in this new version: “Support for iTunes Plus“.

Apparently this is how they’re going to call the new DRM-free tracks which Apple will be selling via the iTunes Store, after the deal they signed with EMI back in April. According to the terms of this agreement, the whole EMI music catalogue will be included in the iTunes store and sold without DRM, that is, without the limitations what prevent you from copying those tracks onto your portable MP3 player or recording them to a CD.

These DRM-free songs will be a little above the standard iTunes price ($1.29 each) but will also offer a higher sound quality, as they’re encoded at 256 kbps instead of the 128 kbps of current iTunes tracks.

The EMI-Apple agreement will turn the relationship between music and Internet upside down. While music companies seem to worry only about monetary profit and not so much about their clients –us music lovers, this deal will hopefully establish a precedent. In Steve Jobs’ words:

Selling digital music DRM-free is the right step forward for the music industry

I think the industry needs to understand that, in the battle for music rights, sometimes resigning to your so-called enemy is the best and fastest way to victory. It’s not about imposing more and more legal limitations to music online distribution, which is actually hard –if not impossible to stop. It’s about finding a balance between company profits and consumer satisfaction. Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI group, summarizes it pretty well:

Apple has been a true pioneer in digital music, and we are delighted that they share our vision of an interoperable market that provides consumers with greater choice, quality, convenience and value for money.