Desktop/Shell Enhancement
freeware
Gadwin PrintScreen
Gadwin PrintScreen captures the contents of the screen with a single keystroke. The captured screen can then be sent to the printer or saved to disk as a file in 6 different graphics file formats. It can capture the entire screen, active window, or specified area when the hot key is pressed. The hot key defaults to the PrintScreen key, but users may also define other keys to initiate a capture. Also allows you to e-mail the captured images to recipients of your choice.
freeware
Stickies
Stickies is a PC utility to cut down on the number of Post-It notes. It stores all information in a single text-based ini file. They are yellow rectangular windows onto which you can put some text notes. Once created, they will stay on screen until you take them away. Just like a real sticky piece of paper.
freeware
VistaGlazz
VistaGlazz lets you easily modify your Windows Vista installation to use custom styles and modify your Aero style to use the Glass effect on maximized windows.
freeware
Taskbar Shuffle
Taskbar Shuffle is a small and simple program, that add a handy new functionality to your Windows taskbar - it enables you to rearrange the taskbar buttons by simply dragging them around. This feature can be quite useful if the order and arrangement of your taskbar buttons is of importance to you. Makes you wonder why the taskbar did not come with this feature in the first place.
freeware
Vista Start Menu
Vista Start Menu is a convenient alternative to the Start menu. It is much easier to find and run the program you need. Everything is visual and extremely easy to use. Your applications are arranged in a table with icons divided into groups, which makes it easier to work with a lot of programs.
shareware ($20}
WindowBlinds
WindowBlinds is a program that allows you to completely change the look and feel of Windows to however you want it to look like. It allows you to completely customize your desktop by changing the style of title bars, buttons, and toolbars. You can change the look of buttons and check boxes by assigning them skins, or personalities, and you can assign buttons that will launch programs to toolbars. You can create your own skins, choose from the four that are included in the program, or download additional...
commercial demo ($189}
VMware Workstation
VMware Workstation features the ability to run multiple operating systems on the same PC without the need to partition the hard drive, or rebooting. Users can isolate and protect each operating environment, and the applications and data that are running in it. It allows users to interoperate among each of these operating systems, including full networking, device and file sharing, and cut-and-paste capabilities, and undo changes made in a given session. It allows operators to encapsulate and manipulate...
open source
AutoHotkey
Customize your keyboard, joystick and mouse with an open source automation and hotkey utility that is backward compatible with AutoIt. It includes a quick-start tutorial, an automatic script writer that records and plays back your keystrokes and mouse clicks, and a comprehensive help file. The program can remap keys and buttons, and make almost any key, joystick button, mouse button, or combination into a hotkey. It also allows you to define abbreviations that expand as you type them (auto-replace);...
freeware
DisplayFusion
DisplayFusion will make your dual monitor (or triple monitor or more) experience smooth and painless. Advanced multi-monitor wallpaper support, Flickr integration for image searching and fully customizable window management hotkeys are just a sample of the many things DisplayFusion can do. DisplayFusion is also available in many different languages.
freeware
Dexpot
Dexpot optimizes the window managment of your PC, eleminates the problem of the disorder on your desktop and has many more functions. Extend your Desktop to a multiple: Dexpot makes working with your system substantially faster and more comfortable. All functions use a unified graphical interface which is very easy to operate.
Freeware for private users.
shareware
Say the Time
Say the Time is an attractive timepiece that announces the date, time, or both, at specified intervals using a male or a female voice. Along with literally telling the time, it lets you set multiple reminders, each of which can display a message, play a sound, or run a program. Reminders can also be set to recur hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or at start up.
freeware
BioniX Wallpaper
BioniX Wallpaper supports JPG, GIF, BMP, ICO, EMF image files. Soon it will support more image types. This program lets you set the time interval at wich your deskop wallpaper will be changed. You can chose it between one secon and a few years - time elapse gauge. Also, the wallpaper manager has "don't disturb user" mode (through "automatic shut down" option): images will be changed automatically when Windows starts, then the program will close without user intervention. Like Winamp, it gives you the...
freeware
Rainlendar
Rainlendar is a feature rich calendar application that is easy to use and doesn't take much space on your desktop. The application is platform independent so you can run it both on Windows and on Linux. The appearance can be customized with skins and you can even mix different skins together.
shareware ($40}
UltraMon
UltraMon is a utility for multi-monitor systems, designed to increase productivity and unlock the full potential of multiple monitors. With additional window buttons, you can quickly move windows or stretch a window across the desktop. Use the Smart Taskbar to manage more applications, with a taskbar on each monitor and each taskbar only showing the tasks from the monitor it is on. Shortcut extensions make it easy to position applications on the desired monitor. The UltraMon screen saver and wallpaper...
freeware
Copernic Desktop Search
Copernic Desktop Search lets you easily search your entire hard drive in less than a second to pinpoint the right file, e-mail, music or pictures. It brings the power of a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use search engine right to your PC and allows you instantly to search files, e-mails, and email attachments stored anywhere on your PC hard drive. It executes sub-second searching of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, Acrobat PDFs, and all popular music, picture and video formats. CDS also searches...
shareware ($50}
Actual Window Manager
Actual Window Manager is an innovative desktop organization application which introduces unconventional window controls and also automatic general window operations making your work more productive, convenient and enjoyable. It has more than 50 handy tools to help you in daily routine window manipulations.
freeware
KatMouse
KatMouse is used to enhance the functionality of mice with a scroll wheel, offering 'universal' scrolling: moving the mouse wheel will scroll the window directly beneath the mouse cursor (not the one with the keyboard focus, which is default on Windows OSes). Another feature involves the wheel button. Since the wheel button is not consistently used in Windows, KatMouse can use it for a kind of task switching: with a click of the wheel button you can push a window to the buttom of the stack of windows...
shareware
Active SMART
Active SMART allows you to monitor the S.M.A.R.T. parameters of your hard disk to detect fault conditions. It uses special algorithms to predict the date of a possible drive fail. It also gives you full information about your hard disk. Various monitoring modes and alerting options are available. The built in messaging features allow for system administrators to be notified of impending hard disk failure on any machine on the network.
freeware
Desktops
Desktops allows you to organize your applications on up to four virtual desktops. Read email on one, browse the web on the second, and do work in your productivity software on the third, without the clutter of the windows youâ??re not using. After you configure hotkeys for switching desktops, you can create and switch desktops either by clicking on the tray icon to open a desktop preview and switching window, or by using the hotkeys
shareware
Reg Organizer
Reg Organizer offers a variety of tools required for effective System Registry and configuration files management. This software lets you view, edit and clean the Registry and preview the registry files you want to import (preview files directly from Windows Explorer). The automatic Registry cleanup mode helps you optimize your system performance. You can thoroughly search the Registry to find all the keys related to a certain application.
freeware
Pepsi Volume Controller
Pepsi Volume Controller has all the features of the traditional Windows Volume Control plus many more designed with the audiophile in mind.
shareware ($20}
Stardock DeskScapes
Stardock DeskScapes is an enhancement to Windows DreamScene. It extends Windows DreamScene to support dynamic, animated wallpaper as their desktop background without slowing down the computer or interfering with how you work with your computer.
DeskScapes also supports the new .Dream format. By default, Windows DreamScene supports MPEG and WMV videos as their content. The .Dream format supports adding triggers, author info, and dynamic content. Now users know if a given file has been designed to be an...
freeware
Folding@home
Folding@home works on theory and simulations of how proteins, RNA, and nanoscale synthetic polymers fold. The Pande Group has developed the ensemble dynamics method and its application to protein folding and wrote the client and server code for the Folding@home project. The Pande Group analyzes the resulting data. Similar to the Seti@home project.
freeware
Desk Drive
Desk Drive solves a really annoying problem. You pop a USB thumb drive or DVD into your computer and then you have to open Window's Explorer and find the mapped drive or folder. Desk Drive adds a desktop icon pointing to the drive automatically. Remove the media and the shortcut goes away. Brilliantly simple and effective. Desk Drive sits quietly in the system tray. Configuration (image at right) is just a click away and allows you to specify which types of media to monitor. So simple, it just works....
freeware
VistaSwitcher
VistaSwitcher is an elegant and powerful task management utility for Windows OS. Once installed, it replaces the default Windows Alt-Tab dialog with a nice box that shows a list of all running tasks with their names and preview snapshots and enables the user to take actions on them using the mouse and keyboard shortcuts. With just one click, you can switch to a task, minimize, maximize, restore the main window or close the process.
shareware
Talisman Desktop
Talisman is a replacement for Windows Desktop and shell replacement. You can build any interface for your computer. It hides the standard desktop of Windows. Place any number of icons, buttons, pictures or other objects. These objects can have any form or dimensions. All objects can run external programs or internal shell commands. The number of forms (desktops) is not limited. Any screen object can be set to switch from one desktop to another. All settings and pictures are stored in a theme file. You...
freeware
AutoSizer
AutoSizer automatically resizes any window you specify. For instance, some web browsers open up in a non-maximized window. You can set those windows to automatically maximize every time they’re opened. It works with almost any program, including web browsers, Notepad, etc. AutoSizer stays running in the system tray, so it stays out of your way while it works.
freeware
FileMenu Tools
FileMenu Tools allows you to customize the context menu of Windows Explorer. You can add file/folder functions that are built into FileMenu Tools, such as copy/move, copy name/path, securely delete, change attributes, and many more.
freeware
Desktop Christmas Tree
If you have started redecorating your apartment for Christmas and New Year, you may want to do the same to your computer desktop. Get free Christmas tree for your desktop.
freeware
Flashnote
When you need a rough copy to save or to process some pieces of a text, Flashnote is small, quick and convenient. Press the shortcut-key combination and a rough copy is on screen in a flash of a second. Press ESC and the program hides. It's that simple. You don't need to find a place for text, to run Notepad or your PIM. Everything gets done quickly, simply and in a more convenient way.
freeware
Vize
Vize is a GUI enhancer for Windows Vista. It replaces most of the non-Vista icons, animations and bitmaps that Microsoft is still overlooking. It automates the process of replacing resources in system files, applying the real fit and finish to Windows Vista. The patching process will not disable Vista's built-in security features. Vize will automatically restore all files and folder permissions, making your Vista experience nicer without sacrificing security. If you are not satisfied with the results,...
shareware ($15}
DesktopX
DesktopX is a program that enables users to add all kinds of new and interesting things to their Windows desktops. By default, Microsoft Windows only supports static images on the desktop called "icons". DesktopX can take your desktop to the next level by allowing user to put desktop objects and widgets on it as well. It also supports creating entirely new desktops from scratch.
DesktopX 3 is a major improvement over previous versions. Not only does it have vastly more features than previous versions, it...
shareware ($70}
System Mechanic
System Mechanic is a nice set of tools that will help you with regular maintenance of your system. Tools include disk clean up, fix broken shortcuts, remove duplicate files, securely delete files, clean registry, safe installer, remove invalid installed info, startup manager, Internet privacy (deletes temporary Internet files and history), and Internet speed up which tweaks your registry settings for you so you get faster connection speeds.