• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.
  • The forums have been upgraded with support for dark mode. By default it will follow the setting on your system/browser. You may override it by scrolling to the end of the page and clicking the gears icon.

Desktop software

D

Dux

Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
511 (0.15/day)
Can someone please recommend some programs that can make desktop look better? Programs that arrange icons, performance monitors etc.
 
Hi,
No idea of icon managers lol
But monitoring hwinfo64
HWiNFO - Download

Some more extravagant is rainmeter I believe it's called.
 
Should probably explain what specifically you're looking for. Monitoring programs are pretty easy to find, but customization is a bit more exotic.
 
I use to use this program years ago that was insane. I'll see if i can remember it

It was WindowsBlinds
There is also Rainmeter

There was another one too I just can't remember
 
Last edited:
Jetster said:
I use to use this program years ago that was insane. I'll see if i can remember it
Click to expand...
Hi,
Probably rainmeter it was pretty popular.
 
"Look better"? That's very subjective. What you think looks better I might think looks hideous. My "flame blue" F150 is obviously gorgeous and yet my neighbor's plain Jane red F150 is downright ugly ugly ugly.

I personally don't like the appearance of the W10's desktop and start menu. So I use and recommend Start10 to bring back the familiar W7 Start menu and desktop and for just a one-time cost of $5 for a lifetime license, it is well worth it.

And of course Windows itself lets you personalize your desktop with your own background images.
 
I second this thread. Have used about a dozen software to make Win10 look, FEEL & perform very much like WinXP, even down to the control panel, directory structure, curvature of windows, etc. Initially, the weak performance of my Win10 doesn't affect me. But really... Two seconds to navigate each folder on a SSD versus less than one second on WinXP on the same PC as well as another much weaker laptop with PATA HDD. It's wearing my patience down. Pretty much gave up after I couldn't get them to suit my taste. The search bar/box next to the start menu is pretty useful though. Basically replaces the start menu for me as it allows to look for programs faster than looking through the start menu just by short typing.
Bill_Bright said:
My "flame blue" F150 is obviously gorgeous and yet my neighbor's plain Jane red F150 is downright ugly ugly ugly.
Click to expand...
Both looks awesome to me. The blue one (your vehicle?) has the better rear view mirror (subjective), though... And the vehicle is shinier too (factual... unless blind :roll:)...
 
I use this:
store.steampowered.com

Wallpaper Engine on Steam

Use stunning live wallpapers on your desktop. Animate your own images to create new wallpapers or import videos/websites and share them on the Steam Workshop!
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

If you liked windows dreamscene on vista ultimate.
 
Last edited:
I used to be fussy about my desktop. But then I came to my senses. I mean how much time do you spend staring at your desktop? Once I fire up my browser, Word, or whatever app I'm using, the desktop is just something in the background. If anything, I want it to act like my computer case - that is, to just sit quietly and discreetly out of the way and NOT bring attention to itself. As long as I can easily find what I am looking for, then fine. And like every OS and OS version I have used before, once I get past the short learning curve, finding what I want is easy - even with W10.
 
Bill_Bright said:
I used to be fussy about my desktop. But then I came to my senses. I mean how much time do you spend staring at your desktop? Once I fire up my browser, Word, or whatever app I'm using, the desktop is just something in the background. If anything, I want it to act like my computer case - that is, to just sit quietly and discreetly out of the way and NOT bring attention to itself. As long as I can easily find what I am looking for, then fine. And like every OS and OS version I have used before, once I get past the short learning curve, finding what I want is easy - even with W10.
Click to expand...
That's true, though my case is rather different. Every new file I downloaded or created would need to be placed in it's proper directory folder. I also move files around a lot, so I'm looking at Windows & folders more often than I would like to. And this sluggish (& rather ugly too) OS will one day break my spirit. Do I need more RAM? Is 4 GB not enough? Is my CPU not enough? *sigh* :shadedshu:
 
Rei said:
so I'm looking at Windows & folders more often than I would like to.
Click to expand...
Now wait. If you are looking at folders and and moving files about, then you are using File Explorer or some other file manager. That is, NOT the desktop and has nothing to do with the desktop, except, perhaps with how you start File Explorer. So again, once you fire up the app (in this case, File Explorer), the desktop moves into the background and even takes on a much lower priority in terms of system resources. And while the amount of RAM certainly affects file manipulation performance, it has nothing to do with the desktop's appearance - the topic here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei
I love display fusion and 7 taskbar tweaker, they manage your desktop and windows, as well as your taskbar and windows functions, pretty neat (display fusion is paid)
 
Just installed PowerToys because I run an ultrawide and its glorious!

When I hit shift and drag windows now, I can allocate them to a zone, and they get sized for it immediately

And that is just the tip of the iceberg, this app has tons of useful desktop functionality.
Bonus points for being supported by MS

This is not for cosmetics though, its purely functional.

1607526127197.png
 
Do remember if you have lots of things on your desktop, it can impact boot and desktop refresh speeds. There are some who claim it impacts performance, but that is not true. Still, if you value fast boot times (especially if you have a hard drive as your boot drive), you may want to minimize the number of desktop items you have.

Frankly, for me, I find having too many shortcuts on my desktop presents a cluttered appearance and even makes finding what I want harder. So I try to keep those numbers at a minimum. I do that by enabling and using the Quicklaunch toolbar (hidden by Microsoft since w7 :(), and using a couple folders on my desktop to keep related items in instead of several individual shortcuts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei
For your favorite app
place it in the upper right hand corner (where the close X is)
That's where I place my goto search and media player app.. Quick to stop it and to restart... again and again.
 
rainmeter

but it is a bit of work to get it set to the way you want. i had updates, live info, etc, moving graphics. but it gets old quick

i use open hardware monitor for its gadget.
you can have as little or as much info displayed, with soem customization of appearance, but not much

Capture.PNG
 
SpectateSwamp said:
For your favorite app
place it in the upper right hand corner (where the close X is)
Click to expand...
And for those who have 100 favorite apps?

Pretty sure the problem is dealing with 10s or dozens of favorites apps and shortcuts, not 1 or 2.
 
SpectateSwamp said:
My app has way more useful features than any of your 100's of favorites.. Is my guess.
Click to expand...
That's just it. It's YOUR GUESS! What you believe to be more useful might not be for others and vice-versa.
SpectateSwamp said:
For your favorite app
place it in the upper right hand corner (where the close X is)
That's where I place my goto search and media player app.. Quick to stop it and to restart... again and again.
Click to expand...
And then BOOM! You accidentally exit the app... again and again...
Also, "Quick to stop it and to restart" just means that you're just fooling around with the app. Not a "useful feature" to be found there.
 
Rei said:
That's just it. It's YOUR GUESS! What you believe to be more useful might not be for others and vice-versa.

And then BOOM! You accidentally exit the app... again and again...
Also, "Quick to stop it and to restart" just means that you're just fooling around with the app. Not a "useful feature".
Click to expand...
It's called jamming it..
When randomly watching my videos... It may select one that I have seen recently... Soooo I kill it and restart it immediately with the defaults set to random and away it goes with the next one.

Random eliminates boredom PERIOD
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei
SpectateSwamp said:
It's called jamming it..
When randomly watching my videos... It may select one that I have seen recently... Soooo I kill it and restart it immediately with the defaults set to random and away it goes with the next one.

Random eliminates boredom PERIOD
Click to expand...
Makes sense... :clap:
If it works to kill your boredom, then all the more power to you. :toast:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top