First let me say thanks to everyone who participated and helped others in the forums with testing.  I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of entries submitted, and the conversations it generated in the forums with people offering to help others.  I was also happy to see some skinners break from their regular skins to try something news, so overall I think this mini-contest was a big success.  It was really tough to choose winners as all the entries were of top-notch quality,...

Master Skinner LightStar has delivered another cool skin for WindowBlinds for you to enjoy!  Castallo for Windows 7 and Windows 8 is a clean and more minimal skin for users who like skins which are easy to work with on a daily basis.  It has a great color, and works well with many wallpaper types and other skins. If you are a WinCustomize Subscriber , you get a 20% discount on Master Skins. Castallo by LightStar  

Download.com has published their inaugural Download Picks which highlight the best and most popular software on major platforms.  Both Start8 and ObjectDock were selected as the top in Windows Desktop Enhancement! Via Download.com : “Today, Download.com is proud to announce its inaugural Download Picks. These software titles are applications in our four major platforms--Windows, Mac OS X, Android , and iOS--that have been identified as the best and most trusted...

LightStar has posted his latest Master WindowBlinds skin called Persium today.  If you like blue, you will love this skin which puts a colorful look on your desktop yet still easy to work with. Persium by LightStar   WinCustomize Subscribers get a 20% discount on Master Skins!

ModernMix™ gives users the capability to run Windows® 8 Modern applications in resizable windows on the desktop. v1.10 update is available for download now. Visit your Stardock account to download the latest update now! Click here to download a free 30-day trial or purchase the ModernMix today. Visit https://www.stardock.com/products/modernmix/history.asp for compete release notes.

I have to say I'm quite impressed at the number of entries received, and the quality of those as well.  I just wanted to drop a friendly reminder that the contest ends this Monday, August 26th at noon.  That's still plenty of time to enter, so get to work! Contest details Start8 gallery    

The big Windows 8.1 update will be available to the public on October 18th.  An entry on the Windows Blog this morning confirmed the date and gave more information. "I know a lot of folks are eager to find out when they will be able to get Windows 8.1. I am excited to share that starting at 12:00am on October 18th in New Zealand (that’s 4:00am October 17th in Redmond), Windows 8.1 will begin rolling out worldwide as a free update for consumers on Windows 8 through the Windows Sto...

Happy Monday!  If you stayed away from the PC this weekend you might have missed some skins that were submitted.  No worries though, just come check out some of the highlights below.  

Another month means another time to take some screenshots of the cool skins you are using and share them with other WinCustomize community members. Take a screenshot and post to the thread below. August 2013 Desktop Screenshots

DeskScapes 8 is an awesome way to put animated wallpapers on your Windows desktop, along with other features such as effects and static wallpaper management.  I have a new article up showing how easy it is to get started.  If you have friends that might be interested, be sure to share! Read it here… DeskScapes 8: How to Have Animated Wallpapers on Your Windows Desktop

I thought it would be fun to have a quick mini-contest as we think about a bigger competition for the end of the year.  I chose Start8 as it’s easy to make start buttons for and can include a broader reach of people.  This is also a great to get some exposure as Start8 has been downloaded millions of times and is in the top lists of sites like download.com.  Link: Start8 A start button for use in Start8 is just an image file with 3 vertically stacked images in a .p...

August is just about here, and if you are getting ready to change your desktop up, then come take a look at some of the newest wallpapers in the WinCustomize gallery.  These are just a few, so be sure to check the Wallpaper gallery for much more! WinCustomize Wallpaper Gallery ...

New beta releases for DeskScapes and WindowBlinds are available for registered users and Object Desktop customers from the store accounts page at https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products/  or via Stardock Central.  DeskScapes 8.09 beta Adds support for the Windows 8.1 Preview Additional bundled wallpapers including a selection licensed from Vladstudio ( http://www.vladstudio.com ) WindowBlinds 8.01 Adds support for the Windows 8.1 Preview (includin...

LightStar has been rolling some great skins out lately, and we have another added to the lineup today!  Marano is a new Master WindowBlinds skin designed for Windows 7 and 8, and has a design that works well with every day use.  Great job! WinCustomize Subscribers get a 20% discount! Marano by LightStar  

Holiday is over and now we’re back to the daily grind, so today we’ll start off taking a look at some skins from the past week or so that have came through.  There seems to be some nice WindowBlinds skins, and some animated wallpapers for DeskScapes to check out. WindowBlinds   Animated Wallpapers for DeskScapes ...