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...

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is 75% off in the Steam mid-week sale. http://store.steampowered.com/app/204880/ Also makes a great gift!  

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.  

Stardock's Brad Wardell will be a guest on Windows Weekly today with Mary Jo Foley and Ed Bott. Show starts at 2pm EST here. http://twit.tv/show/windows-weekly

I came across this a few weeks ago and backed it on Kickstarter.  This is from the old Police Quest team and as a huge fan of that came, this is something I want to see happen. They cancelled the Kickstarter because it wasn't going to be funded, and now went with their crowd-sourced funding. Anybody checked this out? http://precinctgame.com/  

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...

Tranquility is the newest Master WindowBlinds skin from LightStar.  A lighter colored skin that is perfect for daily use, this is another favorite that I have enjoyed having on my desktop.  If you are a WinCustomize Subscriber, don’t forget your 20% discount. Tranquility by LightStar  

If you are new to WindowBlinds , or just want to keep up with some of the changes in the latest release, I’ve put together a couple of article you might be interested in.  I have a few more on the way, but the first are a great way to get started. WindowBlinds 8 Walkthrough: The New User Interface WindowBlinds 8 Walkthrough: Changing and Applying Skins Check them out and let me know what you think!

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 ...

Adobe has made available their Creative Cloud service available by subscription through Amazon now.    Adobe Creative Cloud on Amazon It's the same products and service, but some people prefer using the Amazon payment method. Just another option.  

RTSguru.com has up an interview with Stardock's Derek Paxton about the recent acquisition of Star Control.  " RTSGuru: Why was the old 1992, sci-game Star Control 2 such a success? Derek:  They struck the perfect balance between involving the player in a linear storyline and allowing them to roam in a huge, interesting universe.  The game is still fun to play today and the player is always tempted with the promise of something new and strange (sometimes very stran...

Before we take off for a nice weekend, lets recap some skins that were submitted to WinCustomize this week.  We had a couple of WindowBlinds skin, one of which was a new Master Skin.  Also had several wallpapers and a real nice Rainmeter skin. Check them out!  

Lawrence Tech University hosts a summer camp for high school students interested in game design/development. Stardock jumped on the opportunity to give the students a glimpse into the real world of game design/development. The students were given a tour by our VP of Stardock Entertainment, Derek Paxton, along with Toby Sarnelle, Associate Producer, and Ray Bartos, Associate Producer.   The tour allowed the students to see what a game studio does on a day to day basis as well as learn ...