Many Windows users like to personalise their desktop with wallpapers, screensavers or add-on programs that extend Windows' basic functionality. Here are a few of my favourites.
This is a screensaver that accurately simulates the fabled and feared Blue Screen of Death. Great for freaking out friends and colleagues.
This program gives your Windows clipboard the ability to remember the last few items to be stored in it.
It offers a number of handy ways to access this data; my preferred way is to hit the hotkey to bring up a popup menu of the last few items and click the one I want.
This is one of those tools that, once you're used to it, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it.
An invaluable tool for graphic designers, this tool overlays a semitransparent crosshair across the length and breadth of your screen which follows your cursor. Incredibly handy and can be activated and deactivated with a click of a button.
Distributed research clients allow your PC to use its idle CPU cycles to perform scientific research. This has a near-zero impact on system performance but contributes to the advancement of science.
The Folding@Home project is dedicated to the study of protein folding; potential applications for the research include a better understanding of related diseases such as Alzheimer's, BSE, CJD, ALS, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease.
This screensaver displays the vertical-scrolling green glyphs seen in the movie The Matrix. It offers plenty of options to tinker about with the code display and supports dual-monitor configurations.
Matrix Code Screensaver homepage
Mmm is a handy program which allows you to clean up your desktop context menus by hiding or moving items.
Brilliant for removing items you never or rarely use, leaving you with a streamlined, easy-to-use menu.
This tool displays the colour code of the pixel underneath the cursor - very useful for web developers and graphics artists who need to find colour codes.
This excellent tool enhances the print-screen key by making it pop up a dialogue box which gives you the option of saving, copying or printing the screendump at the press of a button. The program can also be configured to do any or all of these automatically instead of asking you each time.
This desktop toy displays almost any system information you want on your desktop.
SysMetrix homepage
Sysmetrix themes: DeviantART, Skinbase
This program creates an icon in your system tray which turns your screensaver on or off with a single click, or activates it immediately with a double-click.
Click here to download my handy installer.
A very cool tool which replaces the standard Alt+Tab program switching view with one which previews the windows you can switch to. Extremely full-featured and works well with switching from full-screen apps such as games.
www.lamsey.co.uk | (c) 2007 Liam McBrien | All bytes reserved
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