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WinCustomize
WinCustomize is a website that provides content for users to customize Microsoft Windows. The site hosts thousands of skins, themes, icons, wallpapers, and other graphical content to modify the Windows graphical user interface. There is some premium or paid content, however, the vast majority of the content is free for users to download. Site history WinCustomize was launched in March 2001 by Brad Wardell and Pat Ford, both of whom work at Stardock. After the dot-com recession had taken down many popular skin sites, WinCustomize quickly grew in popularity due to a combination of wide variety of content, uptime reliability, and being the preferred content destination by Stardock customers. The site has grown at a far greater pace than its founders had anticipated. It has managed to avoid having to put many limitations on users or having to resort to pop-up advertising because of its corporate patron Stardock subsidizing its costs. This growth has prompted several site rede ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stardock
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Microsoft Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998. The company is best known for computer programs that allow a user to modify or extend a graphical user interface as well as personal computer games, particularly strategy games such as the ''Galactic Civilizations'' series, '' Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion'', '' Elemental: Fallen Enchantress'', and ''Ashes of the Singularity''. Stardock created and maintains WinCustomize, a graphical user interface customization community, and developed the Impulse content delivery system before its sale to GameStop. Many of the skins and themes featured on its site are for software that is part of their Object Desktop windows desktop suite. They are based in Plymouth, Michigan. History Stardock was founded b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brad Wardell
Bradley R. Wardell (born June 24, 1971) is an American businessman, programmer, author and AI Engineer. He is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Stardock, a software development and computer games company. Wardell's specialty is the design and programming of artificial intelligence and game mechanics for turn-based strategy games. Career Early career Wardell built PCs and worked as a check proofer while studying at Western Michigan University. He graduated in 1994 with a degree in Electronic Engineering, specializing in Computer Engineering. Wardell was involved in the design and implementation of ''Galactic Civilizations'' for OS/2, one of the platform's few games. He led development of ''OS/2 Essentials'', followed by ''Object Desktop'', a package of utilities and desktop enhancements. When the OS/2 market collapsed, he shifted Stardock to Windows, heading development of PC game ''Entrepreneur'' (now '' The Corporate Machine'') while coordinating the crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DesktopX
DesktopX was a shareware desktop enhancement program that allowed users to build their own custom desktops. Amongst its features was a complete widget engine for Windows as well as a desktop object system. User creations could be exported as .desktop files or as widgets. The program was distributed with Object Desktop as well as stand-alone. DesktopX was released by Alberto Riccio in 1999 as VDE (Verona Desktop Enhancer), and bought in 2000 by Stardock. Mini-applications created with it were called "object packs" but later rebranded as "widgets" to standardize the term. Most users used DesktopX to build alternative desktop environments. The mini-application creation ability was there from the start but did not gain widespread use until the release of ''DesktopX 2'' in 2003. Current versions run on Windows 2000 and above. DesktopX is no longer for sale by its author and is not actively supported. Overview DesktopX supports the creation of three different types of widgets: *''o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BootSkin
BootSkin is a computer program for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista that allows users to change the screen displayed while the operating system is booting. It is made by Stardock, and distributed for free under the WinCustomize brand. BootSkin uses a boot-time device driver (vidstub.sys) to access the display directly using VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE), unlike other bootscreen changers which alter the boot screen image inside the kernel. This has the advantage of not modifying system files, and makes higher-resolution boot screens possible; standard boot screens are limited to 640x480 with 16 colors. Some graphics cards and chipsets do not support VBE well, preventing their use with BootSkin. Due to severe restrictions on color depth, many images are not suitable for use as boot skins. Successful skins tend to take advantage of the limitations through the use of a limited palette and dithering. Installing BootSkin unattended is simple matter of using the /silen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LogonStudio
Object Desktop (OD; previously the Object Desktop Network or ODNT) is an online software subscription service created by Stardock for OS/2 and relaunched for Windows in 1997. Object Desktop includes most graphical user interface customization and productivity products offered by Stardock, including ''WindowBlinds'', ''Fences'', ''DesktopX'', '' Tweak7'', ''IconPackager'' and ''ObjectBar''. History OS/2 (1993 to 2001) Object Desktop — initially entitled ''The Workplace Toolset/2'' — was developed over three years by Brad Wardell and Kurt Westerfeld subsequent to Stardock's ''OS/2 Essentials'', a pre-registered set of OS/2 shareware. Object Desktop 1.0 was followed by 1.5 and Professional' versions following in short order. By 1997 the OS/2 ISV market was flagging, and many customers were switching to Windows NT 4. 1997 OS/2 revenues were 33% of those in 1996, and they fell to 25% of 1996 levels in 1998. This led to their decision to switch to Windows in mid-1997. Nevertheles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IconPackager
Object Desktop (OD; previously the Object Desktop Network or ODNT) is an online software subscription service created by Stardock for OS/2 and relaunched for Microsoft Windows, Windows in 1997. Object Desktop includes most graphical user interface customization and productivity products offered by Stardock, including ''WindowBlinds'', ''Fences (software), Fences'', ''DesktopX'', ''Tweak7'', ''IconPackager'' and ''ObjectBar''. History OS/2 (1993 to 2001) Object Desktop — initially entitled ''The Workplace Toolset/2'' — was developed over three years by Brad Wardell and Kurt Westerfeld subsequent to Stardock's ''OS/2 Essentials'', a pre-registered set of OS/2 shareware. Object Desktop 1.0 was followed by 1.5 and Professional' versions following in short order. By 1997 the OS/2 independent software vendor, ISV market was flagging, and many customers were switching to Windows NT 4. 1997 OS/2 revenues were 33% of those in 1996, and they fell to 25% of 1996 levels in 1998. This le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WindowBlinds
WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface. It has been developed by Stardock since 1998, and is the most popular component of their flagship software suite, Object Desktop. It is also available separately, and as an ActiveX/COM component called DirectSkin. Introduced in its sixth version, it supports alpha blending effects similar to the compositing of Windows Vista, but on Windows XP. WindowBlinds has been downloaded over 10 million times WindowBlinds 7.0 at PCWorld.pl and was voted "Best Vertical Market Program or Utility" in the 2006 Shareware Industry Awards Foundation People's Choice Awards. As of November 2009 there were 4448 WindowBlinds skins available at WinCustomize, with an average of nine being added per week; another popular repository is deviantART. Skin formats WindowBlinds skins come in two formats: "Basic" (or "UIS1+") and "Advanced" (or "UIS2"). Basic (UIS1+) Despite its name, the "Basic" skin format ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainlendar
Rainlendar is a calendar program for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Versions prior to version 2 are licensed under the GNU GPL as free software, but subsequent versions are proprietary shareware. Rainlendar is characterized by very small space and memory requirements, stability, and an easily customizable user-interface (using skins). The calendar can be transparently placed on the desktop and can be managed using the Windows notification area. It has common functions such as task list and a reminder alarm. Different event types can be represented with different symbols. Calendars can also be imported or synchronized using common file formats such as Outlook, iCal and iCalendar files (using a plugin). In addition to the stand-alone calendar program, a Rainlendar-server is available for Windows and Linux, which can synchronize distributed Rainlendar applications. The program can also be used as a LiteStep plugin. Rainlendar is available as of 2016 in about 60 languages (via lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Ford (businessman)
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Pat Ford may refer to: Sports * Pat Ford (boxer) (born 1931), Australian boxer * Pat Ford (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian ice hockey player and head coach Others *Pat Ford, founder of WinCustomize *Pat Ford, musician in Colossal *Pat Ford, producer for The David Pakman Show See also * Pat Forde, sports journalist * Patrick Ford (other) *Patricia Ford (other) Patricia Ford may refer to: *Patricia Ford (politician) (1921–1995), Member of Parliament from Northern Ireland * Patricia A. Ford (born 1955), American physician See also *Patricia Forde Patricia Forde (born ) was former Director of the Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boot Screen
A bootsplash, also known as a bootscreen, is a graphical representation of the boot process of the operating system. A bootsplash can be a simple visualization of the scrolling boot messages in the console, but it can also present graphics or some combinations of both. Unlike splash screens, a bootsplash is not necessarily designed for marketing purposes; it can be intended to enhance the experience of the user as eye candy, or provide the user with messages (with an added advantage of color-coding facility) to diagnose the state of the system. Microsoft Windows All versions of Microsoft Windows feature a boot screen, which is loaded during the startup process. With extra, third-party utilities, it is possible to replace the default Windows boot screen with custom images, text, and/or animations. Windows Vista In Windows Vista, the default boot screen is represented by a green indeterminate progress indicator. The boot screen can be changed so that it displays a static im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ObjectDock
ObjectDock is a dock similar to that in the Aqua GUI. It is distributed by Stardock for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 and comes in ''Free'' and ''Plus'' versions. Features ObjectDock allows the user to place shortcuts to any program in a "dock." This provides Windows users functionality similar to that of Mac OS X. The program comes in two versions, free, and a paid version offering more features. The free version is no longer available from the official site, but is still available from the CNET CDN that the homepage used to redirect to. ObjectDock can be used as a program launcher, or as a complete taskbar replacement. Its functionality can be enhanced with plugins to provide features such as weather forecasts or news. Versions Version 2.0 added preliminary Vista support, resource-searching, improved drag-and-drop In computer graphical user interfaces, drag and drop is a pointing device gesture in which the user selects a virtual object by "grabb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Art
Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various names have been used to describe digital art, including computer art, multimedia art and new media art. History John Whitney, a pioneer of computer graphics, developed the first computer-generated art in the early 1960s by utilizing mathematical operations to create art. In 1963, Ivan Sutherland invented the first user interactive computer-graphics interface known as Sketchpad. Andy Warhol created digital art using a Commodore Amiga where the computer was publicly introduced at the Lincoln Center, New York, in July 1985. An image of Debbie Harry was captured in monochrome from a video camera and digitized into a graphics program called ProPaint. Warhol manipulated the image by adding color by using flood fills. After some initial resistan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
