Three Cool Desktops from MakeUseOf Readers

Back in February I asked for screenshots of your desktops and I promised the coolest would be featured on Make Use Of. So here are my three favorites in the order they were received.

(1) Skyler’s Desktop

skylersmall.jpg

Skyler uses XPize for custom themes, which also comes with a new screen saver, boot screen, login screen, icons and more. The set is completed with a tool he really likes, Vista Cursor.

The menu you see is Rocketdock, which has been covered and mentioned several times on Make Use Of. It’s a great tool if you quickly want to access your most used programs.

Skyler keeps a Temp folder on his desktop as a quick way to hide unwanted clutter and sort through it later. He got rid of the recycle bin using Tweak UI. In the sidebar he’s housing Google Desktop for the calendar and the to-do list.

Skyler uses Foobar because it’s lightweight, customizable, and it has an option to minimize to the tray which is really useful when working on a lot of things that take up the taskbar.

In order to be able to quickly hide his browser he uses the Firefox addons MinimizeToTray and Minimize To Tray Enhancer.

Skyler sums up…

My desktop probably isn’t all that special, but I like it and find it more useful than the default windows setup.

And I think that’s what matters and what makes every desktop special. After all it’s yours!

Oh, and Skyler says Daft Punk rules! ;)

(2) Rob Williams’ Desktop

robwsmall.jpg

After using different wallpapers for a while, Rob decided to keep it simple with a solid color background. Like Skyler he is using Rocketdock as his main menu.

The Quicklaunch bar holds a couple of work-specific applications. Rob likes FuzzyClock in the system tray and has added a calendar to easily spot the date.

Rob sums up…

Clean. Simple.

And I agree.

Get to know Rob Williams.

(3) Rob’s Desktop

robsmall.jpg

Yes, two Rob’s made it into my Top 3, isn’t that cool?

In addition to Rocketdock, Rob is using Enso , a free tool that lets you open programs by holding down the Caps Lock and typing a command such as “open blog” or “open browser”. It’s a smart way to access programs without so much as the touch of a button and typing a quick command. You no longer have to move a hand away from the keyboard to control the mouse or scroll through menus.

My summary…

Very stylish and simple desktop, nice wallpaper and thanks a lot for pointing me to Enso!

Rob writes The Like Minds Blog.

Aibek’s Desktop

Well, actually there are 4, we got one from Aibek as well. Since he isn’t not really a reader he is featured last. ;-)

Desktop Setup

In his own words:

I like it clean and simple. I keep about 15 programs on the Quick Launch. I also use invisible folder for keeping stuff that needs to be done asap. As about wallpaper you can download it from here. I tend to change it every couple of months or so. One of my favorite wallpaper sources is socwall.

Thanks to everyone else who submitted their desktop screenshots, you guys are great!

(By) This post was written by one of our regular authors, Tina from Recommended.

Filed Under: Cool Software Apps

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    25 Comments » Leave One...

    Comment by Keith
    2008-04-16 19:21:22

    4 Cool desktops? I only see three…haha

    Anyways I’m always interested in seeing how other people keep their desktops set up and it seems that rocket dock is a favorite, which I have grown to love.

    Comment by Aibek
    2008-04-16 20:21:55

    There was a small mixup with the last one. It was added about 1 min. after we published the story. I guess you were the one and only reader to spot it. :-)

     
     
    Comment by pnoque
    2008-04-16 20:19:49

    So . . . no makeuseof readers use Mac or Linux then, eh? Shame.

    Comment by Mackenzie Morgan
    2008-04-16 21:12:07

    I don’t think my Linux desktop would be considered appropriate on here since it doesn’t have a dock like all of them :P And I’m a writer on here, so this is my current gnome theme:
    http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5979/screenshottv8.png

    That’s the very similar to the version of Human-Murrine found in Ubuntu Hardy Heron’s alpha 6, though the scrollbars are a bit different. It was recreated and packaged by Seb. I don’t use the bottom bar so it’s gone, and the things in the top right are mostly not launchers. They’re notification area things for Pidgin, Check GNOME Mail, Twitux, etc and some little info applets. The pic of George Washington is a shortcut to start up vpnc so I can get on my school’s wireless (I go to George Washington University). I rarely use the menus either since I use Compiz to map lots of keybindings to open common applications. The wallpaper was in Hardy Heron alpha 5 and is not the one that will be in final. I just prefer this one. The panel background is mine. Instead of default Bitstream Vera fonts, I’m using Liberation fonts. The paper airplane is the close animation on dialogs, this one being the screenshot dialog. I could set a delay on the screenshot to keep it from being visible, but I wanted to show it off.

     
    Comment by Travis Quinnelly
    2008-04-16 21:20:16

    @pnoque maybe they just didn’t make the cut.

     
     
    Comment by Shankar Ganesh
    2008-04-17 00:25:09

    Here’s how my XP desktop looks like - http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=desktopshankarpw2.jpg

     
    Comment by Tina
    2008-04-17 00:56:55

    @pnoque and Travis In fact no Mac or Linux desktop was submitted.

    @Mackenzie Thanks for the screenshot link, love it!

     
    Comment by murlidhar
    2008-04-17 02:14:20

    Here is another screenshot of my ubuntu gnome . Although the wallpaper of linux mint has been put cuz of my liking of their wallpapers.

    The featured in my desktop are firefox 3 beta 5 and terminal

    http://img1.picturewizard.com/1326721/0/Screenshot.png

     
    Comment by Aravind
    2008-04-17 02:55:28

    I use the great “Launchy” to do what Enso provides Rob!!!
    It’s very nice and cool that i’m now completely dependent on it.

    And, i was amazed, too see “my desktop” given under Aibek’s name..
    Aibek, we too are having the exact same desktop. except that my resolution is 1024×768 and i dont use Quick Launch.
    Everything else is just the same and SOCWALL is my personal favourite too…

    Seems like we have many things in commonn…
    :)

    Comment by Aibek
    2008-04-17 14:36:40

    :-) Coooool. Do you use invisible folder as well ?

    Comment by Aravind
    2008-04-17 22:27:55

    Yes. Of course. I use the Alt+0160 thing with no ICON..
    :)

    (Comments wont nest below this level)
     
     
     
    Comment by Catharina
    2008-04-17 03:52:13

    You can see my Ubuntu Linux desktop here before and after a makeover:

    http://www.kletskous.com/2008/04/09/ubuntu-make-over/

     
    Comment by Allen
    2008-04-17 06:12:04

    What wallpaper was the 2nd Rob using (firefox logo on a shiny black background)?

    Comment by Rob
    2008-04-27 15:22:43

    Allen,

    It’s my own but you’re welcome to a copy I’ve put it up on http://flickr.com/photos/flickr4rob.

    Cheers, Rob.

     
     
    Comment by Becci
    2008-04-17 07:40:57

    Always interested in seeing how other desktops are setup. I wanted to try RocketDock but can’t get the link to work. Any idea what’s up with that?

    Comment by Aibek
    2008-04-17 14:39:58

    Works fine for me. :-) Try opening rocketdock.com directly

     
     
    Comment by Adi
    2008-04-17 15:00:10

    Here’s my desktop. I like my desktop to be as natural and clean as possible.
    Hope you guys like it.

    http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mydesktopvm4.jpg

     
    Comment by Becci
    2008-04-17 17:39:38

    Well I finally got back online this afternoon & looked at rocketdock.com again. After getting bounced to a different site I checked out punklabs.com & it seems the rocketdog site is down due to their IP being blocked.

     
    Comment by leftnutt
    2008-04-17 20:49:59

    Man where can you get that firefox wallpaper at on the 2nd desktop shown. anyone ??? there all cool desktops ..

    Comment by Rob
    2008-04-27 15:24:29

    Leftnutt,

    You can get a copy of it on http://flickr.com/photos/flickr4rob.

    Cheers, Rob.

     
     
    Comment by Ayesha
    2008-04-18 02:14:37

    Skyler - where is your Daft Punk wallpaper from? I LOVE IT!!!! :D

    Comment by Skyler
    2008-04-20 15:58:29

    I keep trying to move on to a new wallpaper but I can’t.

    http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/5930/daftlivecm0.jpg

    Enjoy~~

    Bonus:

    http://picasaweb.google.com/Famf9983 My picasa page. Lots of wallpapers. I love Daft Punk so you’ll find some more laying around there~~ It isn’t very organized. Sorry.

     
     
    Comment by skl8em
    2008-04-19 05:46:11

    I support Ayesha’s request, the daft punk wallpaer is awesome, please share it or let us know where we can find similar ones :)

     
    2008-04-23 14:08:48

    [...] Three Cool Desktops from MakeUseOf Readers | MakeUseOf.com [...]

     
    Comment by Tom
    2008-05-13 16:56:25

    I’m a little obsessed with my desktop (vista).
    Rocket dock is at the bottom.

    http://boy-of-wonder.deviantart.com/art/Desktop-May-08-84711367

     
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