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Appearance and Personalization

How to personalize Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and other software platforms. How to customize the appearance of your gadgets, apps, and hardware.

Introducing Windows 8: Customize the Look of the Start & Lock Screens

  • tutorial
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 12.06.2013
Changing your Desktop wallpaper in Windows 8 is exactly the same procedure you've seen in Windows 7. While the choice to customize your Desktop is a given, Windows 8 goes farther than previous versions of Windows by giving you two more things to customize: the...

How to Create Your Own Screen Saver with Windows Photo Gallery

  • tutorial
  • Marte Brengle
  • 29.05.2013
I recently searched for good and free screensavers. What I found was pretty distressing. Free screensavers appear to be a favorite delivery system for malware more than anything else. However, all is not lost. If you want a really good, free screensaver, you need look...

How to Customize the Notification Area in Windows 7 & Windows 8

  • tutorial
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 23.05.2013
Although the notification area has been around since Windows 95, it wasn't very customizable and useful until Windows 7 was launched. Even though many know what it is and what it does (or at least in theory), few know how customizable it has become. In...

What's New About Windows 8 Themes? Why They Don't Work in Windows 7?

  • tutorial
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 11.04.2013
Windows 8 themes are not different from Windows 7 themes, at least not when you look at them for the first time. The process for creating and customizing themes is the same in both operating systems but the theme files that result from the process...

How to Use Special Characters in Windows with Character Map

  • tutorial
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 13.03.2013
What do you do when you have to insert special characters that can't be found on your keyboard? You use the Character Map tool found both in Windows 7 and Windows 8. It allows you to insert scientific notations, mathematical operators, currency symbols and characters...
Ringtones

Create Free Custom Ringtones for Any Smartphone with Ringtone Maker

  • tutorial
  • Codrut Neagu
  • 11.02.2013
Depending on the smartphone you are using, creating custom ringtones for it might not be that easy. Unfortunately, on systems like Windows Phone or iOS, the process involved is a bit more complicated, as ringtones need to meet specific requirements in terms of format, length,...

How to Use Desktop Gadgets in Windows 8 with 8GadgetPack

  • misc
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 17.09.2012
In one of our previous articles, we mentioned that Windows 8 has removed a few features from Windows 7, even though they were used by quite a few people. One of the most important missing features in Windows 8 is desktop gadgets. Therefore, I searched...

Download Windows 8 Release Preview Themes for Windows 7

  • misc
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 01.06.2012
Since Windows 8 themes are not compatible with Windows 7, we would like to return with new themes for Windows 7, inspired by the new Windows 8 Release Preview. The first theme includes the desktop wallpapers used in Windows 8 Release Preview, while the second...

Top 7 Windows Media Player 12 Skins in 2012

  • misc
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 30.01.2012
In the past we covered Windows Media Player 12 extensively and we've shown almost anything you can do with it, including changing its looks by using skins. We would like to resume the discussion about this application and share with you some good looking skins...

The Best Remaining Desktop Gadgets for Windows 7

  • misc
  • Marte Brengle
  • 27.10.2011
Microsoft used to maintain a Desktop Gadget Gallery that showcased quite a few gadgets for users interested in using them. However, in preparation for the upcoming Windows 8 launch, Microsoft decided to (as some put it) "stop pretending to support gadgets". For the company, supporting...
Windows themes

The Geeky Way of Personalizing Windows Themes

  • tutorial
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 16.07.2011
Did you know that, beyond the basic personalisation of Windows themes, there's a slightly more hidden but more powerful way to customize visual settings? With the help of the Window Color and Appearance window, you can change the background color used by certain applications, you...

Top 7 Windows Media Player 12 Skins in 2010

  • misc
  • Jack Busch
  • 14.05.2010
In our earlier post, we showed you how to download, install and apply Windows Media Player 12 skins. So, why not give your new found knowledge a whirl by checking out some of the top 7 Windows Media Player 12 skins that are worth a...

How to Work with Desktop Gadgets in Windows 7

  • tutorial
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 15.01.2010
Desktop Gadgets are not something new to the Windows world. They were first introduced in Windows Vista, where they were fitted on the Windows Sidebar. Even if the idea itself was good, it didn't have the success it might have deserved. With Windows 7, Microsoft...

How to Customize Your Windows 7 Logon Screen

  • misc
  • Florina Muntenescu
  • 31.12.2009
We will continue our series on customizing the appearance of Windows 7 with an article about logon screens. Even though now you can customize lots of visual elements directly from the Control Panel, you still cannot change the logon screen. As with previous versions of...
Windows 7

How to Unveil Hidden Regional Themes in Windows 7

  • tutorial
  • Florina Muntenescu
  • 25.11.2009
At the installation of Windows 7 you are prompted for your country and language. Based on your selection, a group of themes will be installed. Apart from that, Windows 7 will copy on your hard disk some additional hidden themes that you aren't aware of....
Windows 7

Will Austin About His Trip to the Desktop of Millions

  • misc
  • Ciprian Adrian Rusen
  • 24.08.2009
One of the great things about Windows 7 is the fact that it has a very strong visual personality. It includes a very diverse set of wallpapers from a long list of visual artists. The funny thing is, the wallpapers which our team likes best...

The Complete Guide to the Windows 7 Start Menu

  • tutorial
  • George Grigoriţă
  • 18.08.2009
The Start Menu is one of the elements which remained unchanged for many versions of Windows. Windows Vista was the first to introduce some major redesign choices, some more inspired than others. Windows 7 marks another evolution but, this time, changes are more subtle. There...