5 Windows Desktop Enhancement Tools to Give Your PC a Facelift

With 2011 approaching, let’s kick off the year with a new look and feel to our Windows Desktops. While there are many methods to customize your desktop, I thought I’d show you five tools that simplify the process and offer some cool enhancements. I’ve linked to my trusted download source, CNET’s download.com download page, so you can see the editor reviews, ratings, etc. I’ve also included the publishers description for your reference.

ObjectDock 2.0 (Windows XP/Vista/7)

Publisher Description: “ObjectDock is designed to add style, organization, and function to your Windows experience. Place your favorite web links, program shortcuts and information widgets on this fun, animated and easy-to-use dock. Additional docklets provide quick access to weather, time, and other useful information. A new UI allows users to choose from a number of styles and special effects for a custom experience. The free version has only one dock (Plus version adds capability to have multiple docks, adds Tabbed docks, System Tray support and skin recoloring).”

Fences (Windows XP/Vista/7)

Publisher Description: “Fences lets users clean up their desktop icons in moments. Users draw “fences” on their desktop which enables users to drag and drop icons into them. Users can have fences show and hide by double-clicking on the desktop. In addition, users can control which icons show and hide when the desktop is double-clicked on allowing for easy desktop clean-up.”

Winstep Nexus Dock (Windows 2000/2003/XP 64-bit/32-bit/Vista 32-bit/64-bit/7 32-bit/64-bit)

Publisher Description: “The Winstep Nexus Dock is a free Windows dock application that provides fast access to your most frequently used applications, with flexible options allowing it to dock or float anywhere on the screen. Every feature you would expect from a dock and then more, including widgets, many different mouse-over effects, skins, drag-and-drop, ability to display running applications and the system tray, Windows 7 “superbar” ability with Aeropeek, live icon reflections and support for Windows Aero Glass effects.”

Tweak UI

Publisher Description: “The Windows shell-development team did some extra programming and put together a set of tools called Power Toys. If you’re a power user, go ahead and try them out, but be forewarned that Power Toys aren’t supported by Microsoft because they’re not part of Windows. This group of “toys” lets you adjust your Windows user interface, including menu speed, window animation, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Version 2.1 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.”

130 Fun Desktop Folder Icons (Windows 95/98/2000/XP)

Publisher Description: “Add these fun one-of-a-kind icons to your desktop to make each desktop folder look unique. Icons are in standard 32×32 .ico format. Ready to use and instructions are included to get started today. These icons go beyond just cool – they’re art. Perfect in helping you organize a large number of desktop folders with plenty style and color. Artistic, funny, stylish, goofy, simple – we’ve got a desktop folder icon to match your personality. Download today and enjoy free & fun icons for your desktop.”

Do you use any of these tools to tweak your Windows Desktop? Feel free to share your customized desktop with a link below.