Desktop Themes: Ready to Change Your Desktop Theme? (Pt. 4)
Part 4 - LogonStudio and ObjectBar
WinCustomize Forums
In previous articles in this series I have given the
basics on how to change your desktop theme using products such as WindowBlinds,
IconPackager, DesktopX, and more. We have taken our simple, boring desktop
to a whole new level by changing the visual style, icons, cursors, adding
widgets and more to add style and personalize the desktop. You probably thought
after the 3rd installment that I was done, but think again. There still
are things I didn't cover, and I wanted to continue on today.
The ability to change your logon screen in Windows XP is still very popular and people are still creating and uploading some fantastic logon screens almost daily. This another simple way to add that style to your PC, and the way to do that is to use LogonStudio from Stardock. LogonStudio will allow you to easily create and apply logon screens in Windows XP. You can get new logons from the Logons gallery on WinCustomize.com.
Once you find a logon you want to use you can simply double-click the .logonxp file to add it to LogonStudio, or you can load it from inside the LogonStudio configuration window.
You can select which logon to use and then click "apply", and your new logon screen should work. It also has the option to use random logons each time you boot. You can also create your own logons by clicking "new", and going from there. I'm not going to go into how to create a logon, but you can find more information at the LogonStudio site or the forums on WinCustomize.
If you are a user of Windows Vista then don't worry. Stardock is developing LogonStudio Vista and that will allow you to change and create logons much in the same way as LogonStudio for XP. Right now it's in beta and you can find more information about LogonStudio Vista here.
The next application we will discuss is
ObjectBar. This
is a very powerful program and it really deserves its own article, but for the
purpose of this article I will just stick with the basics and show you what
ObjectBar can do. It allows users to create and use an alternative
interface for Windows XP. You can use ObjectBar to create and apply custom
start bars, menus, program launchers, and much more.
ObjectBar is well known for creating start menus to emulate the look of OS X, and people have also used it to create Vista-like interfaces as well. As you can see in the screenshots the ObjectBar configuration is highly customizable and is even compatible with DesktopX widgets. If you would like to read more about the features of ObjectBar, or learn how to create your own then I recommend this great in depth article....Creating an ObjectBar.
In this 4th installment of this series we have covered the way you can easily change your logon screen in Windows XP, and how you can use Stardocks ObjectBar to create an entirely new interface in Windows XP. All of these will work with the other applications described in previous articles such as WindowBlinds and IconPackager. With a combination of applications there's almost an endless variety of ways to personalize your desktop to your own style. Click the links below for more product information and downloads.
I'll leave the objectbar comments up to Zu. 
