Filed under: Design, Utilities, Windows
Customize your Windows desktop using Rainmeter 1.0
by Jay Hathaway Aug 8th 2009 at 2:00PM
Rainmeter, a Windows desktop modification app, has entered version 1.0, and now comes with the popular Enigma theme as its default skin. Setting up all of Enigma's various widgets on Rainmeter is extremely simple. In fact, Rainmeter is basically code-free. You can enter all of your settings once using the GUI Configuration tool, and they'll be applied to any theme you want to use. It's also now possible to save and load your favorite setups.
Enigma itself has improved by partnering with Rainmeter. There's now a quickstart wizard so you can set up the theme without editing text files, and Enigma can take advantage of some of the new features in Rainmeter, including iTunes and wifi plugins. Also, the new Rainmeter is fully compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7. Now anybody can set up a well-designed desktop mod without having to edit a single file in a text editor.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dan said 2:48PM on 8-08-2009
Downloaded the x64 version for my x64 Vista Business PC and it crashed every time it launched. BLARGH!
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archpope said 1:55PM on 8-09-2009
The gmail plugin on Enigma makes it crash. The only way I got it to not crash was to use a theme other than enigma. Happened on 2 different computers.
Sunira said 11:38PM on 8-09-2009
I had to right click and run as admin and it quit crashing on my vista 64 machine.
The_Doc said 4:23PM on 8-08-2009
I like the update, and while you don't NEED to dive into the code (it's usable 'out of the box' so to speak), you will need to tweak the code itself if you're finicky like me. For example, I wanted Fahrenheit instead of Celsius; I had to dive into the code for that. I wanted the 4-Day MoxaWeather plugin to load in the collapsed state, so I needed to tweak the code again. All in all, though, a much better UI.
FYI, in the US the weather code is just your zip code. Here's the official site for finding the appropriate code: http://uzaclan.com/locate_code/locate.php
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Quelkaima said 5:31PM on 8-08-2009
...what does this have to do with the article at hand?
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kojo87 said 7:24PM on 8-08-2009
cool idea but i was not impressed. i can see how this would be handy if you use a lot of RSS feeds but i don't.
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sRc said 9:10PM on 8-08-2009
ah, wondered why it said there was an update when I turned on my desktop today. I don't usually use my desktop these days, but I have an older Rainmeter on there for a clock on my 2nd monitor, and the Winamp controls (since Winamp crashes less often for me using that, for some odd reason).
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peegee said 10:51PM on 8-08-2009
Don't remember the last time I saw my desktop. What's the point?
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laero said 8:29AM on 8-10-2009
Agree with peegee, the desktop is something I look at for about five seconds while waiting for the computer to load everything.
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Niclas said 5:17PM on 8-10-2009
@Iaero:
Multiple monitors? I've got uTorrent/MSN/Rainmeter on my right display (19" 1440x900) while watching a movie on the left one (24" 1920x1200). Rainmeter keeps me updated on stuff, clock/date/email/cpu-gpu-mb-temps/wheater/rss.
I'm missing a twitter function, and maybe Facebook (if they'd release their API soon), but it's nice having the second monitor for info/chat. Rainmeter + IRC or TS2 while playing games is also great.
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