photoshop

[ realistic.fire ] +shadow
[ dodged.smoke ] +teknoledge
[ golden.rock ] +teknoledge
[ cold.fusion ] +factorX
[ enlight.boom ] +iskin

3d.studio.max

[ max.glow ] +princesnoopy
[ ghost.material ] +princesnoopy
[ object.explosion ] +ryan
[ adding.textures ] +teknoledge
[ reflected.material ] +teknoledge

macromedia.flash

[ motion.blur ] +edwin

desktopX

[ desktopX.part 1 ] +infamous

desktopX.part1 l 21-10-2k1

[ introduction ]

This is my first real tutorial. Even though it is just a simple setup tutorial for DesktopX, I hope I did a decent job for all you DesktopX users who are lost when trying to set it up. PART 2 of this tutorial will include much more content, and should answer most of your questions. Enjoy…

DesktopX is a revolutionary new program that extends Windows to handle true objects on the desktop. These objects, when combined together, allows users to build their own completely customized desktops. These objects and themes that users create can be traded with one another on-line. Best of all, most objects require no programming whatsoever making it perfect for the average PC user. Developers can use DesktopX's powerful hooks to create virtually any type of object.

DesktopX is part of Object Desktop, it is the component that gives users and corporations the power to decide their own interface to Windows in order to suit their needs and increase their productivity.

[ theme selection]

I would like to start by offering you some links to help you select a theme you like, and objects you will enjoy. These sites are very informative:

[ deviantart.com ]
[ wincustomize.com ]

[ step 1 - Desktop Objects ]

With DesktopX, you can choose to show your current desktop icons, or to have them invisible to DesktopX. When your icons are NOT enabled on the desktop, you can right click and access your Start Menu DesktopX style. When your icons ARE enabled on your desktop, your right click function is the same as your normal desktop.

HINT: There is a way to have the best of both worlds. I have my desktop icons enabled, and I can still access my Start Menu. Hit the WINDOWS KEY or CTRL+ESCAPE and it will bring up the menu. A very simple solution.

[ step 2 - Moving/Creating Objects ]

The above image is my taskbar, set to the default location the theme author has set.


First: Hold down CTRL and click tile then DRAG: Moves an entire selection. See below.

Compare that to the original, and you can see that I have dragged my entire taskbar up.


Second: Hold down SHIFT and click tile then DRAG: Moves only the selected tile. See below.

Compare that to the above image. As you can see, I selected the taskbar base tile, and dragged it up.

[ step 3 - Creating a new Object ]

Right click on your DesktopX taskbar, which should be in your taskbar


Move up to New Object



You should now see a blue circle on your desktop that says OBJECT

You can now edit all the properties to suit whichever task you want that OBJECT to be.

[ step 4 - Group Order ]

One thing I noticed in DesktopX that is a very tedious task, is setting the group orders. on the first image on the left, you will see what I mean.

What that image is displaying, is that the tile is ordered down all the rest, like layers. The icons are level 1, tiles are level 2. So now, you must right click, go to Group z-order and click Move Down.

Now your icon should look like the second image on the left: All visible.

[ PLUGINS - THEMES - OBJECTS ]

Since DesktopX is a fully customizable skin suit, you can add many Objects, Plugins, and Themes. A lot of Themes come with already installed Plugins such as: WinAMP, Clock, Uptime, Memory Usage. There are entire websites with hundreds of Themes, Plugins and Objects to choose from; here are a few:

[ deviantart.com ]
[ wincustomize.com ]
[ lotsofskins.com ]

[ Conclusion ]

I myself, am still learning DesktopX, but I know pretty much all the basics. In the future, I will be posting tutorials on How to: - Creating Objects
- Creating Themes
- Editing INI files to pimp out your DesktopX

A lot of DesktopX is exploration. I learned a lot from just messing around, and trying some help forums. If you have ANY questions or comments regarding DesktopX or normal Shadowness business, feel free to contact me, [ infamous ]

When you are all complete and have finished setting up your DesktopX suit, it might look something like this: [ infamous-desktop.cjb.net ]
[ comment here ]

Stay tuned for PART 2 of this tutorial.