Pimp Your Desktop with Rainmeter 1.0

Desktop customization in Windows has always been kind of a pain. On the most extreme end, it involved entirely replacing your Explorer shell with something like Litestep. At the very least, you’d end up editing a bunch of config files, trying to get everything just right. All in all, it was never worth the time and effort for the average user. The learning curve was just slightly too steep.

With the release of Rainmeter 1.0, even Joe Six-pack can create a pretty slick desktop without editing any config files or writing a single line of code. This latest release of Rainmeter includes the Enigma theme as the default. It also comes with a theme manager and a configuration tool.

Rather than hacking away at some random config file, trying to figure out which variable name needs to be changed to add your Twitter account information, you can change those values from a simple graphical interface.  The default Enigma theme also includes a quick-start dialog to help new users get up and running quickly. It lays out all of the available widgets for you. Simply click the ones you want to activate and they appear at the top left of your desktop. Drag them to their final resting places after that.

The full list of new features includes:

• Theme manager that saves and loads Rainmeter themes.
• Configuration tool for the Enigma skin, to save all your personal settings.
• The Enigma theme automatically adjusts to your desktop resolution.
• Enigma reader skins now support RSS, Atom, Gmail inbox, and Twitter.
• Enigma music skin gets iTunes song information automatically; CD Art Display no longer required.
• Completely compatible with Windows 7 or Vista, and no more UAC issues.
• Text shadows, transformation matrices, and improved anti-aliasing.
• Plug-in support for iTunes, WiFi, and the recycle bin.
• An official forum for support, tips, and add-ons.

I’ve been using Rainmeter for the last couple of days and it’s actually pretty cool. I’m not a desktop person and have actually kept mine completely and totally blank and empty for months now. With Rainmeter, I can add widgets to my desktop that give me quick access to information I need at a glance. No matter what I’m doing, I can hit Win+M to minimize all windows, then hit Alt+TAB to go back to what I’m doing. If you like eye candy or fancy widgets on your desktop, you should definitely check out Rainmeter.