Earlier we put up Episode 6 of the WinCustomize Skincast, and this week Kittymalone joined in on the fun.  Since we've now had several guests on the show, we'd like to know who your favorite is, so far. Zubaz ( Episode 3 ) Jafo ( Episode 4 ) RomanDA ( Episode 5 ) Kittymalone ( Episode 6 ) After you cast your vote, go ahead and post a comment below sharing why they were your favorite guest.  Hopefully we can craft future episodes based on what everyone has enjoyed the most. ...

This week kittymalone joins us from the Land of Oz to chat with Spencer and myself about her life as a skinner.  Coming in at about 16minutes, we finally manage to hit our 15-20min window!  We had a lot of fun with this show, and despite some interesting time delays (kitty is on dial-up, on the other side of the globe it turns out) we think it turned out fairly well.  Yes, my volume is a bit off (I'm loud this week versus quiet last week).  We're working on a new sound solut...

Last week, I asked how often you change skins on your PC.  Based on the responses, about 64% of you change skins once a week or more (though once a week seems to be the sweet spot overall).  What makes you change a skin when you do?  Is it boredom, or does something new and shiny catch your eye?  What is the most recent skin you switched to on your PC?

If you're in the US, you're just getting back from a glorious 3-day weekend and now have to dig through a mountain of emails and phone messages that piled up while you were away.  So to kick off the short week, here's something to help you put off work just a little bit longer.  Here are my picks for some of the best skins on the site submitted over the long holiday weekend... ...

This week has been a pretty good one as far as WindowBlinds skins go.  Since last Friday, we've seen an amazing 12 skins either uploaded new, or updated with fixes.  This is probably one of the best weeks we've seen in WB skinning in months.  In case you haven't checked the gallery out lately, you definitely need to take a look at these skins and take them for a spin... ...

It's Friday, and if you're in the US, it's the last work day before the long Memorial Day weekend.  This means most of you are either already on vacation, or will be leaving a bit early this afternoon to beat the travel rush.  So, before you pack up the car and head off for the weekend, Island Dog has a round-up of some great skins uploaded to the site in the last week.  This week's selection includes a cursor set, a cursor testing DX object, a countdown gadget, dream, dock backgr...

Maybe you noticed the other day that Liquidox was updated and added to the MyColors Inspired Themes set. Another theme by PixelPirate, Liquidox has been one of our most popular Premium Suites, and a lot of people have been asking us for a while when we would have a Windows Vista compatible version.  Well, after many moons, the updates are done and QA has signed-off on the theme.  So if you've been holding off on getting a copy until the Vista update came out, wait no longer! W...

The gear-heads over at ExtremeTech have taken a look at Object Desktop 2008, the most recent snapshot of Stardock's suite of windows customization tools.  Jason Cross runs down the full set of tools in Object Desktop; WindowBlinds, DeskScapes, IconPackager, SoundPackager, DesktopX and MyColors.  Of particular note is MyColors, the newest addition to the Object Desktop family. Each of the applications gets its own full-page description & review.  Positive points in the review i...

We're going to be recording SkinCast Episode 6 tomorrow night and we're looking for a skinner to join us for this week's shennanigans.  Since we don't have anyone lined up ahead of time, I thought I'd do an open call for skinners willing to jump in. So far we've had ZubaZ, Jafo and RomanDA on the show, and those have all turned out great. Here's what we're looking for: You must be a skinner.  You need to be available between 7:30pm and 9:30pm Eastern tomorrow, May 22nd Yo...

In case you missed it yesterday, Brad broke the big news that Stardock has teamed up with Dell to provide a custom dock application for its consumer desktops.  In fact, starting Monday of this week, Dell PCs started rolling out the door with the new dock.  The Dell Dock, built by the team that brought you Object Dock, is focused on cleaning up the desktop and improving the user experience for Windows Vista users. For all the details on this new deal, read Brad's full article .&nbs...

To go along with his earlier guided tour article taking you through the paces with IconPackager 4, yesterday Island Dog posted a new screencast to visually step you through all the great new features of IconPackager 4 and it's redesigned interface. The full video is about 6min long and covers all the topics from the original article.

Take your desktop to the final frontier with Red Giant by TheMasterBaron Red Giant is one of the best video dreams I've seen on the site in ages.  It's a high-resolution video that runs for a full 3 minutes with a seamless loop.  The motion is smooth, and the colors bright enough to look cool but not distract the user. Red Giant is available for just $3.99 (but WinCustomize Subscribers get a 20% discount!)  Snag a copy today.  If you're a Windows Vista user, this...

Time for another weekly poll.  This week it's a pretty simple question: How often do you change skins?  Is it frequently, or only a few times a year?  Can you even remember the last time you changed skins on your PC? Vote in the poll, leave your comments here.  Results next week.

This week I'm back with a new microphone.  For Episode 5, Spencer and I are joined by DX Guru, David Roman (RomanDA).  The three of us ramble on and on this week about all things DX, including Roman's upcoming DX community site.  The three of us were having such a good time recording the show the other night that we went a bit beyond our 20min goal.  In fact, we almost hit 40 this week.  We hope you'll forgive us and enjoy the show despite our rambling and joking  ...

This week ZubaZ has another in his ongoing Ask a Master series.  Today he talks with DesktopX guru RomanDA about his background as a skinner, his many DX gadgets as well as numerous thoughts on skinning and the community in general. It's a great interview that everyone should take the time to read. Expect more RomanDA-related goodness later this morning too