Over the last few years, streaming music has grown in popularity as more and more people get high-speed Internet connections at home.  The convenience of opening up a web browser and hitting "Play" is hard to argue against.  No more sorting through CDs, or a massive MP3 collection.  And as time goes on, the sound quality has improved to the point where there's little discernable difference to the average user.

The next step beyond just having online radio stations of preset playlists was to let users select exactly what they wanted to listen to, or be able to intelligently suggest similar music based off a small amount of user input.

At the moment, there are many online radio services from folks like Yahoo, Napster, Last.fm etc.  But this article is about two services that compete on a more direct level:  Pandora and Deezer.

In case you've forgotten, we're running a contest to design a new set of smiley/emoticons for our forums.  So far we only have two entries posted to the thread and there's just one day left to enter.  Remember, on top of having your smileys used across all of our forums for the next few years, you'll get a free Object Desktop subscription (or 1yr extension).  So for a handful of images, you could get a nice prize and some fame on a site that gets millions upon millions of hit...

Originally released in 2004, StealthOS by MikeB314 is one of the most popular WindowBlinds skins on WinCustomize with over 260,000 downloads since being posted 4 years ago. Yesterday, MikeB posted an updated version of StealthOS for WindowBlinds 6/Vista.  Now StealthOS has a new Start button, Start Menu and numerous other improvements and new elements made possible by WB6 and Vista. If you've somehow missed out on this terrific skin, go download it right now and give it a spin!...

This is just a quick note to let everyone know we've extended the deadline for the Sins Gameplay Video Contest to this Thursday, March 6th.  So if you had a video you weren't able to finish in time, you have an extra day and a half now to wrap it up and get it posted. Good luck!

Today is a great day for both desktop customizers, and fans of the NBA as Stardock unveils the NBA line of desktop themes under MyColors! Show your team spirit by covering your Windows PC with custom themes, wallpapers, icons and desktop gadgets done up in your team's colors & logo.  Stardock Design has been working around the clock for months to bring you desktop themes for all 30 NBA teams from the Atlanta Hawks all the way to the Washington Wizards. And it's not all just for show,...

February was one of our best months ever when it comes to great Dreams from the community, and that's saying something after the strong showing in January!  This month, TheMasterBaron really dominates with both Solar Flare and Utopia Prime  on the list. Click through to the full article and watch the montage video of all 8 Dreams.

Microsoft has launched UltimatePC.com , a new website where people can go to learn about the best PCs available and the great things that people do with them. UltimatePC.com also provides Windows Vista Ultimate customers with special offers called Ultimate Exclusives which deliver added value. These offers provide unique products and services at special discounts exclusively for Windows Vista Ultimate customers. Stardock is among those partners selected to participate in the initial launch. ...

It's been roughly a year since the last edition, so Brad is back with the 2007 edition of The State of Skinning.  It's an immense article covering everything from Vista to DesktopX, MyColors and beyond.  If you want a look at how 2007 panned out, and what 2008 has in store, this is a must-read. For me, Impluse and MyColors are the most exciting things coming up in 2008, they're going to bring skinning and the work we're doing here to the attention of people all over the world. ...

I'd like to welcome HG Eliminator to the WC Moderation team!  After many years as an active and positive member of the WinCustomize community, and at the recommendation of virtually the entire existing moderation team, today I elevated HG to the rank of Wizop. HG will be helping out with Avatar, CursorFX, Emoticons, Logons, Sound Schemes and Screenshot moderation. So everyone, please take a moment to congratulate HG on his promotion and wish him well 

We're only 3 full days into March and already the March Screenshots thread on the forums has nearly 30 screenshots posted!  So head over there now, check out what everyone else is running, and upload a screenshot or two of your own. My favorite so far:

Our latest Master Skin comes from Dream maker TheMasterBaron: Utopia Prime. Utopia Prime is a stellar (heh) dream with a sci-fi leaning.  Watch as the Planet Earth slowly spins amid a swirling vortex of light and energy on your desktop.  It is without a doubt one of the most serene and visually pleasing Dreams we've seen uploaded in the year since DeskScapes launched. Utopia Prime is available for just $4.99 (Subscribers get a 20% discount ).  Get your hands on one of ...

This week's poll is a pretty straight-forward one for a change with just two answers: Yes or No. For some time, cell phones have grown in complexity.  Many now even run a version of Windows as the OS.  With this growing complexity comes the ability to customize the look and feel of the user interface.  Sony phones specifically offer a lot of customizability, and Research In Motion, makers of the Blackberry, recently made their phone OS skinnable as well.  So there's a gro...

Last week's poll resulted in a very spirited and interesting debate over the future of wallpaper moderation on WinCustomize.  What was once a topic that would get people seeing red and foaming at the mouth, we had perhaps one of the most thoughtful and constructive discussions regarding site policy that I can remember.  The discussion was actually much more interesting and helpful than the poll results themselves. Go here to read the full discussion. For the poll results, here'...

It's Monday.  Weekend is over.  Time for some killer skins... Enjoy!

Alright, I missed out on last week's fidget, but I blame that mostly on the fact that I took Friday off and didn't touch my PC pretty much the entire weekend.  It was a much needed and helpful bit of rest.  I gamed, I slept, I watched a lot of TV and generally did nothing productive.  But now I'm back again with a weekly wrap-up of what I've been up to and my random thoughts. What I've Been Playing Burnout Paradise I finally got the Burnout License, and h...