Every now and then we see a skin submitted that just blows us away with its quality and creativity.  Today we released a skin that definite fits that description: Slider XP by I.R. Brainiac Originally announced several months back, after countless hours of hard work, revision and tweaking, I.R. Brainiac brings us what is possibly the most creative WindowBlinds skin released in quite some time. Slider XP makes great use of brass piping and accents along side clean, rounded buttons a...

The Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary are approaching swiftly, which kick off the 2008 Presidential race in a major way.  But so far, I just can't get any real enthusiasm going for the race. Why?  Because so far, it's been boring as hell beyond a few moments of enjoyable stupidity.  Lets look at the Democrats first... You've got Clinton 2.0, The Oprah Candidate, John "I'll save the little guy" Edwards, and then a collection of other candidates that don't app...

Starting today, and continuing through to the end of the year, we will be posting a new poll every 1-3 days asking you to vote on your favorite skin from a particular gallery.  Last week I asked for nominations and received over 100 unique skin and 13 skinner nominations for these polls.  For the full nominations list, go here . Today, we are voting on CursorXP themes.  You have until midnight Tuesday to cast your vote.  After that, the poll will automatically switch to t...

Yet again Island Dog has gone through the WinCustomize archives to sort out the best holiday skins, making it as easy as can be for you to get your PC into the Holly-Jolly mood.  Check out his article for dozens of great holiday skins. 

Stardock operates a series of community websites, each with a different focus, but all relying on the same underlying forum system and technology.  WinCustomize is by far our largest and most active community, serving millions of visitors every month.  Second to WinCustomize is JoeUser , our blog site with a community focus. Last week, I asked if you "blogged" and the majority of you said you do not blog (something along the lines of 2/3rd of the vote) but a reasonable number of y...

Welcome to what is likely the last Weekend pick set of 2007!  As we hurtle towards Christmas and most of us scramble to get that last bit of shopping done along side the other umpteen-bajillionty people doing the same thing, fighting for parking spaces and getting into fist fights over the last Tickle Me Little Pony edition iPod, maybe a brief pause is in order.  So, to give you a break from the chaos, here are some outstanding skins that were uploaded this past weekend while you were...

Today, I bring you the final tally/update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription drive... Subscriptions: 1,171 (58.55% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $4,207.00 (84.14% of total) Thanks to a heavy surge in subscriptions on Friday, and the help of several very generous individuals we were able to clear the $4,200 mark, closing the drive at 84.14% of our charity goal, and 58.55% of our subscription goal! Some quick statistics: Our average numbers were $95.61 and 26 su...

Ok, after just a day and a half of nominations, we have 115 total unique skins, and 13 skinners.  The requirement for a gallery to be voted on was that it have at least 5 skins nominated.  Before we get into the master list, here are the nominated skins that won't make it to a vote: IconPackages*   DX Objects   Right Click   Spil's Stuff   Skarn's DX Bits 1   Blue Glass   Carbon-ite   Skarn's DX Bits 2 &nb...

This is just a stellar week for Master Skins! Today, we're happy to release an excellent Master Skin DX Theme by community veteran and former moderator, gef. Arena is a theme designed for 1680x1050, but is easily modifiable for just about any resolution and works for both Windows XP and Vista systems. As a bonus, the theme comes with a Xion skin, along with a calendar and weather gadget. Arena is available for purchase for just $7.95 . Subscribers get a 20% discount on t...

Fridays are always a busy day for Island Dog as he works to do his great round-up articles.  In the spirit of the season, he continues his work to find the best holiday themed skins and skin items to help you make your PC as festive as it can be.  Today, he's found some great icons and an ObjectDock background to help jolly-up your desktop. Check it out, and let him know if there are any he missed.

One week closer to the end of 2007, and Island "The Wind Beneath My Wings" Dog is back with another round-up of notable skins from around the WinCustomize galleries uploaded in the last week or so.  This week we have a great selection ranging from a BootSkin to a new Dynamic Dream, with a few wallpapers and a WindowBlinds skin thrown in for good measure. Be sure to check out his picks for this week, and offer up a few of your own!

Here's the Day 43 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive . Subscriptions: 1,133 (56.65% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $3,849.24 (76.98% of total) This is it folks... we are down to the very last day of the drive!  When the calendar turns over to December 15th, we're done.  If you've been putting off buying a subscription, or picking up a great Master Skin, you better do it now before it's too late.  On Monday we'll have a final tally.  I ...

With just 12 Days until Christmas, it's time to get your PC into the holiday spirit.  Deck some halls, sing some carols, light up the tree and give your PC the holiday feel with two brand new Master Skins; White Christmas by adni18 and Winter Snow by Neil Banfield. White Christmas by adni18 A brand new holiday skin just in time for Christmas!  adni18 has put together a beautiful WindowBlinds skin with full support for Windows XP, Windows Vista and WindowBlinds 6. ...

  Here's the Day 42 Update for the WinCustomize Charity/Subscription Drive . Subscriptions: 1,102 (55.10% of goal) Charity Dollars Raised:  $3,644.24 (72.88% of total) Just two more days left!  The whole thing wraps up at the end of the day Friday, so be sure to get your subscription/skin purchase in now before time runs out!  I would love to hit at least the 75% mark on the Charity total by the end of the day Friday.  That means at least 105.76 needs to be r...

Every now and then it's interesting to go digging through the archives to see what was happening on the site a year or more ago.  So, what was happening on December 12th, 2006? Front Page: Stardock Holiday Gift Guide kicks off IBM Gets Into Second Life Skins: Three WinAmp Skins make up all the submissions from 12/12/06 3 skins?  Compare that to this year where with only half the day gone, I count 8, with more in...