A Minimalist’s Desktop

You may not believe me but this is my desktop every morning.
This is a screenshot of the ENTIRE desktop / screen, no cropping done on my part.

And it is including the windows taskbar area and sidebars (they’re hidden, more on that later)….

I kind of take Minimalism a bit farther than usual.

BF’s desktops are in the same style, but he has a Recycling Bin and the bottom task bar showing on his Macbook Pro.

I hate stuff on the screen and I’d rather just look at images like this one of Annie Leibowitz’s awesome rendition of Romeo & Juliet for Vogue. (The three images at the bottom are the other images from the photo shoot that I put in the desktop)

So this is how my desktop works as a minimalist’s desktop while being 150% functional.

(All you math geeks are going to be after me now! Ooooo!)

When I mouse over to the right, the Google Taskbar appears

It has my list of To Do (really, FB Posts to write that I haven’t been inspired to write yet) and my Scratch pad.

Google Search on the bottom, but I actually prefer Google Search in Firefox.

Both expand out into full sections so I can type and see the entire list. I like it being hidden, so that I don’t get a headache about what I HAVEN’T done yet.

When I double-click on my desktop, these “windows” I created appear

I did’t have much to begin with in terms of clutter on a desktop, but less is more, with me.

But I still don’t like anything on my desktop. When I double-click I can show or hide what’s on my desktop.

And yes, even if they aren’t in those little teal windows, ALL the icons on the desktop disappear with each double-click.

I used Stardock Corporation’s awesome (free) Fences program.

Download here.

Installation and set up/customization is so easy [insert stupid celebrity] could do it. I can’t believe I never tried to mod out my PC before.

Now I have the ENTIRE SCREEN for my webpages and Adobe Photoshop. It’s a dream. I love space.

And finally, la pièce de résistance!

When I mouse over the bottom task bar, no boring Windows task bar for me…!! I modded it so it looks like Mac OSX’s dock bar.

(It even magnifies to ANY SIZE you want when you roll over it, or it Swings when you mouse over it — whatever you choose)

I put the magnification on low and the scroll speed low because I have extreme motion sickness and even moving icons will make me irritated.

See? Totally cool right? I know. I love that I have the best of the Mac, in the PC.

I used Stardock Corporation’s (free) ObjectDock software (you can buy the Plus version but I’m OK with this one even though it’s missing a couple of cool things).

Download here.

Installation is also easier than stuffing your face with Oreos covered in whipped cream on a bad day.

Oh… and you can’t see it, but I also modded out my Windows Vista Logon to have another Annie Leibowitz Romeo & Juliet image in the background with all the users, before I enter my password to sign on to my user.

This is the image I used:
What about all of your other Windows items?

If I ever need my Windows-anythings, I just use the handy Windows key on my laptop to bring up the Start menu.

Or Alt-Tab to move between windows which is just as handy.

I love, love, LOVE my PC now. Everything is exactly the way I wanted it to be. And I downloaded the programs, and can set it back up any time I want.

I also back up my work frequently, so if I lose anything, I’m not sweatin’ it. (This is something you should be doing too)