Hyperdesk HypersuitesCreated by The Skins FactoryHyperdesk.comFor years I’ve wanted to eliminate the look and feel of Windows, a task that has never been easy. Although Microsoft themselves have included the ability to create custom sound and colour schemes, exchangeable wallpapers, and even desktop icons, they’ve managed to do it in such a way that, regardless of what changes you make, your computer is still recognizable as a Windows machine at first glance. Microsoft has masterly engineered their software products so that their brand remains indelible, so much so that it displaces any sense of style. Nothing ruins the atmosphere of a cutting edge production studio then the pervasive blues of a windows desktop. My goal has been to take it to a point where my computer is so strange and different-looking that when visitors enter my studio they will stop and ask me “What kind of computer is that?”

The Skins Factory has launched a new service this week called Hyperdesk which offers transformative themes for Windows XP (Vista is in the works) called HyperSuites that are the first solution I’ve encountered that effectively replaces the look and feel of Windows without any hassle. Once you download their package and run it, the change is made instantly. A start-up window appears with a list of choices, you make your style selections, and the transformation is made in minutes. It’s that easy. Changing Windows back is merely the reverse of that process.

Unfortunately you can only choose from styles created by The Skins Factory themselves, which as it turns out isn’t such a bad thing as their first set of launch themes are extraordinary, polished, and better than most of the skins and themes I’ve seen in online communities devoted to customization. I tested out the DarkMatter trilogy which sell for $10 US each and were created by the artists who design the themes for Alienware’s computers. Combining black fields with alloy accents and a wonderfully cosmic sense of dark, mystical energy, the DarkMatter series effectively eliminated all of the Windows logos and imbued my desktop with futuristic accents including fonts that glow blue like LED lighting.

In addition to changing out the colour schemes, wallpaper, folder icons, and replacing Windows branding elements, the theme set also includes a skin to replace the look and feel of Windows Media Player itself. But by far the biggest accomplishment is the inclusion of a special media widget designed to offer control of your choice of either Windows Media Player or iTunes. It requires the download and installation of Yahoo’s Widget software, itself a free and painless program to use, and one that will also be transformed by Hyperdesk, but certainly worth using just for the DarkMatter widget.

Teleporting into existence on your desktop, the DarkMatter media widget is a fully animated music controller that swirls with a clockwork performance of cycling rings and arcs before settling down with blue accents that pulse with purpose. You can set the widget to act as a remote for playing music either through Windows Media Player or Apple’s iTunes. In either case, the widget allows you to access your playlists, select through full playback options, add synchronized, pulsating blue lights, and activate a visualization window.

In testing the HyperSuite theme I ran into one snag, the Darkmatter Widget failed to list my playlists. It played my music just fine, but couldn’t retrieve my playlists from Windows Media Player. After posting the issue on their forums, the Hyperdesk team was able to identify and solve the issue immediately. My Windows Media Player library files had become corrupt or disorganized over the years (all those upgrades between different WMP versions) and after showing me how to replace the appropriate files, everything worked like a snap.

I’ve tried other theme systems, ones that offer full customization that are attached to online communities filled with thousands of fan-made files, but have always found they play havoc with my computer, change important system files, or just fall apart as I upgrade programs and apply Windows updates. Many require third-party software that itself brings with it its own technical problems.

Hyperdesk has provided a solution that is professional in comparison. The themes are polished, easy to install, easy to keep updated, and because they are based on Microsoft’s own customization features, will survive as I add new programs and Windows software updates in the future. It’s the first theme system I feel comfortable recommending to novice computer users which is a good thing as they plan to release two new themes featuring the characters and designs from the Pixar movie Wall-E that will be difficult for any fan to resist.