Desktop Icons?

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
why the hell did this get moved, this has nothing to do with software apps or games, its totally off topic as its an opinion about how people like things to look
 

mundane

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2002
5,603
8
81
I have a handful of clusters of icons on the desktop, each under a different grouping - productivity, games, job search, Ruby on Rails, Java/Eclipse, Recipe shortcuts, Anti-virus/spyware tools, DVD tools, etc. I used to be very strict arrange icons in grid, but having visual groupings helps me sort through them quickly. As Conway Jim said, they make my life easier - why navigate through the start menu when I can instantly identify and execute a program?
 

theMan

Diamond Member
Mar 17, 2005
4,386
0
0
i used to fill the screen with them, because thats just where i put stuff. but then i realized that its annoying as hell to have to search for 5 minutes trying to find something. now i keep it down to 2 rows. i can never decide what to put there, so its just random stuff. i am just used to seeing i there.
 

raystorm

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2001
4,712
2
0
Recycle bin is the only icon I have onscreen. The start menu is good enough.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Originally posted by: theman
i used to fill the screen with them, because thats just where i put stuff. but then i realized that its annoying as hell to have to search for 5 minutes trying to find something. now i keep it down to 2 rows. i can never decide what to put there, so its just random stuff. i am just used to seeing i there.
It amazes me how many guys I know still havent figured that out yet. Microsoft created "My documents" for a reason. They even took it a step further and added "My pictures" and "My music".

Personally, I like having a clean desktop. I put the important stuff in my Quick Launch bar. Usually it stays next to my Start button. Sometimes I get crazy and dock it to the top or the side of my desktop.
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
14,696
2
0
I have zero things on my desktop, and no taskbar. Instead of a taskbar I have simply the icons of the programs running in the corner(I can turn it off anytime), and the system tray is in another corner(I can turn it off anytime). I have 2 seperate popup menus that I can access at anytime by simply shift clicking the bottom of the screen or right clicking the bottom of the screen(or desktop if nothing is running). If I want to be completely minimal I can turn of the taskbar and systray, and I can still access my tasks by middle clicking the bottom of the screen. Things in the systray are there because I rarely, if ever, access them so I can do without it just fine.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Originally posted by: shortylickens
Originally posted by: theman
i used to fill the screen with them, because thats just where i put stuff. but then i realized that its annoying as hell to have to search for 5 minutes trying to find something. now i keep it down to 2 rows. i can never decide what to put there, so its just random stuff. i am just used to seeing i there.
It amazes me how many guys I know still havent figured that out yet. Microsoft created "My documents" for a reason. They even took it a step further and added "My pictures" and "My music".
.

i dont have any docs, pics or music in the folders that MS made for them

 

BlueWeasel

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
15,944
475
126
Originally posted by: Malak
I have zero things on my desktop, and no taskbar. Instead of a taskbar I have simply the icons of the programs running in the corner(I can turn it off anytime), and the system tray is in another corner(I can turn it off anytime). I have 2 seperate popup menus that I can access at anytime by simply shift clicking the bottom of the screen or right clicking the bottom of the screen(or desktop if nothing is running). If I want to be completely minimal I can turn of the taskbar and systray, and I can still access my tasks by middle clicking the bottom of the screen. Things in the systray are there because I rarely, if ever, access them so I can do without it just fine.

You use Litestep, right? I'm a fan of minimal stuff, but never really liked the look of Litestep (at least from the screenshots I've seen). Mind posting a few screenshots of your desktop?
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
Originally posted by: Malak
I have zero things on my desktop, and no taskbar. Instead of a taskbar I have simply the icons of the programs running in the corner(I can turn it off anytime), and the system tray is in another corner(I can turn it off anytime). I have 2 seperate popup menus that I can access at anytime by simply shift clicking the bottom of the screen or right clicking the bottom of the screen(or desktop if nothing is running). If I want to be completely minimal I can turn of the taskbar and systray, and I can still access my tasks by middle clicking the bottom of the screen. Things in the systray are there because I rarely, if ever, access them so I can do without it just fine.

You use Litestep, right? I'm a fan of minimal stuff, but never really liked the look of Litestep (at least from the screenshots I've seen). Mind posting a few screenshots of your desktop?

i used to use it and had it configd similar to how he just described, however i did keep a taskbar at the top that had winamp integrated into it as well as the minimized programs and sys tray

 

JBT

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
12,094
1
81
I use some 10-15. When ever I get a few to many I delete/move them though.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
I've been meaning to clean up my desktop, since I have random stuff everywhere. Well it's not random, but there's a lot of stuff on there. I'd like to try out a nice toolbar or something if it integrated w/ foobar2k. Anyone have any suggestions where to start or which ones are good?
 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
Originally posted by: ItmPls
I prefer 2.

http://www.itmpls.com/desktop2.jpg
What kind of apps are you using for that? It looks like ObjectDock and Konfabulator, but I dunno what else. Looks nice though. Are those nice visual goodies all stable and stuff?

I tried Litestep many times MANY years ago. I'd imagine it would be way better now. It was fairly stable back in the day, and that was Win95/98 days anyway.

Anyway, kinda bored with just some minimal visual styles, and I got a lot of time these days, so would like to configure my desktop nice.


As for I, i Keep My Comp, Recycle (even tho I shift-del almost everything), and Network Places on the desktop, just cause everyone is so used to them there. I also have several random .txt on my desktop for stuff I have to do or waiting till I can move it to a documents directory or things to remember for the time being.
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
14,696
2
0
Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
Originally posted by: Malak
I have zero things on my desktop, and no taskbar. Instead of a taskbar I have simply the icons of the programs running in the corner(I can turn it off anytime), and the system tray is in another corner(I can turn it off anytime). I have 2 seperate popup menus that I can access at anytime by simply shift clicking the bottom of the screen or right clicking the bottom of the screen(or desktop if nothing is running). If I want to be completely minimal I can turn of the taskbar and systray, and I can still access my tasks by middle clicking the bottom of the screen. Things in the systray are there because I rarely, if ever, access them so I can do without it just fine.

You use Litestep, right? I'm a fan of minimal stuff, but never really liked the look of Litestep (at least from the screenshots I've seen). Mind posting a few screenshots of your desktop?

Linky

The menu is in black right now but it has multiple color schemes you can switch to pretty easily. In fact I don't think any other litestep theme has as many color schemes. They aren't even just colors, the whole menu graphics are different.