DeskScapes allows you to apply static and animated wallpaper (called "Dreams") to
your Windows 7, Vista or XP desktop. Dreams use your
computers video card to display the animated wallpaper,
greatly reducing the CPU usage of your computer. When
you run an application full screen (maximized), DeskScapes
stops the dream to save on system resources (since
you cannot see the dream). When you minimize or downsize
the application window, DeskScapes resumes playing
the dream. Like static wallpaper, animated wallpaper
is behind any desktop icons you may have.
When running on laptop battery power, DeskScapes will will pause dreams & notify you to help conserve energy. DeskScapes includes five dreams, which consist of three dynamic (i.e. Desktop Earth, Water Dream. Winter Snow), one video
based (i.e. Planktonic), and one hybrid (i.e. Vintage Dream). DeskScapes also comes with Desktop Slideshow which cycles through selected wallpaper. Apply any one of up to 25 different effects to alter a dream. Then use DeskScapes to head over to the WinCustomize web
site where you can download hundreds of additional dreams.
All of the features of the 30 Day Free Trial, without expiring.
Features of DeskScapes (30 Day Free Trial)
- Includes the New Hybrid Dream!
- Apply one of the up to 25 New Effects!
- Change your desktop with one of the five dreams included with DeskScapes.
- New Desktop Slideshow dynamic dream displays static wallpaper with optional effects.
- Adjust quality vs. performance setting for dynamic dreams. (Windows 7 & Vista
only.)
- Choose if you want dreams to run will on laptop battery power.
- Download & apply hundreds of free dreams from WinCustomize.com.
- Purchase and display Master Skin dreams from WinCustomize.com.
- Create your own dreams with the included DreamMaker & NWABuild utilities.
- Windows XP (32-bit) with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista (32-bit or
64-bit) in versions (Home, Basic, Premium, Ultimate, Business, Enterprise) and Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit).
- Minimum Requirements: Windows Vista users must have support for DirectX
9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory, Pixel Shader
2.0 and 32-bit color. The video card must have a Windows Experience
Index Graphics score of 2.0 or better.
- Minimum Requirements: Windows XP users must have a card supporting
DirectX 9, 128 MB of graphics memory, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32-bit
color. In addition only machines running a PCIe (PCI Express) or AGP
8x video card are recommended. AGP 4x/2x will not be supported.
- Attention XP Users!
Do not apply a dream on Windows XP if your machine
has an ATI AGP graphics card until you have updated
your Catalyst drivers to at least version 8.12.
The drivers available at the time of Deskscapes
release were not specifically tuned for optimal
results. ATI tested and updated their driver to
address this issue. You can find the latest catalyst driver here: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx
- Please refer to the FAQ for more information on video codecs, etc.
at: http://www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes/faq.asp
- Minimum screen resolution: 1024 width and 768 height.
Check WinCustomize.com for
a large selection of Master Skins (for purchase) and
hundreds of free dreams.
Dreams are stored (by default) on your computer with
a ".dream" (without
quotes)
file extension / type and in the folder:
Windows
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\Stardock\Dreams
Windows Vista: C:\user-data\<user login>\Dreams
Windows 7: C:\Users\<user login>\My Documents\Stardock\Dreams
Note: C: is the default drive, and <user name> is the name you logged on as and the
name of the folder where your documents are stored under.
File Extensions / Types
DeskScapes:
- .dream - are animated wallpapers (i.e. video-based, dynamic, hybrid).
- .JPG / .BMP - static wallpaper.
- .MPG / WMV - video files.
DreamMaker:
- Dynamic Dreams - consist on Dynamic Link Libraries (.DLL).
- Hybrid Dreams - consists of a .HYBRID, .PNG, .JPG or .NWA files.
NWA files can be created in the included NWABuild.exe utility (located in the DeskScapes folder) or Stardock's SkinStudio 6 (or higher).
- Video Dreams - consist of .MPEG, .MPG, .WMV or .AVI.
Please contact Stardock Support at:
www.stardock.com/support. On
that web page you will find helpful FAQ's and
other troubleshooting information. If
you are unable to resolve your issue, please
use the “Technical Support” link to "Submit a Ticket" to Support. Please include as much information about your
computer as possible (i.e. version of Windows (i.e. XP 32-bit, Vista 64-bit Business, Windows 7 32-bit Home Premium), type of computer (i.e. brand, model, speed, RAM, video card),
version of DeskScapes, ...). On the "About DeskScapes" tab, please click "Copy to clipboard" and paste into the ticket. This
information will allow Support to diagnose your issue
much quicker and allow for a faster response.
Resources
For additional information on DeskScapes, please refer
to these articles on WinCustomize:
Object Desktop: The road to DeskScapes 3 by Frogboy (October 7, 2009) - Brad (CEO/Founder of Stardock) explains what he wanted to see in this major upgrade.
DeskScapes 3 Effects Feature by Island Dog (September 30, 2009) - includes a video of the new effects feature.
DeskScapes 3 New User Interface by Island Dog (September 1, 2009) - an introduction to DeskScapes 3.
Tools
of the Dream Trade by Master
Baron, (February 6, 2008) - an
excellent article describing common tools he uses
to create Dreams. Master Baron is widely known for
creating dreams, including highly rated "Master Skins"
on WinCustomize and elsewhere.
How
to Create Dreams (Links) by CarGuy1,
(March 27, 2008) - includes over a dozen links to
articles and resources related to DeskScapes Dreams.
WinCustomize.com is
a great resource for not only getting a lot of great
dreams,
but also provides articles, forums, gallery, store
and more. This is a great site run by Stardock
with community involvement to bring together the best
in skinning (graphics) for Windows. The site
is free to use.
You can upload
a Dream file you created to share on WinCustomize. This
may include original material you created.
Direct link to WinCustomize
message Forums (http://forums.wincustomize.com/)
The version of this manual is 2.0 (10-28-09) and is based on DeskScapes
(version 3.00). This manual was written
and is maintained by Jim Kennedy (TheProf).
Please email comments or corrections regarding
this documentation to:
documentation@stardock.com.
