DesktopX can do some amazing things.  As a user, you can use it to completely transform how you use Windows.  As a developer you can use it as the ultimate “rapid development” environment.

Now it’s our job to show you how to get the most out of it.

DesktopX is a program that extends the desktop of Microsoft Windows.  It does so by giving it a new native ability – desktop objects. At a basic level, that’s all DesktopX really does.  It simply allows Windows to support objects natively on its desktop just as it already supports icons.

The magic comes in the fact that desktop objects can do just about anything.  They’re not limited like icons are.  Desktop objects can send and receive messages to each other and to the system.  They can also have multiple states associated with them.

Through scripting or plug-ins, objects can send and receive messages, change their state or the state of other objects, and read in data from the net or from your computer and act on it.

Your DesktopX objects can then be exported for other people to use.  It is through the exporting options that everything about DesktopX gets a little more “complicated” sounding.  Because ultimately, DesktopX is really just a program that puts objects on your desktop.

It’s when you’re exporting “Stuff” that you start talking about widgets and gadgets and themes and the like.  That’s because how people want to use these objects determines the best way to export them.  If someone wants to replace their desktop, then it makes sense to export your objects as a “.desktop” file.  If someone wants to use the objects like they would a program, then it makes sense to export it as a widget (.exe) (and if you have DesktopX Pro, you can export it as a gadget which is the same as a widget except that it can be used on anyone’s system).

General Overview

Stardock DesktopX is a program that is designed to allow users to put useful and interesting things on their Windows desktop. By default, Windows only supports putting little static pictures called "icons" that act at "short-cuts" to other things. DesktopX allows you to add desktop objects to your Windows desktop that can do almost anything one can imagine. These objects can be combined together to create mini programs or used to create an entirely new desktop.

When the content that one makes with DesktopX is exported, it can come in the form of a DesktopX object pack, a DesktopX widget, or as a .Desktop file (for replacing the desktop).

This Quick Start guide is designed to walk users through the basic elements of DesktopX.

DesktopX Welcome Menu

When you load DesktopX you are presented with this user interface.  If you are using the DesktopX Client, the last option "Create" will not appear.

The Widgets option allows user to load up DesktopX content that was exported as a mini-program called a widget.  Widgets live on your desktop but behave like small Windows programs.  They tend to take up less memory than a normal Windows program and do things like provide system information, grab data over the net, perform simple utility services.  But in truth, a widget can pretty much do whatever the person who makes it can imagine.  But think of widgets as "mini programs".  These are .EXE files.

The Load Objects option is designed to import a desktop object onto your existing Windows desktop.  Things exported as objects can be along the lines of "super icons" (also called "Zoomers"). Things that do more than your Windows icons but aren't really applications. A "Recycle bin" object that tells you how many items are in the recycle bin would be an example of a desktop object. Or an Internet Explorer "icon" that changes its size and shape when the mouse moves over it would be another.  More involved objects can include other objects and provide more information.  These are .DXPack files.

The Load Desktop option is designed for users who want to load an entirely new desktop created by someone else.  Your existing Windows desktop probably has the "Start bar" at the bottom of the screen and a number of icons on it.  People from around the world have their own ideas on how the Windows desktop should look and work and have used DesktopX to create them and then export them.  These are .Desktop files or .DXThemes files.

DesktopX includes a sampling of widgets, objects & desktops.  You can download all of these things (i.e. widgets, objects, desktops) from Wincustomize.com from a mostly free & large selection.

Using Widgets

When you choose load widgets, the DesktopX Widget Manager is run.  This is a simple program that resides in your system tray to make it easy for you to access and manage any running widgets.  You don't need it to load widgets, it just makes it convenient to organize what's running.

Widgets are designed to exist on your desktop but they have also been designed not to clutter it up.  You can assign hot-keys to your widgets that will make them show or hide.  They default to F9 (to activate a widget) and F10 (to toggle showing or hiding them).  Note that you may have to change these defaults as other programs may be reserving them (such as Multiplicity which reserves F10 for switching desktops).

Widgets also have a properties dialog.  Right click on any widget and you can access its properties dialog.

Typically, a widget has at least two tabs on its properties dialog: Appearance and General Settings.  The appearance tab lets you control how the widget looks.  The General Settings lets you control what hot keys will activate it.  Some widgets have a "Preferences" tab that is widget specific.

Using Objects

When you use to load an object on to your desktop, it will open up your objects directory.  Double click on the object you want and it'll add it to your desktop.  At that point, if you are not running DesktopX, it will load up the DesktopX run-time (client).  DesktopX client allows users to remove objects or set the target of the object.  But to do more than that, users need to go into the DesktopX development environment (by choosing the "Create" option).

Using Desktops

Using a desktop created by another person can be quite an experience.  Most people who make desktops create them for themselves that they happen to make available on sites such as www.wincustomize.com for others to use.

That means that they tend to be resolution specific (common resolutions being 1280x1024 for instance).  If you're not running at the resolution specified by the author of the desktop, you will probably run into problems.

Many desktops are resolution independent.  But when downloading desktops, just be sure you look to see if it specifies a particular resolution.  If the desktop hides your Start bar and desktop icons you can access your key options by right-clicking on the Windows desktop.

If you want DesktopX's development environment to be the default DesktopX mode
when you import objects or load desktops, choose "Create" to load up the DesktopX
 development environment and then go to the "Preferences" tab and click on
the "Make DesktopX Builder the default program for loading .dxpacks and .desktops".

Creating or modifying objects, widgets, and desktops

Creating or modifying things in DesktopX is quite easy. However, it goes beyond the scope of this Quick Start Guide. A few tips though for that:

• Holding down the CTRL key while left clicking on a given item will allow you to move it around (Ctrl-left click dragging).
• Holding the CTRL key is also the default key for interacting with ActiveX controls.
• You can also hold down the CTRL key to select multiple objects.
• If drag selecting multiple objects has stopped working, odds are some other program has hooked the mouse during that time. To enable DesktopX to re-hook the mouse, restart it by right clicking on the DesktopX icon in your system try and choosing "Restart DesktopX".