Just as you have one heart, and one brain, your Windows installation comes with but one desktop. Sure, you can change the look of this digital meeting space by applying new wallpapers, or adding sidebars and widgets, or letting Windows 7 do all that automatic stuff that it does every ten minutes or so. But...
that's not really changing the desktop per se--at the end of the day, you're still blessed (or cursed) with the same ol' functionality that's been a staple of the Windows platform since its inception. That's about to change.
There are quite a number of tools out there for stretching the core functionality of your desktop in new directions. Some of these third-party replacements keep your standard setup and add a unique extension--like a 360-degree wallpaper that you can scroll through with mouse gestures. Fun stuff, huh? Other tools are a bit more comprehensive in their objectives, allowing for a total retrofit of very core of your desktop's operation. In these cases, gone are the typical organizational structures, options, and extensions you can pack into a Windows desktop--it's all brand-new and editable in ways you might have never previously thought were possible.
The best way to really get a feel for what's out there is to see it in action. So we're going to take a look at three unique desktop enhancement tools--one 3D, one shell replacement, and one widget-based service--and see just how they stack up versus the usability of the trusty Windows setup we've all come to know and love (or hate.)
BumpTop
We'll start our trip down desktop-replacement name with one of the bigger transformations you can make. The desktop is, after all, a two-dimensional experience. Whatever you do is confined to a flat surface on your screen--one single plane for creating shortcuts, moving files, or what-have-you. BumpTop breaks the fourth wall of the desktop and invites you into a new experience that's completely three-dimensional.
Don't break out the goofy glasses just yet. The effect is obviously a three-dimensional cube rendered on your two-dimensional monitor. Still, it's a unique replacement to the traditional Windows desktop that interfaces perfectly with its predecessor: any file commands you make in one will be reflected on the other, and quitting out of BumpTop (if the extra dimension is just too much to handle) returns you to your normal Windows environment without issue.
PROS:
Reactivity: Like a team of hockey players, your icons will go sailing around the desktop at the slightest touch or toss from your mouse. They'll slam into other icons and jostle them around, and bounce up against the sides of BumpTop's cubic desktop as if they missed a body check. It's a simple tweak, but it does much to liven up your desktop compared to Windows' default setup. Gestures: Provided your input device supports it (a standard mouse does not), BumpTop reacts to gesture-based controls like a tweaked-out version of Apple's iPhone (or similar touch-friendly device). Pinch and pull your BumpTop elements to control their size, shove icons out of the way with the side of your finger, and flick through stacked icons as if you were flipping pages on a moleskin notebook, amongst other activities.
New Organization: Not only do you have access to Windows' default right-click menus with a simple ctrl+click in Bumptop, but you can also use the program's enhanced organizational tools--like lasso-selection, icon piles, and folderizing features--to bring even more control and clarity to your desktop use.
Social Support: Built-in canvases not only give you a rotating display for your system's pictures (or online picture feeds), but you can also integrate Facebook, Twitter, and email updates directly into the walls of your 3D display. Who needs RSS when you have dynamic picture frames?
CONS:
Widgets: It's not that BumpTop doesn't support third-party widgets. Rather, there's no direct online community--accessible through Bumptop itself--for building more functionality into your 3D display. You can always hunt around on the Internet to find more widgets and themes... but why should you? Lasso Selection: I get how to select files and icons on the main display. However, to use the integrated Lasso tool to select elements on your desktop's vertical walls, you... well. You can't do anything--lasso only works with elements on your flat, traditional desktop within BumpTop.
Not Really 3D: I get it. BumpTop creates 3D walls for you to pin various desktop elements on. But it's not as if the program is making Doom-style sprites to simulate the illusion of depth. No matter how much you shift the camera around, the icons on the "desktop" portion of your Bumptop Cube will always appear as flat as Stanley--not a very convincing 3D experience.
Pesky Integration: BumpTop does its best to switch over to Windows Explorer for elements it just can't handle--like dealing with a large number of files in a List view-type format. That said, not only do typical Windows shortcuts (Windows key+e) not work in Bumptop, but it just feels a little silly to be constantly switching between Windows Explorer for some uses and BumpTop for others. That's not much of a desktop replacement, as it were--why can't BumpTop just slap some three-dimensional effects on a giant list view?
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