Customization on Windows is good with themes and all, but I was curious to see what programs people use to add to the Windows shell, instead of replacing or theming it.

I use Smart Taskbar, Windows Caffeinated and Windows Toolkit that all add icons to the system tray, in the same style, that do the following:

— Smart Taskbar: Clicking the icon will hide the taskbar automatically, and can be set to show the taskbar when an app is windowed, but hide when maximized.

— Windows Caffeinated: Keeps your PC from sleeping. You can use PowerAwake with MSPowerToys, but I don’t like the icon.

— Desktop Toolkit: A Swiss army knife of utilities. It’s hard to describe but, it has pinned apps, custom folder pins, timers, screen recording, color picker, recent files, etc. I like to pin custom PowerShell scripts here.

— Toggle Desktop Icons: This app lets you double-click the desktop to hide icons, and adds a system tray icon. It’s similar to HiddenMe on macOS.

I hope this leads to a great discussion and sharing of information!

  • Zeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    Everyone and their grandma is already using PowerToys so I’ll omit that.

    • Dev releases of Greenshot - screenshot util that’s way lighter than ShareX.
    • TaskbarX for Win10 - because I like to have my taskbar icons centered while keeping start on the left side of the screen.
    • QuickLook - press space to have OS X like file previews in Explorer.
    • Ear Trumpet - because the standard audio mixer in W10 is just abysmal.
    • Twinkle Tray - lets you controll brightness, volume and contrast on DDC/CI screens with sliders/tray. Great if you have multiple displays.
    • TranslucentTB - makes your taskbar translucent (or acrylic) and changes the opacity to 100% when you maximize a window. Very configurable.
    • N-E-N@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      EarTrumpet is an insta download on every PC I use.

      Twinkle Tray is insta download on my multi-montior setups