Windows X's Live recommends:
Before and after making any changes to your system: Check Windows for registry errors.
TuneUp Utilities: Clean up your PC and improve your PCs performance - Try now for free!

Windows only: Rainmeter 1.0 not only includes the latest version of the very popular Enigma desktop, it has a theme manager and configuration tool—so you can setup a killer desktop without a line of code.

The latest release is packed with great features designed to take Rainmeter to the masses—instead of mucking around in text file configurations, the desktop customization beginner can start customizing their desktop immediately. The Enigma 2.5 desktop customization, complete with a quick-start configuration wizard, is included as the default theme to make the experience as user-friendly as possible.

The full list of new features includes:

• Theme manager that saves and loads Rainmeter themes.
• Configuration tool for the Enigma skin, to save all your personal settings.
• The Enigma theme automatically adjusts to your desktop resolution.
• Enigma reader skins now support RSS, Atom, Gmail inbox, and Twitter.
• Enigma music skin gets iTunes song information automatically; CD Art Display no longer required.
• Completely compatible with Windows 7 or Vista, and no more UAC issues.
• Text shadows, transformation matrices, and improved anti-aliasing.
• Plug-in support for iTunes, WiFi, and the recycle bin.
• An official forum for support, tips, and add-ons.

Once you've installed Rainmeter, the first dialog you'll come across is the Enigma quick start dialog, where you can drag widgets anywhere on your desktop you would like to place them, access help, themes, or change your personal settings.


The quick start dialog was introduced in the last release, but if you wanted to actually use the customization you had to edit text files to change any of the settings. This version includes a personal settings manager that can make all of the changes without requiring any code editing.


If the Enigma theme isn't your thing, you can still use the new Rainmeter Theme Manager to load or save a new theme, with a couple of other themes included.



With all of these excellent changes, the latest Rainmeter release is well worth a look for anybody interested in some serious desktop customization. Just make sure to share your desktop creations over in the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr pool.