Windows 8’s new Start screen has been hotly debated since the
operating system launched in preview mode earlier this year.
Acknowledged by some as a bold step into the tablet market, and
criticized by many others who prefer the familiar desktop experience,
the new 'Modern UI Style' home is here to stay. But beyond not offering a
way to bypass this screen (not without the help of third-party
utilities), surprisingly Microsoft is also limiting your options when it
comes to customizing the Start screen's appearance. You can choose from
a couple color schemes and 10 stock background images, but that's about
it.
We've seen some workarounds before but they require firing up the HEX
editor to modify system files, and you are still limited to 256-color
background images in a handful of specific sizes. That’s more work than
most people are probably willing to bother with and as you can imagine
the results are not quite optimal.
Enter
Decor8.
Stardock’s latest Windows 8 customization app removes this limitation
by giving users the ability to pick any picture they want, regardless of
size or color range, as the Start screen background.
The program is pretty straightforward to use. Upon launching
Decor8,
you’ll be presented with a set of background images to choose from,
including the start screen and desktop background images that Windows 8
ships with and also a set of wallpapers that Stardock ships with the
app. You get the usual fill, fit, tile and center options available in
the classic desktop, and the program will automatically create a color
scheme to match each of your background images -- or you can manually
customize the color scheme if you’re so inclined.
You can add folders to the program to use your own photos and images
as background. There’s also the option to select multiple background
images by holding down the Ctrl key, and have them rotate on a set time
interval, as well as the option to fade background images against the
start screen color for a subtle effect.
Sadly,
Decor8
is not free. Stardock offers a free 30-day trial but otherwise asks a
modest $4.99 for the app. It’s a little unnerving to pay for such basic
functionality but if you wish to customize the Windows 8 Start screen
beyond what Microsoft offers this is the easiest-to-use tool we’ve
found. It does one thing and it does it well.
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