When appearances are skin deep
Recently, a “before and after” story came across my desktop, where certain celebrities were shown in photos that were either very flattering, or not at all. Cherrypicking, certainly. Eyeopening… well, the cosmetics industry has been in on the secret for ages. Just ask Cleopatra. But how about software?
Windows Vista is due any day now, at least at the corporate level. I can’t speak for our corporate timeline, but at home there is no pressure to upgrade. However, looks are part of the game, and I installed a “skin” this morning that allows my machine to masquerade. No comments from the rest of the office, yet, but that’s only because they aren’t paying close attention.
My Windows XP enviroment looks shiny and new. Like a virgin, as Madonna would say. The toolbars, the semi-transparent screens when in Explorer, the various menus. Heck, even the system fonts. Think of this as a paintjob for an old Chevy truck. Remember, I’ve still got those old squeaky brakes, and the tailgate is dinged, but boy does my new red truck look good in the neighbourhood.
For the curious, Google “Vista transformation Pack 6”. According to the programmer, you can uninstall the skin should you decide that you don’t like the effect (much like those cleaning pads found at the pharmacy). And, the price is much better than the Vista upgrade schedule recently leaked at Amazon. Face it, you can’t afford a new truck this year, anyhow.
