How about, and this may be a shot in the dark but.. most people just dont know they can ?

Just about everyone I have ever met that I have sent a link over a messenger or that i have showed in person just did not know about it. It's not like XP advertised it..nor will Vista for that matter..I doubt that anyone of you can show me a non-customization site anywhere that has an article or advertisement about it.

Maybe it's time to get the word out.?

Not everyone is the same.  Decoration and individuality/expression/artistic flare/creativity is not inherent to everyone, certainly not in equal amounts.

Some are certainly more creative/expressive individually than others.

For over 30 years now I have been 'creative' on a personalized sense for people wanting a house design that suits them directly, and not the lowest common denominator [Joe Average].  Most people, however seem to be happy with stock design xyz [as long as it has a door hung reverse so they feel 'special'].

Some [of us] can be somewhat extreme....getting into all sorts of 'customizing'.  Eg. ...my actual skin is 'modded' [tattoos]-though my wife's is more-so...I designed [and built] my own bicycle [individualism]...my house [reno] is my own design [naturally] ... I built my own computer... and modded its case [a little].....and its GUI is skinned [obviously].  Artwork on my walls is either mine or my sister's...  The list goes on....

 

It took me a week just to customize my cell phone and another week to customize my MP3 player, now you want me to try customizing my computer?   

Yes plz

very nice. go sox!

Last year Entrepreneur magazine (or StartUps) listed "pimping" computers as one of the hottest home based businesses to get into. That article peaked my interest because of my modding interests. I'm sure the magazine is kicking around somewhere as I'm a terminal pack rat.

I really would like to know if anyone is making a go of this within their own/local communities?

This *IS* my community.  What the hell are you talking about?   

you've been on the payroll for less than a week and already the god complex!

PS. You know very well what I meant!

How would you suggest folks people give it a "go" I'm interested in your ideas.

HEY! I still use Luna XP! Since I seem to be the only one here who does I guess I should speak up. Customizing is a hobby, and like all hobbies some people really love it and some people don't care much for it. Like all hobbies it is largely unecessary except for the enjoyment of the hobbyist. It's as simple as that. I suppose Mozart or Shakespeare wouldn't have much use for skinning/customizing/DXing either but I wouldn't call them unimaginative. People have different ways of expressing their imagination and creativity. It's the same with DesktopX. Lots of people see it as unecessary but I really enjoy it.

Skinning is all about getting your kicks. I don't get that big a kick out of changing the look of my UI every so often. That's why I prefer DX to WB. Function over fashion. Changing the look of my UI is purely for aesthetic reasons as it does not really make my GUI/OS any more productive. I know Luna is old and tired but I'm not the flavor-of-the-week type. I'd like to find a really nice skin that is not distrcating, flashy, obtrusive, loud etc. It lasts longer which allows for usability, reliability, and familiarity which ultimately makes my cpu feel like MY cpu; a place where all MY stuff is, MY work is done, and MY creativity turns to productivity. It allows me to focus on my work (or my prefered hobbies). Until I do find a UI that fits that bill I'll stick with Luna, because like I said I don't like changing the look every other day.

Right now, Windows Vista is looking pretty good. I haven't upgraded yet but it packages the sleek new look with great features that should make it more functional and productive. You know, that's also why I prefer DX themes to WBs. It packages both design and function, too.

Well, there's 2 cents from this unimaginative Luna-tic.

You are not alone, so do I!

In fact, I also like the default Vista theme. As soon as the graphics drivers get up to speed, it should be a treat. At least XP (whether Luna or skinned) is quite stable with the current drivers from either nVidia or AMD/ATI.

Ideas I have lot's of but, maybe that's for another thread?

A few (non-financial) ideas off of the top of my head:
1. Work with local computer stores. There's a chain here called MDG that could add some value to their computer.
2. Offer some local course on customizing your computer.
3. If you're media-genic than maybe try to write an article for the local paper about how to upgrade your computer without upgrading the OS.
4. Hitch your tail to the Vista wagon. Many people aren't/won't be buying this in the immediate future but, if they know you're the "goto guy" for accomplishing some nice changes with the current OS.

Not neccesarily non financial..but good ideas, I actually cut a deal to make a PC chain official skin for a company here in Florida called PC Depot, Unfortunately they wents t*ts up about a month later so that fell through. It is however an idea who's time may have still to come.

These are all good suggestions to get the word out though.   

@ cplair, you certainly have the most encouraging attitude for customizing I have seen on WC , good for you !  

Please don't take this like an offense, but my english sucks...please translate   

Si las personas no customizan sus equipos, es por que no saben que esto se puede hacer....y en lo personal pienso que si Stardock utilizara herramientas de publicidad mas fuertes, sin duda creceria el porcentaje de personas que utilicen la customizacion, crecerian los skinners, y definitivamente stardock multiplicaria sus ventas a los cielos.

ok... If the people do not customizan their equipment, she is so that they do not know that this can be done....y in the personnel I think that if Stardock used strong tools of publicity but, without a doubt creceria the percentage of people that use customizacion, they crecerian skinners, and stardock definitively multiplicaria its sales to skies.

LOL...sorta makes sense. Was gonna get Chet to translate it but he had already left.

Stardock does do quite a bit of advertising. If you're talking about a more traditional media campaign that costs a substantial amount of money. In my last position for a regional (ie. Tri-city) company it was nothing to spend five figures and some months six without any TV advertising.

Vista has provided a great advertising opportunity but, how to leverage or tap further into the existing Windows 2000/XP market is the question? Personally I'd love to see some sort of strategic partnership with Dell amongst other large computer manufacturers.

Where?

When I launch my new site I plan on aggressively spreading the word not only to the average Joe but to corporate entities and via search engine optimization also. I personally think there is a HUGE market for customization that the probervbial tip of the iceberg has barely surfaced upon. There are ways of advertising that may not be as effective but dont cost 5 figures either. Yes Vista will create some new interest and its good that all of us in the biz can benefit from that but honestly, the Vista ad campaign would be well advised to make more of customization features that are now available than it currently does.

I love being a skinner but as of late school has been in the works so I have not had time to do anything. i have some great ideas I just neeed the time to work on them. I love this hobby and I wish I had your guys AIM or any Instant messanger names so that I may talk and learn to you guys about skinning. I am the only one around who does it.

Lonely in CT

Turn off your ad blocker & look at Wincustomize!

Stardock surface's on a number of occasions when I've done various customization & modding searches on Google.

All of your ideas sound well grounded but, SEO & ad placement amongst other net tools is relative to who your target market is. For the average joe user this may work fine but, I'm not sure how effective it would be in reaching actually corporate decision makers(CIO,CTO, etc).

In all my years of making purchasing decisions I never bought or developed a relationship with anyone who contacted me directly through the internet or general net-vertisements. Through integrated marketplaces yes, but I squeezed the heck out of everyone to the point that it would be hard to see if they made much profit at all. The lack of professionalism or pure laziness plus the waste of my time still baffles me.

Okay, the point I'm trying to make is from a corporate perspective. You've got to know your target market & customer extremely well. What's the value proposition? How can you save them time and/or make them more money? In a simplistic way you're selling corporate customers on selling themselves. I think this is true whether we're talking about fully skinned desktops, interfaces or branded widgets/gadgets.

I think that skinning has an artistic flair about it. I know I find it gradifying to change my desktop, like decorating your PC, like a piece of canvas. I also enjoy decorating my home and garden. I built 4 Beauty Salons over the last 20 years from the ground up. I enjoy the building and have, and find artistic value in making things pop. Maybe that is why I like making people look good too.

But there are some people who are just not interested in making things look different or pretty or artistic, or weird. They are just not interested. They would rather spend their time doing other things. Even watching TV. Most of my family think I am crazy for changing my computer look. But I don't understand some of the things they are interested in. I guess that what it is all about.

And I have met a lot of people who are just plain afraid of the computer. They email and pay bills and that's it.

Happy Skinning.

I didnt mean ON WC   

Hey, if you have MSN, add me at the addy on my page would ya

Thankx vStyler   

I'll be quick ...

IMO
- because that's not the most important thing on computers
- because installing softwares for customizing afraid
- because softwares are more and more difficult to understand (specially if not in the potentialy user language)
- because softwares are not free
- because more and more skins are not free
- because the 5 points upon are plenty enough to keep the default look of OS

  

Actually my first experience was when I was looking at my media player and saw something about how it could be customized. There where links in it to Stardock and Wincustomize. Thus I got into it and found customization was possible for my computer. That and this was at work and they thought I was crazy till they saw what I was doing. "Esp. my bosses!" Next we found that we needed it to do things with programs we had problems with in the system for different work stations. Such as "Crystal reports in Excel". But this was a completely different story compared to just windowblinds and icon packager and so forth.
We found most people did not want it to work so they would be able to do their job better and a lot did. Such as the loss prevention group of employees wanted it greatly on their laptops to help so they could find things better in the system. But the accoutants could careless for it meant more work for them being able to use the system more. But we did things to change the gui in crystal reports so it worked best for everyone in the system to give them what we thought was best. Just so they could get more done. Today with Vista, it is the sameway... I still have people who come to my office and say " look at this on my laptop and tell me what you think~!!?"
That and the forever ending call about I can't find something in the system because my screen is messed up.
In short skinning is there for everyone. Those that need it will find it and use it. Those that don't? Could really careless and really don't like using a computer at all.It's kind of like life... some got a life - others don't and really don't care much anyway.
But with the release of Vista and people see what a nice skin can be with The Windows Aero style. They are now being changed a lot. I have tons of people ask me daily " Can you change things in Vista to make this look better?" I tell em well you bet I can! Lets give it a try and see what we can do with this thing. So the story goes on and on.
But in truth - things are changing and have changed a lot with Vista being released. before it was this is how it is and it's gona stay this way. My bosses would never even use a screen saver or for that matter even let work stations have one. But now we have it all and it does make things better for everyone. When people like what they have to work with. They do a better job and it would seem they do more and do more things faster too. Result more production!!!
Customizing is strongly encouraged where I work at! Due to the fact that I worked hard at making my bosses see what it can do for them and the employees. Also a lot of those employees are now into getting what they truely want on their work stations.
It means a lot more work for me getting them into the areas where they can do these things. But I'm there for that reason. To make the production enviroment happen.
I encourage skinning and hope others will also. The world can be so much better with it made to art.
Good luck all and happy skinning !!

SGT