Customize Windows 7 desktop with Splinter

I have recently started using Windows 7 and I liked the basic interface very much. I think that with such a rich interface that is available in Windows 7, Microsoft should have made available some options to customize desktop as we want. I know that5 there are some objects like widgets and some small objects that we can place around on the screen, but I think that more of the interactive objects should have been made available too. I searched on the internet and found that Splinter is software which provides options to modify the desktop of Windows 7 in many ways possible. Can someone tell me more about this Splinter?

Splinter is good software for customization of the desktop of Windows 7. It provides interactive real time desktop customization for giving a desktop a good makeover. It is a good way to have new desktop screen from the usual still wallpapers. Using this customization software, you have to hot link various still images and then ‘splanimate’ them to create and animation which can be interactive or normal progressive animation. You can have basic circles rotating on your screen to interactive figures moving around on screen when clicked. You can have still images in this software and then move them in X-Y axis to create animations. You can move them, rotate them or scale them.

It is possible to create fancy themes and interactive desktop using splinter because of its collaboration with five of the desktop functionality present in Windows 7. The five functionalities tat help Splinter achieve desirable results are A File Launcher, an Icon Docking Station, a Stack Docklet, a Wallpaper Flipper, and a Visual Style Editor. You can create widgets that will provide information on your desktop or maybe you can create a short film to be played on your desktop. You can even create a simple slideshow of photos on your screen. Many people have posted videos of them having created small video games using Splinter that can be played on desktop. So basically, you can make you desktop to behave as you want and however you want. You can create a fancy desktop screen or even have simple desktop screen with changing text which consists of information.

The best thing about splinter is that it uses images of .png format. Here in this format, you can maintain the invisibility of the background and just keep the important object visible. Thus you can create many unimaginable things using splinter which will serve as the desktop background. You can create a project folder and modify the files within it as you want. For example, I have created an animated chess to be played on my desktop using Splinter. Now after few days of running it on my screen I got bored and thought of doing something new. So I replaced the chess units with characters of Star Wars. So now it seems like star wars characters fighting against each other. I just had to create new images and then replace the existing ones with the new ones. So once you create an animation, you can just modify it and reuse it.

I suggest you that if you don’t have high end hardware, you should not use Splinter. Though it uses simple png images, it needs a good amount of processing speed, RAM and graphic card to run smoothly. Once used and made an animated desktop application to run, it will keep on consuming large amount of processor and RAM. It alone needs around 512 MB of RAM to smoothly operate. So if you are planning to run it in a PC with 1 GB of RAM, then see to it that you won’t be running any other heavy RAM consuming app along with it. Also don’t run it on laptop as it will keep a process running even in idle state, this cause the battery to run down very fast.

Thanks so much for your praises of Splinter, you humble me. I am the developer.

@Metoac, your claim of Splinter taking 500MB of RAM to run is WAY off. It takes about 17MB only. All added RAM utilization comes from the uncompressed size of all images within the Splinterface(something that will not happen in the new build)

@Isaac1 and Lord - I am very impressed with your understanding of Splinter conceptually. I have been worried that it was not being seen "this" way, where "anything" can "happen". Please, if you would be so kind as to direct me to where I can SEE some of these other splinterface creations, I would be very grateful. I have yet, in two years, to see a SINGLE splinterface created by someone else.

If anyone ever needs help, please let me know and thanks again!!!

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Originally Posted by deema

Thanks so much for your praises of Splinter, you humble me. I am the developer.

@Metoac, your claim of Splinter taking 500MB of RAM to run is WAY off. It takes about 17MB only. All added RAM utilization comes from the uncompressed size of all images within the Splinterface(something that will not happen in the new build)

@Isaac1 and Lord - I am very impressed with your understanding of Splinter conceptually. I have been worried that it was not being seen "this" way, where "anything" can "happen". Please, if you would be so kind as to direct me to where I can SEE some of these other splinterface creations, I would be very grateful. I have yet, in two years, to see a SINGLE splinterface created by someone else.

If anyone ever needs help, please let me know and thanks again!!!

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So, have you released the new version or build of splinterface? Does it also works in Windows 8? Where can i download one and can you also tell me how to install or use it on my windows 7 desktop, by letting me know step by step tips or guides. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by ritesh singh

So, have you released the new version or build of splinterface? Does it also works in Windows 8? Where can i download one and can you also tell me how to install or use it on my windows 7 desktop, by letting me know step by step tips or guides. Thanks.

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Hi. There is Splinter the software / programming "language" and then there are the splinterfaces which are made and run with Splinter. I have made about 8 or so splinterfaces and some can be downloaded in my DA gallery at the link below, along with the Splinter builds and a demo video.

Splinter run on Windows 8, yes.

Also, you may see an image/text tutorial on dock creation on my blog at the following link.....

Okay, it says I need FIFTY posts before I can post URLs. That is way too many for me to get out right now so just search for Addition Edition Splinter / Splinter Installer on deviantART (my username is dipperdon) and see my splinterface gallery and installer packages and such and search Addition Edition Splinter on youtube and the Splinter installer and first lauch vid and the Splinter Feature, Functions, and Usages vid in order to get an initial understanding of it.

And spli-stuff blog on google and you should get all of the info that I was just trying to link you to.

If the lack of links makes it difficult to understand Splinter, please let me know. I will do everything in my power to help you through this thread

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Originally Posted by deema

If the lack of links makes it difficult to understand Splinter, please let me know. I will do everything in my power to help you through this thread

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Ok, I installed Splinter Desktop Customization software and normally the first day it was working great. But soon on the next day, when i was on my pc for a couple of hours or so, everything - from opening folder to closing windows media player used to take a minute or so. When trying to refresh the desktop, it also used to take 2 seconds or so. Eveything in short was lagging, so i uninstalled it. I think that, my 2gb of ram is not enough to work with this software?

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Originally Posted by Ritesh Singh

Ok, I installed Splinter Desktop Customization software and normally the first day it was working great. But soon on the next day, when i was on my pc for a couple of hours or so, everything - from opening folder to closing windows media player used to take a minute or so. When trying to refresh the desktop, it also used to take 2 seconds or so. Eveything in short was lagging, so i uninstalled it. I think that, my 2gb of ram is not enough to work with this software?

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Hi. 2GB is by far enough RAM to run SPLINTER, but not necessarily one of the splinterfaces 24 hours a day.

Were you running a splinterface that I created? I either close the splinterface or exit out of Splinter when I am going to bed or know that I am not going to be on the pc for many hours, if it is one of the LARGE splinterfaces...

And uninstalling it wouldn't do "anything' because even the installer version is just a portable executable. The installer package ONLY places folder paths and place the executable file. It doesn't "install" any program files anywhere on the computer.

Did you look into task manager and see what was being over utilized, RAM or CPU? And verified that it was SPLINTER.EXE doing it? Thanks

Waiting for moderator approval of last post...

I would add that as long as you were running the splinterface fine at first, it means that your pc can handle it fine. Next build will not have the RAM utilization being the entirety of the splicons within the splinterface, dropping RAM utilization by 90+% for VERY large splinterfaces like Eternity Edition, which uses over a gig and a half of uncompressed png images as the splicons, and Splinter must load them all into RAM at launch, which is why they are all so very fast to open. Next build will only load

A few things you can do right now, until the next build,are
One, delete some of the pages from the splinterface you are running.
Two, edit some of the pages by removing splicons that you don't want
Three, create your own splinterface that is smaller
Four, IF the splinterface is taking up a large portion of your RAM, just close Splinter(exit out) when you know that you are going to be using it for many hours. (It should never be taking up CPU if it is just sitting there. If this is occuring, restart Splinter)

Also, closing out of a splinterface does not release the RAM utilization, you must exit out of Splinter and then load it again (this will be fixed in next build, it should not be occuring)

Perhaps if you told me what your specs are and what the usage marks are when Splinter is running I could be more specific about how to counter it. "No matter" what it is, it will be "fixable", as 2GB is most certainly enough RAM, and RAM is the primary resource needed.

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Originally Posted by Ritesh Singh

Ok, I installed Splinter Desktop Customization software and normally the first day it was working great. But soon on the next day, when i was on my pc for a couple of hours or so, everything - from opening folder to closing windows media player used to take a minute or so. When trying to refresh the desktop, it also used to take 2 seconds or so. Eveything in short was lagging, so i uninstalled it. I think that, my 2gb of ram is not enough to work with this software?

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Still waitin on post approval.........

But I need to make this important point. I DESIGNED, ran, and recorded the splinterfaces of Addition Edition and Icon-ic Edition on a 6 year old laptop with only 2GB or RAM....

Basically, with Splinter, if the splinterface is able to run smoothly on a certain amount of RAM WHILE having a desktop screen recorder recording real-time HD video, then it is more or less a high enough amount of RAM that the splinterface being run can run smoothly in ANY environment that is running that same amount of RAM (provided the pc isnt already being taxed by other processes, too much, obviously)