| Website of the Week |
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ESC!Webs Site of the Week Week of August 6, 2000 MacDesktops Main Web Site: http://www.macdesktops.com Man! What is this? Two weeks in a row I'm reviewing sites with a "Macintosh" theme? How cold is it in Hell anyway? Well, in all honesty, I have not been converted over to a Macintosh only because of the investment I'd have to make in new software. Right now I've got everything I need in one box whose innards I know like the back of my hand, so converting would be a costly proposition from both a "ware" and a technical knowledge standpoint. However, it should be noted that I no longer completely shun the Mac line of computers ever since Jobs came back into the fold. His vision is what rescued the company from the brink of death and it will be his vision that keeps the company alive. I truly doubt that if anything happened to Steve Jobs that Apple computer would be able to continue on the way it is now. Having noted that, if someone asked me to recommend an inexpensive yet simple to operate computer, the iMac would definitely make that short list of recommends. Decorating your computer Regardless of platform, the average home computer user has a multitude of things they can do to pretty up their working environment. One of the simplest ways to do this -- with the most dramatic effect -- is to change your desktop wallpaper. Who wants to see boring old blue when you can have the majestic Grand Tetons mountain range instead? Or how about an Alien Planet revolving around its sun? Those and more can be found at MacDesktops.com. Obvious bias While the bias against the Microsoft OS's is evident, there are still plenty of really cool designs to choose from and they are all categorized nicely for the site visitor. I also like the multiple resolution choices you have when viewing a background picture. All of the standard Windows and Mac OS resolutions are supported so you really shouldn't have any trouble finding the right size for your screen. I really like some of the Mac designs, but it seems a little strange to display those on my Windows 2000 desktop. Know what I mean? I should note at this point that there is a category of pictures labeled "Nudes" and it does contain some PG13 imagery. Now, while I personally don't find this to be offensive -- in fact many of the images are quite artistic -- some people may. Consider yourself warned. How To There are very good tutorials covering how to set one of the pictures to your desktop. Unfortunately, the instructions are for the Mac user. Hey, no problem! Here's the quick and easy way to save the picture for your PC: 1) Locate the picture you want to use for your desktop background. 2) Take note of the resolutions offered for that picture and select the one that most closely fits your screen. (If you don't know your desktop resolution you can find it in the Display control panel under Settings.) 3) With the picture displayed on screen, right-click on the image and choose Save Picture As from the context menu. 4) Internet Explorer will default to JPG or GIF, but you should choose BMP under the Save As Type section. Then browse to where you want the image saved and click OK. 5) Now go back to your Windows Display control panel and go to the Background tab. Click Browse and locate the file you just saved. 6) Once selected, choose whether you want to Tile or Center the image. You may also have a choice for Stretch. In most cases you will want to Center or Stretch. Then click OK. Overall Great site for any computer user who wishes to spruce up their desktop. The best features are the multiple screen resolution shots and the nice and clean way all of the pictures are organized.
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