IronManMark20 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 In my line of simple windows customization apps, I would like to introduce DeskHider, a program that hides your desktop icons. I got the idea as I was thinking about wallpapers. I really like the wallpapers I choose, and I choose them to admire them. But I can't, because I cover my screen with files and other things. So I created this. It hangs out in your tray and you can show/hide the icons. Note that this really only works on Windows 8 due to a naming incompatibility in Windows 7. Anyway, I will get it to work with Win10 when win10 goes RTM. You also have the option of command line control. You can use it like so: DeskHider.exe 50 which sets it to 50% transparency. The file is too big to upload here (it is 5mb btw), so find it on my Github. Here is the direct download link. Simple and easy to use! Let me know what you think. (Or report bugs if there are any). Gladiatorus 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryData Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 In my line of simple windows customization apps, I would like to introduce DeskHider, a program that hides your desktop icons. I got the idea as I was thinking about wallpapers. I really like the wallpapers I choose, and I choose them to admire them. But I can't, because I cover my screen with files and other things. So I created this. It hangs out in your tray and you can show/hide the icons. Note that this really only works on Windows 8 due to a naming incompatibility in Windows 7. Anyway, I will get it to work with Win10 when win10 goes RTM. You also have the option of command line control. You can use it like so: DeskHider.exe 50 which sets it to 50% transparency. The file is too big to upload here (it is 5mb btw), so find it on my Github. Here is the direct download link. Simple and easy to use! Let me know what you think. (Or report bugs if there are any). Nice. But if you set it to 100%, what happens? I suggest creating hotkeys that would bring it back from being 100%. I can't test it yet, because I'm at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Fences does this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indospot Veteran Posted June 20, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 20, 2015 Fences does this Yeah, it also has that feature that charges you money. Mando and scorpian007 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Yeah, it also has that feature that charges you money. And? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Depicus Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Fences does this And? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Studio384 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Because Right click > Hide icons is too mainstream? FiB3R, Shiranui, timster and 5 others 8 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indospot Veteran Posted June 20, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 20, 2015 And? And this is free. We're not all rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 And this is free. We're not all rich. it's just a shade less than $10. For that you get support and a product that has been available for about 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link6155 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 it's just a shade less than $10. For that you get support and a product that has been available for about 3 years. Or just get this which is free. Fences' purpose is mainly to organize your desktop. It wouldn't be worth paying if you only wanted to hide/dim your icons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Or just get this which is free. Awesome, what's the support chain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZakO Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Awesome, what's the support chain? Considering the author of the application says "report any bugs" to him, presumably, the support chain is... contact him and report any bugs. Alternatively, since it's open source, if you find a bug fix it yourself and send a pull request. Failing that, just uninstall it and guess what, you've lost nothing apart from a few minutes of your time because it's free. Do you never use any free/open source software if there's a commercial alternative ? Most people are the other way around. Depicus, goretsky, exotoxic and 4 others 7 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunknMunky Veteran Posted June 21, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 21, 2015 Topic cleaned Quite frankly it's lucky to stay open, since 2/3rds of it are nothing but bitching. Back on topic. Gladiatorus 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted June 21, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted June 21, 2015 Hello, Are any screenshots available of DeskHider in action? Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronManMark20 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 First off, sorry for not replying sooner. I am having problems setting things up so I will get email notifications with replies to my posts. Anyway... @BinaryData I originally was going to do hotkeys, but they are a little more difficult to implement. I could do it in the next release if you want. So, to open up to the community at large, any preferences for what it would be? Ctrl+Alt+something most likely. I am going to ignore the debate about DeskHider vs Fences. I think free software (not in the monetary meaning) stands up by itself. That is all I will say, I leave it up to each person to decide what software they prefer. As to support, I will support this to the best of my ability. This means I will try to fix bugs if you send them to me. I might not fix them in a week, but it will happen, if possible. Finally, @Aryeh Goretsky, I am not entirely sure why you want screenshots (It will just be my desktop at various alpha levels), but since you asked: This is my normal desktop link Here it is hidden: link And finally, a 50% transparent view: link The icon for DeskHider is the small blue rectangle (seen in the second photo). You can control it from the taskbar (seen in the first image). Or if you enter something from the command line, you can customize it more (3rd photo). I will start checking Neowin every day (at least), so if you have questions, I will try to respond in 1-2 days. PS> Thanks Andrew for cleaning up the thread, it was getting a little too far off topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Seems pretty handy. I'll probably check it out when Windows 10 compatibility is confirmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronManMark20 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 @Enron, I will be installing the preview in a VM soon, so I should be able to test it in the next week or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronManMark20 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 Update: I am installing Win10 right now. I hope to get the program working by the end of the day tomorrow. Update2: I just tested, and this doesn't work with Win10 right now. I will work on getting it to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obi-Wan Kenobi Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Might have to give this a shot! Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajua Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Making the desktop icons transparent could be handy. I too will give this a try. Those complaining about more features or support in paid apps, what's the point? This is free, don't use it you don't want/like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronManMark20 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 Update: Moving this to Windows 10 is actually harder than it seemed at first. I will have to wait for a build greater than 10140 to be shipped to the fast ring before building binaries. I think I might have found a bug in an api, which means that that will have to be fixed too. I will update as more info comes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted June 23, 2015 Supervisor Share Posted June 23, 2015 Hello, Oh, I'm always just interested in sample output. In case of a utility which interacts with graphics on the desktop, I was curious as to what it looked like ("here are my desktop icons at 75%, 50%, 25%, normal, etc."). Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) Because Right click > Hide icons is too mainstream? Which isn't present on my Windows 7 machine. Found the option! And that brings me to a point... @OP : You've said it doesn't work on Win7 due to a naming restriction... what? Any chance you can make it work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronManMark20 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 You've said it doesn't work on Win7 due to a naming restriction... what? Yeah, in my studies, the name of the desktop changes and it is almost impossible to tell what it will be. I don't have a Win7 box, so doing more testing will be hard. I'll see what I can do. Raa 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronManMark20 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 I am afraid I come with bad news for those hoping to run this on Windows 10. Having tested this on Windows 10, MS put restrictions on doing anything with the Desktop, so even with admin rights, I cannot change anything about the Desktop. I hope this changes by RTM or sooner, but I see no way of this happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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