14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 isn’t really the most eye-candy operating system on the planet, but it still can be further tweaked with the help of some third-party apps in order to make its interface a bit more appealing.
This is what a DeviantArt user has tried recently and the result, which you can see in the photo above, is quite impressive.
Using a third-party desktop wallpaper, a different icon pack called Windows 8.1 Metro and several Rainmeter skins, the concept changes the GUI of Microsoft’s modern operating system almost completely, even though some further customization could still be made.
The Start button and the System Tray area are unchanged, but otherwise, you get a completely new set of icons on the taskbar, as well as a gigantic clock on the desktop, along with power controls, RAM and CPU usage information, Recycle Bin details, and available storage space on the local drive.
Tweaking Windows 8 is not that hard, although using Rainmeter isn’t the kind of thing that comes in handy to beginners. The application does come with some pre-installed skins and support for thousands of third-parties available for download, but you can find more information in our Rainmeter review right here.
Of course, a lot can be done with some intensive work and it’s quite a good thing that Windows 8 can be easily customized by users, especially because some aren’t really impressed with the new flat visual style implemented by Microsoft in this modern platform.
Aero is definitely missed and even though there still are some skins and third-party tools that could bring it back in Windows 8, Microsoft seems to be much more focused on the flat design that got to see daylight together with Windows 8.
In fact, Windows 8’s flat look has started a completely new trend on the market, with plenty of other large companies going for a similar design style, including Apple for iOS 7 and security vendors such as AVG for its new anti-virus application.
Just as expected, Microsoft seems keen to retain the flat look of the operating system in future Windows updates and although plenty of users have asked the company to bring back the Aero effects in Windows 9, we’re pretty sure that’s not going to happen. Instead, the software giant could improve the flat look even more and bring some slight changes here and there to make it easier for users to work on their computers.