My computer sure has come a long way.

This is what my desktop looked like somewhere around April 13, 2000. I imagine it was either Windows 98 or Windows ME I was using at the time.

Note the Netscape icons - ah, the heady days of Netscape Communicator version 4!

Then I upgraded to Windows 2000 - what a difference! And just look at all the icons I had in my system tray (sorry, the taskbar notification area).

Astute readers will notice I have a fondness for WinAmp that runs a long way back.

And here we are today. The number of icons has gone down a lot, but that’s because I’ve learned the beauty of minimalism. And the option to “hide notification icons.”

There are a few more icons in my quick-launch area, but all in all not much has changed. I still use WinAmp (it’s semi-transparent at the top of the screen) and I still pretty much work the same way - often with the same programs - and my desktop reflects that. (Except now my desktop background changes every 15 minutes thanks to John’s Background Switcher. And of course I now use Firefox and Thunderbird instead of Netscape Communicator.)

I wish I had pictures from before this, but graphics (and screen captures) were kind of hard back then. Still, it’s interesting to see how far I’ve come.

Yes, it’s the long-awaited (you have been waiting, haven’t you?) return of Desktop Madness. You didn’t really think I’d given up on it, did you?

To answer the first obvious question: no, I am not running Windows Vista. I just happened to be on that picture when I took this screen shot.

To answer the second obvious question: yes, I am running Windows XP - Media Center Edition, to be exact - and I have not turned off the visual effects. In fact, I rather like them now. I guess they’ve grown on me. Although it would be more accurate to say that I like the visual style in MCE (that’s Media Center Edition) much more than the stock ones included in XP Home and Pro. And since my computer now has the visual horsepower to push out nice shiny graphics (my PC is actually Vista ready; I checked), I figured, why not?

To answer the third not-so-obvious question: yes, I do like the Vista visual style. I’ve seen it in reviews and screen shots on the web, and frankly I like it a lot. But then, I’ve always admired the visual style in OS X, and since Vista is so similar to it (especially the “Aero Glass” stuff), well - it just naturally follows that I would like Vista’s visuals. (Try saying that 10 times fast.)

I plan to revive more Desktop Madness in the near future, so stay tuned!

The final word in desktop madness: multiple desktops!!

Click on the image for a larger version.

The desktops are, from right to left and from top to bottom:

1. My Music & Personal stuff desktop (Winamp, games, etc.)
2. My Customer Support desktop (ACT, and registration utility)
3. My Development desktop (compiling, web design, etc.)
4. My Web desktop (browser, email)

I’ve always wanted to have that same sort of desktop switching that you can get from Unix & Linux, and now apparently you can have it - if you have Windows XP. It’s one of the Microsoft Power Toys, available here. Am I a geek or what?

As you might have guessed, the images themselves came from 4chan.org.