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PlexyDesk Transforms Your Desktop Background With Useful Widgets

PlexyDesk is an open source desktop extension for Windows, Mac and Linux based operating systems which transforms the look of the desktop and allows adding QML based widgets. It is not to be mistaken for a desktop environment like KDE or Gnome. Instead, it renders the desktop workspace and allows you to organize it. Currently, it provides a clock widget, photo frame, and file browser on the main sand allows adding extra widgets via drag and drop, which can further change the look and feel of your desktop.

To install PlexyDesk in Ubuntu 11.04, enter the following PPA in Software Sources and head over to the Ubuntu Software Center to install it.

ppa:plexydesk/plexydesk-dailybuild

Once installed, launch PlexyDesk from the Unity Dash. It sits in the system tray and instantly changes the look of your desktop (as long as it is active). You can drag and drop the clock, picture frame and getting started guide widget anywhere on the desktop to suit your needs. Whereas, the compact file browser provides the convenience of managing your files and folders within a small auto aligning file browser. Extra QML based widgets can also be added by simply dragging them onto the desktop.

Plexy Desk

Similarly, you can drag and drop images on to the desktop to set them as the background wallpaper or the picture frame. The Getting Started Guide provides information about adding and removing desktop widgets and the background wallpaper, along with a link to the Wiki page of PlexyDesk.

Set

Unfortunately, there is currently no easy way of installing PlexyDesk on Windows and you will require compiling the source package for which you can find instructions here. Having said that, PlexyDesk is currently under heavy development and it is likely that more features will be added soon. You can suggest features to the developer and download PlexyDesk package for your operating system version from the developers website. PlexyDesk works on Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux and Meego.

Download PlexyDesk

[via OMG Ubuntu]

4 Comments

  1. Thanks for the nice review 🙂

    I’m sorry guys we still do not have the Windows binaries of v 0.6 published, but we would like when we do it, PlexyDesk to have most of the planned features working, so we do not disappoint you 🙂

    Meanwhile you can build your own binaries very easily following our guide -> http://www.plexyplanet.org/win_build

    For easier and faster compilation you may use the MinGW win version… though it is not described in the Howto it is implemented in our dist/make_dist_win.bat file.

    (I do not advice you using the old Windows binaries of version 0.5 since they are buggy and v 0.6 has been rewritten from scratch…)

    When we are ready with the win binaries I will post a notice here 🙂

    Thanks again.


    PhobosK – A KBFX and PlexyDesk Team member

  2. I have an windows OS and plexydesk just won’t launch.what do i do?we opened its zip directory,no .exe file.

    •  Sorry but for now, you have to compile the v 0.6 binaries for yourself… I have posted an explanation why here…

      There are v 0.5 Windows binaries, but they are old enogh and in v0.6 we have rewritten everything from scratch, so they do differ a lot….

      Sorry if we disappoint you :S


      PhobosK – A KBFX and PlexyDesk Team member

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