Three Windows utilities. (Windows 3.0 Icon Creator, Icons 300+, Screenery) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
by David Sears

Ever notice how, after just a few weeks of running Windows, that once-elegant wallpaper cries out for a change? And those icons! Who designed them anyway? Functional they may be, but do they qualify as art? If you want to make some much-needed cosmetic adjustments to your desktop, take a gander at these Windows accessories.

The simplest route to beautifying your display is Icons 300+ from Vitesse. Just install, make a few adjustments via the Change Icon button found under Properties in the Program Manager's File menu, and presto! Same old applications meet brand-new color icons. Your choices range from corporate logos to butterflies to some rather fierce surgical tools, and the quality of these runs the gamut. Most users will find a number of icons ideal for their purposes but certainly won't use all of the ones available here.

Borland bundles a sampler of screen savers, fresh wallpaper, and still more icons in its delightful Screenery. The three screen savers offer up predictable melting screens and kaleidoscope effects. The wallpaper, on the other hand, sizzles with sumptuous color and detail. With plenty of backdrops to choose from, you'll find yourself flipping from the Escheresque Plaza to the striking Oriental Dragon-and on to the lush Jungle. The 25 icons seem a bit more colorful than those of Icons 300+ and somewhat less amateurish, though their potential utility is limited by their number. An offer for a free second disk of wallpaper, screen savers, and icons comes with the package.

Not willing to settle for prefab icons? Design your own with Software Workshop's Icon Creator. With conventional Windows grace, this specialized graphics editor gives you the power to remake the image of your Windows world. You can choose from a number of brush sizes and paint in up to 16 distinct colors. Drawing tools include traditional polygons and fill features, and you also have the ability to capture portions of Windows screens for use as icons. When you know what you need in an icon, go get it with Icon Creator. Since you'll receive a cursor editor as a bonus, why not go all out and replace that boring pointy arrowhead with something more you?

Whatever additions you make to your standard Windows graphics, you'll enjoy the change. With products like these around, variety could become the common denominator for proud GUI owners everywhere. Barring that, at least you'll agree that there's no longer any need to maintain the status quo of the humdrum. DAVID SEARS

IBM PC and compatibles (80286 or faster), Windows 3.0 Icon Creator-$49.95

SOFTWARE WORKSHOP 75 S. Mountain Way Orem, UT 84058 (800) 762-9550

Circle Reader Service Number 369

Icons 300+-$79.95 VITESSE P.O. BOX 929 La Puente, CA 91746-0929 (818) 813-1270

Circle Reader Service Number 370

Screenery-$29.95 BORLAND INTERNATIONAL Customer Service P.O. Box 660001 Scotts Valley, CA 95066-0001 (800) 331-0877

Circle Reader Service Number 371