New Colors For Windows Folders

very good
key review info
application features
  • A fast and light tool
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Although Windows operating systems have always strove to offer the utmost flexibility to the user, for better looks you always needed third party software. With XP, this job is clearly a bit more difficult, given that it is an operating system built specifically for performance, thus giving a lower priority to appearance. However, shelling out a few bucks (and sometimes even none at all) would always bring comfortable yet amazing aesthetics infusion into the default shell.

In a time when Windows has suffered a radical transition in terms of looks, from the dull old XP to the glossy Vista, one application has successfully carried out the job of improving the looks of your folders on XP, and partly on Vista too. Folders are items you deal with every day and users with photographic memory may find their customization a nifty way to improve on appearance as well as overall functionality when working on the computer.

IcolorFolder comes as freebie ready to put a bit of dandy-ness in the way XP folders appear before your eyes. No more yellow, blunt icons, all aligned to the same old standard. You can actually customize their appearance of each and every one of them for obtaining a more visually appealing effect.

The default application comes with a set of four skins which, in turn, bring more customization options in terms of color and appearance. These cover Windows XP, Mac OS X, Vista and Agua packs and you can choose the default one during installation of the application. The chosen one can be later changed from main application window with absolutely no problem. If you want more flexibility for skins and packs, you can download an additional set from here. It contains nine more skins, all beautifully drawn and matching different areas of activity.

For each skin, you get to see a preview of the way the folders will look like, which can be applied for all folders on your computer, or you can use a custom icon for generic folder (out of the pack the skin comes with). As the software finds its place in Explorer's context menu, changing the way a folder looks is easily achieved by right clicking on it and going for Color Label option and customizing its color or the accompanying icon. The color palette to choose from is quite restrictive, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink and gray, but there is the custom choice available, that displays the custom icons for the chosen skin.

After customizing your folders six ways till Sunday, choosing another skin would also impact on the tweaked items, replacing the image with a correspondent icon of the new skin. This is a downside as well as an upside since, if you want to preserve the looks of certain folders, it would be impossible because the skin applies to all items, regardless of your settings. On the bright side, this is a great opportunity for constantly refreshing the looks of the folders without taking the time to customize each item all over again.

The application has a marvelous effect on the plain old XP, rejuvenating its looks and refreshing it with a change of color in the folder icon. On the other hand, on Vista, it fails to provide the same success and there are plenty of flaws to be corrected. Windows Explorer froze on me on numerous occasions and the changes were not applied correctly. Aesthetically speaking, one of the major faults of the application consisted in the fact that, once folder view was modified and upped, the size of the icons, their color and shape would revert to the default one in Windows. Keeping them down to small icons or list view will preserve the default skin you opted for in the default window.

Also, customized icons would not be displayed, but instead only the default folder image of the skin would be visible. To sum it up, I would not recommend its use on a Vista system, as one of the worst effects during our testing was the blanking out of all desktop shortcuts, leaving only white spots with programs label underneath. The "effect" persisted even after computer restart and only uninstalling iColorFolder solved the problem.

All in all, the app does a great job at enhancing the looks of the folder on XP, providing customization options for each item. Icon packs included are well defined and beautifully designed and, as a bonus, the developer allows users more tweaking with regards to the images in the packs, making available documentation for building your own resources as well as creating a new skin. Check out "doc" folder under installation directory for more details.

The Good

iColorFolder does a great job on Windows XP permitting you, the user, an upgrade in the way the folders look like and offering customization options according to your needs.

The additional skins offer lots of variety in finding a view to your taste. Handling the software is piece of cake and customization of the folders can be done directly from Windows Explorer.

The Bad

There is no support for Windows Vista and bringing the application in this environment can cause you lots of unnecessary trouble.

Folder customization will be changed the moment you opt for a different skin. It would be nice to be able to use instead skins and their icon packs for each folder separately.

The Truth

iColorFolder brings a fresh new look to your XP folders, making them a lot more appealing and less ordinary. The application is absolutely free of charge and the developer provides the starting documentation for creating your own skins and inserting your own icons.

It would be nice to have an updated version that would work on Vista as well, because at the stage it is now it would only cause much damage.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 4
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 4


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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