Personalize your start screen with Decor8

Decor8 is a simple app for Windows 8 that enables users to customize the look and feel of their desktops, lock screens and the new Modern UI environment. Though Windows 8 comes stocked with some basic options, Decor8 adds extra features to give users that extra level of personalization and refinement.

After you install the app, Decor8 will appear on the Start screen like any other tile. When you open the app, you'll be greeted with an options menu that appears mighty hard to discern from a standard Windows 8 settings menu. From the Background settings, choose any custom image or photo to set as your background for the modern UI and add visual tweaks like fading, blurring, and color overlays. Decor8 also allows users to rotate through multiple background images, a feature that's also peculiarly absent in the Modern UI environment, compared to its older desktop cousin.

The colors option lets you tweak the tile buttons and other elements of the color scheme. These were options that had existed in previous stock Windows builds since XP, but Stardock has a more more presentable and easier interface to work with. Other notable tweaks include changing the row count and background scroll rates and even changing colors of the charm bar.

Users who enjoy personalizing their computing experience will find some value with this package, at a reasonable five bucks. Though it's a shame that many of these features aren't already built into Win8, Stardock manages to port and translate a solution with pretty positive results.