Simplify your laptop buying
- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
- Date added: October 06, 2009
- Total Downloads: 811,743
- Downloads last week: 35,922
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 513 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Jessica Dolcourt on October 05, 2009
If you're losing the battle over your workspace to your desktop icons, a secret weapon is one click away. Fences quickly and easily organizes your icons into separate windows on your desktop, either automatically or manually. Labeling these boxes helps keep programs, photos, files, and Web links together, or you might choose to group by project rather than by file type. Whatever your logic, you'll be able to drag and drop fences (and the shortcuts within them) anywhere on your desktop.
You can furthermore drag and drop shortcuts anywhere, and resize the fence. A scroll bar pops up so you can find your icons in fences that you've resized to be smaller than their contents. In addition to sorting shortcuts, you can cleverly hide them completely by double-tapping the desktop; double-tapping again resurfaces them. Fences helpfully lets you exclude select fences from hiding. Customization tools can change the color scheme or take snapshots of your layout at any time, in case you'd like to switch among them without completely redoing your arrangement.
We just wish that creating a new fence was smoother and took fewer steps, and that you could create rules for certain files types to automatically download into specific fences. Perhaps we'll see that in a future premium version. In the meantime, we recommend Fences to anyone looking for a fast, fresh solution to persistent desktop clutter.
Watch the CNET video review of Fences:
Publisher's description
From Stardock :Fences lets users clean up their desktop icons in moments. Users draw "fences" on their desktop which enables users to drag and drop icons into them. Users can have fences show and hide by double-clicking on the desktop. In addition, users can control which icons show and hide when the desktop is double-clicked on allowing for easy desktop clean-up.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.1 stars out of 513 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 381 user reviewsSee all 381 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Fences 1.0
"Why didn't Microsoft think of this?"
Pros: The ease with which you can arrange fences and attach meaningful names to group icons
Cons: Nothing much. If icons/shortcuts could be saved to the desktop->fencename, that would be great, but moving after saving is no big deal
Summary: I have a need to access many different files, folders and programs during myworking day. In the past I had a desktop that was a veritable minefield of new and old shortcuts, files, folders etc. Installing fences has allowed me to create order out of... read more >>
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Version: Fences 1.0
"Just what I needed to organise my cluttered desktop!"
Pros: Very easy to set up and customise to my needs.
Cons: When new apps are added, their icons are "out of sight" because my fenced areas take up 100% of my desktop. However, if I just reduce the size of one panel, leaving what would be a blank bit of desktop, there are my new icons!!!
Summary: I definitely want to keep using it. I haven't tried altering my screen resolution yet but, if I do - and then switch back - the layout is supposed to be restored to the same as it was before. Without Fences, switching around screen resolutions mes... read more >>
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Version: Fences 1.0
Pros: Helps keep the Desktop organized the way I use to with folders
Cons: Takes some time getting use to were new objects get created, which varies on how you have your desktop laid out. Wish there was a way to set all right click > new files to be dropped into a fence instead of the first available space.
Summary: Great product, some slight frustrations, but Its made my work flow nicer.
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Fences 1.0
Pros: clutter stopper
Cons: None I know of.
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Fences 1.0
"Arranged my Desktop with One Click"
Pros: Ease of use, grouping of folders, short cuts and files into seperate "Fences" make it eaiser to organize rather then scattered folders.
Cons: None at this time.
- See all 381 user reviews Write review
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