Krento for Windows

Your Windows desktop probably isn't the most chaotic thing in your life, but even the best ordered interface can use a tweak or two, especially if yours tends to get cluttered with use. There are several methods for bringing order to the desktop. Krento combines three of the most popular enhancements in one free program. Its Application Launcher quickly opens your most frequently used programs from circular Application Docks, powered by Krento's main tool, its Widget Engine. Like us, you've probably seen many variations on this theme, and Krento works as well as any of them for quickly accessing your stuff. But don't get us wrong: Krento isn't like most other desktop enhancements.

Krento's Web site opened when we installed the program. It offers enough help to start using the program right away, or you can open the user's manual. But Krento isn't difficult to use, once you've gotten used to its unique rotating interface. Krento's widgets, known as Stones and Toys, revolve in a circle around a central rectangle with search, e-mail, power management, and other common functions, placing them a click away from the desktop. You can create new Circles, add and modify Stones, and change Krento's skin, among other options. Krento's Circle disappears until you need it. You have several methods of calling your widgets back up, including hot keys, mouse activation, and the Pulsar, a pulsating circle that you can place on your desktop to find and open Krento as quickly as possible when you're super-busy. The pulsing effect is only mildly distracting at first, but it does indeed make it easy to find and open Krento's Circle. Hovering your cursor pauses the Circle on any widget, displaying its choices; you simply make your selection and click. For example, the Documents stone showed the folders and files in My Documents.

Krento's rotating display isn't for everyone; most users will probably either love it or hate it. Krento is intuitive enough, but in different ways from typical tools. It's easy to see how a little practice could make it fast and easy to use, a true desktop enhancement.