So where are we at in customizing Windows?

When it comes to skinning, nothing even approaches Windows for it. Not Linux, not Mac, nothing. Obviously a big reason for that is tied to the sheer volume of software developers available on Windows. But those software developers can't create the demand for it.

So what created the demand? As Windows has taken over the desktop, refugees have come from other operating systems. I myself am an OS/2 refugee. And the one size fits all thing that is Windows doesn't suit all of us. Most people are fine with the default Windows look and feel as they run their browser, email program and office suite. But a few percent of the Windows using population wants to be able to customize it to suit their needs and 2% of 500 million is 10 million people.

Today, you've got the basics pretty well covered:
You've got your alternative shells like Litestep, Talisman, Hoverdesk, Geoshell. Check.

You've got your desktop shell enhancers like DesktopX, NeXTStart. Check.

You've got your Start bar replacementments/extenders like ObjectBar. Check.

You've got GUI changes like WindowBlinds. Check.

You've got programs that can change your icons like IconPackager, Microangelo, and various others. Check.

And you've got plenty of individual skinnable programs (MP3 players, IRC clients, editors, etc.). Check.

And now you even have a program that lets you put together all this stuff as a suite to change it all together at once with WinStyles (http://www.winstyles.com). Check.

So now what? What are some things we hope to see done next? Lest we end up with the inevitable "Is innovation in customization dying?" we'll need to do more than just improve on these programs.

That's where the video card makers come into play. With Windows XP, Microsoft has started to care about 3rd generation customization a bit more (or more possibly, Apple's Aqua interface has made Microsoft care more). The result is that XP is full of cool little APIs that make customization of new things quite cool.

WindowFX 2 shows some of the things that are possible and it's just the tip of the ice berg. 3D interfaces, morphing windows, context sensitive displays of partial windows, all these things are useful but presently are left to the world of "pretty but useless screenshotware". That's because without hardware acceleration - SERIOUS hardware acceleration this stuff is too slow. WindowBlinds, for instance, only made it into the truly big leagues with version 3 because it finally reached the point that it was fast enough where using it didn't have any downsides anymore for most people. 3rd generation customization will require the same thing, that the hardware accelerate this sort of thing so that you get the eye candy and productivity gains without any of the pain.

So assuming assuming you have hardware acceleration, what sorts of things do you imagine seeing with 3rd generation Windows customization?