The Fusion Desktop

Flickr user Alexandru Tropenpflanze's desktop is a great example of what you can do with Rainmeter in Windows, and it's not difficult to set up. Shortcuts, a few well-placed widgets, and some useful information is all it takes. Here's what you'll need to make one of your monitors look this way.

This isn't Alexandru's only desktop—he has a few more with varying wallpapers, but the general look and feel is the same. We like this one because it captures a lot of information on one screen, perfect for a quick-look HUD when you sit down to work, or a second monitor that's not always in active use. Here's what you'll need to set it up:

• The Fusion wallpaper from DeviantArt


• The Rainmeter system tweaking and monitoring tool for Windows


• The Enigma suite for Rainmeter for the system/network/volume graphs, mini taskbar, and the feed reader


• The Circuitous skin for Rainmeter for the Recycle Bin in the lower left


• The Soul skin for Rainmeter for the text-based application launcher


• The Elegance 2 skin for Rainmeter for the clock, time, and date


• The Elementary skin for the weather forecast


• The Do I Need a Jacket skin for the simplified, plain-text weather forecast


• The Arcs skin for Rainmeter for the clock/status/disk usage display in the center


• Stardock Fences to organize and hide desktop icons

It's a lot in one package, but the nice thing here is that while the whole thing looks great, you can take or leave individual components and skins to craft what you really want. It's just a really solid list of skins and tools that offer a lot of customization options and tweaks that can personalize your desktop. If you like what you see, or you're having trouble getting the components to work just right, head over to Alexandru's Flickr page (linked below) to ping him with questions. Let him know we sent you and that you like his work when you do!

Do you have a good-looking, functional desktop of your own to show off? Share it with us! Post it to your personal Kinja blog using the tag desktop showcase or add it to our Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr pool . Screenshots must be at least at least 640x360 and please include information about what you used, links to your wallpaper, skins, and themes, and any other relevant details. If your awesome desktop catches our eye, you might get featured!

Desktop 4 | Flickr