Just to let you all know real quick... my Modern UI Tile project has been put on hold for the time being due to several things, a major one being Final testing...

I've been studying and working for school Finals for the last couple weeks so I stopped with production for now, unfortunately... I only have two more days of testing (Tuesday and Thursday) and them I'm DONE and OUT OF SCHOOL FOR THE SUMMER!

So I'll hopefully have more time then, thanks for being patient!

If you haven't heard of Start Menu Reviver yet, or even ReviverSoft, you should! They are a great company that has made award-winning products, and great people that run it!

The co-founder of ReviverSoft, Mark Beare, contacted me a few months back about wanting to use my Metro UI Icon Set for an application of theirs, he offered to pay me an overly-sufficient amount of money in order to be able to use them (I gave him no set price, just said "what ever you are willing to pay/can afford") and after a few weeks back and forth about coming up with an Agreement (disclosed contract regarding terms of service, rights, and use) and all that legal stuff, he payed me the money he told me he would, I made a few other things for him and that was that...

The official product has been released very recently and already has over 4000 downloads (from the time I checked before posting this, it was 1000 about 12 hours prior to this) and it's FREE! So check it out as it contains all 700+ icons of mine and the product looks and works GREAT!!

[link]

I swear, the USA just forgot what spring was... just one day ago, it was 80 degrees F (27 degrees C), it was HOT and it was very bright and sunny! And now... less than 24 hours later... snow. HEAVY snow... WTF? It dropped from 80 F (27 C) to 40 F (4 C) in less than three hours.

Earlier today, it was just windy. Later, raining, even LATER, heavy sleet. Now.. very steady and heavy snow. It's coming down very quickly so I couldn't take a picture and it we are expected to accumulate between 3 to 5 inches of snow by tomorrow morning.. -.-

Wow, it is late spring here in the northern hemisphere, meaning HOT and rainy. Not FREEZING COLD and snowy.

But I live in Kansas (temperate climate) and as they say: "If you don't like the weather in Kansas.... wait five minutes." hahaha

I am currently working on it and making good progress at that! Haven't had a whole lot of time due to school mostly, but hey, that's ok!

I will likely add all icons from my Applications, Web Browser, Office Apps, Other (maybe), and Folders & OS icons and some others, that accounts for about half if not more of all 700+ icons in my Metro UI set! So be looking forward to that!

I really want to provide a PREVIEW download but people may take advantage of it too quickly. Plus I want them to all be ready simultaneously so I will probably hold off on that, not positive yet though!

So yep, it's coming along very well, I'm happy about the set, AND it's perfect timing because I hear Windows 8.1 is expected to be released pretty soon!! That update will allow any user to edit their Metro tiles with official OS support instead of those people having to be informed on 3rd party programs to do that for them. But that will likely cause a major decrease in support and downloads for those apps that do that, and do that very well such as the renowned OblyTile... oh well.

Honestly, what is so bad about it?? I have been wondering this recently; what makes Windows 8 so bad over Windows 7?
It's faster, more responsive, just as stable, easy to use with a mouse/keyboard, still has the traditional desktop (with several more features) and a more intuitive start menu with playable apps and games once only available to smart phone and tablet users...
It is not just another Vista....

Really, WHY do so many people hate on it??

I got an email this morning letting me know that StarDock's ObjectDock Plus is only $4.99 instead of $19.99...

"Organize your shortcuts, icons and running tasks!
ObjectDock™ is the best way to organize your Windows® desktop with animated docks for shortcuts, icons and running tasks. Easily create multi-tab docks and place them on any edge of your display. Tailor your experience with special effects, attractive themes and custom colors.
Features:
•  Create multiple docks
•  Use tabbed docks to categorize your icons and shortcuts
•  Folder view enables you to access folder contents quickly
•  Position your docks on any screen edge
•  Customize docks with skins from WinCustomize.com
•  And more!

Only $4.99"

I am not sure how long they will have it 75% off but I recommend getting it if you like the way docks work instead of a taskbar (or alongside it!)

Check it out here: [link]
Purchase it here: [link]

You may not want to spend the money, and hey, that is totally fine! Just letting you know you can get a ton of new features (including Windows 7 superbar features like aero peek, thumbnails, and more) other than just a simple dock, for only $4.99, that is a great price!!

I can't believe it has finally happened! I am so blessed to be watched by so many people from all over the world! A year ago I never would have even imagined I would be in the spot I am right now! Thank you all for sticking with me and I promise I will continue to design and create as long as you want me to!

It is amazing how quick it happened too, I noticed that I posted a 'thank you' for 200 watchers on November 6, 2012..... and here I am with TWICE that amount just 4 months later! Thank you all soooo much!!!

Yes! I am soo sorry for taking so long, but this is a casual project, I enjoy working on it overall, but some procrastination went in because there was so much to do!

But little by little I got it done, and I am VERY PLEASED with the end result!!

Download the FINISHED update at the official set page: [link]
Whoo! Finally done!!

What do you think? As you are probably aware of, I have created a 'Beta' Metro UI Icon Set for those who want the most up-to-date version of my soon-to-be-finished update on my Metro UI Dock Icon Set.

An update to the BETA icon set is now up!!!! Download the newest version!!! [link]

But the thing is, you are obviously NOT staying up to date with my Beta set because I have made much progress on the the set! I have never officially updated the Beta set, what you are currently downloading is the original file that was put together when the Beta first came out. Since then several icons have been added or changed slightly and I want you all to know what is included before it is officially ready!

Thoughts? I'm sure that is what you want, HOWEVER, due to me always working on it, I would have to update it quite often to keep you all up to date. Perhaps a weekly "snapshot" as it were? I like the sound of that, what do you think?

I appreciate you all being so patient as to wait for me to finish the update. It is a BIG BIG BIG update and it's a lot of work to get through and some days I just don't feel like working on it, I want to get it done soon. It should be OFFICIALLY completed within the next couple weeks! HOPEFULLY.

Yep, went ahead and purchased it (a couple days ago), and I ran the Upgrade-Assistant in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode because it would not let me buy it since I was already running Windows 8...

Yes, upgraded just in time, registered WMC before February 1 for free. Obviously, as I expected, no big changes between Win8 and Win8 Pro but I am so glad I bought it when I did otherwise I would have to spend either $50 extra or $160 extra which is not as cheap as $40, which was such a great deal!

Another $150 should be heading my way either today or sometime this weekend by someone who wanted to do a business deal with me for using my icons for an application and website of theirs (with credit) so I am SO thankful for that blessing! Now I can pay myself back those $40!

So yep, just a little update on the situation, I certainly do NOT want to revert back to Windows 7, because that is what I would have to do if anything serious happened to my current OS (or Recovery Drive), or if I decided to fresh install my entire computer!

Already burnt the ISO to disk and I have a backup to the ISO on my external HD so I should have nothing to worry about!

I need to be absolutely sure!!

I really want to get Windows 8 Pro for $39.99 before January 31, otherwise I would have to spend $200

On their website it says "To install Windows 8 Pro upgrade, customers must be running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. If you would like to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro, click here." So I clicked the 'here' link because I am running Windows 8. But once I got there I saw no option to download it online, instead it wants me to ORDER it on a physical DVD for $20 extra, which I DON'T WANT TO DO, I want to spend as little as possible!!

So please, I am on the Buy screen on Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, I had to run it on Windows XP SP3 compatibility in order for me to be able to buy it; CAN YOU UPGRADE WIN8 PRO BY DOWNLOADING IT FOR $40 WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE WINDOWS 8 INSTALLED???

Thanks for the correct answer, I would really like to know ASAP!!

Links here for reference:
Windows 8 Pro site: [link]
The 'here' link: [link]

It's time!! Today (1/21/13) marks ONE FULL YEAR since my Metro UI Dock Icon Set was first released with, like 200-some? icons!!!!

I just have to say THANK YOU SOOO MUCH for supporting me and the set through all that time!!!

History of coming up with making the icon set: On YouTube, by that time Microsoft has released their very first video leaking the new Windows 8 experience to consumers. They unveiled the Metro Screen and I LOVED it! Still do, it looks so clean and elegant. So I thought "hey, since I have a new DeviantART account, why not try and make some metro icons of my own!" So first I went looking all over the internet looking for someone who has already made Metro icons and I was relieved to find that NO ONE has made a SINGLE Metro icon, which made my idea an original!

So I got to work, I used PowerPoint 2010 to see what I could do with minimalist shapes (and some help from Google Images), and I liked them. So I went to Photoshop and constructed the background for the icons and did some final touches. And I was pleased with how they turned out! So I compressed them into a .ZIP file and posted it on the internet for all to see, the very first Metro icon set in the world (at least I hope so)!!!

And I was already friends with and he helped spread the word of my icons, he submitted it to several different Groups, as did I! The first night was successful, several downloads, fav's, and comments! And as time went on, the icons became more and more mainstream and popular! I was NOT expecting that at all, I was hoping they would catch on and become popular, but this, this was amazing, I had no idea I could make something that people liked so much! Around the summertime of 2012 was when popularity began to decrease a little, only about a hundred views per day.... but that didn't last long!

I started making more and more icons, taking requests and finding ones I could make on my own... and by autumn of 2012, Windows 8 was released OFFICIALLY!! This caused a spike in downloads and fav's still going on to this day! Every day I average between 300-800 views and downloads! It hasn't stopped! Because of that many people as far as places like Denmark, the UK, Australia, and the US begun contacting me asking me to make icons for them, for pay! Large amounts, $40, $200, $50, donations, and more!

I cannot thank you all enough for being there for me as this set has improved and continued, and it will continue to improve as long as support is there.

Thanks again!

Do not fret! I am indeed working on the update!!! I am in the process of converting all the updated/added icons (UI and Uinvert) to .ICO format, this takes A LOT of time!!

Sorry it is taking so long, a bit of procrastination has gone in as well, you know, because it is such a big goal to reach.

BY THE WAY!! A few more icons have been added to the update that will be unveiled at the official release so be excited about that!!

So again, sorry for the delays, a big job and doing it all is a bit stressful believe it or not. Thanks.

Windows 8 is a lot different with device management at startup than in Windows 7 and below, with my Windows 7 I could just start up the computer then put in the DVD and it would say "Press any key to load from DVD" or something along those lines... On Windows 8 it just starts up with no options, and I tried the Advanced Startup Option from the PC Settings menu and selected the Use a Device option and it said it failed to read any available media...

So how do you do this? I already have a 100GB partition allocated for Windows 7 exclusively and I would like to be able to use Win7 for a few things that Windows 8 fails to do or open properly.... thanks for any help!

Ok, I have noticed that many people are constantly complaining about how annoying it is to shut down their Windows 8 PC.. and I agree, the new way to do that is a bit annoying to do. But did you know there was a much simpler method of system management??

It works on every Windows OS, I have been using this method for a few years now.....
Just go to the Desktop (Win+D) then press ALT+F4 on the keyboard then select your option!!

An easy way to do that is to just press the FIRST LETTER of the task you want to perform, example: press S to shut down, press l to log off, press s again to sleep, etc. then press Enter to confirm your choice!

Now doesn't that just make things a lot simpler? I thought so, now stop complaining and stop trying to find serious faults with Windows 8 because you are not going to find one!

So yea, I ordered Windows Media Center for my Windows 8 PC a couple days after Christmas and it finally arrived via email on January 7th... I did what I was supposed to do, open Add Features to Windows 8, select 'I already have a product key' and entered the key given by Microsoft and it said the key won't work??

Does anyone know what I can do or why it won't work for me??

HEY EVERYONE!! Sorry I haven't been active on here recently, school has started back up and I have been occupied with that and other personal affairs...

So yea! Got that new laptop as I'm sure many of you are aware of, and may I say, it is AWESOME!! This laptop is powerful, stylish, up-to-date, responsive, and fun to use!

In case you forgot, my new laptop is an HP Pavilion g6-2228nr loaded with Windows 8 and native keyboard interface!

Features and details:
Processor: AMD A6-440M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics - 2.70GHz (Dual Core, upgradable to 3.2GHz)
Graphics Memory: 2029MB (2GB)
Installed memory: 4GB (3.46 usable, upgradable up to 8GB)
System type: 64-bit Operating System, Windows 8
Hard Drive Capacity: 320GB
HD Webcam
SD Card Slot
Weight: 5.5 lbs.
Screen Resolution: 15.6", 1366x768
Full-sized keyboard
Multi-touch mousepad
*Supposedly backlit keyboard
Sound quality is GREAT!
2 USB 3.0 ports and 1 USB 2.0 port
Full-capacity DVD-Drive

And I have gotton a good 3 1/2 hours of normal use out of this thing when unplugged, with heavy usage such as games and internet surfing, a good 2-3 hours!

Applications open quickly unlike any other computer I have owned, and games play amazingly!!! VERY smooth graphics, hardly ever any lag, and when there is it is just a quick lag spike that lasts for a second or two at a time!!

Overall, this laptop is EXCEPTIONAL, especially for what was paid for it ($329.99), retail price is $450 so I had to get it!!

The ONLY issue I've had with this computer: Weak wifi reception! The first one of these laptops I got had a defective wireless card, internet randomly disconnected and said 'Limited' with a caution symbol on the wifi icon in the system tray. Replaced it for a different one, that issue has not happened BUT my room is several feet away from the modem and where I usually get 3-4 bars of internet, this computer gets me 1-3 bars, slower and sometimes disconnects because it cannot pick up the signal, but overall it is good.... FINALLY, a computer that will hopefully last me longer!! And I can enjoy it more while I have it!!

By the way: I felt much better once returning the other laptop to BestBuy, the employee I spoke to at the Customer Service desk said that he's seen that Toshiba laptop returned more than any other laptop, so I was glad I was not the only one with issues. This laptop on the other hand has served NO troubles so far, no crash, errors or anything of that nature!!

So yea, this Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5303 laptop is, overall, a real quality piece of modern machinery. But in the 3 days of using it I have come across quite a few problems: Windows 8 has crashed 4 times with the new BSOD, the sound quality on it is terrible (which makes me glad that I got external Logitech Stereo Speakers for it which works like a dream!), the graphics quality/processor is bad, cannot play games very well at all (which I expected), the computer has randomly shut itself down for no reason NUMEROUS times (so I refreshed Windows 8 and it is now very laggy and slower for some reason), occasionally the laptop screen has flickered off for a brief period of time, I opened a portable game a couple times and when I full-screened it a window popped up and said "Fatal Error" then locked up and I had to forcibly shut it down, and a few other issues....

So I talked to a friend of mine who really knows his tech and we talked on Skype for a good hour-and-a-half about looking for a new computer and my new laptop (as he has seen it run). We looked and found several possibilities around the same price range of my current one (between $250 and $350) and there were several good ones. But none of them really proved themselves to be a quality computer until we decided to look on OfficeMax.com to check out their laptops. And we found one! A good one! It will only cost about $60 more that what was paid for this one and I am willing to pay that money because this laptop we found is GREAT for the money, and it was on sale!!

Check it out here: [link] (and in case you're wondering, the '32GB HD' is a TYPO! It is actually 320GB!!)

Compared to my current one: [link]

So my friend did a graphics card and processor comparison test and he said those in the OfficeMax laptop are way more powerful than my current one's, and same features overall, but more RAM (4GB), shorter battery life (which still isn't a bad amount), same screen resolution (1366x768), Windows 8, same Hard Drive space (320GB), same weight (5.5 lbs.), and more.

This computer, with tax, will be about $60 more expensive than my new laptop, which is a good deal!

What are your thoughts? Suggestions? Questions or concerns? I'm all ears!

First sorry for not posting this on Christmas day as I was very busy...

Second, greetings from my NEW COMPUTER!! That's right, no more old and crappy laptop, I am now running a brand new 2012 Toshiba Satellite laptop with a native Windows 8 OS and keyboard interface!!! And may I say, Windows 8 is pretty great! Although there are a few limitations and disadvantages, it is overall a solid and awesome Windows OS!! I am actually getting pretty used to Win8 already and I've only been using it for about a day now.

I believe it is worth between $350-$450 standard retail price, but it was on sale at BestBuy for $269 and I only paid for $100 of it. Ordered online because it was totally sold out at every BestBuy in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, and it's a concentration of well over 10 cities, many considerably large, and towns.

- Now For Details:

This computer is a Toshiba Satellite C855D-S5303 with...
1366x768 screen resolution
Windows 8 - standard copy
320GB HD
2GB RAM (I will soon be upgrading to 4-6GB RAM, can be upgraded up to 16GB)
64-bit OS (was hoping it was 32-bit)
Decent processor and graphics card, AMD E-300 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics - 1.30GHz
HD-Webcam
DVD-RW, fully-operable DVD/CD-Drive unlike my old PC which only read and wrote for blank CD's
SD-Card slot
3 2.0 USB ports
Multitouch Mousepad, no touchscreen or Bluetooth
full-sized numberpad
good battery, I believe it will get an average of 3-4 hours when unplugged

Check out some pics of my actual new laptop here: (link currently not available)

Compared to my old laptop which was... (off the top of my head)
Model: 2004 Compaq Presario M2305NR
1024x768 screen resolution
Windows 7 Ultimate
60GB HD
1GB RAM (highest it can be upgraded)
32-bit OS
Bad processor but decent graphics card
no webcam
CD-Drive, but could read DVD's with info on them
no SD-Card slot
2 2.0 USB ports
basic mousepad, no touchscreen or Bluetooth
no numberpad, only numbers above standard QWERTY keyboard
crappy battery which only gave about 30-60 minutes of unplugged use and would have a chance or randomly shutting down for no reason

Well, a huge burden has been lifted off of my shoulders, I told my father about what was going on with my computer and took it upon himself to go looking around online for a good computer deal, as did I. So my dad saw this deal at BestBuy for a brand new Windows 8 laptop for about $300!

Anyway, what I was worried about was having to spend just about all of my money on a computer, which would not be too convenient for several reasons (including the time of year). So my dad asked me if I was willing to pay $100 for the computer and he/my sister would pay the rest. So of course I said yes as paying $100 is A LOT better than having to pay $250+!!

I forget the exact computer model it is but I know it is a Toshiba. So I will let you all know more info once Christmas rolls around as that will be when we will use it, we are probably going to BestBuy later today or tomorrow to check it out and hopefully get it!! So I only have to wait about a week and a half before I can use it, until then I am going to have to use my iPod for important tasks (like right now, this entire Journal Entry was typed from there as my computer Unfortunately NO LONGER WORKS AT ALL!! Oh well...