Fences (software)

Last updated
Fences
Developer(s) Stardock
Stable release
5.0.4 / December 4, 2023;7 months ago (2023-12-04)
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Type Desktop customization
License Proprietary
Website www.stardock.com/products/fences/

Fences is a utility for Windows that helps to organize icons on the desktop. It is developed by Stardock and distributed as part of their Object Desktop suite. [1] Version 1 was freeware [2] after which it has become a commercial product.

Contents

Functionality

Fences defines translucent areas on the desktop that contain groups of icons. [3] These fences can be individually created, named, moved, and resized — they will also display a scroll bar if necessary. [4]

Double-clicking on the desktop hides all non-excluded fences and icons, while another double-click causes them to reappear. [4] Snapshots can restore fences to a particular configuration after use. [4]

Reception

A PC World reviewer praised the free edition of Fences, saying that "it wasn't five minutes after installing this program that I realized I'll be using it for the rest of my computing life. It's that good." [5] A preview edition was listed as TechSpot's download of the week in February 2009. [6]

Download.com approved of the snapshots, and the ability to change colour schemes, but criticized the process of fence creation and the inability to sort icons into fences by type — a feature added in the Pro edition. [2] Some ZDNet readers also noticed visual similarities to the Folderview feature introduced in KDE 4.1. [7]

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References

  1. "Object Desktop product information". Stardock . Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  2. 1 2 Jessica Dolcourt (2009-10-05). "Download.com editor's review - Fences 1.0". Download.com . CNET . Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  3. Chakkaradeep Chandran (2009-02-05), Fence your desktop with Stardock Fences, Neowin, archived from the original on 2012-09-03, retrieved 2010-02-03
  4. 1 2 3 Jessica Dolcourt (2009-10-06), "The secret to a perfect desktop? Fences", The Download Blog, CNET, archived from the original on 2011-11-23, retrieved 2010-02-03
  5. Rick Broida (2009-10-20), "Free Downloads Make Your Computing Life Easier", PC World , archived from the original on 2011-06-05, retrieved 2010-02-03
  6. Jose Vilches (2009-02-27), Download of the Week: Stardock Fences, TechSpot , retrieved 2010-02-03
  7. Jason Perlow (2009-08-23). "My Must Have Windows 7 Utility: Stardock Fences". Tech Broiler. ZDNet. Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-03.