CleanDesktop

CleanDesktop is an ultra lightweight Windows application that helps users get rid of unused desktop icons in a very fast way.

If you are a tech-savvy user, you probably know that Windows XP sports a desktop cleaning wizard that scans the desktop and automatically removes the unused icons every 60 days.

Well, both Vista and 7 lack such a feature, so CleanDesktop comes to offer users a very easy to use alternative to this previously Windows built-in feature.

Using CleanDesktop is not at all a difficult mission because the GUI is pretty intuitive and boasts just a few options, all grouped in a single screen.

Basically, the program scans your desktop and displays all items that have not been used in the last 30 days. There are two options at your disposal: either delete the items permanently or move them to a folder called “Unused Icons” created by the app on your desktop.

There's nothing too difficult and CleanDesktop requires just basic computer skills, so it tries to appeal to all user categories.

The application works smoothly on both Windows Vista and 7 and it doesn't need administrator privileges to clean the desktop. The process takes just a few seconds and the overall stability of the computer is not affected in any way.

All things considered, CleanDesktop is an interesting application, although it's pretty clear that it lacks some very important features. For example, it cannot scan the desktop automatically based on some user-defined settings and intervals, so the whole job is performed manually every time.