ThGCube

The desktop space isn’t just used to store all of the shortcuts used to launch favorite games or programs. It can also be a place of entertainment, and keeping it clean can make room for toys and other fun gadgets. For instance, ThGCube lets you keep an interactive, 3D slideshow on your desktop so you never get bored.

On launch, the application brings up an animated slideshow, which is already fitted with a sample set of pictures, so you get an idea of how it can be used. The slideshow itself isn’t fitted with any normal window elements, thus keeping a clean layout for your picture. All controls you need to perform can be accessed through its context menu.

Needless to say that the first step is to load your own set of pictures. You need to make sure they’re all in a single folder, because you can’t manage individual pictures. Sadly, adding new images in the source folder doesn’t make the application detect them, but there is a function to rescan for new additions.

By default, each new image that slides in is picked at random from the source, with the possibility to pick in alphabetical order instead. The object can be moved around, and even resized to take up almost the entire screen. It can be set to automatically rotate pictures, with a slider to configure speed.

ThGCube comes with a transparency option, but it’s only equipped with one preset value that can’t be changed. On the other hand, you can change the object to have either a cube, star, and horizontally or vertically scrolling lines or circles. Unfortunately, it can take a little while to change the new layout, as well as to scan for new pictures, especially if there are many new additions.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that ThGCube gives you the possibility to keep an interactive, 3D picture slideshow on your desktop to view your favorite picture collection. The variety of modes is decent, with options to automatically scroll at custom speed. However, it’s a little rough around the edges, and the lack of support for animated GIFs is rather disappointing.