There have been some really superb cursor themes coming through the past week or so, and I wanted to take a moment to share some of my favorites.  You can apply these cursors using CursorFX (Free, Plus version available).

Organic by Xiandi

Cosmos by PixelPirate

Maja Pearl CXP by Xiandi

I have been getting quite a few messages lately from people wanting to know how to change their Vista cursors.  Many of them are still using CursorXP, and I guess maybe the CursorFX news just hasn’t reached everyone yet.  No big deal though, lets go through the steps on getting some custom cursors on your Windows desktop.

What is CursorFX?

CursorFX is the successor to the highly popular CursorXP application.  I think it’s safe to say CursorXP was the top choice when needing to apply custom created cursors to your desktop, and with millions of downloads from sites like Download.com, I think many would agree.

CursorXP was great, but it was showing some age and with Vista coming along, it was time to develop a suitable replacement.  In comes CursorFX.  CursorFX is not just an update to CursorXP, it’s a completely new application that works with both Windows Vista and XP. 

Changing Your Cursor Theme

If you downloaded the free version, you just install from the file that was downloaded.  If you purchased CursorFX Plus then you can also download through Stardock Central or Impulse.  So once it’s installed, start the application and you will see the main configuration screen.

CursorFX Main

In the center of the window you see the list of currently installed cursor themes.  CursorFX by default comes with several themes included, but I will also show you where to get more later in the article. You can simply browse the list of cursor themes by scrolling through the list, and when you find one you like, just double-click the selection or hit the Apply button.  That will automatically change your cursor to the selected one.

CursorFX Preview

By clicking the magnifying glass icon on the right of the selection, it will bring up the full preview of all the included cursor states.  It will even preview the animations so you can see exactly what the cursor looks like.

Getting More Themes

CursorFX includes several high quality cursors, but no need to limit yourself to those.  There are hundreds available on WinCustomize.com, and remember that CursorFX cursors are compatible with CursorFX.

There are some really great cursors available in the CursorFX gallery, so be sure to browse through and see all the great works.

Link: CursorFX gallery on WinCustomize

Download: Stardock’s CursorFX (free, Plus version $19.95)

A few weeks ago I wrote about the release of CursorFX, which is the replacement for CursorXP. CursorFX allows you to easily and safely change your Windows cursor to one of the thousands already available for download.

The original release was a little bumpy, so today an update was released that fixed a host of issues.

CursorFX is a free download, and there is a Plus version available with additional features. For more information visit cursorfx.com.

Since today is Valentine’s Day I thought it would be good to give people some links to some Valentine’s inspired skins and themes.  There are several types of themes and skins you can use from cursors to wallpapers, and much more.

• http://islanddog.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=177708
• http://islanddog.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=177509
• http://islanddog.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=176950
• http://islanddog.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=176035

CursorFX is a free program that allows users to customize their mouse cursors in ways far beyond what Windows is capable of doing on its own.  CursorFX is the replacement for CursorXP which only ran on Windows XP systems.  CursorFX runs on both Windows Vista and XP, and updates the Windows mouse cursor engine to support fluid animations, alpha blending, effects, real-time shadowing, user-action mouse states, mouse cursor resizing on the fly, color changing, trails, and much more.

A gallery for CursorFX cursor themes is available on WinCustomize.com to download hundreds of free mouse cursors, trails, effects, and more.  CursorFX is a free program. A plus version is available for $19.95 that adds more features.

Download:  www.cursorfx.com