Fences

Fences is an absolute must have app for Windows. It helps you organise your stuff on your desktop into boxes. Now my Desktop actually looks nice and I'm able to keep it clean and lean!

This is a must have program for Windows users. I've been looking for something like this since ever! Simple as it looks it has increased my productivity a lot, now I can organize the files for each of the project I'm running and keep them at the same position even when switching between screen resolutions or between screens when I plug an extra monitor. I can't believe Microsoft never thought of this!!

Thanks em4020, fr pointing me out DesktopOK I will give it a try, the major problems I need addressed is having my icon positions messed over from time to time as I change resolution.

Fences also doesn't show on the running processes list, only the setup gui (50Mb)...

It is a nice design but with limited application since it is based on .net it does take unnecessary resources, it is also slow, slower than the normal system performance.

One feature that is laking is the ability to turn off the "animations", making movements instantaneous in place of the floating feeling it imposes as icons fall in position. Also I use a black background and there is no ability to make the fence boarder show in a different color.

All in all a nice idea that can be hugely improved and optimized.

My reasons to stop using it is that it takes more resources that I think it is worth and because it is slow and lacks the ability to make it more customizable we move from a cloud of icons to ca cloud of fences, and one thing makes me wonder if people have the time to really make use of fences they should have the time to clean up the desktop, probably the pro version with the default fence ability would address that issue but that is not a real solution to bad habits...

PS: It also crashed my machine on the first install

Wow, this is really nice for my general-use workstation, which is littered with desktop icons. It was quick to set up, and just took a little time to sort through all the stuff I had accumulated over the last three years.

I prefer DesktopOK to Fences
Fences is very good too and able to group the icons with frames=fences. Frames are not possible with DesktopOK, but groups are possible..
DesktopOK cannot group the icons with frames, is more simple, extremely light weighted and uncomplicated.
With DesktopOK I can arrange the icons around a desktop background picture in the centre of the desktop, and can call back the desktop-icons-positions e.g. from the status 3 or 5 days before. You can store up to 32 icon-posittion-sets.
(1) http://alternativeto.net/desktop/desktopok/
(2) http://alternativeto.net/desktop/fences

It did wonders for my desktop. Cleaned up all those icons which used to take up at least half of the screen. Super useful especially on Vista and Windows 7 where the icons are bigger.