The one Windows Mobile tweak that I can't live without

After prodding my iPAQ and HTC Advantage for a while, looking for one of the many tweaks I use every time I power on the screen, the answer stared me straight in the face. SBSH's iLauncher is one tweak/utility I simply can't live without. I've become so used to its flexible features that any other Windows Mobile device lacking this exquisite application simply feels naked and clunky, like sewing with chopsticks. The feature that most enamors me about iLauncher is its ability to re-skin nearly every aspect of the Windows Mobile desktop, from the icon layout and styles to the way I prefer to organize my applications. About the only thing that iLauncher doesn't do (yet) is allow me to alter the Windows main menu, replacing the Windows Start menu logo/branding with an icon of my own. Nevertheless, the combination of iLauncher coupled with imaginative wallpapers can transform any Windows Mobile device into a brand new look that will have friends and co-workers wondering what new gadget you acquired. SBSH features several of their own theme creations on their site, and numerous individuals have concocted convincing imitations of other platforms, from iPhone skins to TRS-80 homages. I created my own Fedora 7 iLauncher theme to impress my Linux pals, several of which replied in amazement when they first saw it, asking how I was able to install a popular desktop Linux distribution onto my iPaq.

It wasn't until they saw the Windows logo give away the illusion that they realized the facade. iLauncher allows me to swap between look and feel layouts depending on my application orientation. If I'm in a gaming mood, I flash the desktop with a first person shooter theme peppered with all my favorite Windows Mobile game icons for quick access. Getting down to work, I re-flash a programmer theme replete with code sprawl in the background. All told, the iLauncher is such an integral part of my mobile experience that its literally the first utility/tweak I install on any new Windows Mobile device I acquire.