Hey guys,

I'm new to the world of customizing the desktop and I had a few questions.

I got started into this from Lifehacker.com and a friend of mine.  I've got a modest setup.  3.0GHz Hyperthreaded P4, dual monitors, 4GB RAM and XP Professional.  I do some fairly heavy 3D modeling (engineering work) and an awful lot of typing.  I've got a 400GB main hard drive and a 160GB backup drive that stores all of my movies (to network to an XBOX downstairs).  It's not a supercomputing setup by any means, but it gets the job done.

The programs of relevance I have right now are ObjectDock, Rainmeter, and Google Desktop.  I run Firefox 3.0 for a browser.

Ideally what I would like is something super intuitive to use, unobtrusive, and easy to access all of the stuff I regularly use.

I like ObjectDock but I have three issues with it.  The first is it's lack of icon-bar integration.  I'm using a docket I found online that lists all of the status bits in a single docket.  It works, but it's a pain to see.  I also lack the use of Gmail Notifier, which I find extremely valuable.  The third problem is the lack of real estate.  I can only have a few programs on the dock without making the dock incredibly small.

Google Desktop is nice, but I can't help but think it is a resource hog.  Still, having the ability to actually search for file names is nice.  I'd REALLY like something like Spotlight that can open folders and such that match search terms.

Has anyone got any really killer desktop setups that will help integration a little more?  I've got a few skins for Rainmeter that I'm going to try out, but I haven't really had much time to play with them.

Here is my current desktop setup:

Thanks!