Aquarium Desktop 2006 released!

Put virtual fish onto your Windows desktop!

from WinCustomize Forums

Stardock has released Aquarium Desktop 2006. Aquarium Desktop isn't a screensaver. The fish actually "live" on your Windows desktop happily swimming within the borders of your screen. The fish, rendered with exquisite detail in 3D, swim, turn, and simply look amazing.

Aquarium Desktop 2006 comes with several fish to start with. User can choose which fish to display on their desktop and even have multiple fish of the same underlying model. As a result, user can have as many or few fish as they want swimming. It also comes with a host of different plants that, like the fish, have been rendered from 3D models for very lifelike animation and detail. It also comes with multiple wallpapers, aquatic sound effects, and more.

The program is highly configurable. Plants can be sized. Sound effects added or disabled. And it is designed to be intelligent in its CPU usage. If the fish are covered (and when people are working, they tend to have windows on their desktops) the rendering goes into idle mode so that the fish don't slow down your computer. The graphics are also compressed in memory to minimize how much memory it's using.

Aquarium Desktop 2006 is a great fun way to liven up your desktop. For user who had the original Aquarium Desktop, they can upgrade to Aquarium Desktop 2006 at a reduced price and get access to additional fish. Additional "fish packs" will be made available as Christmas nears.

Aquarium Desktop Home Page

Aquarium Desktop at DesktopGadgets.com

26,815 views 50 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
They may need to look at the spelling again, I don't think "fishes" is a word.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yeah, should be 'fishies'



Webster's: pl fish or fish-es


but I like ghoti.
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

yeah, should be 'fishies'


I beg to differ with you.. should be fish-EASE!!
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Woo hoo! . . . something new that's "premium" . . . (in a sense, anyway).
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Very nice.

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Very tempting. One question though. Do the fish move differently from the ones in DesktopX? I find that the "from left to right, and turn, and back, and turn..." movement of the fish looks a bit artificial. I would love to see more of a 'real' fish behaviour like species specific swimming pattern, nipping on plants, stopping and looking stupid...

fish (singular) = one fish
fish (plural) = more than one fish
fishes = more than one species of fish

so fishes was most likely correct (although I can't find it anywhere in the original post).


Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Does it work with multi monitors? The old version didn't for me.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
no. it's a stand-alone application.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Both "fish" and "fishes" are correct. In contrast, "Fishes" may emphasize the variety of species.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
stopping and looking stupid..
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Does the new version have everything the original has plus the new fish or is it brand new? BTW It looks really good
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I like the concept but the lighting and shodows always throw the illusion off for me and generally feaks me out [like an uncanny valley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley] (e.g. the fish/fish/fishes all have a drop shadow as if they were hovering over the desktop, the treasure chest has no shading, the anchor has a shadow but it doesn't map to the background objects (for obvious reasons and I am aware that would be asking too much), the bottle is shaded but has no shadow).
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Does it work with multi monitors? The old version didn't for me.

Yup, this version works with multi monitor setups.

Do the fish move differently from the ones in DesktopX? I find that the "from left to right, and turn, and back, and turn..." movement of the fish looks a bit artificial.

Not sure which fish you're referring to. The ones in Aquarium Desktop 2006 will move from left to right, turn and go back, but will also change speed and height as well. They definitely move more realistically than the fish in the original Aquarium Desktop.

Does the new version have everything the original has plus the new fish or is it brand new?

This is pretty much a brand new version. Some of the elements (the anchor, chest and bolle) are from the original, but all the fish are brand new.

Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This is awesome! Nice work. Wish I could install it at work, although I probably wouldn't get anything done because I'd be playing with it all the time
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It's really cool if you're running WB5 beta with a skin that uses transparent borders. When a fish swims behind one of them, it's just nifty.
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The release version has "fish" rather than "fishes" for, I think, all the instances of it. The screenshots were from before that was tweaked.
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You can turn off the shadows if you want. I turned them on because I like shadows.
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'll have to get a hold of some larger wallpapers. I have a 1920x1200 laptop screen and a 1600x1200 LCD. You have to use the Center option with an 1920 or bigger wall to cover all the background on both.
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You can turn off the shadows if you want. I turned them on because I like shadows.


Thanks, maybe I'll pick it up then.
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I bought it. The animation is relatively smooth, but not perfect on my system. I have 5 fish running (shadows enabled), three plants, a bubbling chest, and two bubbling bottles. It was a good buy- I like it.
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Will people who purchased the original Aquarium Desktop be able to upgrade to this (e.g. from within Stardock Central)?