At least in respect to the flood of television commercials, the ↵Wii craze seems to have ebbed away—only to be replaced by the Vista craze. Judging from the clips, what Microsoft is most proud of is the “3D-desktop”, namely the ability of the graphical user interface (GUI) to perspectively tilt opened windows. Years ago, when I still was into “desktop modding”, an application called ↑Madotate
[↑English, ↑Japanese] struck my fancy, as it did for Win2k exactly the 3D-effect now used as a cart horse to sell Windows Vista. In Japan there is a distinct scene of Windows modders which pulls of truly amazing stunts. The ↑Y’z Dock is similar fun. The application generates within Windows a dock as known from the Apple operating systems (OS). Boiled down that is all cosmetics, of course, but in a way I sense something deeper: the appropriation of the personal computer in the sense of making it a more personal artefact, which stands into another relation to its owner than the out-of-the-box machine. Plus, I confess, it is fun to see people wonder at your screen and ask: “What kind of OS is that?”