The Clear Blue Desktop

Mac: It’s been a while since we’ve seen a really great GeekTool desktop customisation, so when Flickr user Hang Lu submitted this gorgeous one above, we took notice. The Geeklets are useful and well-positioned, and frame a gorgeous wallpaper that’s worth downloading even if you don’t set up the rest.

If you want the same look on your Mac, here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• The Pier wallpaper from WallpapersWide.
• The GeekTool system monitor and configuration utility for Mac OS.
• Candybar from Panic Software to customise the dock and open app indicators (or, for a cheaper method, use this terminal hack to make the dock 2D, or the previously mentioned free app, Dock Designer for a similar effect.)
• This image for the translucent shading and segmented look at the bottom of the screen, and this image for the top (more on this in a moment.)

That’s all you need to set up the look, but the real work is in setting up the geeklets for the system info and date across the top, and the time and weather at the bottom. You can find most of the geeklets for this in our guide to getting started with GeekTool.

For the placement of the transparent borders, Hang Lu suggests you take a look at this desktop (Spanish) and hover over the image to see the notes that tell you what to enter into GeekTool to make the images appear in the right places. Also shown in that example desktop is a great way to use Bowtie to display your currently playing music right there in the bottom centre, over the dock.

The great thing about this desktop is that it shows you what you can do with GeekTool with a little attention and energy — you don’t need a lot of apps to make it work, but the end result looks great. If you like what you see, or just have questions, head over to Hang Lu’s Flickr page to let him know what you think!

Screen Shot 2012-03-15 at 11.04.05 PM [Flickr]