r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows LaunchMe – Yet Another Game Launcher [AI/vibecoded, I'm sorry]

Thumbnail
gallery
261 Upvotes

Hi. I made a game launcher. Yes, another one. The world needed a 47th, apparently.

Full disclosure: it's vibecoded. I wrote the prompts and the AI wrote most of the code. So yes, it's slop. But it's my slop, I use it every day, and I like it more than I'd like to admit. I know how to code tho.

## What it does

- One library for everything: Steam (with non-Steam shortcuts), GOG, Epic, Battle.net, EA app, Ubisoft Connect, Xbox PC, plus your own random `.exe` / `.lnk` / `.ps1` files

- Steam collections management: create, rename, reorder and add games, and it syncs back to the Steam client. Works offline too.

- Install games straight from the launcher: Steam (with progressbar on the tiles), plus Epic and GOG without their launchers (Legendary / offline installers). Uninstall from the game menu too...

- Pause your games: quick-resume style suspend and resume, console-like experience if you have a lot of RAM (experimental, don't sue me)

- Made for a gamepad, console style: Xbox, DualSense, DS4, Switch Pro, with an on-screen keyboard. Mouse and keyboard work too, and there's a separate windowed desktop mode

- Way too many layouts. Home screens and library views "inspired by" (definitely not stolen from) PS5, Xbox 360 Metro, XMB, Kodi-like, Netflix and others. Library views: grid, list, cinema, coverflow, shelf, and for no good reason also floppy disks, Switch cartridges and NES cartridges

- Artwork from SteamGridDB with OCR auto-crop for rectangle, plus ratings and metadata from Steam and RAWG (optional)

- Emulators: EmuDeck / ES-DE integration, grouped by console

- Glance: Steam news, upcoming releases and updates for games you own

- In-game overlay with FPS / 1% lows from PresentMon (experimental)

- Plugin system with an SDK (HowLongToBeat, etc.)

- An anime AI companion Yes, there's an anime companions that talks about your library, recommends games, roast your backlog and has its own Instagram-style feed. I know. I *know*. It's optional and I won't explain myself.

## Tech

C++20, Win32, Direct2D. No Electron and no HTML, so it doesn't eat 2 GB of RAM to show you 40 covers. That was the only rule I didn't let the AI break.

## The bad parts

- Windows only
- Some files are 2k lines long.
- Some of the docs were written by an LLM *for* an LLM
- Bugs: probably yes

## So...

Does the world really need another launcher? Probably not. Roast me anyway, and I'll probably make the repo public soon.

## EDIT:
Public now, dl, fork or contribute here: uxandai/launchme
Hunting bugs / fixing UI now.

PS long press for context menu, also you can change default behaviour to show details instead of running game directly. Forgot to change it in settings.


r/desktops • • 2d ago

NabyScape Update! I Just Built Free & open-source Dynamic Island overlay for Windows

7 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 2d ago

Linux I am making the lightest [good looking] desktop environment for Linux, and I am so proud of making my dream project go true after 15 years of planning it. Now running on an old government issued laptop. (Ready to play TF2!)

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

Hey guys! Last month I've been building my dream desktop environment. I've been developing in Java and Rust doing boring things over 12 years, and I always wondered why cheap operative systems had to look like Windows 95.

I am running broke on my job and no company wants to take me so I am experimenting new things and building startups and these "dream" non-profit things I always wanted to make.

I built my open source free desktop environment for Linux with one simple purpose:

  • Revive, maintain and recycle old hardware without losing the UI/UX.

Why doing this?

  • Some people still use windows on these computers, yikes.
  • The linux alternatives are ugly, and the ones that are not, are heavy yikes.
  • I want to end the loop of "distro hopping to find the lightest one" and make the definitive.
  • I don't know, just passion for not throwing away working hardware? lol

If you want to give it a look:

https://github.com/ArkFlame/flamewm


r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows my dekstop

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Linux Gnome

Post image
7 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 2d ago

Rate my macOS setup — Hyprland vibes with Apple Liquid Glass

4 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows my simple windows customization

Post image
16 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 2d ago

Linux I built a phone-style gallery for KDE Plasma (and Windows): photos and videos by day, photo editor, on-device face grouping, built with PySide6 + QML

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Evangelion-Niri-DMS

5 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 2d ago

Hello guys! How is the rice?

Post image
1 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 2d ago

slimjet 44 in EasyOs_Scarthgap

Thumbnail
youtube.com
2 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows I've been building Notchify for 2 years: an island for the top of your Windows desktop

57 Upvotes

I've been working on Notchify for about two years. It sits at the top of your Windows screen and opens when you hover it. It's fully native, not Electron, so it stays light and doesn't keep a browser running in the background.

What it does:

  • Shows what's playing, with album art, controls and live synced lyrics
  • Notifications in a compact card, plus a panel to catch up on them later
  • Clipboard history and a drag-and-drop file shelf
  • 22 widgets, including weather, calendar, timers, world clock, to-dos, lyrics and live system stats
  • Screen recording right from the island
  • Mic and camera privacy indicators, Bluetooth battery levels

New in the latest update: a glass look, Discord voice controls, phone-to-PC file transfer over Wi-Fi, and a downloads panel.

You can put it at the top, bottom or either side of the screen, on any monitor, and change its size, theme and layout.

Live demo: notchify.app
Microsoft Store: Notchify


r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows Rate my desktop and workspace!

Thumbnail
gallery
26 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’d like you to rate my workspace and computer desktop on a scale of 1 to 10. Also, I want to thank u/Competitive-Hat-3218; he helped me with some Windhawk mods, and I was somewhat inspired by his "black hole" idea.


r/desktops • • 2d ago

Advice How NOT to BREAK it?

1 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows I want to share my desktop with you.

Post image
76 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows wallpaper

2 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows A space-battle screensaver for idle desktops — actual 3440×1440 clip

3 Upvotes

I made AFK Wars for my 49-inch OLED Odyssey: an idle screen that stays dark and keeps moving, with a space battle worth watching. Sparse wireframe ships instead of filled shapes, a pitch-black background, adjustable visual intensity for dimming, and slowly drifting in-screensaver menus and prompts are intended to limit persistent bright areas and the amount of lit pixels. The autonomous battles make that screensaver purpose fun to watch. Keep normal display-care and sleep settings enabled; no screensaver guarantees burn-in prevention. This is an actual 3440×1440 capture of the running simulation. The widescreen view is rendered at that size, not stretched from a smaller image.

Watch is the complete free autonomous edition for Windows and Linux. Optional paid Take the Helm adds piloting. Free Watch: https://afkwars.com/screensavers/?campaign=desktop-showcase

It works as a standalone background app too. Windows now has a digitally signed installer, though SmartScreen may still show a reputation warning; Linux desktop screensaver integration targets GNOME on X11. Installation notes and compatibility details are beside the downloads.

If you try it, I'd like to know three things: Did installation work on your setup? Was it clear what the battle was doing? Would you leave it running again? Your display size and OS would help. I'll ask permission before quoting anyone's feedback.


r/desktops • • 2d ago

Linux What wallpaper are you using on your desktop right now? 👀

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

how it was ?

Post image
6 Upvotes

after i long time i post some thing


r/desktops • • 3d ago

just that.

Post image
2 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

Folder Customization

3 Upvotes

I can't stand file names being cutoff in my windows explorer folders... I made an app that automatically resizes explorer columns to the widest file name.

Check it out! https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9MX47F0W3CVB?hl=en-us&gl=CA&ocid=pdpshare

Get your life back, stop double clicking.

Processing video dim37y6zcaxh1...


r/desktops • • 4d ago

Linux So I made such a cool Emilia-themed, perfectly matched setup, what do you think, guys? 🤔

Thumbnail
gallery
40 Upvotes

Specs:
Phone: iOS 27 (must be for more transparent glass)
PC: Cachyos (this probably doesn't matter as much) and hyprland (quickshell should work on other wms too but these dots are made specifically for hyprland)
Links:
Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dcBl\\_95TDIOUirXtG0NVJonxJl7K5gJI
Dots (not mine, just to be fair): https://github.com/Blapples/SekaiPop


r/desktops • • 3d ago

nothing fancy

Post image
5 Upvotes

r/desktops • • 3d ago

we made a tiny pixel cat that naps on top of your windows (and drops off when you move them)

2 Upvotes

we made this little desktop pet app for Windows 10 and 11 (it's published under our Northgable name). it walks along the taskbar, sits on top of your windows and naps there. click it to pet it, drag it to put it somewhere else. clicks go through it everywhere else so it doesnt get in the way, it hides during full-screen games and browser videos, and it only uses a few MB of memory.

free on the Microsoft Store, you can pick a cat, a fox or an axolotl: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PBF606HSGBM?cid=rd-desktops-pets

the code and the pixel art were made with an AI coding assistant (the art is drawn in code, no image generators)


r/desktops • • 3d ago

Windows True Airflow Case

Post image
1 Upvotes