The Start screen is one of the most controversial aspects of Windows 8 and it is something that many people simply hate. You might think that you would be afforded the chance to make changes and customizations to make it your own, but in fact the built in options are rather limited. Enter Decor8, a low-cost tools from Stardock which enables you to use your own images and colors to personalize the Start screen.

Windows usual offers a reasonable level of customization for most areas of the operating system, but the same cannot be said of the Start screen which places fairly severe limits on the images and colors that can be used in your personalization. Until you install Decor8, that its. With this program installed – it’s currently in beta, but already shaping up well – you can not only use any image  you want as your background image, but also set up multiple images as a slideshow.

Decor8

The images you choose can be used to automatically generate a matching color scheme for other screen elements, but you also have the option of configuring this on a manual basis. Photographers and anyone with a series of holiday snaps will be pleased with the feature that makes it possible to change the background image on a regular basis, but there are also settings available that help to improve the usability of the Start screen.

Changing background images and color schemes is useful, but you can also take control over how tiles are organized in the Start screen. Despite currently being in beta, Decor8 still has a price tag attached to it – albeit a very low one – but there is a trial version available so you can try it out for size.

You can find out more and download a free trial of the app by paying a visit to the Decor8 review page.