Rainmeter is a lightweight application for customizing the Windows desktop. Rainmeter works by installing “masks” created by the community, many of which can change the way the desktop works with widgets such as application launchers, RSS and email readers, calendars, weather reports, and more.
It has been in circulation since Windows XP, where it was used as a tool to display basic information about the desktop, but since then it has acquired a large community that has produced high-quality skinsthat can change the desktop experience complete.
How to install rainmeter
Rainmeter is an open-source program that can be downloaded from its official website. If you want the latest updates, you can also create it from the source code of your Github repository.
Rainmeter can also be installed in a portable way, but this is not recommended. The standard installation works perfectly.
The installation is simple, but make sure that “Start Rainmeter on startup” is selected, otherwise it will have to be restarted manually after a reboot.
After installing rainmeter you should see new things on your desktop, showing new things like disk and CPU usage. This is the default Rainmeter mask.
To access the Rainmeter settings, right-click one of the masks and click “Manage Masks”. A window will appear listing all the installed masks. By clicking on “Active Masks”, you can manage them indi
You can change the location and settings of each mask. If you do not want it to be draggable, deselect “Trace” and click “Click”. This will also disable the context menu, but fortunately, Rainmeter adds an icon to the Windows toolbar, which also allows access to the menu.
Finding and installation of Rainmeter skins
The default Rainmeter mask is useful but quite boring. There are many sites to display Rainmeter masks, including DeviantArt, Customize.org, and the Rainmeter subreddit. The “Top – All-Time” classification of Subreddit shows some of the best patterns and masks. The masks of these sites can be downloaded, mixed and combined at your choice. To know about best rainmeters skins and customizations, check out rainmeter skins and themes.
To install a skin, double-click the .rmskin file. The Rainmeter window will appear, allowing you to install and activate the mask. For some masks, there are many features. If you do not want to load everything at the same time, clear the “Load included skins” checkbox and Rainmeter will simply add them to your masks list.
Tweaks in Rainmeter
Rainmeter allows an incredible amount of customization. If you want to get your hands dirty with the code behind the skins, it’s not too complex. Right-click on a mask and press “Edit skin”, which will display a configuration file with many variable definitions.
For example, if you want to change the color of the outer edge of this watch, you can change the values of the variable that controls it. Most skins have comments in the configuration file, so it’s easy to know what controls what.
Rainmeter alternatives
If you are on Mac or Linux, unfortunately, you have no luck, because there is no Rainmeter compilation for OS X or Linux. For Mac users, there is Geektool, which performs many of the same basic functions as displaying desktop information and some basic widgets, although no large community follows it, so the mask options are limited.
Geektool is also limited. much more oriented towards people familiar with the command line because it runs almost completely in bash scripts.
Final Words
So here is how to install and customize rainmeter based on your choices. We have given step by step installation with pictures for clear understanding. We hope this article helps.