MacDesk v0.9.0

MacDesk brings macOS desktop-icon behavior to Windows: one relative layout that survives resolution, DPI, and monitor changes — plus the interactions to go with it.

Built end-to-end by Claude (Anthropic). No backend, no telemetry; the only network access is the manual update check on the About page.

Highlights

• One layout, any resolution. Icon positions are stored as resolution-independent anchors (macOS model). Switch 1080p ↔ 4K ↔ anything — the arrangement derives in place and returns byte-identical when you switch back. Resolution changes are seamless: the outgoing instance covers the desktop while its replacement attaches, and icons morph to their new spots. No flash.
• Use Stacks. macOS-style desktop stacks: group by kind, date modified, or size. Closed piles fan out up to three real member icons; expanding turns the pile spot into a collapse button; hover + scroll scrubs through a pile's contents. Spring-out expansion, fade-away collapse. Turning Stacks off restores your exact arrangement.
• Multi-monitor, the macOS way. One desktop window per monitor (mixed DPI handled), icons belong to a monitor, and unplugging one consolidates its icons onto the primary display — without touching their stored positions — until it returns.
• Real desktop interactions. Native shell context menus (isolated from crashing third-party extensions, serialized into the main process to end foreground-war flicker), OLE drag & drop with drag imagery, spring-loaded folders, rubber-band multi-select, inline rename with Tab cycling, clipboard file ops, Finder-style middle-ellipsis labels, undoable clean-up and sorting.
• Wallpaper mirroring per monitor with all six fit modes, following system changes within seconds.
• macOS-style Settings (light/dark aware, incl. the title bar): accent colors, context-menu blacklist with a picker, autostart, native-layout import, manual update check.
• Survives Explorer restarts via a tiny watchdog process (~250 ms re-attach), and starts on boot if you want it to.
• First-run onboarding offers to import your existing desktop arrangement.

Install

1. Download MacDesk-v0.9.0-win-x64.zip below and extract anywhere (e.g. C:\Tools\MacDesk).
2. Run MacDesk.exe --hide-native (hides the native icon layer; MacDesk draws its own).
3. On first run, choose whether to import your current desktop arrangement.
4. Optional: enable Start on boot in MacDesk Settings (right-click the desktop → MacDesk 设置…).

To quit: Ctrl+Alt+Q, or Quit in Settings — the native desktop is restored on exit.

Requirements: Windows 11 (tested on 26200), x64. Self-contained build — no .NET install needed.

Known limitations

• The desktop layer is opaque and repaints the wallpaper itself; live wallpapers (e.g. Wallpaper Engine) can't show through yet — true transparency is the next major item on the roadmap.
• Drag imagery renders at the source monitor's DPI and can look small while crossing a higher-DPI screen (a Windows shell limitation).
• Some third-party context-menu extensions that crash in-process are auto-bypassed; their items appear via fallbacks where possible.