So there me was, surfing the web. I came across this neat program, http://www.pioneercode.com/ called Puredesktop. It can replace your wallpaper at different times and hide your icons. Price? $24.95. Sounds like a very lite version of DesktopX.
Then I went and checked out the new Winzip. It's $29.95. It has a lot of features I won't use but then there's ObjectZIP also part of Object Desktop.
A lot of people will rave about Style XP. But they forget that it costs $19.95 and only for 1 year. After 1 year, it may stop working. If a new versoin of XP comes out; see: a service pack; and your year is up no more style xp. WindowBlinds has a lot more features and if you really like .msstyles types of visual styles the new SkinStudio will convert them to WindowBlinds skins.
Then I found Clipmate. A program that will save items you put into your clipboard. Sounds like a less functional version of Keyboard LaunchPad. Clipmate costs $24.95.
Object Desktop seems like a pretty good deal to me!