Aero Enabler

Aero is normally not available on Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Basic. Furthermore there is an internal hardware check which only allows Aero to run on a system if passed.
This tool can enable Aero for you and additionally disable the hardware check if required.

NOTE for Home Basic users: Enabling the Aero feature does not mean that transparency will be enabled. Only Aero taskbar thumbnails and maybe some other features may be enabled by this utility. There is no way to enable transparency on Windows Home Basic.

Windows Gadget Plus

Best desktop gadgets for your Windows XP/7/8 sidebar. Free download and easy to install. Calendar, weather gadgets, any kind of clocks and much more.

Oceanis Background Changer

By default the Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic editions do not include the Personalization features such as change desktop background and Desktop Slideshow.

By default, the Windows 7 Home Basic edition will only allow you to change the desktop background by right clicking on a image and clicking on Set as desktop background.