Can mac desktop GUI be radically changed

EDIT: Okay I did some googling and discovered Shapeshifter, software to pimp out a Hackintosh/Mac desktop GUI. This interests me greatly! I attached a few screenshots of some shapeshifter pimped desktop GUIs on a Mac that appeal to me. If I can get a pimped desktop like these, and a 3rd party software program to edit/write ntfs files on my ntfs hard drives (Windows 7 files), and have the great underlying operating system of the Mac OS X (based on unix), I can get really interested in building a Hackintosh!

Can the default Mac GUI / Desktop be radically changed, are there alternative desktop GUI shells available? I am on the fence trying to decide whether to build a Hackintosh. The deciding factor might be the deafult Desktop GUI interface which I really do not like-- gaudy icons, apple icon, mandatory top menu bar.

Currently I am a Windows 7 user, out of necessity, not desire. I think Windows stinks, never ever seems to get better with each version, only gets worse. I am enticed by the Mac OS X operating system because of its underlying structure-- unix/linux (true multitasking, so much more stable, and with a rich command line interface), which I love. I would go with Linux, and have, but the software I own and need to run will not work on Linux, whereas the software does have a Mac OS X version in addition to the Windows version on the discs. When I used Linux, I loved the various desktop GUIs like Gnome, Fluxbox, Enlightenment. So I am wondering if there are hacks or 3rd party (even $$$) software for replacing the default Mac OS X desktop with something radically different.
randall