Windowblinds XP is pretty nice. Im using it on my copy of xp now. Works quite nicely. However i wont start using it regularly until skins get made that actually skin the start menu itself. But i understand why they havent been made yet. Not to many people have XP:)
-DariusX-
(DM): On the hill ahead you see a gazebo (Player): Is it moving? (DM): No. (Player): How big is it? (DM): About 20 feet tall. (Player): I draw my sword and kill the evil gazebo!
I'm using WinXP and have a subscription to Object Desktop.... I must say that the latest beta of WBxp works quite well.... just make windowblinds themes!
I don't see the point of windowblinds XP! why not just make bloody XP themes!! I tried wbxp a few weeks ago and it doesn't work as flawlessly as i had hoped. I don't see why not skin for XP which works better than window blinds (in my opinion). In my experience the xp skinning system (without window blinds) works very well, alot better than wb does...so why mess with a good thing? the only upside to wbXP seems to be that you can use the existing library of great (and not so great) themes. However I believe strongly that you should NEVER sacrifice quality, stability or speed for something such as looks, despite the fact that i am rather fond of skins and such. Bottom line, make XP themes not Window Blinds XP themes (that is if its even possible) and if its not, as Deft said: "the chances that someone will learn to hack it at sometime wouldn't be too low I would guess". Well i'd say its damn likely that it will be done within a few months of the release...just consider, that pirates have already managed to thwart M$'s attempt to stop piracy (activation crap) so why not this?
Please, keep the flaming to a minimum, for the sake of the children :) Thank You
I had no problems installing or running Windowblinds XP b5...sounds like someone has tried earlier (possibly buggy) versions. But since XP hasn't hit the shelves yet there aren't a whole lot of people taking full advantage of what WBXP is capable of.
I do agree with epitek, although I thought stardock developped WindowBlinds XP WITH M$, and that WBXP is actually the skinning engine of the OS... the program stardock offers is only the control panel to change the skins ... that is why the WBXP is so tightly integrated in the "display properties" panel of XP...
But we'll see when XP hits the shelves ...
Music is the language of the heart, the sound of the soul. -Joe Satriani
now to address epitek's point, the reason why they don't make xp themes is because M$ has the internal theme thing closed to the general public.
if they opened it to Stardock, then everyone would hop on the bandwagon, and that can be a bad thing, because xp themes affect more than just the appearence of the windows and metrics, it also affects general interface behaviour, and unless you can manipulate windows applications without the interface, you can have a serious problem.
and in case you people didn't notice, WindowBlinds XP [B]DOES[/B] skin the taskbar, start button and new start menu. there are themes included in the beta that do this, thanks to an extension of the UIS2 format. these settings can be found in a file in the theme's directory called "XPSTUFF.XP". the UIS references this file for taskbar-related stuff, and it is supported in WindowBlinds 3 as well.
you people would moan and groan because like most of the wetern world, we don't like to read the manuals or try to figure out what makes the VCR tick. we just want to stick the tape in and press PLAY.
check WBXP beta 6 for the skin named "Apartment" and use it. i'm sure you'll be quite surprised.
A recent issue of PC Magazine stated that "Windows XP themes are based on open-standard XML", and because of this, "third-party vendors will likely introduce skins for the interface". With XML being the base for the Luna interface, or interfaces in general in XP, I imagine development for new interfaces will be much easier than in the past for Windows. I would keep my eye out for quite a lot of new looks in the near future. Remember, XP is no where near full swing yet, but give it time.
Personally, eventhough I love all the WindowBlinds skins out there, it's still not perfect. I hate that shitty thing it does to menus (make everything like 3D) ... and of the such.
I like the XP interface, although I like resorting back to the "old school" Win2K appearance. I would love to see, however, like the XP theme in an array of colors ... black, orange (copper), god hell no yellow, a BETTER shade of blue, red, etc etc.
The quote: The theme file formats are not public; Microsoft retains the design control for themes, to allow a consistent user interface and ensure design continuity. A theme developer's kit will not be available with Windows XP.
whats the point with xp then ..jesus when will microsoft learn to be more friendlyer to their users and make an open gui. if its a question of stability then they are already behind with it. even the default xp interface causes crashes.
wbxp beta sucks big time...you can't use the custom color option-the menus are fugly and its just not as smooth.i installed it over 2.2 enhanced...is there any way to get rid of it without removing all the 2.2?
There's that product, there's WindowBlindsXP and it seems 545 will make a XP-themeing app too (as spotted in one DevArt forum thread which I still have to read).
Aye, listen up .. especiallllly MVentour (209.94.197.*) .. i found a way to customize ot modify your XP Themes ..
"Resource Tuner 1.90 With Resource Tuner you can view, edit and modify the resources contained within a variety of different PE ("portable executable") file types: EXE, DLL, SYS, MSSTYLES, SCR and more. Support is provided for nearly every type of binary resource. Author: Heaventools Software License: Shareware "
It's a little 'tacky' for dummies but i can tell that i downloaded and installed it 15 minutes ago and allready my Luna.Theme on XP suffered MAJOR alterations (h ahah h ah a) and finaly, i just have my new theme mr. XP like normally.
No i am no genius but yes you can customize your theme this way.
