Current Opinions on WindowBlinds

Have used this app off and on but right now not using it. Just wanting to know what do some of you think of th elatest Windwoblinds? Why are you using it and why would you not use it. Thanks.

Gary

 

i use it becuase its more powerful than the visual styles. the Vista skin i loaded on my XP machine looks spectacular and theres no noticeable performance hit.

 

Have they improved the text in the newer versions? One of the reasons I quit using it was that, even though the graphics and colors were pretty awsome, the menu texts were oftentimes almost unreadable. Either that or it was so small I could barely make out what it said. If it has improved in that area I might try it again.

 

For the most part I don't experience any difficulty with the text. That said, fonts differ from one skin to another and not all will suit you - even then a Windowblind™ isn't written in stone. You can always tweak features if you're the sort of person that likes to play. This can be done the old fashioned way with a text editor - or with an additional program such as SkinStudio (free version available). you also have the option to exclude programs if they don't suit skinning.

If you are running an older system with less powerful graphics, then the newer WB5 skins with per pixel alpha blending might not be for you - a lot of newer skins offer backwards compatible options tho'.

Here's a link to a search that contains a few threads about graphic cards & WB5.
Wincustomize.com: Graphics cards & WB5

PS. Note the difference between a blind & a suite - a blind will skin the basic shell, a suite may add icons, cursor, progress animations etc and need additional software to take full advantage. If you do start getting sucked in - it pays to keep everything tidy from the start. Stardock does offer loads of free, trustworthy and containable products, but it and Wincustomize also offer a much wider canvas - if you like your stuff lean & mean, take things a step at a time.

 

I have more fun hacking the OS and doing the actual artwork than replacing the shell

http://i14.tinypic.com/404kmx3.jpg
click to enlarge

W2K Dual 21" Desktop 2560x1024 nView w\ Ultramon
MenuApp (free floating menus)
Samurize (CPU% Memory% Histograms Temperature Graph vertical meter left edge)
DeskColor (Icon background and type matching)
Advanced Color Edit (now ghostware)
tclock
QCD
Media Player Classic
Custom Icons (trigger floating menus)
wallpaper IC wafer probe test rig (reassembled from formfactor.com)
w\ dozens of hacks from VirtualPlastic.net
had it running flawlessly on a 1.2GHz w\ 1GB PC2100
(multiple instances of Samurize to eliminate overhead impact by adjusting the projects sample rates of performance monitors, only one instance is shown)


and the one before that

http://i11.tinypic.com/2cwpt8n.jpg
click to enlarge

Im currently developing a suite of meters for Samurize
Kp5 (Kontrol Phreak Five) and a complete Icon replacement scheme
along with a few hacked W2K replacement DLLs, and normal bitmaps
here is an old (partially done) wallpaper I'll be reworking for the theme

http://i10.tinypic.com/4dpnnsh.jpg
click to enlarge (3200x1200)

I appreciate the stability of the W2K shell
combined with the fact I lock down IE so it serves only automatic updates and webview
Im able to build some pretty impressive interfaces with really lean OS installs (ripped down with PCLite\nLite)
that run on much older hardware and still have performance left to encode multitask ect
As mentioned very limited alphablending, employ more png32 transperancy as needed

 

well i stopped using it the otherday when it kept on crashing explorer but that was when i had the other ram errors.
so i might start using it again after ive had enough of the zune theme from ms.
lodore