Recommended Posts

Good god, that is awesome, I'm re-installing Vista and XP next week, can't wait to see that in action!

[Please note WindowBlinds 5.90+ releases require existing versions of WindowBlinds to be 
uninstalled and Stardock Central 2.46 Build 154 or later to install.] 

WindowBlinds 5.90 beta 
------------------------------- 
[Refresh - turned off a debug file on vista and refreshed Molten skin for XP a bit] 
-Initial beta release for 6.0. 

WindowBlinds 6 is packed with new features. Many new features have been added for both Windows XP and Vista users. Check out the 

? WindowBlinds now has Blur support in title bars in Windows XP (addionally on the menus on Windows Vista) 
? WindowBlinds now supports all many of the new Windows Vista User Interface elements so that skins can change these sections (including sidebar skinning)! Other examples are IE navigation arrows, IE tabs, start menu shutdown/lock buttons, etc. 
? The Start Menu now supports animation on both Windows XP and Vista! The new Molten skin has been included with the BETA to show off this ?hot? new feature. 
? WindowBlinds now has category filtering when viewing skins to apply. Users with many skins can now filter by the category assigned to the skin (for example Holiday, OS, Computers, Sports, etc.) 
? Wallpaper can now be filtered by tags (keywords) such as Light/Dark, Animals, Plants, etc.) Allowing the user to quickly find wallpaper that will match their chosen skin. 
? Support for a random skin selection when applying a new skin. 
? Users can now recolor a skin and save that setting on a per skin basis. (For example changing blues to reds.) 
? In addition, WindowBlinds now supports ?Advanced HSL Coloring?. Users can choose a single color to change instead re-coloring the entire skin 
? A Vista-izeTM me function which sets some defaults to have a more vista like look 
? Explorer background bitmaps can now be included as part of the skin, 
? And many more features? 

More features list: 
WindowBlinds now has the ability to? 
? Edit the system colors from WindowBlinds 
? Change skin fonts from WindowBlinds 
? Control transparency and blur on start menu, menus, taskbar & window frames. Has some limitations on XP 
? Save all skin changes as presets 
? Edit a sidebar skin from within WindowBlinds 
? Alter the mouse over animation speed 
? Alter the default button pulsing speed 
? Handle skin upgrades in an improved fashion 
? Use the Aero frames with the rest of the skin

Is Skinstudio 6 available as well?

Got a ss from the new Molten skin?

SkinStudio 6 beta should be up in the next week or so. I will get some screenshots up soon as well. :)

For those who have the beta, the WindowBlinds 6 beta feedback thread is here.

Link

Edited by Island Dog

WB6 is PURE OWNAGE!!! PERFECT option for people not liking Vista but still like Aero.

Here a shot of Molten (TBH the skin sucks, because it's a mix of an old popular skin (forgot the name) with a new freaking cool animated start menu. The animation is mind blowing) and the two other new skins Diamond and Leo, both are really nice as well!

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/61240127/

Molten is basically a brown version of the Chaninja style from a while back, whilst I loved the Chaninja skin, brown doesnt really do it for me, though I have to admit the start bar and the animation at the top is awesome :p

Just wondering if its the same in XP?

there are some annoying issues with WindowBlinds.

first, it doesnt add functionality to the Windows skinning engine, it replaces it. it's a little annoying to have it unload the Windows skinning engine - changing things to a "classic" look, and then load the WindowBlinds engine, then load the skin. When you go back to a native Windows theme, it has to unload the WindowBlinds engine - changing things back to a "classic" look, then load the Windows skinning engine and then the theme you selected.

second, those talented enough to make a WindowBlinds skin seem to enjoy making the most ugly, horrid interfaces known to man.

there are VERY few WindowBlinds skins that are totally usable and pleasant to look at. a lot of the people who make a Vista-looking skin for XP put crap in like fake Start Menus that have fake Search boxes. they don't function, but the skin designer thinks its cool to have the XP Start Menu look identical to Vista. why do they do this?

there are some annoying issues with WindowBlinds.

first, it doesnt add functionality to the Windows skinning engine, it replaces it. it's a little annoying to have it unload the Windows skinning engine - changing things to a "classic" look, and then load the WindowBlinds engine, then load the skin. When you go back to a native Windows theme, it has to unload the WindowBlinds engine - changing things back to a "classic" look, then load the Windows skinning engine and then the theme you selected.

second, those talented enough to make a WindowBlinds skin seem to enjoy making the most ugly, horrid interfaces known to man.

there are VERY few WindowBlinds skins that are totally usable and pleasant to look at. a lot of the people who make a Vista-looking skin for XP put crap in like fake Start Menus that have fake Search boxes. they don't function, but the skin designer thinks its cool to have the XP Start Menu look identical to Vista. why do they do this?

that's because the WB engine is faster, more streamlined than the default windows one. modifying windows would only cause issues

as for the skins.....maybe you just suck at finding skins? authors make winxp look like vista because, *SHOCK*, they like the look of vista but don't want to deal with driver and compatibility issues it still has.

i've found many skins that are fully functional and i love the way they look. if you don't' like any of the skins, heres a thought: make one yourself. that's what Skin Studio is for :rolleyes:

there are VERY few WindowBlinds skins that are totally usable and pleasant to look at

In your opinion maybe. There are a wide variety of skins for WB that can fit all kinds of styles whether you like bulky, industrial type skins, or maybe just minimal skins with minimal transparency. I would be happy to list links to all my favorite "usable" skins, but I really don't think it would help much.

first, it doesnt add functionality to the Windows skinning engine, it replaces it.

What "functionality" do you want?

Bleh, uninstalled WB5, installed WB6, and now WB6 doesn't work at all. Windows, themes, icons, etc nothing is skinned, its all like XP Classic now. Nothing seems to work to get it working. Bleh.

Make sure you have the latest version of Stardock Central installed, then uninstall and reinstall again. If you still have issues please report it to the WB6 feedback thread.

http://forums.wincustomize.com/?forumid=16...=159218&p=5

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Surprise Execs are dumb. I hope the rehired engineers said were not coming back until we get 2x our salary.
    • Ford execs say they made a mistake when they replaced human engineers with AI by David Uzondu Ford recently announced that over the last three years, it's had to rehire about 350 "gray beard" engineers to mentor younger staff and reprogram diagnostic systems and AI tools that were failing to meet up to quality expectations. The company's VP of vehicle hardware engineering, Charles **** said that leaders overlooked the deep experience of veterans who survived many product cycles. **** admitted that simply replacing them with AI was a huge mistake, and that while AI is "a fantastic tool," it remains "only as good as the information you use to train it." The rehired engineers now run mandatory meetings to troubleshoot vehicles and reprogram automated engineering software and AI tools to prevent glitches before production. These technical specialists hunt for failure points before parts ever reach the plant floor, helping prevent the massive recalls and defects that previously cost the company billions as it aims to cut one billion dollars in expenses this year. In last year's JD Power Quality Survey, an annual study that measures the quality of a car during the first three months of ownership, Ford finished 10th among mainstream brands and scored below the industry average. But this year, JD Power ranked the automaker as the top mainstream brand, placing it above the likes of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ford attributed this massive improvement directly to the expertise of these returned engineers. Ford's realization that AI cannot magically design and test quality vehicles without senior human oversight is just the tip of the iceberg. When Careerminds looked at companies that conducted AI-driven layoffs, researchers found out that 35.6% of those companies had to rehire more than half of the employees they previously fired. Another 32.7% had to rehire between 25% and 50% of them. In 2024, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, proudly announced that its new chatbot was doing the work of 700 full-time customer service agents. As a result, the fintech company froze hiring and cut hundreds of positions. But by mid 2025, and into 2026, Klarna was scrambling to recruit human agents again because customer satisfaction had plummeted. It turns out, while AI is very good at answering basic questions like how to check an account balance, when faced with complex customer issues that require nuance, the thing usually resorts to the unhelpful, robotic corporate jargon we all know and love.
    • Free AI in IDEs is shifting to paid models Or you know, you could just learn to actually design and code apps, use frameworks to handle the repetitive parts and not use AI at all - and voila... free for life!
    • In a sane world US antitrust laws wouldn't even allow these companies to be in the position to be subjected to EU directives. As you say, better than oligarch nothing.
    • Apple reportedly has a second-generation iPhone Fold planned for 2027 Good grief, Apple hasn't even released a first folding phone and the Apple faithful is already obsessing over the sequel? Seriously people, go out and touch grass... because this level of obsession is borderline stalkery/neurotic.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Enthusiast
      Xonos went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      405
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      169
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      129
    4. 4
      neufuse
      69
    5. 5
      Xenon
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!