hello.

all over the web ive herd differnt stories on this software. It is 100X more advanced then styleXp will ever be. StyleXP is just an extension of the built in features of xp. windowsblinds5 totally give ur pc a new look and feel.

the only thing differnt about style xp is that it takes virtually no ram, but WB is a monster! eats up everything.

HOWEVER, i herd that the new WindowsBlinds5Enhanced does not take any ram because it integregates itself into the os setup files or something...ican recall the xaact feature...but they stated on different forums that the new one takes no or very minimal ram. somewhere else i herd that since this is v5 it would take more because of added features.

what is the ACTUAL story here? i was hoping some of the ppl here who use this would answer my question.


thx everyone! cheers, statix1

I actually use the program, very useful. It actually used up less memory than the defualt xp theme or with custom visual styles, since you can take off the themes service with WindowBlinds and still have it running. WindowBlinds 5, after you disable the themes service and enable Hyperpaint takes up less ram then StyleXP or the Uxtheme.dll hack ever will.

Your right. It is a monster compared to StyleXP. But doesn't eat up memory at all. It's very good overall. I also have an old video card (Geforce2 MX400) and everything runs pretty smooth on glass themes. The only problem I noticed was when I'm playing a video (WMP) and move another window at the same. It totally kills whatever I'm watching. Maybe that's cuz of my low system specs.

[Thread Moved from Customizing Windows XP to WindowBlinds]

I like more how WB4 loads. I dont like the idea that WB loads at the boot (hanging with winlogon process, etc). It lags sometimes, sometimes slowdown my whole system, sometimes the transparencies works really bad or doesnt work at all, sometimes the engine 'hangs', when you have a lot of windows open everythings slow down a lot and you have to unload WB5, after an intense use WB5 cant handle correctly the themes, etc, etc.
I think with WB4 and WindowFX you can have (somehow) WB5.
Looks great when the only thing you do is browse and chat, but nothing more (aka just a few process running). When you are at work, you really, really note the difference, work with it and with WB5 unloaded. It uses memory (despite that the developers (?) and many users say the oppocite), a lot of memory (check how many dll are open on every process or just check how many memory (virtual and real) a process uses with and without WB loaded).
Trust me, its a nightmare when you are working...

And yes, I pay for it, and I dont regret. Its just for screening only. Nothing more

Style XP takes more ram than Windowblinds. It not only uses the windows engine but it runs itself because it patches uxtheme.dll in ram. Use the uxtheme.dll patcher to patch the file on your disk instead of Style XP. Windowblinds uses less ram than the windows engine and you can disable the windows engine if you're using windowblinds.

I have used a patched uxtheme.dll for years and I now I use Windowblinds. After using Windowblinds for a few months I can safely say that I cannot tell the difference between it and patched uxtheme.dll, except the great skin i'm using (foton). Even with an alpha blended skin like vistaxp I cannot notice any difference in performance.

Try to disable overlay playback. That should fix the problem I think

I used it for about 3 weeks, then got fed up at the limited amount of quality themes, and changed back to UxTheme.
Sure, the tansparent themes are great, but there are only about 2 worth looking at. And most of the themes available do not suit my tastes. So yeah, I do believe it works much better than windows built-in theme app (and uxtheme), but there's not enough content for me

thx everyone for the great responses.

but i noticed somethign different. i used to use WindowsBlinds4 and i thought it took more ram and resoruces. is this an improvement in WB5?

and second. I use StyleXp just to organize my themes and stuff i dont have the service or the actual theme running in the background. would this still take up ram ? if so how can i remove it? just uninstall.

WB5 doesn't always have wbload.exe running in background, only when you apply a theme, so of course it uses less RAM.

Rumors even say that it is more efficient than uxtheme (msstyles)

Also, StyleXP always loads the UXtheme hack in background, under a different name, so even if you only use it to organize your themes, it eats memory.

yeah but i disabled it from running at startup.

if i dont want it to run in the backround at all, secretly...and i if i uninstall it would it solve the problem.

also what if i USE a WB Theme and run WB5 inteh background. i want to know what effects will it have on my pc.

thx

You do know that you can convert msstyle to Windowblinds themes right?
Just get the shareware version of SkinStudio and it will import themes on the fly.

I'm using an imported version of Luna Element 4 and it's flawless. I even used SkinStudio to import the scroll bars from Luna Elemnet 5 to make my own mod. You don't need to be a skinner to mess with SkinStudio, you can import individual parts of themes and mix and match them.

I don't work for Stardock, but I'm a loyal customer and Object Desktop subscriber.




If you have a halfway decent computer you won't notice the Windowblinds running. As many people have said before, Windowblinds is more efficient than MS's own themeing engine. So if you use Windowblinds and disable MS theme service, your comp will run faster.

How do I disable the MS theme service?

Start>>Control Panel>>Administrative Tools>>Services

Scroll down to Themes>>Right Click>>Properties>>Stop then disable.

I have 512 mb ram, barton 2800+ and 9800pro... while moving or resizing windows it drops down to 15-20 fps... it is fine, but default windows rendering is smoother in my case...

You do realize, though, that if you disable the Windows Theme Service, you won't be able to use msstyles/StyleXP. (duh)

Themes are going to take up more RAM than no-Themes because an extra program is needed to run and use the theme! Trying to use themes and then disable/delete the process that themes Windows is like installing your graphics card drives when you first set it up and then deleting them because you don't want them running in the background.

Whats the use of using msstyles with WindowBlinds 5? You just need to pick up the free copy of SkinStudio and you can port them in two seconds.

I can never get a msstyle to look good in WB....actually, haven't tried since early 4.x, not even sure if I can remember how to do it...

soo....if i disable themes...then load WB5 and use WB5 Themes then it would be better on ram? and system resources?

spex:
512MB Ram
P43.0 Ghz HT
250 Gig Maxtor 7200RPM

you can just double click on the msstyle file if you have skin studio installed and it should start importing. and btw, most msstyle files look fine, atleast to me.

Oh yeah, @ statix1, yup, it will definetely be a lot lighter.

Yes, because only one theme engine will be running (WB) rather than two.

no i ment is it better than running ONLY msstyles.

What exactly is the problem? Your machine can handle both VSs and WBs without a problem. Try each of them and then decide for yourself what's better...

Here's a question:
Does WindowFX's option "Accelerate alpha blending" cause trouble with window blinds 5? (i'm not actively using it)
Because, when dragging larger windows, they tend to slow down, and then snap about 50 pixels after... same happens when using glass2k or winroll's transparency...
What's bugging me is that my CPU doesnt go above 50% the whole time...
I am using 9800pro with the latest omega drivers, barton2800+, 512 ddr, and from background services im using RKlauncher, konfabulator, and winroll...

Stardock has said that the current release of WindowFX is known to have problems in certain cases with WB5, so you might be seeing that

hi all, great thread and i had something to add:
1. WindowsFX is not compatible with WB5, as stated on the screen after I had tried installing (and after crashing my system!)
2. I am using WindowsFX and WB 4.5, and I am wondering if it's worth the upgrade? What function do I gain or loose going to WB5? I like the current install of WB 4.5 Enhanced and WindowFX 2.11 Enhanced. I exspecially like the Lighting effects for windowblinds that FX provides. BUT>>>
3. There is one funtion that I can't get to work in WindowsFX, and that's to maximize a window to a precise pixel size and XY location. The screens always maximize at the default, no matter what the settings. Arg...
So, will WindowBlinds 5 help any of this? Reduce memory from my current install, etc,? If so, I might try again!

Also, what is the correct procedure for installing WB when you have another version installed? I think that was a problem the first time. Wbload vs. WBsysrv vs WBsys or something like that in the stardock common directory....

thanks!!!
jigs

What is WB5 Enchenced...
AFAIK there just WB5 Shareware and WB5 (When paid)

WB5 is well worth the $19.99 in my experience. The only thing I am irritated by is the lack of transparent, glassy skins that are pleasing enough to enjoy day in and day out!

HA! After a reinstall taking care to remove all the windowblinds 4.5 things (reg entry for wbsys.dll) WB5 installed and seems to work with WindowsFX, so far....



Yes, sometimes stardock calls paid products enhanced, they probally call them other things as well, as they are not very consistent - with ANYTHING!

worth the money on this one though...
jigs

for me the problem is not WB5 sloness, it's quite fast here, & i don't find any difference

1) but Windows Blind 4.6 & 5 slows down app launch for me a lot

2) WB5 doesn't skins a lot of things for me, like Photoshop MDI buttons, & system tray tooltip "close" icon

XP SP2 clean install
9800 Pro 128 MB (Cat. v5.12)
1024 MB RAM
Athlon 64 3000+

WB5 takes up more resources than a patched uxtheme.dll in my machine. Stressing the engine a little bit by using up/moving many open explorer windows clearly slows down my system. I don't have any problem with visual styles. Processor usage of explorer.exe and svchost.exe (if i remember well) is higher with WB5 installed.
Also, some elements such as windows inside opera wont get skinned giving ugly results; some applications get choppy and unresponsive after some time, forcing me to unload the skinning engine or reboot in the worst case..
I don't like the fact that the developers try to "hide" the engine usage by using the OS internal processes/modules to do the "dirty work". people who says that no resources are used are lying themselves, its a WHOLE OS skinning engine with real time transparencies so something has to do the massive calculations required to render the interface in realtime, specially under stressing situations.
Sure it looks pretty but for now visual styles satisfies all my eye candy needs while performing solidly and reliably

Marlboro23, I can honestly say that I have no idea what you are talking about. My system is in my sig, and under WB5, I can feel a load off the computer literally. When moving things around, nothing happens, still works fine. And I'm not lying to myself, I happen to notice a big change from the uxtheme.dll patch to WB5. Nothing is becoming unresponsive nor choppy, and maybe it's just the skin if not all the windows aren't skinned? Don't jump to conclusions and say that "Oh yeah, people that are saying that it takes up less resources are lying to themselves," as I take offense to that.

I don't notice anything being faster or slower than the patched uxtheme on my machine. The only problem I had was when I remotely connected once, and then it seemed to hang until I reinitialized WB, but it seemed like a freak thing.

yes, it's also true here, no performace gain or loss ... by upgrading from 4.5 to 5. And WB5 does seem to work with FX 2.11 despite the stardock disclaimer. to the person awhile back not being able to skin photoshop, well, i have excluded the entire cs2 package from blinds, as the skins do strange things to the interface, and that's annoying as i live in cs2. but all in all, it's a cool product despite all the stardock quirks...for example, has anyone else noticed that when you open the Objectdoc configure dialog, and click edit dock, the dock edit screen pops up and then immediatly goes behind the first dialog? i get that a lot with other apps too, window behavior is bad and unpredictable. Also, another strange thing is that some apps get all hung up when launced from an objectdoc/rightclick systray. Also also, after i use the configure tool in WB, and close the window, my top doc (set to always be on top) goes away. it's strange things like this that i put up with cause stardock products are so useful. I think i have it all loaded except the keyboard shortcut thingee, and i like the effect. My machine is a fast P4 with 2 gig memory, so maybe that's why i see no performance gains....good luck,
jigs

Windowblinds 5 doesn't seem to fully work with FX2.11. However, FX2.89 has been released and all but window drag transparency works with WB5 now.