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WindowBlinds 4 is now available to download. It's currently only available on Windows XP. WindowBlinds is a program that extends Windows XP to support enhanced visual styles.

Version 4 is tightly integrated into Windows XP and takes advantage of new APIs that allow for increased performance and hardware acceleration. It is significantly faster than the included Windows XP visual style mechanism and uses less memory thanks to low level optimization with Windows XP.

It also skins a lot of new controls, comes with a new configuration program, and the enhanced version can even skin the Windows command prompt.

Download: WindowBlinds 4 @ windowblinds.net

Windows XP gets skinned

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Canton MI – Stardock announced WindowBlinds 4 today. WindowBlinds is a program that extends the Windows user interface to be fully “skinnable”. Once installed, users can change their title bars, scrollbars, push buttons, Start bar, and virtually every other aspect of the Windows GUI using “visual styles” that the user can make or download from the Internet.

By default, Windows XP includes the new “Windows XP visual style”. WindowBlinds 4 extends Windows XP to support enhanced visual styles. There are thousands of enhanced visual styles available on websites such as WinCustomize.com.
New features in WindowBlinds 4 over the previous version include:

• Skinning of the Windows command prompt window.
  
• Enhanced Performance. It Incorporates a new graphics acceleration technology called “Smart Painting” making it nearly as fast as running just “Classic” Windows.
  
• WindowBlinds can now stylize virtually every part of the Windows GUI such as the task panes, the Control Panel background, logoff dialogs, and much more.
  
• Increased compatibility. Using the new compatibility APIs in Windows XP, WindowBlinds 4 can work even with the most non-
  standard of programs seamlessly.
  
• WindowBlinds can now control the size of the Windows start bar. Users who want a thinner or fatter Windows XP start bar now have that option.
  
• A new configuration program that makes switching between visual styles easier and faster than ever.
  
• Dozens of small changes to make creating new kinds of visual styles easier, making the program faster and more compatible on a wide range of configurations.

These features add to the list of enhancements WindowBlinds adds to Windows XP, such as being able to change the color of visual styles on the fly, setting a visual style on a per application basis, making use of hardware acceleration. WindowBlinds has a skin format flexible enough to create visual styles that can emulate the general look and feel of any operating system and virtually any GUI imaginable. These and many other features have made WindowBlinds the world’s most popular desktop enhancement program.
WindowBlinds 4 is currently available exclusively for Windows XP. Version 4 for Windows 98, ME, and 2000 is expected this summer.

There is a free download of it at http://www.windowblinds.net.

The information guide to it is available at http://www.windowblinds.net/wb4.

WindowBlinds costs $19.95 to register. Users can also purchase Object Desktop, Stardock’s suite of desktop enhancements which includes WindowBlinds and a host of other programs for $49.95 at http://www.objectdesktop.com.