is there any advantage of WB over windows xp?

[Tuffgong4]

so if you install WB do you have to disable the windows theme service or is it done for you?

[nomis_nehc]

god i hate how uneducated people flaunt their opinion to misguide the n00bs.

[+unabatedshagie Subscriber¹]

so if you install WB do you have to disable the windows theme service or is it done for you?

584890212[/snapback]

You have to disable it yourself.

IMO it would be better if when you installed windowblinds the theme service got disabled automatically.

[Pas]

yes, it would be better if the themese service was disabled automatically for users who use windowblinds exclusively but some people want to use msstyles and wb on the same machine. for those individuals, turning off the themes service would be a disservice. can you see the angry posts? "wtf!! stardock turned thing soff so that i can't use my msstyles. it's back to the hack for me". luckily, i use wb exclusively :)

[forster]

Its only appropriate to buy WindowsBlinds if its themes appeal to you. Dont buy it just because you want to try it for a while, then delete, research it first and see if there are actually any themes that you want to use.

You should also check whether any themes that you do like have normal themes for Windows (useable via uxtheme.dll cracking).

Personally, I find Windowsblinds just desktop clutter, all the WB themes that I like are ports from Windows visual styles, so I dont see the point in it.

[Island Dog]

I have been using WB for a long time with no problems. There are so many skins t choose from no matter what style you like.

[c242]

all the WB themes that I like are ports from Windows visual styles, so I dont see the point in it.

More skinned elements if You have a decent ported theme ? See Pas' ports for example or Brewmans skins. Also people should take into consideration that the Windows XP skinning engine is quite old and was never updated. Window Blinds is in constant development and it is really amazing what has been done yet. And people can actually take part in development by using the newsgroups for example while StyleXP or the hack are still limited to what the XP engine can do.

Edited November 10, 2004 by c242

[Inplode]

To put it simply, no.  In fact there are many disadvantages to WB, mem hog, messy themes, cluttered app.  Just to name a few.  Stick with a uxtheme patch

584885029[/snapback]

get the facts before u speak since wb 4.0 its never been better and with every patch release its gets better an better to the point where i havent patched my .dll and i only use windowblinds now on all my pcs

[Valkyre]

I love my WindowBlinds. True, a lot of the themes for it are bloated and ugly, and msstyle converts aren't done correctly or enhanced to take advantage of the skinning engine's capibility, but there are a few diamonds in the rough out there. Working with SkinStudio is far much more rewarding than StyleBuilder, from my experience.

A lot of people argue the point that WindowBlinds costs $20 to register, however they also forget that in effect they payed $200-$400 for the msstyles when they bought Windows XP. (Leading me to believe that most people who use that defense never bought XP in the first place)

And WB used to take up a lot of memory. The maximum it ever takes on my system now (4.4) is 1MB or under. I've actually seen it take no more than 300kb before.

[greenreaper]

I love my WindowBlinds. True, a lot of the themes for it are bloated and ugly, and msstyle converts aren't done correctly or enhanced to take advantage of the skinning engine's capibility, but there are a few diamonds in the rough out there. Working with SkinStudio is far much more rewarding than StyleBuilder, from my experience.

584983074[/snapback]

If you can suggest ways in which SkinStudio could automatically make skins use certain features of the skinning engine, that would be a great addition to SS. Some of the ports are good, but there are few enough people doing ports out there that many do not get converted (and sadly this is often due to porters being considered a "second-class" of skinner, which I believe to be part of the problem - if it's not respected, then why ruin your reputation by taking on a port? :-p)