Windowblinds 6 beta is available via SDC

[#Michael]

Well if you have an objectdesktop subscription, fire up SDC and go grab it. And if you don't well then it's time to buy it.

Also if you own WB5.x I think within the last couple of months then you have access to the 6.0 betas.

It's got so many new features for both XP and Vista.

[IceBreakerG]

That's pretty cool that you can change the Vista Sidebar. I may look into this later on.

[DigitalE]

Sweet... I might have to buy Object Desktop now!

[NienorGT]

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

[SkyyPunk Veteran]

oooo interesting

[martin10018]

Is Skinstudio 6 available as well?

Got a ss from the new Molten skin?

[em3]

I'll have to see more beta screenshots if I'm gonna be convinced to buy this. :p One thing I noticed in the alpha screenshots was that the captionbar text rendering was really bad on transparent captionbars. Did they fix this in the beta?

[Island Dog]

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 August 2, 2007 by Island Dog

[NienorGT]

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/

[Island Dog]

Some more screenshots.

[NienorGT]

btw, I think that blur on XP with WB6 use less CPU than Aero, what you think Dog?

[WoodyTang]

Wb is really good. I am using it.

[huskerpat]

sweet. I added transparent borders to LE 5.1 black. :woot:

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

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?

[NienorGT]

Yes, and the skin really don't go nice with the start menu, but I think it's just a proof of concept.

[Echilon]

Where can we actually download this? Stardock central won't show me the beta version.

[Island Dog]

Where can we actually download this? Stardock central won't show me the beta version.

Make sure Stardock Central updates itself to the last version. Also, make sure you have "show pre-release" versions checked. :)

[Danrarbc]

btw, I think that blur on XP with WB6 use less CPU than Aero, what you think Dog?

Isn't Aero's blur all GPU anyway? As in a pixel-shaded effect?

[Island Dog]

Video Demo is up showing the Molten animation, and a few other features.

Check out the direct video link here: WB6 Beta Preview Video

:)

[Xenomorph]

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?

[NienorGT]

Here is Xenomorph back with his WB crapping up thinking that the themes make the program.

[PermaSt0ne]

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:

[troist]

wow, i really like the way you can make .msstyles transparent. i wasn't actually interested at all in that video until i saw a transparent luna element :p i might actually consider buying the final version of WB6 then.

[LOC Veteran]

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.

[Island Dog]

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