Why cant we make WindowBlind like themes ?

[Naveen_Reloaded]

hi guys

I have been using nearly all themes created by users here ...

I ahve to say they are doing such a Beautiful job... but my question is ... Why arent we able to make themes which can compete with windowblinds... thier themes rock ??

where are we lagging ???

I hope this thread will clear up any doubts and can provide tips for theme creators to better thier themes to next level...

All the best guys ..

All your themes Rock !! no denial !!

[Ambroos]

Windowblinds uses it's own theme engine, and can style way more UI elements than you can with Msstyles. If you do full system patches (all sorts of dll's) you can do almost as much as WindowBlinds, but still in a way less convenient way.

[Naveen_Reloaded]

so is there any theme here that does to extent windowblind does ... ??/

coz recently i saw a theme from them showing a dragon on top of start menu ... it was awesome...

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

so is there any theme here that does to extent windowblind does ... ??/

coz recently i saw a theme from them showing a dragon on top of start menu ... it was awesome...

Not as visual style. If you want to use WindowBlinds themes, buy the software.

[geoken]

so is there any theme here that does to extent windowblind does ... ??/

coz recently i saw a theme from them showing a dragon on top of start menu ... it was awesome...

Can you link to the theme?

[NienorGT]

WindowBlinds is far ahead of what you can do in a Msstyle. There is no way to get similar stuff without it.

Can you link to the theme?

http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?ski...libid=1&c=1

The Dragon is actually animated...

[HawkMan]

Unfortunately or WB, all the talented themers with any sense of style and design, seem to like just making visual styles, while all the peopel with no design, color matching or style clue whatsoever make WB themes, usually way overdone with huge everythings.

YEah, WB themes have a few nuggets hidden here and there, but they're usually made by the few themes who do both VS and WB, and they know not to use the garish overdone WB Extras and other crap, and their themes are available just as good as simple visual styles.

[ikonizer]

I myself used to put up some amazing skins for msstyles and WindowBlinds back in the day, and I'm trying to be as modest as I can here. The problem is the sheer scope of completely designing a skin and replacing every little last element in Windows. Skinning just a control button for example, requires 5 or 6 images just to make a single element.

Skinning takes time, patience, and above all, creativity. Most people just don't have those requirements. I myself lost the first two a while back, it's just too time consuming and all the problems you run into just kills your motavation.

[Rudy]

i find that most WB skin designers try too hard to use all the features of WB, most skins are big and clunky (look at that awful dragon skin that was posted :x)

[ryokurin]

i find that most WB skin designers try too hard to use all the features of WB, most skins are big and clunky (look at that awful dragon skin that was posted :x)

I know what you are saying, but to be fair that skin was meant to be a tech demo just to show that animations are now possible so you have to cut it a little slack.

[Rudy]

I know what you are saying, but to be fair that skin was meant to be a tech demo just to show that animations are now possible so you have to cut it a little slack.

I can understand that but unless things have changed (it's been a while since I looked at WB skins), the skins are really busy and it's hard to find nice simple and easy to use skins

[simonlang]

i think the big euphoria is gone. i remember back in 2001 when xp came out, the next 2 years there came a lot of visual styles, many very impressive and nice. same with windowblinds.

i did some vs myself too, but basically, as some already said, its a lot of work and sometimes too much work :rolleyes:

[DigitalE]

Another plus is that you can use SkinStudio to convert plain old XP .msstyle skins, and then use them on Vista with WindowBlinds :)

[Mercellus]

WindowBlinds isn't actually as bad as it used to be (back in the days of Windows 98 where it became quite popular); it doesn't use as much memory and it allows you to conveniently theme Windows without patching system files or modifying other resources in the operating system, which could be overwritten by an update or a service pack.

One thing that I find with a lot of visual styles is that there are a lot of inconsistencies and oddities, I usually wind up sticking with the default theme or using Windows Classic.

[Island Dog]

The "WindowBlinds skins are clunky" argument is just about as bad as the "WindowBlinds uses tons of resources" label that several horses have tragically been beaten to death by.

I can go through so many Vista .msstyles that are nothing but recolored Aero or some other mod and compare them to the "clunky" skins. Both side have good and bad skins, but I don't think people take the time to look for WindowBlinds skins that are very nice and well designed.

To answer the original question, Vista and XP .msstyles are limited in what they can do, simple as that. WindowBlinds doesn't have those limitations and is constantly being updated with new features.

;)