Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2419

The advantages for skin authors of WindowBlinds skins

Here are some advantages of WindowBlinds visual styles from a skinner's point of view...

#1 Super minimalistic or super crazy skins.

WindowBlinds skins can have borders and title bars of any size or shape. It's relatively free form. You can make a skin with 1 pixel borders and a title bar that's only a few pixels in height.

#2 Additional buttons and other features.

WindowBlinds visual styles support adding more title bar buttons such as roll-up, always on top buttons, minimize to system tray, MP3 controls, program launching, clocks, and pretty much anything else you can reasonably fit in that area.

#3 16.8 million colors to choose from in.

Any visual style you download can have its color changed. Did the author make a skin that comes only in blue? No problem, just change its color from the appearance tab or in the WindowBlinds skin choosing dialog:

user posted image

#4 WindowBlinds visual styles can skin non-theme aware apps automatically.

99% of programs can be skinned. Microsoft took the safer route and only skins apps that are explicitly theme aware. WindowBlinds gives the user the choice (i.e. a program option to skin everything or only theme aware programs).

Windows XP by default (before)
WindowBlinds running (after)

This also includes the command prompt:

user posted image

#5 Multiple OS support.
WindowBlinds visual styles run on Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP. They will also run on "Longhorn" (msstyles are not likely to work on Longhorn).

#6 SkinStudio.
SkinStudio 4 is nearly complete and it will make creating skins easier than ever. You can put together your own library of GUI parts and then import them into your skins to more quickly assemble a new visual style. No having to deal with the tedium of recreating group boxes or patching Shellstyles.DLL.

#7 Does not require distributing someone else's DLL
WindowBlinds visual styles are self contained. They're actually all in a directory of bitmaps and a text file to tell the OS what to do with them. You don't have to patch a Shellstyle.dll and distribute it with your skin to get the task panel to be skinned, it's all together in one place.

#8 More credit to skin authors
WindowBlinds visual styles contain the name of the author and display them in the appearance dialog on Windows as well as in the WB skin chooser. This ensures that peoople know who made the skin they're using which helps reduce "ripping" problems.

#9 Skins more aspects of the Windows GUI
WindowBlinds 4 skins the Windows XP logon/logoff screen, the background of the Control Panel, dialog backgrounds, the "please wait" screen, and other parts of Windows XP giving your visual style a more "complete" look.

#10 Free copies of WindowBlinds / SkinStudio to skinners
Stardock has a long history of giving out free copies of its software to skin authors who share their skins with others on the various skin sites. So if you've created skins for WindowBlinds and uploaded them, Stardock will generally provide you with a free copy of WindowBlinds and SkinStudio SE.

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adni18

Join Date 05/2001

+70

#6 SkinStudio.
SkinStudio 4 is nearly complete and it will make creating skins easier than ever. You can put together your own library of GUI parts and then import them into your skins to more quickly assemble a new visual style. No having to deal with the tedium of recreating group boxes or patching Shellstyles.DLL.

Everytime a new version of SkinStudio comes out,
most or maybe ALL the WB authors are feeling like beginners,
can this ever stop?
Great programs, are making updates too, (Photoshop, Office, etc),
but we never feel like begginers with each new version,
we just enjoy the plus options on them,
this is not happening with SkinStudio though,
we have to try from the beggining to find where is this or where is that!
As you can understand, this makes our (skinning) lifes very difficult

Making a difficult program easier, some times the result can be opposite for the authors.
Only those authors that will start tommorow skinning, will be benefited,
but what about the next version?

I always wanted to say that, but I never have the change

Don't take me wrong, I am only trying to help you see another point of view.
[Message Edited]

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I.R. Brainiac

Join Date 05/2003

+281

Frogboy ...in my case your preaching to the converted.I'm looking forward to a new version of SS.The current version can be pretty frustrating at times.As far as free versions for skinners go I didnt have a problem with purchasing SS XP,it came bundled with WB4.However it is very problematic to update(I had a lot of problems with it because WB's sits in the SS folder and when I tried to update I lost every skin I had dl'd .)They should install to separate folders AND be capable of separate updates.As it is now ,I can update SS but not WB's.Plus SS didnt seem to update,it still showed the same version afterward..Still think it is a generous move tho to offer free copies.

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#10 Free copies of WindowBlinds / SkinStudio to skinners Stardock has a long history of giving out free copies of its software to skin authors who share their skins with others on the various skin sites. So if you've created skins for WindowBlinds and uploaded them, Stardock will generally provide you with a free copy of WindowBlinds and SkinStudio SE.

Cool! How does that work?

I also wanted to know what is the difference between SkinStudio XP and other SkinStudio's (like SkinStudio SE)?

Does SS XP make winamp skins as well as windows media player? What about Music Match juke box?

Can I skin all windowblinds with SS XP not just WB XP/2000?

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I.R. Brainiac

Join Date 05/2003

+281

Stardock told me the only difference between SS and SS XP was that SS XP would only run on XP.

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