It's understandable that ancient skins that are almost two decades old are not and likely will not be supported by the current version of Windowblinds. It's surprising the skin mostly works anyway. Maybe the problem has something to do with older skins not having artwork for newer UI elements, and perhaps WB or affected applications terminate as a result?
Regardless, if Windowblinds can be in an error state in which it prevents applications from launching, that is a bug which should be addressed. I'm not suggesting Stardock develops code to make ancient skins work. Rather, the error should be handled in a way that is more easily discoverable to the user. When handling this error, Windowblinds could:
- Not skin the program at all.
- Apply a "default" skin if the current user skin fails to draw for a given window.
- Draw the ancient user skin, but ensure the program launches, without drawing the skin correctly.
- (Misaligned art, transparent holes in the program window due to missing art, etc.)
- Display an error message.
I'm sure this error handling is easier said than done. Maybe WB somehow monitors launched programs to ensure they don't crash on launch, then try handling the error on the next launch using one of these four suggestions if the first launch is unsuccessful.
Just a thought.
