Aqua-Soft Forumslooks like a great thread for aero-soft.com
I Have A Way To Make Windows Look Like Aero Glass
Hmm... seeing as the thread was created before Aero-soft was open... I defintley think that Duckie deserves a SHUT THE FCUK UP!
I'm leaving this post an example of something that will get you IP banned from the site forever.
What, you thought we were kidding?
Member banned. Post left to warn others.
Deadzombie
Originally posted by Duckie@Sep 8 2004, 09:59 PMAttn Mods:
Please leave the post before this one as an example to other members.
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Action: Posting hateful, insulting, or threatening comments to another member via any means, even those outside of Aqua-Soft.Result: Instant, permanent IP ban.
<_< Already following the rules Mr. Josh? Just playin...just playin...
// Lou
Duckie should read the dates of threads before he trys to take it upon himself to ridicule people here. I would have no problem with it if I saw it one thread but in all the Aero releated threads is kind of too much.
Originally posted by XJOSHATTACKX+Sep 9 2004, 12:32 AM-->QUOTE(XJOSHATTACKX @ Sep 9 2004, 12:32 AM)Duckie should read the dates of threads...<{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Please stick to the topic, ok? Or go to Aero-Soft.com 
I had another idea before: to make an app that works like Yz Shadow but it doesn't create shadows. It would do gradual transparency on the window skin itself. In other words: make the skin transparent.
I really love the so-called Aero Glass skin what we can see on DZ's desktop (the png skin for AveIconBook, etc). I hope it'll be work on the future Longhorn UI (or better when Avalon will be ported to XP).
szia Xer0 
We just need Frogboy to get Windowblinds to support PNG's for the window graphics in WindowBlinds and this would be easy 
Originally posted by Septimus@Sep 9 2004, 01:23 PMWe just need Frogboy to get Windowblinds to support PNG's for the window graphics in WindowBlinds and this would be easy
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Unfortunetaly it's not possible at all.. I'm so sorry but that's the truth.
Just look at DZ's desktop, there are the AveApps that uses transparent PNGs but it's not possible to use this kind of skin on ALL windows 
It's so smooth, so beautiful. Look at the rounded corners (not as pixelish like the ugly aquathemes and lunathemes, etc).
That's what i call the real Aero Glass. I dream about it for 3 years now
Excuse me for being so excited about it
I believe it should be possible
Windowblinds is Stardocks own skinning engine, and only reliant on hooks in Windows. Stardock should be able to add support for any format to the engine.
Whether it's worth it is another thing.
I'd like to hear from Brad on this, maybe he can shed some light.
I've asked hundreds of developers through the past several years and i know it's not possible on Windows yet. Because GDI doesn't support per-pixel transparency. But i wish you were right (even if it would be slow as hell with GDI).
It'll work in Avalon but that's different i think.
Originally posted by Krezno@Sep 4 2004, 04:40 AMI'm creating a skin for NeXplorer to go along with stefanka's IconBook skin
you can see it in my latest d-top. It's still a WIP though.
http://www.dumbassjones.com/images/d-top/desktop.jpg
Post Edited.
Don't post huge images inline.
Please limit inline images to 500px wide by 375px high.
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Stevie BM
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That's quite like it.
Does that mean we need to use NeXplorer to get the glass effect?
Question: what is a WIP?
windowfx attaches black and white images (or better put: windows but you cant see them, only the image) to current window borders. you know this if you ever made a windowfx shadow. the black and white images are read by windowfx as simillar to photoshop reading alpha channels, meaning white is shown and black is not shown and viceversa (windowfx case). so if i make a black and white image sayin for example: shinter, in black text on white background and save it as bmp, set is as left shadow for windowfx the text will be displayed. the image gets displayed. white is ignored and every shade after the white color is shown, meaning all shades of gray to black. every other color u put in the image will also be ignored or shown as black(cant remeber corectly). that is how windowfx works.
now the application to do the same effect (a sort of an extension to windowblinds or xp themes) would have to use the same principle. 4 windows that attach to normal windows displaying either a 32bit bmp with an alpha channel or a png. an ignore list and a per app list in the application would be a must. the skinners could then make the themes for windowblinds and xp while ignoring the borders of it and instead doing the borders in that "edge enhancing" application we are talkin about. simply put think of it as 4 avedesk widgets that stick to the borders of windows explorer all the time.
something like this:
it is posiblle in theory but im not so sure about the posibillity of it in practice. i'll leave that question to the developers to ponder over since i know zero about programing.
i've been using this principle with mixin my wb skins and wfx shadows for a while now but am limited to black-gray :/
heres a simple concept showing what i've been doin:
i also used the windowfx offset shadow feature to achive better round corners.
a prefect example of this is my finder wb skin and wfx theme i released a while back.
Originally posted by sen@Sep 9 2004, 12:30 PMUnfortunetaly it's not possible at all.. I'm so sorry but that's the truth.
Just look at DZ's desktop, there are the AveApps that uses transparent PNGs but it's not possible to use this kind of skin on ALL windows
It's so smooth, so beautiful. Look at the rounded corners (not as pixelish like the ugly aquathemes and lunathemes, etc).
That's what i call the real Aero Glass. I dream about it for 3 years now
Excuse me for being so excited about it
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Actually, you're quite wrong. Frogboy stated yesterday that if the demand was high enough, this is something that they could EASILY implimented in Windowblinds. Check the front page of Wincustomize, the announcement of Aero-Soft news item. His statement is in the replies to that story.
Sounds to me that this group needs to send Frogboy some love mail!
I've never seen any comments from Frogboy about this issue before.
The most valuable information for WindowBlinds users was this answer in their faq:
http://www.stardock.com/support/support.asp?product=7
Originally posted by WBFAQ+-->QUOTE(WBFAQ)How do I get per-pixel alpha blending to work?OK. Firstly, this will not currently work on window borders and is not available for all skin sections. Per-pixel alpha blending only works when using 32-bit uncompressed TGA files, with the alpha information stored in the 8 bits of alpha (save the mask to an alpha channel) – this gives you 256 levels of translucency, from 0 (black, totally transparent) to 255 (white, opaque).
You must add Trans=1 and PerPixel=1 to each section you wish to have blended, and specify the TGA file rather than the normal BMP file. There are separate attributes for check and radio boxes - CheckPerPixel and RadioPerPixel in the [buttons] section.
Now it sounds different
That was with the current skinning engine, they just need to update. I say just, it will be a huge coding effort I'm sure, but I'd like to see it done
It must be possible cause SKINNING (epspecially like windowblinds) doesn`t need to play the rules of the micorosoft GUI...
Come on programmers... HERE's A BIG DEMAND... PLEEEEEEAAAASE 
And by the way... Admins... could you move this topic to aero-soft... that woudl be the FIRST REAAAAAAALLLLLY overbreaking thread...
Greets
Angryman
Did not the Y'z shadow already do it for us?
See here, using the y'z shadow.
bigger one:
http://jp.y42.briefcase.yahoo.co.jp/bc/ljh...&.hires=t&jpls=
No. Implementing this feature would result not only in longhornish themes. I think that it would be very good for aqua skins. It would broaden skinning possibilities in general. So if anyone finds a solution, don't hesitate to post here too
Of course it would be a revolution for the Aqua themes. But i'm really really surprised that it wasn't a key problem here on Aqua-Soft in the past years.
Maybe Stardock could "easily" implement it to WB and we didn't ask for it?
I always tried to know this problem but a lot of developers told me it was not possible.
Interview with Stardock's Brad Wardell
Is it possible to emulate the longhorn glass transparency with WindowsFX?Brad says:
Yea, not really in WindowsFX presently. We've thought about that sort of thing with WindowBlinds 5 - where the skinner could create alpha blended (semi transparent) borders.
Maarten says:
that would be really cool, I take it that would be done with 32bit bmp's or png's?
Brad says:
Yea.
8 bits for the alpha channel.
It's interesting because the current version of WB is 4.3.
Now guess when they release v5.0! (Just kiddin)
But I really would like to know why it's possible now and wasn't possible before.
Hey, current version of WB is 4.4 :D:D
It's not possible now. In WB 4.4 you can use only bmps for window borders (which means 1bit transparency - 'magic pink') and as Brian said, in WB 5 they will add support for pngs for window borders. Let's just wait for updates
Originally posted by Pe8er@Sep 14 2004, 04:46 PMHey, current version of WB is 4.4
It's not possible now.
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OK. OK.
You know what i meant. Brad wrote it could be possible. Of course not now immediately..
Maybe WB enhanced is 4.4 (isn't it a Beta software yet?) but on the stardock website the current version is 4.3. And i read here that "By end of Fall we expect to have WindowBlinds 4.5".
What do you think? When will v5.0 out? In 2006?