Windowblinds 5 challenge

Over on Wincustomize, Frogboy mentioned Aqua-Soft in a newsposting today. I think the second paragraph is a challenge to all the talented skinners here.

One of the sites I frequent is called

Aqua-Soft

. It's a site dedicated to helping make Windows look and feel more like MacOS X. One of the things they do, that we don't do, that I wish we did do, is provide nearly daily updates to what's going on on the site. Though for some reason, they almost never link to WinCustomize for downloads. I'm not sure why since there's a lot of content here and we link back automatically. For example, if someone links to this

Quicktime PNG image

then in the referrals area under it it will automatically link back. This way, people who link to us automatically get a link back to them.

Speaking of Mac emulation, with WindowBlinds 5 now supporting per-pixel alpha blended titlebars and borders with buttons on the left, one wonders how long it'll be until someone makes a more authentic MacOS X like skin in which inactive title bars are semi-transparent and the edges are alpha blended with a shadow.

#331839

i dont think thats much of a challenge, but more of a guarantee

#331846

Pah, take it as a challenge! There have been a few really really nice Vista skins using transparency and alpha-blended shadows, but no OS X themes...... yet.

#331849

probably becaues its only been recently when beta 3 was released that left glyphs could be made.. once it's out of beta and all features and bugs have been implemented and figured out, i'm sure we will see the skins.

#331863

To be honest, there's very few good skins/icons/themes on WinCustomize and even fewer those to follow HIG that we OSX emulators love so much.

And one thing worth noting is that WinCustomize is now going through a change limiting downloads for non-subscribers and i'm not sure people from AS would like that ( i know i don't).

But i encourage this though. More good skins/icons/themes makes a better community. I just wish WB worked well on my machine >.<

#331865

And one thing worth noting is that WinCustomize is now going through a change limiting downloads for non-subscribers and i'm not sure people from AS would like that ( i know i don't).

Me neither, but I can understand...from a commercial point of view.

I just wish WB worked well on my machine >.<

Then, wheat are your specs, Unbe? WB 4 and up even worked like charm on my old k6-2 450 mhz rig running windows XP...

#331925

Well I don't see why Wincustomize limiting downloads for non-subscribers would have anything to do with whether Aqua-Soft members are desigining OS X skins. It's not like we are *required* to upload there! (I don't think Bzeitler ever uploaded a single skin to WC.)

I actually won a subscription to Object Desktop in a contest, so I have the betas for WB5 and I am definitely seeing major speed and redrawing improvements. Makes me happy since I don't have much RAM (compared to some people)--512MB.

#331942

WB should work fine on your pc unbe, wb5 no longer has an exe running in the backround. I know a guy with a geforce2 mx440 and he can run the vistaxp theme perfectly.

#331944

i couldnt care less what windows blinds does. It costs money. The one significance about Aqua Soft, is everybody helps everybody. Because everything is free, generally, people try to do their best to gain reputation. Windows blinds, although nice, and other softwares on wincustomize are only there because they earn money.

I love coming online every morning and seeing something i can download. I am yet to release a few things, such as palm skins I have created for ispin, and countless backgrounds. Truthfully, im a little scared im not good enough.

I think linking back to wincustomize would be bad for Aqua Soft. And in regards to windows blinds, correct. There are few good skins. Who needs windows blinds when you can have an AWESOME skin run free of processses through visual styles? which might I add look better than anything. (check out "i-Bar" skin. Its reallly nice

I love ranting, but yea.

Cheers, LAJV

#331949

This isnt a bash windowblinds thread... and if you had read my post, wb no longer runs off an exe which means it basicly does the same thing as a visual style now.

#331950

oh and ps, visual styles work on any computer. (hopefully that has windows xp running fine on it). My computer has 512 mb too, and everything runs as smooth as lino floor.

LAJV - lukevink.com

#331951

Oh by the way, non-subscribers to Wincustomize could get out of the 50MB download restriction by contributing to Wincustomize (artwork, icons/themes, wallpapers, etc) and or helping out on the message boards.

Also, current customers who have bought a Stardock product do not have any download limits for that application and have a 100MB download limit otherwise. Past but not active customers have a 500MB download limit for the application they purchased and a 50MB limit otherwise.

I am not thrilled with WC going somewhat pay-per but I do think their tiered system is quite fair. (link for reference: http://www.wincustomize.com/Forums.aspx?Fo...ID=90929#706217)

And, regardless, this all still has nothing to do with what people on Aqua-Soft are designing themes for.

Windowblinds can now do everything we were wishing for: alpha-blended shadows, anti-aliased corners, left-aligned buttons, transparency. I'm just saying that I'm looking forward to see what Aqua-Soft can come up with.

#331952

i couldnt care less what windows blinds does. It costs money.

My computer has 512MB, a Geforce 4 graphics card and Windowblinds 5 runs absolutely perfectly and faster than msstyles even when I am using transparency and shadows.

Please don't turn this into a bash WB thread since you said yourself that you simply don't like it because you have to pay for it! So what? You have to pay for Styler too. I don't see you bashing them. *rolls eyes*

#331953

When is the single version of windowblinds 5 coming out....does anyone know?

#331966

I believe before the next year, so a month at the most I would say.

#331974

Though for some reason, they almost never link to WinCustomize for downloads.

Is he referring to newsposts, or [link] threads? If he's talking about newsposts, we're not going to link to external sites for news...the only time we would ever do that is probably on a Brasgalla/Lanham/etc. icon set :slant:.

'Course, if he's talking about threads, that's out of my control.

-NC

#332081

Is he referring to newsposts, or [link] threads? If he's talking about newsposts, we're not going to link to external sites for news...the only time we would ever do that is probably on a Brasgalla/Lanham/etc. icon set :slant:.
'Course, if he's talking about threads, that's out of my control.
-NC

No he means when you post about new skins/themes/releases. The link is almost always to deviantART or possibly the author's personal webpage, but a lot of the time, especially for WB themes and even for a lot of icons, the file is available on Wincustomize too.

#332084

I've been wondering why there haven't been any OSX skins using the per-pixel alpha blending feature in WB. Hopefully we'll see one soon.

I can just picture it now: an OSX WB skin and StylerToolbar. 1:1 OSX emulation!

#332088

When is the single version of windowblinds 5 coming out....does anyone know?

WB 5 release date: November 29th

I can just picture it now: an OSX WB skin and StylerToolbar. 1:1 OSX emulation!

1:1 os X emulation?

Ehhm...no.

Not quite by far. Mimic the GUi to some extend

(although without all the cool animation effects, no hardware acceleration and such), but that's about it.

Emulating os X would only be possible through PearPC (even better would be the real thing AKA os X Tiger x86 but that's only available for developpers, or isn't it ... ).

#333639

Ive been trying out alpha blending. Got a pic.

The top is without, bottem is with...

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/7351/image5yx.jpg

#333681

windowblinds eats a lot of resources and it is really not so satysfying in terms of emulating, if this is a proper word, the osx environment. this is however my personal experience so don't take it for granted. cheers. i actually unistalled windowblinds, happy to see 15 mgb off my memory packs and some 15 grams less of dust on my fans. cheers again to everyone here

#333706

Eats up alot of resources? Have you been following its development? It doesnt even have resources running in the background. No .exe, no nothing.

WB 4.6 doesnt use 15mb of memory. Your lucky to see it peak over 2mb, and thats with per application.

#333708

well, following developments and really tackling with it in real, these are two different things. i am really sorry to say it does eat. and my environment more stable, and my cpu less hot, really. well, it depends on everyone of us, i suppose. cheers

#333712

ohh, jesus, just look in your task manager.

#333715

My friend can run beta 5 on his pc and he said it actually runs smoother, wile using the vistaxp skin. He uses a geforce 2 mx440.... that isnt exactly the pinnacle of videocards if you know what i mean...

I dont see a difference. Mainly because Ive got 2gb of ram in my pc, but im sure people with 512mb of ram will see a big improvement.

#333717