WindowBlinds 3 - RC2 publicly available for all!
Thursday, November 8, 2001 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
The first all version of WindowBlinds 3 (Release candidate, still a beta) that runs on all versions of Windows is now available at www.windowblinds.net.Let us know if you have ANY PROBLEMS.
Specifically:
1) WindowBlinds 3 should feel significantly faster than WindowBlinds 2.2
2) WindowBlinds 3 should work a lot better on Windows 98/ME/2000 than 2.2
3) WindowBlinds 3 should use significantly less memory than 2.2
Additionally, it is much more closely integrated with Windows 98/ME/2000. On Windows XP, it's totally integrated (it's native on XP) and should be faster and FEEL faster than Luna (Windows XP style). It already uses less memory (about a megabyte and that's with the theme service still on which is not necessary if you stick with WB skins).
There are also a ton of cool new features in version 3. This is definitely the biggest upgrade we've ever done. We want to run RC2 through its paces and assuming all goes well, release v3 next week officially.
Here is a link to the new WB3 guide:
https://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/wb3/wb3_guide_final.htm
WindowBlinds 3, like Quicktime and other programs comes in its "free" shareware form where it'll work forever and it's enhanced form which has a ton of additional features.
Here is a link to the benefits:
https://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/benefits/benefits.html
Note to shareware users:
Because WindowBlinds is designed based on the framework in Windows XP, you'll find that on Windows 98/ME/2000 that things are a little different than they were with 2.2. Not quite as mnay things are skinned. We designated specific applications as "Theme aware" apps (XP users know what I mean but suffice to say, most apps are not theme aware). These apps are fully skinned other than the scrollbar which we don't skin on any platform in the shareware version (the enhanced version does). Non theme aware apps still have their title bars skinned (like on XP). The enhanced version will skin everything. And even on Windows XP, the enhanced version will skin non-theme aware apps fully. Which is a bit ironic because if you want Windows XP to look like Windows XP completely you need WindowBlinds 3 with a Windows XP skin
.Again though, if you run into ANY problems, please let us know. If you don't find this version to be faster on XP than XP style itself, let us know (obviously on a complex skin it won't be as fast, we do not violate the laws of thermaldynamics at this company - presently). If you run 32bit color, be wary of overdoing it with Hyperpaint because it can actually be a major hog on performance because the overhead in transferring data to your video card memory exceeds any potential benefit.
But for Win98/ME/2000 this version SHOULD be the best, most stable, more relaible, fastest, easiest to use version of WindowBlinds ever made. Let us know if you aren't finding this to be the case.
Information we'll need:
CPU speed
Color depth
Video card and driver version if possible
Apps being used
Skin used
And as much specifics as you can get. We need your help on this. Screenshots in the .binaries are are a godsend. Mephisto's screenshot of a problem he had with AOL's IM allowed us to quickly address this issue.
Aschell
Reply #2 Friday, November 9, 2001 12:29 PM
Reply #2 Friday, November 9, 2001 12:29 PM
Could the guide be posted as a zip somewhere? I can't seem to get a decent printout.
I can load the file fine in IE, but when I print, several of the images are missing. I can't seem
to load the file in Netscape 4.7, I keep getting a network connection reset message. If I can
save it locally, then I may be able to print it properly. Thanks.
PS: I LOVE WB3. It's come a long way, even during the month it's been available on ODNT!
I can load the file fine in IE, but when I print, several of the images are missing. I can't seem
to load the file in Netscape 4.7, I keep getting a network connection reset message. If I can
save it locally, then I may be able to print it properly. Thanks.
PS: I LOVE WB3. It's come a long way, even during the month it's been available on ODNT!
_Martin_
Reply #4 Saturday, November 10, 2001 3:32 AM
Reply #4 Saturday, November 10, 2001 3:32 AM
I would also like to say I have had no issues since using RC2 - it's awesome! One thing that I noticed has particularly improved with this build is the speed of skin preview and application.
Good job guys.
Good job guys.
bmetelsky
Reply #5 Tuesday, November 13, 2001 1:05 AM
Reply #5 Tuesday, November 13, 2001 1:05 AM
So far it's running great on my 733MHz Win2000 Pro machine!! Can't wait to try it with XP. One question - why doesn't it skin the buttons on internet explorer?
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Reply #1 Friday, November 9, 2001 2:45 AM