WindowBlinds 4 generally available
Tuesday, April 15, 2003 by Stardock Central | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Stardock releases WindowBlinds 4Windows XP gets skinned
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Canton MI – Stardock released WindowBlinds 4 shareware today. WindowBlinds is a program that extends the Windows user interface to be fully “skinnable”. Once installed, users can change their title bars, scrollbars, push buttons, Start bar, and virtually every other aspect of the Windows GUI using “visual styles” that the user can make or download from the Internet.
By default, Windows XP includes the new “Windows XP visual style”. WindowBlinds 4 extends Windows XP to support enhanced visual styles. There are thousands of enhanced visual styles available on websites such as WinCustomize.com.
New features in WindowBlinds 4 over the previous version include:
• Skinning of the Windows command prompt window.
• Enhanced Performance. It Incorporates a new graphics acceleration technology called “Smart Painting” making it nearly as fast as running just “Classic” Windows.
• WindowBlinds can now stylize virtually every part of the Windows GUI such as the task panes, the Control Panel background, logoff dialogs, and much more.
• Increased compatibility. Using the new compatibility APIs in Windows XP, WindowBlinds 4 can work even with the most non-standard of programs seamlessly.
• WindowBlinds can now control the size of the Windows start bar. Users who want a thinner or fatter Windows XP start bar now have that option.
• A new configuration program that makes switching between visual styles easier and faster than ever.
• Dozens of small changes to make creating new kinds of visual styles easier, making the program faster and more compatible on a wide range of configurations.
These features add to the list of enhancements WindowBlinds adds to Windows XP, such as being able to change the color of visual styles on the fly, setting a visual style on a per application basis, making use of hardware acceleration. WindowBlinds has a skin format flexible enough to create visual styles that can emulate the general look and feel of any operating system and virtually any GUI imaginable. These and many other features have made WindowBlinds the world’s most popular desktop enhancement program.
WindowBlinds 4 is currently available exclusively for Windows XP. Version 4 for Windows 98, ME, and 2000 is expected this summer. There is a free download of it at http://www.windowblinds.net.
The information guide to it is available at http://www.windowblinds.net/wb4.
WindowBlinds costs $19.95 to register. Users can also purchase Object Desktop, Stardock’s suite of desktop enhancements which includes WindowBlinds and a host of other programs for $49.95 at http://www.objectdesktop.com.
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About Stardock (www.stardock.com)
Stardock Corporation is a Midwestern software developer that specializes in creating software that extends the feature set of Microsoft Windows. Its software is used by corporations, individual consumers, and movie studios to create Windows desktops that are personalized to specific uses. WindowBlinds has an installed base of nearly 7 million users and is one of the top 20 most popular programs on Download.com of all time. Companies that have licensed WindowBlinds for their own needs include Microsoft, Nintendo, nVidia, Touchstone Pictures and Bell South.
Rage Machine
Reply #2 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:11 PM
Reply #2 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:11 PM
Try again. I took the following snippet from the Windowblinds page.
Download from CNET
Version 4.0 (Currently XP-only)
Windows 98/ME/2000 users can download WindowBlinds 3.5. Version 4 for these platforms will be available later this year.
Download from CNET
Version 4.0 (Currently XP-only)
Windows 98/ME/2000 users can download WindowBlinds 3.5. Version 4 for these platforms will be available later this year.
Arckon
Reply #3 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:48 PM
Reply #3 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:48 PM
I wish WindowBlinds would load skins from a zip or other compressed file instead of having to extract all of the files from archive to a folder in \WindowBlinds
Surj
Reply #4 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 9:14 PM
Reply #4 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 9:14 PM
i dont understand Brent, who cares if it makes a folder in the wb directory. Its faster this way and even sets up the folders for you
Arckon
Reply #6 Wednesday, April 16, 2003 1:00 AM
Reply #6 Wednesday, April 16, 2003 1:00 AM
I just wish it would do something like winamp and extract the files to a temp folder when they are used.
GreenReaper
Reply #7 Wednesday, April 16, 2003 1:41 AM
Reply #7 Wednesday, April 16, 2003 1:41 AM
Trouble with that is it adds to the time taken to apply a skin. Some WB themes can be up to 5Mb with all the shellstyle stuff. It'd be nice though - I have close to 300 WB skins installed, and they do take up a bit. Maybe a skin cache?
Randahl
Reply #8 Wednesday, April 16, 2003 4:56 PM
I wish they would get it out for 2k. 
I really want to play! >
Oh well, I know it will be good and maybe this is a good reason to install xp-pro onto the laptop?
Will think about it!
Reply #8 Wednesday, April 16, 2003 4:56 PM
I wish they would get it out for 2k. 
I really want to play! >
Oh well, I know it will be good and maybe this is a good reason to install xp-pro onto the laptop?
Will think about it!
Graypony
Reply #9 Thursday, April 17, 2003 11:53 AM
Reply #9 Thursday, April 17, 2003 11:53 AM
Well, all I can say is I've been using WB since 1.babysteps (or something like that) and I love it, can't look at the screen without it!
Joe E
Reply #10 Thursday, April 17, 2003 4:44 PM
Reply #10 Thursday, April 17, 2003 4:44 PM
Is it me or Windowblinds 4 is slow?? Till i updated to 4 i could zip thru the selctins being offered.
Till i updated to 4 i could zip thru the selctins being offered.
Frogboy
Reply #11 Thursday, April 17, 2003 5:04 PM
Reply #11 Thursday, April 17, 2003 5:04 PM
WindowBlinds is not related to the speed or lack of speed of WinCustomize's skin libraries.
GreenReaper
Reply #12 Thursday, April 17, 2003 6:54 PM
Reply #12 Thursday, April 17, 2003 6:54 PM
Perhaps he meant the skin previews? WB4 shows the whole border now rather than just the titlebar in WBConfig, which might be the problem.
pixElated
Reply #13 Friday, April 18, 2003 3:30 PM
Reply #13 Friday, April 18, 2003 3:30 PM
I love the new Windowblinds configuration window, especially the user overrides for font types and sizes, and the size of the taskbar. It's so easy to make everything legible now.
Regarding Brent's suggestion:
I have downloaded 540 skins which take up 215 MB.
I have about 270 skins installed, which takes up an additional 470 MB - not that much by today's standards.
Regarding Brent's suggestion:
I have downloaded 540 skins which take up 215 MB.
I have about 270 skins installed, which takes up an additional 470 MB - not that much by today's standards.
danioc
Reply #14 Sunday, April 20, 2003 11:39 AM
Reply #14 Sunday, April 20, 2003 11:39 AM
i just can say.............the version 4 is ECXELLENT. 
songman
Reply #15 Monday, April 21, 2003 11:42 PM
Reply #15 Monday, April 21, 2003 11:42 PM
I do find WB4 to be faster and an overall better product. I use the shareware version. However, unless I'm just missing something obvious, I don't seem to be able to make the desktop icons have a transparent background under the text. I really prefer that look. What gives?
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Reply #1 Tuesday, April 15, 2003 7:24 PM
*WindowBlinds 3 only. Version 4 for Win98/ME/2K coming soon.