Aston 1.9 released
Friday, October 3, 2003 by Gladiators | Discussion: WinCustomize News
New version of Aston now available.Aston fully replaces standard Windows Desktop and delivers a host of new features.
It's nice and easy to work on a computer with Aston installed. Aston doesn't require a powerful and expensive machine. With Aston your system is much more stable. Small footprint in RAM and few processor resources yield higher performance.
Features:
- Nice looking, easy-to-change interface.
- Skins for all elements.
- Detailed setup of any element.
- Simple visual configuration. (No need to deal with complicated *.cfg files.)
- Toolbars of any size with plenty of levels.
- Any size & shape icons, can be animated.
- Plug-ins, also Litestep's.
- Hotkeys.
- Shell Swapper.
- Install & Uninstall.
- And much more...
Besides, Aston contains all elements of default Windows shell:
Desktop, Taskbar, System Tray, Main Menu, etc...
Aston is based on completely original code and it is not a clone of
any other shell. Its code is highly optimized by speed and size.
What's new in version 1.9?
+ support for PNG and alpha blending (not only in 2K/XP).
+ support for 32 bit icons with alpha channel.
* taskbar border is removed (with disabled Autohide and enabled Lock taskbar option).
* taskbar icons in Windows XP now have transparent background.
+ "native" shadows for text in Windows XP (optional).
* fixed bug with reading ANK files.
* fixed bug with drag'n'drop to the Quick launch plugin.
+ better support for multimedia keyboards.
+ improved autorun for CD/DVD in Windows 2K/XP, new autorun.plg plugin for Windows NT/9X/ME.
+ autostart is disabled while booting in safe mode.
* improved work of context menu in the Main menu plugin.
+ new options for the notebook.plg:
Print & PageSetup commands;
user can set an icon for toolbar item.
* fixed display/configuration bugs in the vert/top panel plugins.
+ new analog clock plugin with numerous advanced features like layered
display, date display, new antialiased hands, shadows, "ghost mode",
etc... (read plugin's documentation for more info).
Theme Wizard:
+ Themes are now sorted by names.
+ Current Theme is highlighted.
* Fixed bug with adding fonts.
+ AltDesk skin can be saved within Themes now.
Aston Master:
* fixed bug with negative coordinates in the plugin settings.
+ tooltips for all elements.
+ new features to save/load settings and skins of any standalone plugin.
hangar-8
Reply #3 Sunday, October 5, 2003 9:26 AM
Reply #3 Sunday, October 5, 2003 9:26 AM
Tried it and personally don't like it. Running Win2k it 'might' be an option but on XP, it's nothing I can't do with .msstyles and being a little creative with icons and their positioning. Windows FX would allow 48x48 icons on the desktop (but I don't have any icons on my desktop so.. ::shrug:: eg: http://www.h-eight.com/temp/screen.jpg)
Big Doug
Reply #4 Monday, October 6, 2003 12:41 PM
Reply #4 Monday, October 6, 2003 12:41 PM
Good deal. I've been a satisfied customer of Gladiators Software for a long time. It just gets better and better. Thanks go to our comrades in Russia for such a great product !
Consumed Crustacean
Reply #6 Monday, October 6, 2003 1:38 PM
Reply #6 Monday, October 6, 2003 1:38 PM
Some of the themes are nasty (like any skinnable program), there's some good ones but they all feel clumsy to work with. That's just my opinion of course.
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Reply #1 Sunday, October 5, 2003 2:14 AM