question: Win98SE and WindowBlinds
Saturday, May 25, 2002 by moshi | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
hi,
i tried WindowBlinds in the past and it was really a mess on my computer, using a huge amount of resources and making my whole system unstable (was pretty buggy also when switching themes).
i think what the software does is great and i heard that the latest version should be much lighter on resources now. i would like to try it again, but i doubt that it really improved under Win98SE.
so before i install new software on my system i would like to hear if anybody uses WindowBlinds under Win98SE and to get some opinions. is it really resource friendlier, faster and does it run without problems?
i tried WindowBlinds in the past and it was really a mess on my computer, using a huge amount of resources and making my whole system unstable (was pretty buggy also when switching themes).
i think what the software does is great and i heard that the latest version should be much lighter on resources now. i would like to try it again, but i doubt that it really improved under Win98SE.
so before i install new software on my system i would like to hear if anybody uses WindowBlinds under Win98SE and to get some opinions. is it really resource friendlier, faster and does it run without problems?
moshi
Reply #2 Saturday, May 25, 2002 3:20 PM
Reply #2 Saturday, May 25, 2002 3:20 PM
how about speed and resources? are there significant changes to WindowBlinds 2?
DavidK
Reply #3 Saturday, May 25, 2002 3:54 PM
Reply #3 Saturday, May 25, 2002 3:54 PM
I've got an old version of Windowblinds running on a 200Mhz machine with 128Mb of RAM and it runs fine, no resource problems at all. I also have the newest version (it's now 3 btw) running on two other machines, a 450PII and a 1.1GbPIII notebook. I have absolutely no problems with resources or speed.
I'm not sure where the problems with speed that people talk about comes from. I suspect there are some apps that don't behave well and need to be excluded or set with a per-app UIS1 skin, and maybe some memory leaks in programs (like the fax printer in Win2K) are aggravated by the skinning method.
Overall, the new version of WB is way faster and more stable than any previous version. Not only do I think you should give it a try, I can't imagine how you could stand living without it...
I'm not sure where the problems with speed that people talk about comes from. I suspect there are some apps that don't behave well and need to be excluded or set with a per-app UIS1 skin, and maybe some memory leaks in programs (like the fax printer in Win2K) are aggravated by the skinning method.
Overall, the new version of WB is way faster and more stable than any previous version. Not only do I think you should give it a try, I can't imagine how you could stand living without it...
Jim
Reply #4 Saturday, May 25, 2002 8:46 PM
Reply #4 Saturday, May 25, 2002 8:46 PM
I've used WindowBlinds for about 3 years on a Windows98se system with little to no problems. I've found if I'm having a issue it was with the skin not the program. 
LoidiBoid
Reply #5 Saturday, May 25, 2002 11:24 PM
Reply #5 Saturday, May 25, 2002 11:24 PM
I too have been enjoying WB for around three years on a Pentium 233, 128Meg RAM with Windows 98SE. I now have WB 3.3. According to my "Resourses" I usually lose around six percent after launching WindowBlinds, but this doesn't seem to affect my day all that much!
GreenReaper
Reply #6 Saturday, May 25, 2002 11:37 PM
Reply #6 Saturday, May 25, 2002 11:37 PM
moshi: If you have concerns about speed or stability I would recommend you try using some UIS1 skins. These are designed to be as fast and compatible as possible. You can search for them on WinCustomize by checking the "UIS1Plus Support" option on the WB library search page. Some of the skins that come with the default install are also UIS1, or have UIS1 subskins. You can check in the WB preview in Display Properties - if there are three windows, it is a UIS1 skin, if two, UIS2.
Jafo
Reply #7 Sunday, May 26, 2002 12:45 AM
Reply #7 Sunday, May 26, 2002 12:45 AM
I started with WB on a P100 with 8 meg of ram running Win95a....I think it was pre version 1 even.
Now, it's a P111/500 1 gig ram XP Pro...version I'm running is 3.0....and everything has been fine.
Back in the early days you'd get all sorts of 'odd' things happening...[but some of that I put down to primitive LiteSTEP, too]..
Now, it's a P111/500 1 gig ram XP Pro...version I'm running is 3.0....and everything has been fine.
Back in the early days you'd get all sorts of 'odd' things happening...[but some of that I put down to primitive LiteSTEP, too]..
moshi
Reply #8 Sunday, May 26, 2002 5:48 AM
Reply #8 Sunday, May 26, 2002 5:48 AM
thanks for all your info. i just downloaded the latest trial version and i have to say that there are significant changes for me here. the program really has improved on speed and resources. there is a little bug with transparency after switching skins but that is really a minor problem. so i try it now, looks like i will by satisfied. thanks for the improvements Stardock (did not think i would ever say this )
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Reply #1 Saturday, May 25, 2002 2:46 PM