Does XP Need Skinning?
Tuesday, August 13, 2002 by rockafire1 | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
I was going to post on the article about legacy Windows support on the main page but there were so many posts already. I kind of wanted to add my two cents on the whole skinning older versions of Windows debate. I purchased WindowsBlinds 2.x when I was running 98SE. It worked great for me. I needed something like that because after using a Mac (not even OSX) in a computer lab I could hardly stand to look at the 98 interface. I tried a bunch of skins, some of which I used for a while but I mostly ended up using PreLuna. When I upgraded to WindowsBlinds 3.x I ran into problems. The people at Stardock were super helpful but in the end I had to go back to running 2.x because it ran so much better.
When I got XP a few months ago one of the first things I did was install WB 3.x. I haven't used it much. I usually use the silver luna default visual style. I check back with this site and have downloaded a bunch of skins since then but none of them have impressed me too much since getting XP. Here's the problem that I have: There are too many colors embedded in XP and too many visual enhancements that clash with whatever WB skin I run and make the GUI look ugly. There are colors everywhere in XP whereas in 98 there weren't. Even in IE6 you can really tell a difference. And let's say I'm in My Pictures. I like the little Wizard suggestions on the left hand side. So let's say that I'm running Unmitigated Orange (which I think is a great skin). The toolbar thing on the left is still skinned by XP and it's blue and green and all that and looks hideous with the WB skin! I've tried some less colorful skins but none of them have really looked better than the silver luna that comes with XP.
I just tried out StyleXP. It's a lot better for skinning the extra elements in XP and making it look more consistant. But there aren't that many variations to it.
I just wanted to add some input to the whole XP vs. 98 skinning debate. I think Stardock products are great and their people are terrific but WB needs to be more integrated with XP to make it really useful on that OS.
When I got XP a few months ago one of the first things I did was install WB 3.x. I haven't used it much. I usually use the silver luna default visual style. I check back with this site and have downloaded a bunch of skins since then but none of them have impressed me too much since getting XP. Here's the problem that I have: There are too many colors embedded in XP and too many visual enhancements that clash with whatever WB skin I run and make the GUI look ugly. There are colors everywhere in XP whereas in 98 there weren't. Even in IE6 you can really tell a difference. And let's say I'm in My Pictures. I like the little Wizard suggestions on the left hand side. So let's say that I'm running Unmitigated Orange (which I think is a great skin). The toolbar thing on the left is still skinned by XP and it's blue and green and all that and looks hideous with the WB skin! I've tried some less colorful skins but none of them have really looked better than the silver luna that comes with XP.
I just tried out StyleXP. It's a lot better for skinning the extra elements in XP and making it look more consistant. But there aren't that many variations to it.
I just wanted to add some input to the whole XP vs. 98 skinning debate. I think Stardock products are great and their people are terrific but WB needs to be more integrated with XP to make it really useful on that OS.
migellito
Reply #2 Tuesday, August 13, 2002 5:33 PM
Reply #2 Tuesday, August 13, 2002 5:33 PM
i find i return to the default xp looks occasionally, whereas i -never- returned to the stock win98/2k look. it's kind of like my osx machine.. i just used the stock aqua for a long time, but now i'm using various different skins.
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Reply #1 Tuesday, August 13, 2002 2:55 PM
And to answer your question.........YES! XP needs skinning.