Update: The latest Beta build restored Taskbar transparency on my Surface Pro, but not on my desktop system.

I would check your install on the second machine as it sorted the bug.

Currently seeing "WindowsBlinds does not appear to be installed correctly on your machine.  Would you like to try to fix this issue now?"

Using Avira Internet Security (NOT using ESET)

Using Windows 8 with all latest updates as of 1-jun-2013.

The Windows instance was a fresh install as of 15th-may-2013. No conflicting desktop/video/theming products are installed.

Only additional Stardock product installed is Start8 which is still in operation.

WbCore.exe exists and the Stardock WindowBlinds service is runing.

WindowBlinds 7.90 initially installed, and worked as expected, used one theme and never changed it. Restarted just now and this error is evident, there is no equal to HIPS (Host Based Intrusion Prevention) control in Avira as far as I'm aware. If I'm wrong I'd gladly add an exception to directories/files to avoid this issue.

I have tried a complete uninstall including removal of the .bin file in ProgramData. Reinstalled using version 7.91 it was still aware of the previous skin (is this in a registry entry not removed on an uninstall?) but would not apply it (or any skin) at all, each time resulting in the same prompt to "fix the issue". I've tested this on two systems very equal, minimal, and from scratch installations of Windows both with Avira IS (differing only in a few hardware/driver details, AMD 790X vs 990FX, Intel 520 vs Samsung Pro 840)

I can't be sure but seem to remember restarting and seeing it working at one point but possibly before Avira had eyes on it. So I take it this particular product may have been flagged by Avira as overly "intrusive"?

Anyway, great product, look forward to hearing back from you and seeing the product running again.

Since I hadn't used WindowBlinds in awhile, the override was kind of confusing for Start8. I think I'll just try to make sure that the start button in WB is what I want when I select the interface. That it's there is the main thing and that the functionality of what's accessible suits my use.

After some fiddling around with Avira where it seemed perfectly happy with WB, it seems the issue occurs if you do a shutdown vs a reboot.  If you do that WB stops working until you reboot again at which point it returned to being happy until the next shutdown.

I quickly investigated this as compatibility with AV apps is naturally important to us, and it looks like the issue is caused by a system with Avira being in an unexpected state on a clean boot vs a reboot in Windows 8.  It looks like we have a fix for this which is good news so I imagine the next build will contain this.

Thanks for reporting this.

We are planning a config option in WB to allow you to use the OS start menu image if you wish (which in this case would be whatever Start8 had set).  Skins can already so this with a setting, but this would be a setting to force it on.

Hmm, you guys should try Windowblinds skins with with 150% font scaling (and "XP-style" disabled) applied.  That is, use the OS native font scaling, not anything in Windowblinds.

Windowblinds declares itself DPI-aware, yet fails to perform any scaling.  The result is that things are tiny and/or cut off in weird places.

It might be good to have some of your own developers use the Surface Pro, so you're certain to see these scaling issues yourselves.

Could you post a screenshot as the UI is dpi aware and scales just fine.

Here's a screenshot with the Diamond theme on Windows 8, with Start8 installed:

http://picpaste.com/diamond-NM8Tz1Qg.png

Here's a screenshot with the stock Windows 8 theme (also with Start8):

http://picpaste.com/stock-krbsLAdB.png

Here's a screenshot with the Corporate theme:

http://picpaste.com/corporate-p3KQqr0E.png

EDIT: I suppose I should've stated more clearly: the WindowBlinds UI itself is dpi-aware, but the application of themes is not.  That's where the problem is -- things are too small, or get cut off weirdly.

Neil,

Thanks for the quick reply re #164. I just logged in with both systems and both applied the theme and have pinned it to something else.

The difference in my instance was after restarting the system I logged in with remote desktop first which caused WindowBlinds to not load. As soon as I disconnect from remote desktop, and log directly into the console again WindowBlinds resumes normally. After WindowBlinds resumes I can remote desktop again (and again and again) and the theme stays applied. This is until the next time I log in using a remote desktop session immediately following a reboot.

One difference between remoting and the console in my environment is both system consoles run two monitors each and obviously remote desktop effectively adjusts to a single screen. Could it possibly be in response to that initial adjustment. I assume you test partially across VM environments? If so possibly exclusive VM scenarios may not experience this issue as there's no initial load readjusting to be done.

This issue (and recovery procedure) is reproducible across both Windows 8 installs.

Suffice to say excluding this one glitch, WindowBlinds runs great in my environment.

The only additional and much lesser issue for me has been a hover related issue with a theme (EvoGreen) which occurs when the preview bounding box of a hovered item extends into the taskbar. On hovering over a 2nd proximal active item it stays with the focus of the first.

Now the only reason I mention this is that the behaviour differs from WindowBlinds 7.41 on Windows 7. Most themes appear to have the lower coordinates of preview bounding boxes end above the taskbar so many will not see this behaviour. The image shows Windows Explorer with initial focus, then moving the cursor to Firefox for a preview, however the Windows Explorer item retains focus.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6488/20130602124545.png

Update: Confirmed re-applying skin resolved Taskbar Transparency on the Desktop system. Thank You, Sir!

Encountered another issue in which icon texts and well as the icons itself will go slightly discolored when selected on the desktop. Happens to few other WB skins as well - Win8 Metro, Precision, etc. On Windows 8 64-bit.

A screenshot to the issue:

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/6860/stardock3.png\

On a side note, while using the Win8 Metro theme, it would cause a graphical glitch within the ccleaner interface in which one of the lines would disappear. Only happens with this theme as all other themes work perfectly fine. Another problem would be the fact that the horizontal line at the upper end of the start menu (right half) appears to be out of sync with the left half when hovering over a program.

A link to the issues:

Ccleaner -

http://imageshack.us/f/442/stardock4.png/

Start Menu -

http://imageshack.us/f/9/stardock5.png/

Here's are some screenshots of some issues:

and in Search Mode...

Hope they can be fixed.

Oh, and take a look at the menu bar text mouse over and favorites menu in IE10 on Windows 8, they do not do that in Windows 7 and IE10.

Still no fix for classicShell Startmenu. (as i posted screenshot about some time ago here)

The skins in classicShell Startmenu gets all blurry and glowy unreadable text in it.

Have tried put it in exlusion list in wb7.91m but still no.

What skin are you using as I was unable to reproduce this myself?  Have you tried other skins such as ones we include with WindowBlinds 8?

Classic shell appears to use the toolbar theme part, so any theme that has a shadow on the toolbar theme section will have a shadow in classic shell menus, but this would not be a bug.

I've tested with all the skins that are included, sucha as sublime and precision, as well as other third party skins.

Why does the text then become like that, glowy and unreadable when its suppose to be White and clear? What do i ned to change in Classic Shell startmenu settings? I can't find the problem for this.

I've tried all skins for Classic Shell i could find. Specially worse with "Metro glass skin for win 8" skin, and all skins that are "glassy."

Only skins that works with the menus and skins is Windows Aero which i understand disables WB 7.91.

I've also just tried "startisback" and that Cuts off the whole start menu and only search at buttom that is visable. When i disable WB the menu works.

It's the same with included skins as well as other skins.

So something weird is going on and i don't know how to fix it then.

Just a question this time...
Will windowblinds8 also get a section for decor8 instead of just taking the start8 menu ?
Was hoping for this the most but it looks like you guys totaly reject skinning START / i know there is Decor8 but i want a little more than only backgrounds...
So is there something like that planned ?-would be nice to get an answer 

Having investigated those AV apps, I was unable to find any issues with WB and Panda Cloud IS other than a mistake at their end with using system colours combined with a fixed dark background colour.  This means certain colour schemes would make some text in their app less readable, but that would happen with those same colours with or without WB.  I did however run into a long list of bugs in their app from just 5 mins usage and have let them know.

With Avast AV there appears to be an issue with the dialogs becoming smaller than expected until moved and I believe this is due to an interaction between their custom skinned dialogs and WB and we will look to fix this.  No other issues were found and WB skins just fine with it running.

Comodo is a totally different case and has massively different issues involving rendering a machine effectively unusable even when Comodo is disabled (but not uninstalled) when WindowBlinds is installed.  This is why for the time being I would recommend strongly against the use of WindowBlinds on a machine with Comodo installed on it at least if it is 64 bit (I believe 32 bit works just fine).  Should you install WB on such a machine you can always resolve the issue by booting to safe mode and uninstalling WB.

The problem with Antivirus packages is they are designed to intentionally break Windows functionality and while it is true that some bad apps use that functionality, it is also true the functionality was put in the OS for a good reason and there are legitimate uses for it.  If this were not the case Microsoft would have removed the functionality from the OS long ago.

The problem with ESET and WindowBlinds was ESET actively breaking Windows functionality in the name of security and not telling the user about it.  Thankfully they offer a method for the user to whitelist an application and they have been very receptive to whitelisting it in the global definitions and therefore allowing our mutual customers to have a good experience.

Symantec will typically whitelist applications too so you can avoid the WS.Reputation issue (a pain for all software developers), though we have had a report today that they may have messed this up with a recent update for Start8.

Anyway with Antivirus the more secure it is, the more false positives you get.  The ultimate AV would not allow anything unsigned to run (so locked down like Windows RT apps, iOS apps etc) but customers would find that limiting.  AV companies try to find the best balance, but sometimes their apps still break things.

If you have encountered problems I would ask that you report specifics as that's the point of this beta test.  If you are unable / unwilling to do this then I recommend that you do not install beta software.

I should stress that I have not installed WB with those AV apps running and it is possible they break WB by blocking the installation of files, but if that were to be the case it would be a problem with the AV app not WindowBlinds.

As a general message to everyone reading this thread, if you have an issue please do make sure to report it with details as assuming other people will report it just results in things not being addressed in the final version as it could well be a specific combination of software that triggers some issue.

Skinning that screen is a feature of Decor8 not WindowBlinds.  Should we develop any additional skinning abilities for that screen you would probably see it in Decor8 not WindowBlinds.