why windowblinds instead of winstep

Thursday, March 3, 2016 by jefeverde | Discussion: WindowBlinds

Well as I read about the ongoing issues with windowblinds for win 10 of which there seems to be a growing number of, Winstep which i know almost nothing about has seemed to have solved all the problems and has a ready to purchase product for win 10 that looks pretty good for 29 bucks. WHY are they able to get this done whereas stardock cant. Im growing very frustrated at the MASSIVE delay, when others have already released. I have been a windoblinds fan for years but this borders on the ridiculous. Due to lack of consistent updates on the progress being made and acting as if there is no problem is not going to cut it. You are literally forcing me to switch to another application. I know I can buy object desktop and get the beta but if you think in plunking down $40 for something that doesn't work right you can forget it. I will await an answer to this post before I buy winstep. 

DrJBHL
Reply #1 Thursday, March 3, 2016 4:01 AM

Windowblinds 10 works fine for me. There are parts of the OS that are unskinnable because of "hard coding" and that was true of Windows 7, as well.

 

WinStep works just fine, too...and they work just fine together on Windows 7, 8 8.1 and 10...as far as I know, they always have.

So...it isn't an either/or...it's a both! Win-win.

Neil Banfield
Reply #2 Thursday, March 3, 2016 6:55 AM

I think you may be confused here.  Winstep does not do the same thing as WindowBlinds.  They are completely different products.  It will not skin your OS.

WindowBlinds 10 is coming.  The delays are not technical but simply a case of waiting for some non coding bits to be ready.

JcRabbit
Reply #3 Thursday, March 3, 2016 9:30 AM

I'm with Neil and the Doc here.

They don't do the same thing at all: WindowBlinds skins other applications, Winstep is essentially a program launcher - and only skins itself. Winstep and WindowBlinds nicely complement each other, in fact, many Winstep themes are made to match existing WindowBlinds skins.

Anyway, thanks for the compliment.

Uvah
Reply #4 Thursday, March 3, 2016 3:20 PM

All of the above.

jefeverde
Reply #5 Friday, March 4, 2016 1:50 AM

OH! ok I get it thanks or the very helpful answers

joeKnowledge
Reply #6 Monday, March 7, 2016 4:09 AM

Totally forgot about WinStep. Its like Object Bar (that I loved before it went into the dustbin of coding history).

 

WinStep may help (or just be fun) to have on my desktop. I'm mainly on my laptop(s) though. I try to keep it simple with Fences, CursorFX, Deskscapes, and WinFX (the other apps are deprecated like KeepSafe but I still use it), but maybe WinStep can help me get weather, system info, and 2 thinking I really want; a nice big clock and a nice big calendar.

 

 

JcRabbit
Reply #7 Monday, March 7, 2016 12:06 PM

joeKnowledge
Totally forgot about WinStep. Its like Object Bar (that I loved before it went into the dustbin of coding history).

Yeah. That is because unlike Brad & Stardock I'm mainly a techie, so I totally suck at marketing.

Winstep has been around since late 1998 (i.e.; roughly the same year Stardock moved from OS/2 into Windows and WindowBlinds started to become popular). Many famous skinners (think Treetog, Essorant, etc..) started skinning because of Winstep's first application, NextSTART (which is now a part of Winstep Xtreme and is a lot like ObjectBar, except that NextSTART came first lol).
 

joeKnowledge
WinStep may help (or just be fun) to have on my desktop. I'm mainly on my laptop(s) though. I try to keep it simple with Fences, CursorFX, Deskscapes, and WinFX (the other apps are deprecated like KeepSafe but I still use it), but maybe WinStep can help me get weather, system info, and 2 thinking I really want; a nice big clock and a nice big calendar.

Yes to all of the above EXCEPT the calendar. Still on the to-do list (although work on new modules/widgets has resumed again at full force, the new battery monitor module in v16.2 being a result of this).

I probably shouldn't post this here because that page is still under construction (i.e.; I'm currently working on it) but you can learn a bit more about how feature complete existing Winstep modules/widgets are by taking a look at THIS PAGE.

RedneckDude
Reply #8 Monday, March 7, 2016 1:12 PM

Nice battery module too!!!

DrJBHL
Reply #9 Monday, March 7, 2016 1:15 PM

JcRabbit

Yes to all of the above EXCEPT the calendar. Still on the to-do list

Slacker! Get back to work! 

JcRabbit
Reply #10 Monday, March 7, 2016 1:30 PM

DrJBHL
Slacker! Get back to work! 

Ahah! Hey, I am! Was going to release v16.3 today - as a maintenance release to v16.2 - that fixed all known bugs, when everybody + their dog suddenly remembered to report some other so far unreported minor issues (minor or not, I *hate* bugs).

Well, better late than never, but there goes my Monday release until I take care of all the newly reported issues. Which should happen no later than tomorrow. Yay!

Uvah
Reply #11 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 7:59 AM

Winstep runs great on 10 and I haven't noticed any issues. Maybe I don't play with it enough. 

JcRabbit
Reply #12 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 10:30 AM

Winstep runs great on 10 and I haven't noticed any issues. Maybe I don't play with it enough.

Oh there are minor issues, just as with any other program, but I fix them as soon as they are reported to me (provided I can reproduce them here, of course). I don't like bugs.

Version 16.3, for instance, should be officially released later today and is essentially a maintenance/bug fix release to v16.2, which was released last month. Fixes all the little bugs in v16.2 *I* know of.

Uvah
Reply #13 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 1:43 PM

Sooo....when 16.3 comes out can it be installed over 16.2 or should 16.2 be uninstalled first.

GregII
Reply #14 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 2:08 PM

It must be installed over 16.2.

starkers
Reply #15 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 3:49 PM

I use both Windowblinds and Winstep Xtreme together and they compliment each other brilliantly, especially when the same theme can be applied to both.   When that happens it's a marriage made in heaven.  Now all we need is a Win 10 compatible Iconpackager to complete the beauty of it all. hint, hint.

Oh, and I am very much looking forward to the new components and updates.  I havent installed Winstep Xtreme on Win 10 as yet [have only been on it a couple of days] but I shall do that sometime today... if I can find my serial No. that is.  Hmmm, and that reminds me, I will probably need to up my subscription in the next week or so.  Can't afford it today... had an expensive week or two with bills and living costs.

BTW, Jorge, it's great to see you back at work.  I know you went through a difficult period and I'm glad you're feeling more like your old self... as in beforehand.

anotherside
Reply #16 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 4:43 PM

starkers

I havent installed Winstep Xtreme on Win 10 as yet [have only been on it a couple of days] but I shall do that sometime today...

So you gave in to the dark side, starkers. I read about your troubles with Win 8.1, but I didn't think you would join the Win10 club. Well, we'll all end up there at some point... I took the fight to a couple of other forums, but privacy is not a hot topic. I might use Win10 at some point, but always with a sense of defeat. When that day comes it's good to know that third party apps are ready.

starkers
Reply #17 Wednesday, March 9, 2016 6:37 PM

anotherside


Quoting starkers,

I havent installed Winstep Xtreme on Win 10 as yet [have only been on it a couple of days] but I shall do that sometime today...



So you gave in to the dark side, starkers. I read about your troubles with Win 8.1, but I didn't think you would join the Win10 club. Well, we'll all end up there at some point... I took the fight to a couple of other forums, but privacy is not a hot topic. I might use Win10 at some point, but always with a sense of defeat. When that day comes it's good to know that third party apps are ready.

I didn't give in willingly...they dragged me kicking and screaming all the way.  And the tactics were as dirty as you can get.  Whenever I did a factory reset or tried to roll back to Win 8.1, a download was sent to my machine moments after activation, so that when I opened Windows Update the first <read only update> was for Win 10.  There were updates for Win 8.1 listed, but the illusion they were actually available was just a token gesture on MS' part.

As for the sense of defeat, well I'm furious with being made to feel that way... livid, even.

Anyway, like it or not, and I don't, I'm on Win 10 and having to get used to it.  As you say, though, there are some great 3rd party apps that make it somewhat more bearable and easier to use... like Start10, for instance.  I really hate the look of MS default start menu, so Start10 and WindowBlinds make it more like using Win 7 and much nicer to look at.

I'm still finding my way around cos things have either been renamed or moved or both, but once I've figured it all out and set everything up the way I want, things will get better..  I've disabled all the phone home stuff I can, so I'm a little happier in that regard, but I'm still concerned about forced updates and crap I don't want on my machines. 

GregII
Reply #18 Thursday, March 10, 2016 10:39 AM

Why don't you just stay on Windows 7?  End of problems.

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