WindowBlinds 11 planning
Friday, December 25, 2020 by Frogboy | Discussion: WindowBlinds
We are putting together the schedule to make WindowBlinds 11.
Customization is a lot harder now than it used to be. Microsoft, for reasons unknown, has actively encouraged developers to take care of their own client and even non client (border, frame) painting rather than using standard Windows controls.
Microsoft's baffling decision to throw away trying to provide a standard set of in-app controls for developers and instead provide vague, often conflicting standards (cough, Fluent) has resulted in having less and less of the OS we can even touch.
Which is unfortunate because WindowBlinds, in theory, could actually give Windows users a consistent, OS-wide Fluent if apps weren't handling the drawing of their own UIs these days.
Still, with that in mind, there are things we can do such as skin the standard OS controls and then handle apps on a case-by-case basis. Keep in mind though, the more non-standard apps we have to handle, the harder it is for us to keep compatibility.
Earlier this year we released Curtains which doesn't even hook into the OS. This means it is 100% compatible. Skins, even the weirdest ones, won't break a given app. Of course, the price is that it doesn't skin nearly as much (no client area GUI controls like scrollbars, push buttons, radio buttons, etc.). It's done quite well. However, we know there are still plenty of people out there who would like to have more full control over how their Windows desktop looks.
That's where this thread comes in: What would you like to see in WindowBlinds 11?
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Reply #42 Saturday, February 6, 2021 7:30 AM
The problem with trying to skin most Chromium browsers is, many of them don't look proper...,
Also, for me anyway, I like to slam my cursor hard against the top screen bezel to open and close tabs with middle click quickly, without having to 'bulls-eye' the X or center of the tab; can't do that when they're skinned.
Reply #43 Saturday, February 6, 2021 11:53 PM
I'd like to see an easy way to load or convert Windows .msstyles/.theme files.
If I'm being honest I see a lot more variety, modern, and simply better themes being created as .msstyles than what I am able to find for WindowsBlinds. This is understandable given that WindowsBlinds is shareware and has a smaller userbase.
I personally find using a UxThemePatcher unattractive as it's harder to verify that it's from a trustworthy source, and the themes seem to break with every update.
That said, it would be really cool to be able to download one of these .msstyles themes and then load it into WindowsBlinds and just have it work.
Reply #44 Wednesday, February 10, 2021 7:04 PM
I would like to see the ability to disable taskbar skinning because as it is StartIsBack will break with any windowblinds skin applied
T
Reply #45 Friday, February 12, 2021 5:26 AM
Two things that work on Windows 7 (with Windowblinds 7), but are excluded from Windowblinds 10 :
1.) Explorer (folder) background image. (with transparency support)
2.) Taskbar, titlebar and menu background animations.
Reply #46 Saturday, February 13, 2021 12:03 AM
I'd like to see an easy way to load or convert Windows .msstyles/.theme files.
If I'm being honest I see a lot more variety, modern, and simply better themes being created as .msstyles than what I am able to find for WindowsBlinds. This is understandable given that WindowsBlinds is shareware and has a smaller userbase.
I have a lot nice theme for XP, Vista and Win7 an it will be nice to if WB will load or conver it.
Reply #47 Saturday, February 13, 2021 2:13 AM
it would be really cool to be able to download one of these .msstyles themes and then load it into WindowsBlinds and just have it work
Reply #48 Tuesday, February 16, 2021 2:30 AM
Possible to implement Aero Glass to Windows Blinds 11? Kinda like Glass8 in a way, though it seems the developer isn't updating it anymore, it would be cool to see full aerogass (with the reflections in the titlebar moving aswell), then the ability to skin the jumplists, enable the classic context menus on the taskbar, and skinning the system tray.. With maybe the ability to restore the classic clock from windows 7/8? Since this is going to be a big update, would be pretty cool to have these features, along with the ability to edit the navigation pane node tree height with a theme.
One more thing, with skins I noticed that taskbar buttons (that allow realtime reflection, for example when the mouse moves around the button and it gives off a color similar to the icon). I noticed that WindowsBlinds only does Windows 10's accent color chose in settings. Would be cool to have the colors of the reflection light to be of a similar color OF the icon itself.
(windows blinds with mouse hovered over explorer on windows 10) vs Win7 
(hovered on the explorer icon) kinda hard to see, but on the windows 10 image, its just blue like the accent color of the overall accent. While Windows 7/8 does colors OF the icon itself
Right now my taskbar has a glitch with the transparency where it shows WHAT the color should look like when the mouse is hovered over it.
The colors UNDER the taskbar icons are what SHOULD be shown when the mouse is hovered over the taskbar button.
Reply #50 Tuesday, February 16, 2021 8:06 AM
Not gonna happen... If you understod the nature of skinning and it’s complexity you wouldnt even say such a thing
Reply #53 Sunday, February 21, 2021 12:46 PM
Hope the ability to mix themes; i mean the possibility to use a skin for all (windows,menu,etc) but choose another taskbar skin for example.
I've tried with Start10 but not the same as I want.
Chooo
Reply #55 Monday, February 22, 2021 2:33 PM
Reply #57 Thursday, February 25, 2021 2:24 PM
Maybe Stardock will add support or convertor Curtains to WindowsBlinds ?
Reply #59 Thursday, February 25, 2021 8:22 PM
The one thing I have wanted for years is to place the Windowblinds folder on a different drive to C: Back when 60gb or 120gb SSDs were still quite expensive, it would have been great to have been able to select D: or even E: drives to store WB skins when space was very much limited after the OS and essential programmes were installed.
Sadly, it didn't happen, and while prices of SSDs have fallen quite significantly in recent years, and sizes increased to various Terabyte options, the ability to place the WB directory on a different drive would be fantastic. I am currently using a 256gb SSD for my OS and programs, and there is some space left over, but I'd rather use that space for the items most used/accessed from my document and other personal folders.
Reply #60 Friday, February 26, 2021 4:13 PM
Small concept from me, nothing much, just a way to download styles in app like curtains.
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Reply #41 Friday, February 5, 2021 8:08 PM
Do you have link to this skin ?