This is probably easier to understand for the people that are running start 11 on the latest DEV build. By all means Microsoft is not staying still with how their UI behaves. The good news is that I have been seeing reports that Windows 11 build 22h2 is considered completed and should stop changing finally. Only stability updates should be released for that build. For those that are wondering 22h2 stands for the 20"22" yearly build and h2 stands for the quarter it will be released i.e. 2nd / summer.

The tricky part I wonder how Stardock is going to get passed is how they handle the next Windows 11 DEV build that may be started in a month or 2. Windows 11 build 23h2 should enter the DEV build as 22h2 exits to the Beta channel. Would it be easier to calibrate everything for the 22h2 build and completely ignore the DEV channel once 23h2 enters and state that software is not compatible with that build until closer to 2023?

They most certainly are not...

Start11 has a pretty big update in the oven (testing it today) and we are excited to share it with you all soon...

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

I definitely can not wait to try that update. From Brad's twitter posts I have seen some much needed functionality returning to the taskbar such as never combined tabs. This is definitely going to make a lot of people happy once it is done cooking.

Perhaps having your on taskbar will help circumvent Microsoft's indecision on how a taskbar is supposed to function and allow you to move forward on other projects such windowblinds 11? In any case I am looking forward to seeing this big update.  

I'm hoping that once Microsoft has finished making Windows 11 perfect , perhaps Stardock will upgrade the "Package Builder" portion of IconPackager 10 and then I can go crazy building Iconpackages for Windows 11   

-- Ace --

Personally I think Stardock should rebuild SKS/WB 10 to update it, and remove all the redundant elements. I also think they should address all the bugs before trying to build for a new OS. I absolutely despise when companies abandon products for the shiny new one before fixing what's broken.

  In a way it's a slap in the face to all the loyal customers who've been spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over years paying for updates. Just think about all the money you've spent on yearly update fees, and what do you get? You get a program that no longer functions as it originally did, and you're left with a shell of it's former self.

  With each new update they remove more, and more options for creativity, and leave us with bog-standard "business class clean" elements that can't be altered as intended. Hell, just look at how SKS looks now, compared to how it looked in SKS 6/7. Even the interface is drab, and boring.

  If I wanted safe, and sterile I'd go to the hospital, lol. Skinners have always had the mindset to  break convention, and shake things up with creative, and even outlandish designs. Most of us not only love to customize things to our liking, but the very word "default" makes us want to curl our top lips, and shake our heads in disgust. Pretty soon we'll have to settle for changing the color of a rectangle because the ability to actually skin will be replaced with colored tiles meant for mobile phones. Oh wait, it's already happening, lol.

The Start11 update I was referring to:

https://forums.stardock.com/510777/start11-115-beta-feedback-thread

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Thanks Sean, Just downloaded it

I really like the direction you took on the taskbar. Some of the alternative's resort to a hacked on taskbar that is really just a version of Windows 10's taskbar. Where Start 11 shines, it feels like a more like the modern Windows 11 taskbar that has the highly demanded "never combined tabs" incorporated. This is good because I believe most people prefer the look of Windows 11 in general and are only wanting more functionality. This seems to be the exact approach that has been taken here. Nicely done!

Neil's team put in a metric ton of work on it.  He never disappoints.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

The question you should all be asking is...

"What is the Windows 11 Development Status"?

Programs are easy to adapt/revise for a new OS [mostly].

Shell enhancements for a new OS are impossible to 'revise' until the Shell is actually finished being messed with by Microsoft....

Jafo

reply 29

The question you should all be asking is...

"What is the Windows 11 Development Status"?

Programs are easy to adapt/revise for a new OS [mostly].

Shell enhancements for a new OS are impossible to 'revise' until the Shell is actually finished being messed with by Microsoft....

if this is the right question then windowblinds 11 will never be released since microsoft releases updates every month and big updates 2 times a year i see a dark future for this planet and the stardock comunity

Microsoft has nothing concrete for the 2023 update. What they are stating is that they are going to make the DEV channel highly experimental and the developers seem to be given a higher degree of freedom to experiment with things. Realistically it can change a lot with their current strategy. The DEV channel is basically soft clay in regards to it's shell, features will be added and taken away as they experiment.

If the start 11 taskbar could circumvent this that could pave the way for windowblinds 11. If it can not, then we are most likely going to have to wait until 2023 to see if Microsoft changes its policy.

If Microsoft can make it as good or better than Windows 7 , then I don't care how long it takes. 

-- Ace --

..................  

-The future looks extremely BAD for skinning Windows right now.

With my experience using explorerpatcher with Windowblinds 10 on Windows 11 I will say the method has held up with the changes Microsoft has made.

The latest start 11 update gives stardock their own taskbar. I feel pretty optimistic start 11 could really help windowblinds 11. Neil and his team have been very busy with this taskbar and I dont think he has really had any time to sit down and look at possible creative ways around Microsoft's onslaught of UI changes. Maybe once start 11 finishes  we can really figure out when and how Windowblinds 11 can begin development.

No, all that's needed is for MS to 'sign off' on their GUI.  Virtually nothing in monthly general bug updates has much impact...just as with EVERY other OS version and their updates.

Again, the issue is..on BOTH Win 10 and Win 11 in PARTICULAR, Microsoft has released the OS to the public BEFORE they have finished messing with it.  Mostly that doesn't affect how programs work on the OS, but think about it.

You actually kinda need to know where the 'skinnables' are going to end up before you can skin them...

But is it possible that big yearly GUI updates are part of Windows 11's gimmick?

Hopefully not....as MS is famous for not having a clue about GUIs..... hence the lives and times of the skinner....

Sigh.  I can't imagine Windows withOUT Windowblinds! This computer will be 5 years old in December and I was planning to get a new computer then with Windows 11, as a Christmas present to myself, and immediately put Windowblinds and Start11 on it.  I had not considered the fact that Microsoft's gimmicky, gradually doled out updates for Windows 11 could badly effect Windowblinds 11.  I hope by then Microsoft will have stopped with the dribbling of updates to Windows 11. 

At least I feel good about Start 11 after what I have read here.