Windows 11 Tabs in File Explorer are back in newest insider

the experiments and changes in the surface will never end

" hope and wait makes some a fool " this may also apply to skinners and stardock users  

This is a pretty big change that seemed to come out of no where. At least for me. It is a nice addition, but such big changes like this have to be frustrating for Stardock. Microsoft is putting themselves in a position that really anything can change on Windows 11.

Hopefully Microsoft doesn't ever get into skinning. Because as of late whenever they Branch out they buy another company. I would hate to see Stardock become a part of the Microsoft family of companies.

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So far the direction of Microsoft just isn't skinning friendly so I do not see them going that route with Windows 11. Yes, Microsoft has made some very surprising and big acquisitions as of late, but the constant changes in their GUI show they simply do not care about skinning.

On a plus note, I did see Neil make a post that alludes that he will eventually start looking into what area's are actually skin-able on Windows 11. It did sound like we are going to have to see start 11 completed before we see any real commitments, but at the same time it does look like Windowblinds 11 is still on the table even if Windows 11 remains an "always in beta" OS.

Which is why I don't like any of the current attempts at forcing windowblinds to "work".  Incomplete is worse than nothing at all.  IMHO....YMMV.

It is hard for me to pinpoint what exactly I want skinned on Windows 11. I am not sure I really need the full amount of skinning that windows 10 had. There are actually things I feel would be better off left alone such as the file explorer buttons (close, min, ect.) There are elements of window blinds 10 that just do not feel natural at all on windows 11 for sure. The feel of windows 11 is just different and I find myself wanting different things. I actually think less might be more in certain situations to keep the natural feel of Windows 11.

I think this is because Windows 11 actually does look good in general. There are area's that some re-texture and recoloring could really lively it up but you really can not say that Windows 11 GUI is a complete flop on this one.

I know you do not agree with a lot of the things some of us has done to make things work Red, but we all have a different way of looking at things. Since all of this started and we realised how long WB11 will take to hit the market, some of us Die Hard Fans of WB were forced to look elsewhere. I now have multiple Themes designed for Windows 10 that have been updated to allow them to work with Win11, not all and complete functions work as they were designed in some of those themes, but it is moving faster than WB11 to allow users to customise there desktops.

I have Tron Legacy Theme installed on both a Win 10 SSD and a Win 11 SSD so i can experiment with how it should look  against how it now looks. Stardock dropping the ball on WB11 has been an opportunity to some of us to broaden our customising Horizons. Now my main SSD with Win 11 has the Tron Legacy theme installed as default, my everyday machine. I can honestly say reaching out to other methods has kept me sane, yes there are some small changes in the look of the Win11 and Win10 theme , but 98% there is still a result to me and others who can not look at a default Win 11 machine after years of using customisation software, so we are not all the same Red, imagine if we all thought the same, ate the same things, and did everyday things the same, that is a world i would not wish to live in.

I respect your opinion Red but do not share it, i am more than happy with what i am using now, never thought i would say that as  a WB user who put the program right at the top of my list when setting up a new Hard Drive, but that is really the case. I will take 98 pennies from a Pound any day of the week as opposed to Nothing at all.

We have all heard the reasons why we do not have WB11, MS this and MS that, but even the Skinners are starting to worry for the Brand, the skins they create and the ongoing delay which will force "Middle Of The Road Users" to leave WB and Stardock in droves, maybe never to return. What are the odds the Devs who will create WB11 at some point say at a later point "We Just Do Not Have The Market Share Or Interest In WB11" anymore.

PhoenixRising1  I could not agree more with the fact that every single thing needs to be skinned to make a skin or theme complete, more than happy were i am now , again 98% is far better than nothing at all.

That's not totally fair to say Stardock dropped the ball on WB11, we don't know All the Facts, but can only assume what's going on with what little bits of info we have received.  It's been said that they are waiting for Microsoft to be done with their tweaking of Win 11 enough to start the process of developing WB11, if you were to build a house, you start with the foundation, which consists of concreate, but, you have to wait for the concreate to be poured into your foundation, so now it's a waiting game, so do you go ahead and still build a house without the concreate (forms), or plug along without it, which wouldn't make a very sturdy house.  Now, do you blame the people who built the forms (Stardock), or blame the people who delivers the concreate (Micorsoft)?  Would I like to have a WB11 and SKS11, sure, I like others (only speaking for myself) can wait till it's available, and if it's going to be a while, then so be it, I like Windows 11 just as is, without any skinning, and as long as Win 10 is still supported, I can skin all I want, granted SKS could use some improvements, but, I've learned to work around it for this many years, what's a little more time. I know there will be those who will disagree with me, but that's ok.  

I may be wrong here but I have not found any skinning on Windows 11 yet. All I have found is Windows 10 skin patched into Windows 11 with the requirement of a windows 10 taskbar and windows 10 explorer.

I believe Stardock has every intention of keeping Windows 11 stuff intact or at least look fully intact when skinning.

I believe the number one thing that is stalling windowblinds development is actually waiting for the completion of start 11. Getting the taskbar to work has been a huge undertaking that has taken the entire development team. Imo, for now we should focus our energy in helping the team finish start 11 by testing that so it can get completed faster and better. Then the next project can and will be started.

You are 100% correct PhoenixRising1!   

Of course I don't expect everyone to agree.  

I know and have heard all the analogies why we do not have a WB11 don5318, other methods of customisation have worked with what they have right now, adapting and making something out of what they have to work with, this is why i love being a Beta Tester for Theme Makers at other places, seeing something develop knowing an update will be on it's way when necessary. I know themes and WB are not the same, but they are not that alien to each other. I just feel the wait is and will harm the brand, a brand i used to love, and if i feel this way, others who are less interested but have used WB in the past will care less and less about why.

First it was just those of us who experimented and were already using Win11 that spoke up about when and how, that wait for whatever the reason is starting to be felt by more senior users and members.

I have said it before, I am more than happy for those who like yourself are happy to stay with Win 10 and WB10, or even to think Win11 looks fine all by itself, the world would be boring if we were all the same, I myself have walked my own path and i am delighted to have created something from nothing, or something that "can not be done" in favour of waiting and sticking with an OS that some of us due to commitments can no longer use as an everyday thing. I am happy you are happy with were you and WB are at now, no problems here about that.

Once upon a time there was a pop group called 'Skyhooks'.  Lead singer was  Shirley Strachan ....he was a carpenter. [ a chippie].

A 'skyhook' is a builder's term.  Comes from the smart-arse concept of...."geez...if we had a skyhook we could build the roof first before everything else...and keep out of the sun/rain/whatever".

Having been in Architecture for 46 years there's been more than one time I longed for a 'skyhook'...

[BTW....a real 'skyhook' is often a helicopter....hence the 'Erickson Skycrane'.  Shirley was killed in a helicopter crash]

Microsoft has moved to a one time a year public release build now.  There will be no more 2XH1 release going forth.  You should be coding on the 21H2 release now for users. Coding for the dev or preview channels for new GUI features in 22H2 in anticipation of its release could be going down a rabbit hole as they could change anything on a whim.  The next official public release of Windows will not be till last quarter this year if you're waiting for that then you might as well say 2023 wasn't a typo for the release.  

I work at one of the largest govt contractors and that is exactly how our teams are coding now.   We are fixing bugs and adding features to the existing release of our software for 21H2 of Windows 11 and Windows 10 and we have some staff working with preview builds so we can be ready when Sun Valley 2 releases (22H2 code name).   We however have a product on the market now and working.

This isnt the only product that seems to have stagnated.   I joined the founder's program of the Video Game Machine almost 3 years ago.  That has died on the vine waiting a pending beta release on Steam and Steam keys.  

I however have a feeling it's all hand's on deck for Gal Civ IV and maybe once that is released we will see some movement on WindowsBlinds 11 and others.  

I am a long time subscriber and am paid up until late into 2025.  I joined for the skinning community and customization like 20+ years ago.  

Things just do not feel like they are getting the same lever of attention they used to back then.

Robert Haney

Just to expand on that a bit. After 22H2 leaves the DEV channel, 23Hx will immediately enter it. The DEV channel will actually have continuous updates and experiments to figure out what they want for the next annual release.

On the release channel and perhaps the Beta channel there will only be one release per year. So stopping development on the DEV channel does seem like a solution for stardock.

I always consider the term, "Sky Hook" along with a "Bucket of Steam" as part of the military lexicon. It was something you would send the raw recruits on.

😏

I used to be a window washer. We used a sky hook to hang on the side of a building on a bosun's chair.

No...that's the left-handed screwdriver and the VW radiator hose...