Window Blinds VS Style XP
Sunday, March 7, 2004 by babyruffy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
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Reply #22 Sunday, March 7, 2004 11:05 PM
Emptyman:
You are incorrect. What Style XP does is install a file system filter driver that patches a particular place in memory where uxtheme.dll resides. That is why you have to update Style XP every single time a new build of Windows XP comes out. It is, as others have pointed out, a hack.
I'm biased of course but the truth is very straight forward. WindowBlinds users can make use of both WindowBlinds visual styles and .msstyles without having to patch anything in memory.
We could write a Style XP clone in about 2 days. There's really nothign to Style XP and IMO, no justification for them selling it. I'd go as far as to say that what they are doing is probably borderline illegal.
I see no technical difference between Style XP and those cracks you can get online that allow you to play games without the CD in the drive.
The only reason Style XP has a market is because Microsoft asked Stardock during the Whistler beta NOT to do what they are doing. Microsoft, so far, has not bothered to go after them. But Style XP only will work as long as they are able to continue patching uxtheme.dll. Any significant change to the OS would make it obsolete.
At the end of the day, WindowBlinds and Style XP cost the same while WindowBlinds does much more.
Reply #23 Sunday, March 7, 2004 11:07 PM
BTW, ever .msstyles file on the net is technically illegal. That is why WinCustomize doesn't allow them on here. It is also why the boot screen and logon screen sections are different than other sites where kernels and logonui.exe's are distributed.
What amazes me is that people who would never think of clicking on an email attachment from a stranger have no problem going onto some site that distributes patched versions of Windows OS files and install them right onto their system. Particularly from sites that don't even have moderation.
Reply #24 Monday, March 8, 2004 1:20 AM
Haha, never thought about it like that, but it's true!
Reply #25 Monday, March 8, 2004 2:40 AM
| ever .msstyles file on the net is technically illegal. That is why WinCustomize doesn't allow them on here |
If this is the case, what makes a port of any msstyle file any more legal and available for download here?
Reply #27 Monday, March 8, 2004 3:01 AM
Wish I could stay to talk about this.Are you saying that the content of an msstyle file is legal because it's original unique artwork created by an artist?
Reply #28 Monday, March 8, 2004 3:07 AM
Reply #29 Monday, March 8, 2004 3:19 AM
The issue is with the program/hack....not with the skins themselves.
Porting them to Windowblinds simply legitimizes the skin's format....
Reply #30 Monday, March 8, 2004 6:48 AM
Reply #31 Monday, March 8, 2004 6:59 AM
Let it be known, for now and the future, that I will not be engaging in any contests of ego on these message boards. Especially when the ego(s) in question insist on the practice of regurgitating what has already been said as a method of argument. What was the point again?
If we can not resolve to help each other instead of reinforcing our own self-importance as a priority, we are doomed as a race.
Happy happy joy joy!
:e.m::.
Reply #32 Monday, March 8, 2004 7:12 AM
empty man .....are you claiming a superior knowledge of the nuances of Windowblinds and styleXP over that of Frogboy? That's pretty 'lofty' re the 'ego' department....
I'd tend to take heed of the CEO/creator of one of those two.....who also has a working relationship with the OS creator itself and ergo the direct connection to/with uxtheme.dll, and the 'default' XP skin engine and its function.
It's nothing to do with 'argument' but about fact vs. fiction....
Reply #33 Monday, March 8, 2004 7:39 AM
My appologies for trying to help a fellow member make an informed decision. Won't happen again.
:e.m::.
Reply #36 Monday, March 8, 2004 8:09 AM
Reply #38 Monday, March 8, 2004 9:07 PM
easy, empty man. in the end you're both agreeing with each other. but frogboy simply meant to state the fact of the file.
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Reply #21 Sunday, March 7, 2004 10:29 PM
That's the salient point.....and one worthy of consideration when not trying to be hypocritical about Artists' Copyright at the same time as violating an explicit EULA.
Whether the dll coding 'mod' is complex or not, the Professional Practice/ethics of the company concerned is IMPO somewhat 'lacking', leaving a sour taste which deters one's use of the 'product'....