WindowBlinds 5 Beta: Next Tuesday
It's coming..
Monday, September 26, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
The first public beta of WindowBlinds 5 is almost here. Stardock released the alpha this week to its internal QA team to put the program through its compatibility testing before sending it out. WindowBlinds 5's most notable new feature is the ability to support "glass" and full alpha blending of the title bar and border (no more jaggy borders). The critical step has been to deliver this functionality without affecting performance for reasonably modern video cards.
In addiion, WindowBlinds 5 no longer has a "wbload.exe" and instead extends the painting of the Windows GUI in a more "native" way. Or put another way, it has "zero foot print" in the same manner that the default bundled Windows themes (msstyles) use.
Users who have Object Desktop will be able to try out the beta next Tuesday (Oct 4). Users of WindowBlinds 4 will be able to upgrade to Object Desktop at a reduced price. Moreover, users who purchased WindowBlinds 4 after September 1 will receive WindowBlinds 5 for free.
WindowBlinds 5 will also be designed to run on Windows Vista natively by the time Windows Vista ships (the beta of WindowBlinds 5 should run on the beta of Windows Vista though the Windows Vista GUI is still in a state of flux obviously).
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Reply #82 Saturday, October 1, 2005 6:37 AM
Reply #83 Saturday, October 1, 2005 8:57 AM
I was really suprised how cheap it was when I first bought it; never looked back and regretted it either.
Anyway, just my two cents on that.
As for the WB5, I really can't wait ^^ Although, I've found even now some WB4 skins don't work with WB4.6.. MiniOS for one (which I absolutley adore). Maybe is there a barrier for compatabilities between older skins? I hope not, otherwise I'll be without some skins.. or the authors would have to update all of their skins
Moving on, I just wanted to say what a great job you guys are doing at StarDock. I'm more than willing to renew my WB purchase til next time
Reply #84 Saturday, October 1, 2005 2:43 PM
| No. Microsoft requires graphics cards which support Pixel Shader 2.0, a 3D grahpics function introduced in DirectX 9.0 and only present on certain graphics cards. There is no indication that they will change that requirement for the final release, as their system is based on using pixel shaders to render the borders. From what I know, WindowBlinds 5 just requires the ability to draw semi-transparent images, which is something that (if all else fails) the OS will do. Of course, it won't do it very fast, but a small amount of help from the graphics card speeds it up significantly. |
You may be right. I'm just not even sure that the requirements for Glass are set in stone. I'd thought that my FX 5200 in my tablet did not support PS 2.0, but now I think I may have been wrong about that. Still, it maybe be possible to get some Glass effects without PS 2.0 support. I don't think even Windows has nailed down the requirements completely.
Reply #85 Saturday, October 1, 2005 10:25 PM
and by "loyal customer" I mean I've told 5 friends about WB who subsequentially bought it themselves, and have literally spent the last 2 years of my life using Stardock products on my pc...
Reply #86 Saturday, October 1, 2005 10:33 PM
| Actually, I just wanted to stir up some trouble. |
So you're a troll.
Okay.
Reply #90 Sunday, October 2, 2005 11:52 PM
Reply #91 Monday, October 3, 2005 7:09 AM
basically my question is.. is there a theme coming out with it?
Reply #92 Monday, October 3, 2005 9:59 AM
Reply #93 Monday, October 3, 2005 11:03 AM
Reply #94 Monday, October 3, 2005 4:54 PM
Reply #96 Monday, October 3, 2005 5:52 PM
Reply #98 Monday, October 3, 2005 6:45 PM
ONE MORE DAY, ONE MORE DAY
werewolf sings "Tomorrow" from Annie
hmm, I guess the werewolf thing doesn't work anymore
Reply #100 Monday, October 3, 2005 10:35 PM
| KoL_ sings "Tomorrow" from Annie hmm, I guess the KoL_ thing doesn't work anymore |
LMAO hahahhaha
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Reply #81 Friday, September 30, 2005 5:53 PM