WindowBlinds 5 Beta 1B released
Lots of fixes and tuning
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
WindowBlinds 5 Beta 1B was released today. It is a major update and improvement over yesterday's beta and should clear up most of the issues for those users who ran into problems. But it's more than just a bug fix, additional performance improvements have been put in as well.
Users of WindowBlinds 5 have also reported that it is significantly faster than WindowBlinds 4.6 (which in itself was already very fast). That's because WindowBlinds 5's engine has been further optimized for drawing and resizing and taking advantage of the latest video cards.
A few notes about WindowBlinds 5 Beta 1b (4.90b):
- We don't recommend using it with WindowFX yet. We have a new WindowFX about to go up that has been optimized to work with WindowBlinds 5.
- Skin changing should be faster.
- Right-Click on title bar override to make it roll up the window has been added for Alpha-Blended title bars.
- RunDLL32 issue resolved.
- WinZip issue resolved.
- Min/Max settings respect settings.
- WB Config now has support for helping those with ATI 9000 that have corrupted mouse buttons.
- Corruption with Kol's WinVista skin has been resolved.
- Taskbar corruption (graphical) issues should be fixed.
- LogonStudio compatibility issue resolved.
All in all, a busy day for the WindowBlinds team. You need to have Object Desktop (www.objectdesktop.com) in order to get access to the beta.
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Magz396
Reply #122 Saturday, October 8, 2005 4:59 AM
Reply #122 Saturday, October 8, 2005 4:59 AM
Well.......I guess because I got home late and didn't download it right away is maybe a good thing.. LOL!!
It's working great for me. I also notice a change in the speed of changing skins,,Good stuff, some nice touches added..
It's working great for me. I also notice a change in the speed of changing skins,,Good stuff, some nice touches added..
ls_dragons
Reply #123 Saturday, October 8, 2005 6:19 AM
Reply #123 Saturday, October 8, 2005 6:19 AM
I seem to be having a problem - perhaps because I am running Windows XP Professional x64. Here is the troubleshoot report:
WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:
STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+
WindowBlinds is not installed correctly on this PC. If you did not reboot after installing WindowBlinds 5 for the first time, then please reboot and try this again.
WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC
Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.
You have one monitor in total.
(Default Monitor) 1 is attached to ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series
'ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series Secondary' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:
STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+
WindowBlinds is not installed correctly on this PC. If you did not reboot after installing WindowBlinds 5 for the first time, then please reboot and try this again.
WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC
Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.
You have one monitor in total.
(Default Monitor) 1 is attached to ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series
'ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series Secondary' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
dash elliott
Reply #124 Saturday, October 8, 2005 1:52 PM
Reply #124 Saturday, October 8, 2005 1:52 PM
I have never had any trouble installing any version of WB.The 5 beta is another story. Basically it says it's installed correctly. It keeps the skin that was running when I installed the beta. I also tried with no skin running.
When I try and install a new skin windows says it can not find the OBDC driver and asks me to enter the correct one plus some other stuff (where it's located). I have no idea what is happening.The troubleshoot screen says installed correctly, supports per pixel etc. Nothing to indicate a problem.
I need my glass effects! Any help greatly appreciated.
When I try and install a new skin windows says it can not find the OBDC driver and asks me to enter the correct one plus some other stuff (where it's located). I have no idea what is happening.The troubleshoot screen says installed correctly, supports per pixel etc. Nothing to indicate a problem.
I need my glass effects! Any help greatly appreciated.
Gallus
Reply #125 Saturday, October 8, 2005 4:04 PM
Reply #125 Saturday, October 8, 2005 4:04 PM
The rund32dll bug was fixed!
Now it's working fine in my WinXP Home Portuguese-Brazil!
However:
1) it does not skin some VB6 third party controls made for XP lime VbAccelerator Explorer Bar
2) Some buttons label made with VB6 are not correctly aligned (e.g. Browse label); however, I didn't notice this issue with Arrow skin... ???
Now it's working fine in my WinXP Home Portuguese-Brazil!
However:
1) it does not skin some VB6 third party controls made for XP lime VbAccelerator Explorer Bar
2) Some buttons label made with VB6 are not correctly aligned (e.g. Browse label); however, I didn't notice this issue with Arrow skin... ???
Neil Banfield
Reply #126 Saturday, October 8, 2005 5:18 PM
Reply #126 Saturday, October 8, 2005 5:18 PM
ls_dragons: The current WindowBlinds 5 betas do not work on 64 bit windows. This is noted in the readme.
We will be adding support for 64 bit Windows later in the beta.
ls_dragons
Reply #127 Saturday, October 8, 2005 6:07 PM
Reply #127 Saturday, October 8, 2005 6:07 PM
Thanks - I just let Object Desktop updatemy WB installation and had not looked at the readme. Not a problem, I look forward to the update that adds support for x64.
irishman055
Reply #128 Saturday, October 8, 2005 8:32 PM
Reply #128 Saturday, October 8, 2005 8:32 PM
I've had 2 minor problems with the new WB: 1. Tray icon is gone. 2. Can't erease the skins.
I've also had 1 problem with the new IconPackager: Doesn't recognise the "icl" files.
I've also had 1 problem with the new IconPackager: Doesn't recognise the "icl" files.
Diafragma
Reply #129 Saturday, October 8, 2005 9:38 PM
Reply #129 Saturday, October 8, 2005 9:38 PM
dash elliot, don't forget to activate the skin... Thats what did it for me. 
Reppiks
Reply #130 Saturday, October 8, 2005 10:12 PM
Reply #130 Saturday, October 8, 2005 10:12 PM
I just wanted to pass this on to whomever: "YZ Shadow" can cause the drop-down menues to turn black during mouseover, also black spots in the WBConfig interface. Shut down YZShadow and all is ok. (with all the nice effects WindowBlinds has going, dont need an extra program to produce shadows anyhow)
Mirical Bernd
Reply #131 Sunday, October 9, 2005 1:08 PM
Reply #131 Sunday, October 9, 2005 1:08 PM
Thanks Neil, after uninstalling and reinstalling it works now.
Do you have any recommandation for a graphics-card with Dual Head, which will support per-pixel-borders? It has to be Dual Head, as I have two monitors attached and I don't want to miss either of them
Do you have any recommandation for a graphics-card with Dual Head, which will support per-pixel-borders? It has to be Dual Head, as I have two monitors attached and I don't want to miss either of them
Neil Banfield
Reply #132 Sunday, October 9, 2005 4:36 PM
Reply #132 Sunday, October 9, 2005 4:36 PM
Regarding YZShadow, I am afraid this may well be a problem with that app and not WindowBlinds 5. We will look into this to see if there is anything we can do about this, but I suspect the app is disabling the transparency on the menus.
On dual head cards, any modern ATI (9500 or better) or nvidia (6 series ideally) should work fine with per pixel borders in dual head mode.
dash elliott
Reply #133 Sunday, October 9, 2005 6:00 PM
Reply #133 Sunday, October 9, 2005 6:00 PM
I can install wb5. Once installed I cannot change skins. Config only shows me the default windows skin. If I have Aura installed when I install wb5 it works fine showing glass effects, etc. When I try and change skins I get a screen for installing OBDC drivers and a message telling me that it can't find the database.
WB5 shows as activated.
I'm just trying to make my previous post a little clearer.
WB5 shows as activated.
I'm just trying to make my previous post a little clearer.
Monte Cristo
Reply #134 Sunday, October 9, 2005 8:49 PM
Reply #134 Sunday, October 9, 2005 8:49 PM
I wish I could get WB5 to work. I've tried everything I can think of and everything that I've read. The first build they put out would install, but it wouldn't change skins. With this new build, as I'm installing it from Stardock Central, stardock central crashes as soon as it reaches 99% complete. I think it's in the process of copying wblind.dll to the program folder. Anyway, it won't work. Hopefully, they cool people at stardock will get all the bugs out soon. I'm not complaining, because it's still beta. But I really want to see all the neat new skins on my system 
irishman055
Reply #135 Sunday, October 9, 2005 10:00 PM
Reply #135 Sunday, October 9, 2005 10:00 PM
Does anybody know how to erease the Skins directly from the WindowBlinds program like we use to be able to do?
SENDMARKSMAIL
Reply #136 Monday, October 10, 2005 12:49 AM
Reply #136 Monday, October 10, 2005 12:49 AM
Mr. Wardell when will Stardock plan to release the final version of WindowBlinds 5? Can you give us a guess or approximate date, month, year? I'm thinking between just buying the WindowBlinds 5 Software over the ObjectDesktop 2005 because I see no Vista Style Icons for Icon Packager. Unless there will be one as well? Also WindowFX 2.5, will that be in beta soon? It looked real nice from the screenshots. I'll play the wait and see. Microsoft should think about combining with your company. You guys come up with the best things. Innovative, something Microsoft is lacking right now.
laurentfr
Reply #137 Monday, October 10, 2005 2:03 AM
A bug I've found.
Windowsblinds is well installed (posted troubleshooting report above), but Properties App (with Screensaver/Display and so on) is not lauching (nothing happens) when WB5 is running. Killing WB5 and then it works.
Reply #137 Monday, October 10, 2005 2:03 AM
| WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report: WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC. Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins. If you suffer visible corruption (overbright) on the frames and have a NVIDIA board then please be aware this is a NVIDIA bug. It has been seen on GeForce 4 cards and some FX series cards. Video Information You have one monitor in total. (Écran par défaut) 1 is attached to RADEON X300/X550 Series 'RADEON X300/X550 Series Secondary' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop. 'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver. 'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver. PLEASE report all this information when submitting a problem report, especially anything related to per-pixel skinning. We don't know what's in that Dell you bought last July or the notebook the office gave you. Per-pixel skinning requires your drivers to at least claim to support the functions needed for |
A bug I've found.
Windowsblinds is well installed (posted troubleshooting report above), but Properties App (with Screensaver/Display and so on) is not lauching (nothing happens) when WB5 is running. Killing WB5 and then it works.
Tominated
Reply #138 Monday, October 10, 2005 2:18 AM
Reply #138 Monday, October 10, 2005 2:18 AM
i love windowblinds....
anything on when window fx will be updated?
anything on when window fx will be updated?
Neil Banfield
Reply #139 Monday, October 10, 2005 4:46 AM
Reply #139 Monday, October 10, 2005 4:46 AM
laurentfr: Please install the latest beta. You are using an older beta.
laurentfr
Reply #140 Monday, October 10, 2005 6:48 AM
sorry, I just cut and pasted the report from my previous post earlier in the topic. I thought it would not be different as a report
I have the bug with the last beta unless one came during the night.
Reply #140 Monday, October 10, 2005 6:48 AM
| aurentfr: Please install the latest beta. You are using an older beta. |
sorry, I just cut and pasted the report from my previous post earlier in the topic. I thought it would not be different as a report
I have the bug with the last beta unless one came during the night.
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Reply #121 Saturday, October 8, 2005 4:26 AM
I've deleted from within WB Program, removed the folder from Programs Folder, downloaded afresh, uninstalled/reinstalled and tried renaming and saving the skin in SkinStudio. Still the problem remains.
Is there a cache, registry entry that I can amend to fix this ? All other skins seem fine. But IMHO 'Anion' is a great skin and I don't want to lose it.
Thanks