Myths & Facts about WindowBlinds

RuffRyders · Post by **RuffRyders** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 5:01 am

[b]Myths & Facts about WindowBlinds[/b]
[size=1]By Frogboy[/size]

Because WindowBlinds has been out now for half a decade and it has changed so dramatically over the years, there are a lot of misconceptions about how WindowBlinds works.

MYTH: WindowBlinds is a memory hog.

FACT: No. WindowBlinds not only uses very little memory but it actually uses LESS memory than the bundled themes do. That's because WindowBlinds visual styles are designed to use less memory since its skin format was designed during the days when users had fewer resources.

[img]http://www.killagraphix.com/uploads/wbmem.jpg[/img]

The Wbload.exe process in the Windows task list.

MYTH: WindowBlinds will slow down your computer.

FACT: To a certain extent, anything you load onto your machine will slow it down by some amount. The question is, will a given program slow down your computer noticeably. In WindowBlinds' case, it shouldn't slow down your computer. Thanks to hardware acceleration and using extra video RAM on most new cards, WindowBlinds should be noticeably faster than using the bundled themes in Windows XP.

MYTH: WindowBlinds isn't as compatible or will crash my programs

FACT: WindowBlinds, because it's a commercial product, has to provide additional value over the included themes in Windows XP. One of the ways it does this is by defaulting to skinning non-theme aware programs. Of course, some programs just don't like being skinned. Those apps can be added to the exclusion list. Most existing software is excluded by Microsoft's theme engine. But you can do the same thing with WindowBlinds if you are concerned about compatibility over consistency:

You can tell WindowBlinds to only skin theme aware programs and have identical compatibility to Windows XP's bundled themes.

[img]http://www.killagraphix.com/uploads/Histor1.jpg[/img]

MYTH: All the WindowBlinds visual styles are big and ugly.

FACT: There are thousands of WindowBlinds visual styles on the net. And it can also import in .msstyles files if you have [url=\"http://www.skinstudio.net/\"]Skin Studio[/url] installed. Because WindowBlinds is very flexible, skinners tend to make skins that they want to make with little limitation. So that creates more variety. But sites such as WinCustomize.com do have ways of filtering visual styles so you can find the ones you want.

For example, if you want to see the Admin picks of WindowBlinds visual styles, you can go [url=\"http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?s ... mpaction=1\"]here[/url]. That doesn't mean you'll like what they picked but they are skins that other people have liked.

[url=\"http://www.wincustomize.com/msgboard.as ... &id=264655\"][Source][/url]

Dofus · Post by **Dofus** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:03 am

so if i do use it and get themes, i wont be allowing viruses and all that stuff attack my computer will i? cause the standard window XP gets boring.

mobil1_oils · Post by **mobil1_oils** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:34 am

[b][i][color=\"gray\"][font=\"tahoma\"]You will not be opening up any holes in your system by using [url=\"http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/\"]Window Blinds[/url] or [url=\"http://www.tgtsoft.com/\"]StyleXP[/url]. Although as explained here, window blinds doesn't use system resources as much as many places say it does, although the fact still remains it does use some resources. I use StyleXP because when i was on a slower system, my PC seemed to have more resources available while using it, and i think it has to do with the fact you can set it to "Use no resources at startup".

Basically this just means after running both of them, i decided that my computer runs faster on StyleXP and so i stuck with it. Have used it for over a year now, and have had no problems with it. And i have a library of over 200 themes now, that i never use because i only like a few at a time <img src=\'http://www.killanet.net/forum3/public/s ... >/blum.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\':P\' />. You can download themes from their website after downloading the program too, it's all very easy to use, and everything is explained out well so you wont be stuck googling things to see what they mean for hours <img src=\'http://www.killanet.net/forum3/public/s ... >/blum.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\':P\' />.

The theme i seem to use the most is "WholeBlack". See screeny.

[url=\"http://img44.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img44&im ... eny6hs.png\"][img]http://img44.exs.cx/img44/8289/stylexpscreeny6hs.th.png[/img][/url]

But anyway, in conclusion, using either of these programs will definately not open your computer to viruses or hackers on the internet any more than firefox, messenger, or internet explorer would. [/b][/i][/color][/font]

Dofus · Post by **Dofus** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:59 am

ok i just downloaded style XP and a new theme so how do i install it? it comes as a rar. file.

sorry <img src=\'http://www.killanet.net/forum3/public/s ... histle.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'(whistle)\' /> i figured it out.

Endo · Post by **Endo** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:50 am

I dislike StyleXP, prefere WindowBlinds much more; the older versions were memory hogging, but that was when i was winME, the newer versions have dramatically dropped in size and are much better!

tidy trax · Post by **tidy trax** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 6:18 pm

[quote name=\'RuffRyders\' date=\'Nov 22 2004, 05:01 AM\']MYTH: WindowBlinds is a memory hog.

FACT: No. WindowBlinds not only uses very little memory but it actually uses LESS memory than the bundled themes do. That's because WindowBlinds visual styles are designed to use less memory since its skin format was designed during the days when users had fewer resources.[/quote]

Sorry but that guy has no idea what he's talking about.

Windowblinds installs a system wide hook procedure so it catches every window message from every window (Windows are buttons, editboxes, listboxes, etc. Not just normal windows) on your system.
Doing this [b]is[/b] CPU intensive, but it is also the best and fastest way of doing what it does, it can't be helped.

fuseku · Post by **fuseku** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:36 pm

styleXP runs _SO MUCH_ faster than windowblinds on my machine =/

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:55 pm

Ditto ^^

mobil1_oils · Post by **mobil1_oils** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:05 pm

[b][i][color=\"gray\"][font=\"tahoma\"]'ere 'ere, same 'ere[/b][/i][/color][/font]