WindowBlinds skins more than StyleXP and is faster (less drag on your computer). Also, the future of StyleXP may be in question since it is a 'hack' of Windows files and could be rendered unusable with future Windows releases.

yes I wonder if stylexp would work with sp2. however why don't you just go find the um.. hacked uxtheme.dll file. It'll do most everything stylexp will do at a much better price (free). just google for it.

Windowblinds is better in my opinion because it supports options right now that you would have to hack major system files to get the same effect (toolbar icons, and animations). It also has a better skinning engine than the one that comes with windows (which is what stylexp uses) that can skin more with more and better options. There are some pretty good non-windowblinds skins you just have to hunt. most of them aren't found at themexp.

Hmmmmmmmm...I figure those are persuasive enough arguments - perhaps I'll cancel the raid I planned on the kids' Bob the builder piggy bank after all.

As for hacked dll's - I've worked with controls long enough now to know I'm on a loosing wicket if I start tampering with them unnecessarily - especially when Windowblinds is doing a perfectly good job already...

No slight meant Crazy Travis - I hear what you're saying, but bitter experience has taught me that if it ain't broke then I don't go trying to fix it.

Thanks for the comments, believe me they are appreciated...I can hear the c-card sighing with relief from here!

I use windowblinds, but I like to convert msstyles to windowblinds so I use the *special* uxtheme file to allow me to see the msstyle as it was meant to be. You'd be suprised at the differences when you use skin studio to convert a msstyle to windowblinds. To get it to look right you have to do alot of work on some skins. And I have found that the uxtheme file I have has never messed up on me yet.

But its always safer to not change what's not broken

CT, a couple of questions, if I may:

1. How do you "use" the _special_ uxtheme file to view msstyles? I paid for StyleXP a while back so it is available to me if I need/want it; would that give me as accurate a display of the msstyles as the modified uxtheme file?

2. Have you tried the different options for converting msstyles to windowblinds? (Universal Skin; WB VS - performance optimized; WB VS - accuracy optimized) Have you noticed any difference? I've done a couple of quick conversions and I haven't noticed any difference. I may be overlooking something obvious or I may not be digging deep enough.

3. When you convert a msstyle, what parts of the skin usually give you the most trouble?

TIA,

Jeff



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2.) Optimized performance has no menu skin for example
3.) Shellstyles

For further investigation http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showforum=62 is a good read.

Brad (Frogboy) just made a thread for covering problems converting msstyles.




[Message Edited]

If you want to buy a skinning program you should get windowblinds. StyleXP can do pretty much what windowblind das but they just don't have skins that are as good as the ones here

I am sorry but you cannot even compare StyleXP and Windowblinds/Object Desktop when it comes to whatever argument you want to throw into the equation......WB/OD walks all over Style XP and leaves it on the floor....i know as i have used both......

well jeff. 1) stylexp is just a spruced up modified uxtheme file. they both work just the same. to use you install it and then fromt themes tab in display properties you should be able to change themes.
2) There are differences. at least in what I like doing. witht he performance optimized you can't add all the little doodads that the msstyle author might of included as accesories through system files and etc. Also you have less options if the skin doesn't display correctly.
3)the most trouble i get in converting a skin comes from skinstudio reading the file wrong. Also alot of times margins aren't set right or some little modifications of buttons or the other parts need to be done. most of the problems I see are in the taskbar and the titlebars.

Thanks for the info, CT.

It's good to know I can use the hacked .dll I paid for without having to re-hack it myself. I hate it when I have to hack things myself.

Jeff

WinCusto appear to be of a higher standard than those on ThemeXP....personal opinion/preference

At WC the chicks are hotter and the beer's ice cold....what more does a guy need

some good music and we can have a party

I started using StyleXP a while ago, i had tried window blinds but found that StyleXP was easier on my system to handle. I've recently been making the conversion to WB as recent trials of it have been much less taxing on my system.
Personally I still like the StyleXP usability and interface to StyleXP. But then, that's what i'm more familiar with. and we all know that that's 75% of preferance choices. I can't speak on "technical" stuff like hacked dll's etc. but I really like the stardock and community support that goes with WB,, Not to mention that I love my DesktopX

Okay I did it, I 'installed' the dll hack from neowin on a test machine again and looked into many styles. And I still don't like it. The newer styles are pretty and everything (Especially the ones from b0se, kol and chaninja) but I want my menus and logoff/please wait screens and other parts of my GUI skinned, which cannot be done there... And I do not experience any more speed than with wb and disabled theme service.

you should not notice none to very little change in the cpu and memory. if anything it might be better. All of those little things that you want like menus logoff/shutdown dialogues, toolbar icons, animations, etc. that are supported in windowblinds and not in msstyles can be put into the windowblind if the msstyle author or somebody else created them. One good example is ChaNinja's Simplex skin. I have converted it to windowblinds and am waiting on ChaNinja to give me permission to upload it. This skin includes Cha's toolbaricons, logoff/shutdown dialogues, and animations. Also I skinned the menus by taking the prorgram menu background and mouseover stuff and resized them so they work as normal menus...and they look good. A lot of times there are system files that support the msstyles, but in order to use them you have to "hack" your computer. I don't like that. but since they are systemfiles (dlls or exes) you can extract the toolbaricons, animations and shutdown/logoff dialogue.