Longhorn skinning

from WinCustomize Forums

Longhorn is being showed off at Winhec. It's still over 2 years away so much will happen between now and then.

From a customization point of view it's going to be exciting though fundamentally different.  Check out the screenshot included here to see what I'm saying.

This build of Longhorn still includes two of the old fashioned techs for doing visuals (Jade and Slate).  It's the Longhorn style that shows off what is possible. So what does it mean for skinning?

In a nutshell, customization (Based on the current direction in Longhorn) will have to deal with the client and non-client areas seperately. There's no "uxtheme" type stuff here, this is all handled by the compositer (though like I said, this build still includes the old type of visual styles which are being phased out).  Customizing the non-client area will be interesting depending on how its implemented. 

The client skinning portions, by contrast, will likely be more like traditional skinning has been done in the past for compatibility reasons (XAML based apps though are still up in the air).

More to come shortly.

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Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
BTW, anyone interested in trying to do a WindowBlinds skin of this? Should be pretty easy. Will feature the first one that comes out.
Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Not more slate. I was talking about what's in the screenshot.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I concur. I beleive that's called Aero Glass isn't it? I'd be willing to do a port, I'd just need the resources.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
there are no resources of this becaue it's rendered by the compositer. The screenshot is about as good as it gets.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hmm.. okay, that's your machine right? I'd need some other windows elelements to complete the skin. I'm always on your irc network. Perhaps we can discuss it there when you have some free time?