STYLE XP

No there are not.

I think styleXP was the first names for windowblinds, or some other program....I downloaded it once upon a time, and realized that it was an older version of one of the Object Desktop programs, maybe weblinds....either way....I think that is what that is.

It's not WB and it's definitely not a program. It circumvents the copy protection on MS visual styles, to allow 3rd party styles to be used. I do not think you will ever see that here.

Actually, no. Style XP is a different thing. Style XP is a system hack for XP, while Windowblinds is a whole product with its own skinning format, and therefore also works on all versions of Windows.
The reason there will never be a Style XP section here is that Microsoft doesn't aprove of it and that Stardock has close relationships with Microsoft.

. . . and because it wouldn't really be in Stardock's interest promoting something that is directly opposed to one of it's main products. Besides, with all the colour combinations they come in, they're way too big.

Not to mention there's not many StyleXP themes that haven't been done for WB first......

I am glad that Stardock has a great relationship with Microsoft, at least they won't try to create a new window version that will stop us from skinning....right????

Well, SP1 of Windows XP works great with WindowBlinds. No need to download a patch to get it to work.

I would like to see some StyleXP Themes here. It seems that www.themexp.org has gone belly-up >

StyleXP themes rely on a non-Microsoft approved 'hack', a method to circumvent copyright control, so will never be hosted/supported on Wincustomize as it would make our stance on Artist's Copyrights and ripping in general somewhat hypocritical.
IF Microsoft were to openly endorse this system hacking [I wouldn't hold my breath] then that 'may' change....

very true. look at the "completed" visual styles threads in the neowin forums. half of the post there are bug reports.
i really doubt ms wants to support such things.

Why do you think that MS hasn't made more sytles themselves? They don't want to support them. Why did they put security on the styles that they made? They didn't want a 3rd party to make more of them.

WindowBlinds uses its own unique format, therefore it does not have to break MS security to function. And, if it doesn't work, you can uninstall it completely. With StylesXP you have to go back and replace a dll that has been compromised.

MS does not support StyleXP. WindowBlinds is Microsoft certified.

You will not find StyleXP skins here...

I am probably wrong about this but I downloaded and purchased StyleXP some time ago. It works great for me and I was unaware of any copyright issues. But my point is this: I'm pretty sure that the link to StylesXP that I first used to purchase the program was via Stardock's Website. The other possibility is that I clicked on a link in one of the stardock discussion groups.
BTW I also purchased a WindowBlinds CD and I'm not sure if I should install it in WinXP because I already have and use ObjectDesktop. Does anyone have any pro or con's about installing WindowBlinds separately? Would I still be able to update this program in OD?

If you have OD and download the various programs through the Component Manager, ie Windowblinds, I would just keep the CD handy in case of emergency. The CD surely has a older verison on it and won't be much of a benefit.

HuronJoe...It's a fairly safe bet that you wouldn't have been linked to StyleXP from the Stardock site...but maybe from a discussion thread...[probably comparing skins that were being ripped from WB]...

I have to say as a former subscriber to Stardock (until about 2 months ago), I was always a bit disappointed with the resource hogging that WB and DX seemed to show. I've recently installed StyleXP, and tbh I have found it an awful lot more stable and less resource hogging. Maybe it's because SXP doesn't let you change things like the position of the close buttons etc. All I know is as recently as February before my subscription ran out, I tried WB for XP again. I found it laggy, buggy and it slowed my system down farrrr too much. Since I've made my own skin from one of the ones i found in StyleXP, I've never had a single problem with compatability. WindowBlinds is good, but I feel sometimes designers heap far too much junk on and slow the whole thing down.

Anton...a certain amount of that 'heaping on' is because WB allows you the freedom to do so....it means skinners [for WB] have a far greater choice in their designs....and far less likely to be clones of the 'same old thing'.
It's like comparing a free-form Sonique or WMP skin with a tired old WinAMP 2x skin....sure, you can make it look a 'bit' different, but being on a fixed template stifles creativity....

It also depends on the skin. If one compares an intense skin to Luna, then that's not even fair. As for compatibility, it doesn't have compatibility problems because it does not skin nearly as many applications as WindowBlinds does. Plus, all the best artists make skins for WindowBlinds.

Probably in 3.4 WindowBlinds will default to only skin theme aware apps (it'll be a checkbox) so that it's like msstyles in that respect. Too many cases of apples and oranges comparisons.

As for speeds, it definitely depends on the skin and video card.

For example, on my IBM ThinkPad T20 running XP, it's either WindowBlinds or classic. msstyles isn't even an option, they simply slow things down too much, even Luna itself.

anton - you may well have something else going on in your system.. it might help your computer a lot overall to make a list of all the things you're generally running, being sure not to forget ie add-ons, and send it to [email protected]

the classic way to find the -real- cause of something like what you experienced is to set everything to not load on boot, then quit out of anything that doesn't cover in your systray. then add wb, then add dx. see where you start lagging by keeping track of your sysmeter.

if it still looks like wb or if it looks like dx, then make sure you've got fresh dl's of them and weren't running them when you installed. also, with dx, make sure you don't have any old incompatible plugins running around

why dont u guys use style xp for the skins? i have style xp and it works like a dream. please think of putting it in.

axp, maybe you should read the thread from the top. Your question will be answered.