WindowBlinds 5 Beta: Next Tuesday

It's coming..

from WinCustomize Forums

The first public beta of WindowBlinds 5 is almost here.  Stardock released the alpha this week to its internal QA team to put the program through its compatibility testing before sending it out.  WindowBlinds 5's most notable new feature is the ability to support "glass" and full alpha blending of the title bar and border (no more jaggy borders).  The critical step has been to deliver this functionality without affecting performance for reasonably modern video cards.

In addiion, WindowBlinds 5 no longer has a "wbload.exe" and instead extends the painting of the Windows GUI in a more "native" way.  Or put another way, it has "zero foot print" in the same manner that the default bundled Windows themes (msstyles) use. 

Users who have Object Desktop will be able to try out the beta next Tuesday (Oct 4).  Users of WindowBlinds 4 will be able to upgrade to Object Desktop at a reduced price.  Moreover, users who purchased WindowBlinds 4 after September 1 will receive WindowBlinds 5 for free.

WindowBlinds 5 will also be designed to run on Windows Vista natively by the time Windows Vista ships (the beta of WindowBlinds 5 should run on the beta of Windows Vista though the Windows Vista GUI is still in a state of flux obviously).

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Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Awesome!!! I can't wait. I plan on buying WB soon, will the price of object desktop be going up due to the new releases?
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Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm psyched! Just curious though, are you eventually planning to integrate full compatiblility with the Vista beta's in v5? I know testing a beta on a beta is a generall no-no, but it would be great to run WB in the Vista betas without the current spacing problems, etc.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Yes.  THough we may put in a feature that will allow users to set the alpha level of their title bars and borders.

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Will WB have transparency? Isn't glass part of transparent?
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Will WB5 be full price for anyone who bought WB4 before September 1st? (I purchased mine, for example, in July).
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Great news Brad
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It is so cool that you guys have been able to figure this out. Not only the transparency, but also no wbload.exe as well. I remember hearing, awhile ago for sure, that transparency in the title bars wasn't possible. Yet here it is as well as transparency in the task bar. You guys rock!! Engineering geniuses.!!

hhmm, can't find a brown nosing emoticon
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This is gonna be sweet. That's what I call a Super-Tuesday!
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
that's 4 great things that have happened or will happen on oct. 4
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So I guess I'll be receiving an e-mail with the options and prices to upgrade my WB 4?
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
A skin was just released that uses transparency in the titlebars and borders. VistaR2 Blizz.
Though I guess the implementation in WB5 is far better. Still I didn't think it was possible and then this skin comes along.
However still like what WB5 has in store.
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"zero foot print" in the same manner that the default bundled Windows themes (msstyles) use


Don't you mean "Invisible Footprint". It's still there, you just don't see it advertising itself.
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Stardock released the alpha this week to its internal QA team to put the program through its compatibility testing before sending it out.


What does one have to do to become part of that team?
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top

A skin was just released that uses transparency in the titlebars and borders. VistaR2 Blizz.

That just total transparency. It's not alpha blending.

Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
And you can't drag the window around by it transparent borders. The correct term to describe it would be translucent.
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Great job.

Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So, I bought Object Desktop in June, and now you're telling me I have to buy it again. I LOVE OBJECT DESKTOP, but I will NOT pay for it again, at no price.
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Great news!!
The zero footprint, will it require the "Themes" service to be turned back on?