WindowBlinds? Good or bad?

[ebarn]

Has anyone heard of this program? Anything good or bad to say about it?

 

[dunfiddlin]

It does pretty much what it says on the tin! Some people swear by it, others swear at it. The only really bad thing you can say about it is that it costs hard earned cash to do a job that can mostly be emulated for free by the wonderful people who create W7 themes at deviantArt, virtualcustoms.net etc.

 

[Product FRED]

It's a good program, but I find it unnecessary and it a system hog since it's changing your entire interface.

 

[ebarn]

So pretty much not worth the extra cash.

 

[Product FRED]

Nope. Just use custom Visual Styles. All you have to do is patch your system and you can use any Visual Style. I suggest deviantART and some other sites:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/28377-theme-how-apply-custom-themes.html

 

[MilesAhead]

Has anyone heard of this program? Anything good or bad to say about it?

On Windows 7 you can do some customizations that would have required modifying some system files on Vista or XP. For exotic mods you have to do more than that allows and might use a program like this. But I found that with some mods, while they look good out of context, if they use anything other than left justify in captions, the small dialog boxes and message boxes tend to have the text chopped. At least I haven't seen a center justify caption mod that showed all the caption.

Also I'm kind of leary of changing lots of system files. It might take a while to realize that some strange behavior that takes a week to show up is really caused by the modified system file. The more stuff you change the harder it is to pin down what got messed up.

I would start with the simple mods like from deviantArt and see how far you want to go.

 

[ebarn]

Has anyone heard of this program? Anything good or bad to say about it?

On Windows 7 you can do some customizations that would have required modifying some system files on Vista or XP. For exotic mods you have to do more than that allows and might use a program like this. But I found that with some mods, while they look good out of context, if they use anything other than left justify in captions, the small dialog boxes and message boxes tend to have the text chopped. At least I haven't seen a center justify caption mod that showed all the caption.

Also I'm kind of leary of changing lots of system files. It might take a while to realize that some strange behavior that takes a week to show up is really caused by the modified system file. The more stuff you change the harder it is to pin down what got messed up.

I would start with the simple mods like from deviantArt and see how far you want to go.

That's what I figured. I'm a bit mindful at changing the system files... Especially for something as aesthetic as a theme... Is it worth it in the long run? Prob. not.

 

[BCXtreme]

WindowBlinds doesn't change any system files, it's an addon. In fact I think it is the deviantART themes that you need to change things for (could be wrong). WindowBlinds has always worked well for me. If in doubt, I think there's a 30-day free trial and you can just uninstall it if you don't like it.

 

[ebarn]

WindowBlinds doesn't change any system files, it's an addon. In fact I think it is the deviantART themes that you need to change things for (could be wrong). WindowBlinds has always worked well for me. If in doubt, I think there's a 30-day free trial and you can just uninstall it if you don't like it.

The .wba files don't patch anything in the system to change the icons and customize everything?

How much memory does it consume while open?

 

[BCXtreme]

WindowBlinds doesn't change any system files, it's an addon. In fact I think it is the deviantART themes that you need to change things for (could be wrong). WindowBlinds has always worked well for me. If in doubt, I think there's a 30-day free trial and you can just uninstall it if you don't like it.

The .wba files don't patch anything in the system to change the icons and customize everything?

How much memory does it consume while open?

As far as I've ever known, WindowBlinds doesn't patch anything. One of its claims to fame. You can install/uninstall it at will.

I'll get back to you on the memory usage shortly.

 

[ebarn]

Thanks.. I'll check back on here later tonight, cause I have to go.

 

[BCXtreme]

OK, just did a check and WindowBlinds 7.1 (newest version) is using just over 4MB of RAM on my desktop.

If I may, one of the coolest things about WindowBlinds 7.x is that you can choose between using whole new visual styles, or you can just apply some cool textures (wood, metal, etc) to the existing Aero interface.

 

[ebarn]

OK, just did a check and WindowBlinds 7.1 (newest version) is using just over 4MB of RAM on my desktop.

If I may, one of the coolest things about WindowBlinds 7.x is that you can choose between using whole new visual styles, or you can just apply some cool textures (wood, metal, etc) to the existing Aero interface.

Yeah... I guess I'll take a look at it and if anything just uninstall.

 

[Fhadso]

It's a good program if you're too lazy to manually patch system files, but totally not worth the money.

 

[Product FRED]

It's a good program if you're too lazy to manually patch system files, but totally not worth the money.

/thread.

 

[MilesAhead]

OK, just did a check and WindowBlinds 7.1 (newest version) is using just over 4MB of RAM on my desktop.

If I may, one of the coolest things about WindowBlinds 7.x is that you can choose between using whole new visual styles, or you can just apply some cool textures (wood, metal, etc) to the existing Aero interface.

Yeah... I guess I'll take a look at it and if anything just uninstall.

One thing I didn't like, I tried it and removed it. Instead of restoring the style that was active when I installed, it put on plain vanilla XP default style. It was kind of annoying. Had to go in an put back the theme I was running before manually.

 

[Faladu]

Skip it, why give away performance to something unnecessary?

I run a tight PC though, so your mileage may vary!

If you can't play that hardcore FPS game you just installed, it's a good place to visit to begin cutting out the PC waste. (just a dramatic example why not to fill your PC with fluff)

 

[BCXtreme]

I don't want to get into an argument about this program, so I'll just leave these final thoughts and then be on my way.

It's a good program if you're too lazy to manually patch system files, but totally not worth the money.

I disagree. First of all, many people (including myself) would rather not patch/hack Windows system files if necessary. Secondly, I paid not only for WindowBlinds, but actually subscribe to the full suite of Stardock products for several years now and have never regretted it. Whether a program is worth its cost, you see, is relative to person considering the purchase.

OK, just did a check and WindowBlinds 7.1 (newest version) is using just over 4MB of RAM on my desktop.

If I may, one of the coolest things about WindowBlinds 7.x is that you can choose between using whole new visual styles, or you can just apply some cool textures (wood, metal, etc) to the existing Aero interface.

Yeah... I guess I'll take a look at it and if anything just uninstall.

One thing I didn't like, I tried it and removed it. Instead of restoring the style that was active when I installed, it put on plain vanilla XP default style. It was kind of annoying. Had to go in an put back the theme I was running before manually.

Your post sounds like you were using an "unofficial" theme through patched system files. I'm not sure why you would expect WindowBlinds to recognize that, when Windows itself won't without a hack.

Skip it, why give away performance to something unnecessary?

I run a tight PC though, so your mileage may vary!

If you can't play that hardcore FPS game you just installed, it's a good place to visit to begin cutting out the PC waste. (just a dramatic example why not to fill your PC with fluff)

I agree with your point about waste, but this also is relative. I think the Steam platform that FPS probably needs is unnecessary waste, but some people will base their entire PC config around Steam.

It rarely hurts to try things....