WinCustomize Forums
I tried it ("StyleXP") and decided against it for the following reasons:
1 - Skins selections were fairly limited.
2 - Incorporation with other installed programs was not as good as the native "uxtheme.dll" included in Windows XP.
3 - The uninstall process does not restore the original files.
If the patch was clean and allowed the files to run exactly the same as the native ones do, and if the uninstall process restored the original files flawlessly, I would use the progam extensively. Unfortunately, it is a "hack" which is flawed, and therefore I do not use it. 
| hats what i hate about this site... the guy didnt ask about stardock fanboys he wanted to know the experiences from the uxtheme patch...as for me i didnt really have a problem with it and im using it on my laptop right now. |
| Furthermore, Stardock programs have the distinct advantage over StyleXP, in that an individual one can be uninstalled/reinstalled if it causes an issue. Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire. |
| Plus why use it when Windowblinds is a superior product. It can do so much more than StyleXp. If you find a style you like done in StyleXP you can convert it to Windowblinds (with Skinstudio) so you can have the best of both worlds. |
| Gee, unless I misread, I think he got an informed and well presented case against using the uxtheme hack/stylexp. If you hate the site so much Threi, what keeps you here? |
| About the legal concerns -- I patch and store pre-patched Uxtheme libraries in my widely-used repository and have yet to receive a C&D. |
MS really is slack at times.
Were I MS I would have vigorously protected my IP...and gleaned even more dollars into my bank account...
| another example of unnessary promotion of stardock products |
| stardock fanboys |
| It's not unnecessary at all. Someone trying to recommend a better product is just fine. |
| Really now, what do you expect? You go to a Chevy forum, don't you figure there's going to be a few Chevy Fanboys there? |
| Furthermore, Stardock programs have the distinct advantage over StyleXP, in that an individual one can be uninstalled/reinstalled if it causes an issue. Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire. |
| that whole paragraph wasnt needed |
| . I wanted to here from you guys about your expiriences with it. |
| I wanted to here from you guys about your expiriences with it. |
| Sure, StyleXP has a convenient interface combining everything, but as I soon discovered, convenience is not necessarily better...when one aspect Of StyleXP decides to go guts up, it affects others and the whole program/system can go haywire. |
!!!!!| now if you are inclined to reply "it screwed up my system" something similiar (comment #1 is ideal), i have no problem in the world with that. |
| god...so thick...i give up. *sigh* |
| indeed it does piss me off but its a matter of taking the good with the bad...if i left every site cause of annoyances in the community, i would just rather unplug my internet cable |
| u just dont have to promote it so much...its annoying... |
OK....you want 'experience' with uxtheme.dll patching?
Here's mine.
TGTSoft went out of their way to disparage the one true alternative to an MS hack [on Deviantart, quite some years ago] by spoofing Users' comments with fake Users to give a false impression of the pros and cons of each.
Their subversive modus operandi aided in the newbie/naive acceptance of it [the hack] as a viable alternative.
The first casualty of the 'debate' was truth. [as is the case in war].
Since then there has been variations of the functionality/adoption of this hack...as a response to the MS updates, namely SP1 and 2 which both proved problematic for what actually gets NO support from MS [as you would expect since it is NOT sanctioned as an approved 'mod'].
The TGTSoft-based sites/forums dealing with the on-going issues such hacking causes appear to be conspicuous in their absence.
Microsoft's indifference to the patching of their proprietary content is NOT tacit condoning/approval of its use, but simply indifference towards something that has [apparently] not been a help-desk-complaint issue sufficienly big enough to become "enough is enough....cease and desist".
For anyone who actively skins for the MS GUI it's a no-brainer that Windowblinds provides far more scope for that skinning it becomes a "why bother with an inferior product/method?" - question.
To sum up...
A patched uxtheme.dll [whatever its implimentation] is both inferior and unsupported by anyone 'qualified' to do so.
The only time this opinion will be deemed inappropriate to the thread poster's question is when other's noses are put out of joint by it due to it being at odds with what they would 'like' to hear.
To clarify, I have been known to 'hack' things and seem to have a love of breaking my OS [just ask yrag]....but cannot even BOTHER to do so [with this] when there is a better alternative...
Am I a 'fanboy'? It sure sounds like it...but oddly enough I am sufficiently sentient to form my own conclusions...and need NOT be part of a gestalt...
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