StyleXP

why would stardock support...

a) a competing "product?"

a "product" that is a _hack_ of a _system .dll_?

c) a "product" that is not a product at all?

if you want Windows XP Visual Styles then i suggest that you go to deviantART, DeskMod, LOS or Skinbase.

I asked if Stardock supported this site, not a "product" that isn't a product. I am just saying why wouldn't themes be on a site that calls itself THE site for customization of Windows. I myself don't like windowblinds and if I need a "hack_of a_system.dll_" to make me happy then so be it. And I wasn't even sure if Stardock pays for this site or what, and if you say StyleXP isn't even a product why wouldn't it be on this site?

1 StarDock own this site and WindowBlinds - a conflict of interests if they supported StyleXP themes too. (since StylesXP is sold and competes with WB)

2 Style XP are generally alot larger (file size) and they would eat too much bandwidth.

Yes Stardock supports this site. They pay for it after all. What jark is getting at is that StyleXP is not a product in the way windowblinds is because it does not actually do anything except patch out some security. The skinning is entirely Microsoft's work. Windowblinds on the other hand has been in development for several years and represents a lot more hours of work. You may be happy with it and that's fine but Stardock will probably not have themes for it on their site due to it being a direct competitor which furthermore goes against what Microsoft have advised. I would imagine Microsoft would be slightly annoyed if Stardock was seen to be encouraging hacking it's software. These are my opinions only. Take them as you will.

I think the jury is still out on whether StyleXP is ever going to be 'endorsed' by Microsoft, and if not could fall into the 'copyright-hack/warez' category and as such 'may' not be appropriate to host/promote anyway...

There are many other applications/programs that would be included here before StyleXP would ever be considered.

Even if Stardock didn't make WindowBlinds there would be no msstyles. Reason: Stardock is a Microsoft partner. Msstyles maybe popular but they are definitely gray market. The msstyles format is owned by Microsoft and they have never licensed it for third party use. And since they put some effort to ensure that it not be used by third parties, programs like StyleXP are frowned on by Microsoft (and I know tihs to be a fact having talked to Microsoft at length on this issue). I would be very surprised if doesn't break programs like Style XP within a year (certainly by Longhorn).

hmmmmm Microsoft Partner $$$$$ and can not afford bandwidth? With a statement like this one above me, Shoggot should be walking around with a smile on his face along with many others that have been put down here...........

Eh - chichigirl46... Seems you aren't aware of tha fact that becoming a MS partner actually costs you money. You don't get any money from MS.

Uh ChiChiGirl, do you know how StyleXP works? It disables Microsoft's digital signature verification with visual styles. In short, it's a security crack. It's not well known outside our IRC channel but Stardock wrote a Style XP type program a YEAR ago, long before Style XP existed. But Microsoft asked us not to precisely because they did not want people using msstyles. To somehow blame us for Microsoft possibly breaking a security crack is ridiculous. There's nothing stopping TGTSoft or anyone else from writing their own skinning program with their own format.