Real [original] OS Customizing simply had an entire replacement of the OS Shell [there were many] and Explorer.exe simply was never loaded at all.
There was no reverse engineering of anything....you just had someone like LoneRunnr code Litestep from 'scratch' and configure it to be a text-edit for anyone to design their own interfaces.
Stardock's software was designed specifically to work with Microsoft's Shell and was entirely legitimate being formal 'Partners' with MS.
The UXTheme 'patcher' was a reverse-engineered [and thus illegal] MS dll that evolved at the time of WinXP. Because it was unsanctioned MS had no interest in maintaining its functioning and pretty much 'broke' it with every OS update.
Yes, people will explore all sorts of ways to alter a system, but when they do...and their system breaks...they cannot go crying to Microsoft.
Same applies with un-sanctioned mods affecting Stardock's software. You cannot ever expect Stardock to bend over backwards to solve problems you initiate through ignorance.
The promoting of unsanctioned hacks isn't desirable as it will invariably lead to the naive coming to Stardock claiming Stardock's software doesn't work [or similar], when it was never intended to work on an altered OS.
BTW...the 'error' you got if/when Litestep went wrong was often "Shell not found. You must reinstall Windows".
You didn't...you simply had to point the OS to Litestep again.
BTW...the windows in Litestep skinned correctly with Windowblinds...simply because no actual MS files were altered by the Different Shell use...
