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Myths & Facts about WindowBlinds

Myths & Facts about WindowBlinds

Myths & Facts about WindowBlinds

Because WindowBlinds has been out now for half a decade and it has changed so dramatically over the years, there are a lot of misconceptions about how WindowBlinds works.

MYTH: WindowBlinds is a memory hog.

FACT:  No. WindowBlinds not only uses very little memory but it actually uses LESS memory than the bundled themes do. That's because WindowBlinds visual styles are designed to use less memory since its skin format was designed during the days when users had fewer resources.

The Wbload.exe process in the Windows task list.

 

MYTH: WindowBlinds will slow down your computer.

FACT: To a certain extent, anything you load onto your machine will slow it down by some amount. The question is, will a given program slow down your computer noticeably. In WindowBlinds' case, it shouldn't slow down your computer. Thanks to hardware acceleration and using extra video RAM on most new cards, WindowBlinds should be noticeably faster than using the bundled themes in Windows XP.

MYTH: WindowBlinds isn't as compatible or will crash my programs

FACT: WindowBlinds, because it's a commercial product, has to provide additional value over the included themes in Windows XP. One of the ways it does this is by defaulting to skinning non-theme aware programs. Of course, some programs just don't like being skinned. Those apps can be added to the exclusion list. Most existing software is excluded by Microsoft's theme engine. But you can do the same thing with WindowBlinds if you are concerned about compatibility over consistency:

You can tell WindowBlinds to only skin theme aware programs and have identical compatibility to Windows XP's bundled themes.

 

MYTH: All the WindowBlinds visual styles are big and ugly.

FACT: There are thousands of WindowBlinds visual styles on the net. And it can also import in .msstyles files if you have SkinStudio installed. Because WindowBlinds is very flexible, skinners tend to make skins that they want to make with little limitation. So that creates more variety. But sites such as WinCustomize.com do have ways of filtering visual styles so you can find the ones you want.

For example, if you want to see the Admin picks of WindowBlinds visual styles, you can go here. That doesn't mean you'll like what they picked but they are skins that other people have liked.

30,515 views 69 replies
Reply #26 Top
I've always loved the program and the way they run on my much messed with system lol...I've never had a problem at all with the cpu usage mucking up anything I do...but then..I'm a total goof and can't multitask anyway hahaha...I don't know anything at all about the process or the other programs that are putting down my beloved windowblinds but I wouldn't trade it for the world!!! I love it and am totally sold on its performance and the quality of the artists that supply the wonderful skins...Thank you all for a great product with super quality and usability
Reply #27 Top
NO - Windows ME replaced 98SE. Then XP replaced ME.


I know that Kona. I was referring to the fact that Win98SE was the more stable and most used operating system for the home user until WinXP came along. WinXP replaced Win98SE in that regard.
Reply #28 Top
Make yourself a 24x36 image in Photoshop with about 90 layers, then come back and talk about RAM.


Working on the toolbar icons in my last skin, I actually had 103 layers at 1200x1000, before the program said no more layers. No lag really, the program (PSP) just said that it needed more memory.
Reply #29 Top
Working on the toolbar icons in my last skin, I actually had 103 layers at 1200x1000, before the program said no more layers. No lag really, the program (PSP) just said that it needed more memory.


at 150ppi, 1200x1100 is like 8x7 inches. waaaaaay different than 24x36. poster size at commercial print resolutions will eat a gig of ram as an appetizer.
Reply #30 Top
i look at memory usage another way.. i don't say 'i have a gig of ram, so 20 megs towards something insignificant doesn't bother me'.. i say 'i have a gig of ram, so if i resource correctly i have more to use for the task at hand'. just because you have a lot of it doesn't mean programers shouldn't streamline things as much as possible. when all we had was 64 megs, stuff had to run small. just because its standard to have more doesn't mean stuff HAS to run big. keep it small and you just have more to work with, and you get more for your money. just for the record i run desktopx, wb, and ob and i am thrilled with their resource usage. on my notebook, even, there is a good small footprint.
Reply #31 Top
Even so with memory WB taking 20mb if it even ever did is ancient history. It now takes for example with a skin I have made, 1.3mb. If you can''''''''t afford that then your just hurting for a memory upgrade, seriously.

BTW, out of curiousity how much memory do typical visual styles and themes service take? Since the themes serices hasn''''t been optimized lately if at all I would imagine it has to be more than WB.

BTW, I think no matter what there will alway be people who claim that it takes more memory\resources than the themes service (which they call uxtheme.dll which is like if one would call windowblinds wblind.dll). And that the themes service takes no resources, =p
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Reply #32 Top
I remeber those days before WB made 1.0. I was virtually unusable on win98.

by the time that 1.3 arrived I was running a tech site (OWT). I downloaded WB just to review and it haven't had a computer without it since.

I am probably an odd case in the ram department my win98 machine had 256mb and each system since has doubled that amount up to the current sys with about a gig of it. so the only problems I have ever had are the mem leaks in the win 9x series wich was an OS problem not a WB problem.

In the begining WB probably should have been closed until it was proven stable, version 1.3 in my opinion, maybe that would have prevented some of the " it's a mem hog remarks".

Also Stardock should support for the 9x OS's, this would also eliminate some of the bad press about WB slowing systems and crashing.

??Are there any system hardware requirements listed for WB??
Reply #33 Top
A problem is 9x's 128k GDI limit which doesn't change even if you add a ton of ram to your system. And it would have been hard to get it stable without so many people testing it on a variety of hardware.
Reply #34 Top
i think that sdmcp.exe's used resources should be added yo wbload.exe's because if no stardock app is installed sdmcp.exe is not there and not running lol and it runs no matter if a WB skin is loaded or not, dont get me worng i love WB and will die to uphold its reputation but be a little more honest.

on my system Wbload.exe runs at 620k - 1000k if you add sdmcp.exe's resources of 2,200k - 3,900k you get a maximum combined resource useage of 2,800k - 5,000k



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Reply #35 Top
Except sdmcp has so far nothing to do with WB. WB doesn't install it or load it. DesktopX, Objectbar, Keylaunchpad, and I can't think of any others, do.

From what I can remember sdmcp is supposed to help by reducing the number of hooks to the system by running multiple programs that use hooks so I think WB should be updated to support it.
Reply #36 Top
Frogboy...is there any truth to this statement? I have no idea if it's true or not, which is why I'm asking. The statement was posted on download.com.

"Once installed, the program (WB)can NOT be removed from your system. Uninstall will remove Windows' original skin system with the program files."

I have no intention of uninstalling my WindowBlinds, but...if we were attacked by terrorists and I needed to protect my files I'd like to know I could without messing anything up.



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Reply #37 Top

webgizmos....Windowblinds modifies the matrix of your hard drive platters and re-arranges the crystaline make-up of your ram chips.....apparently it also demagnetizes the PC speaker cone to eliminate the 'post' beeps on startup.

I've also heard said that it is the cyber equivalent of daylight saving....it'll fade your curtains.

Reply #38 Top
Jafo....Yeah, but can it change your muffler bearings to quiet your PC and the light fluid so you can see your monitor better? Inquiring minds want to know!
Reply #39 Top
To: Frogboy
Fact#1 I love Windowblinds , have no complaints,and use it all the time.
Fact#2 On my computer when I go from standard XP style that came on my computer,and load Windowblinds using a simple skin with no animation,My PF usage increases 29 Mega bites.
Question : Is this to be expected?



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Reply #40 Top
"Once installed, the program (WB)can NOT be removed from your system. Uninstall will remove Windows' original skin system with the program files."

There is usually at least one person that says somthing like that for every piece of software on download.com
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Reply #41 Top
at least 75% of the xp wb skins submitted in the last 18 months are over the top and to large (with the exception of msstlye ports ), skinners just show off as many of their skills as possible in one skin without considering how it looks. With visual styles on sites like deviantart.com in particular (although there are only about 800 of them), where at least 60% are all much more minimal and look great.
Reply #42 Top
at least 60% are all much more minimal and look great.


First, that's purely a personal opinion, if you look at the work of WB Skinner, some his skins are "over-the-top" and very popular. Secondly, the minimalism is mainly due to the fact that there isn't much flexability in .msstyles, you CAN'T do the kind of skins you see here, they're just not possible to make with the .msstyle format limitations.
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Reply #43 Top
He has a point. Less is better for me.
Reply #44 Top
Good points, Hus!
Reply #45 Top

Minimalism in styleXP is a 'necessity', not a 'feature'.

With Windowblinds the skinner has the option to be minimalistic or not, as he so chooses, hence its popularity...

Reply #46 Top
Well I meant to say I prefer small minimalistic WB skins.
Reply #47 Top
I agree with Jafo, I read and replied to a thread over at Neo, someone waiting for the skins from the GuiOlympics to be made available in msstyles format... he he he, they'll be waiting a LONG TIME....
Reply #48 Top
haha... lets see someone try to port antares to msstyles with all animations intact hahaha



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Reply #49 Top
I'd have to say that there is much validity in your statments, CygnusXII. I work as an A+ tech, and see many of these bogged down registries every single day. It's also very much an issue, these days anyhow, with tons of spy/adware programs on users systems, that they don't even realise are there. I mean, it couldn't possibly be those "tons of free cursor" programs, or "web(cough)shots" and such... right?
The simple fact is, the vast majority of home PC users simply do not know how to maintain their system for top performance. They don't understand the importance of maintaining a clean registry, sweeping their system for spyware/virii, or running cleanups on their temp files and defrag of the HDD. They see something that they think is a neat program, for "free", and blindly install it. (What? Free cursors? All I have to do is "click here"??... while CursorXP gives you any and all cursors you could want, or make, without the spyware...)
Also, many home PC users think that an install of Windows should last forever, without ever having to reinstall it. I've seen people bring in systems with Win98 first edition (we refuse to work on 95 machines these days), that have been installed since the day that they purchased it. As a general rule, a format and reinstall of Windows once a year is a good practice. No matter how good of a job you do cleaning up your registry, it's bound to get "wiggy" sooner or later. If Windows was an OS designed to be installed, and forgotten about... we'd never need to buy a new version of it.
Finally, the issue about memory, and it's availability these days. Most mass PC manufacturers are putting at least 512MB in a system these days... and that's DDR. We're talking a minimum of what USED to be the maximum, and at speeds at least double what it used to run at. Add to that the fact that the average user has 1GB or more (hardcore users, those that would be interested in running something like WB), and this is no longer even a valid topic. (Even with WB and Objectdock, NAV, and a few other programs running, I still have over 75% of my memory available... with 1GB installed.)
Granted, I just recently got into WB/Object Desktop, as I'm sick and tired of Windows being so boring... and I'm getting interested in creating my own skins... but, I can't see where this program could ever have been the "memory hog" that it's claimed to have been.



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Reply #50 Top
Maxness what kind of image where you trying to make with 90 layers.

I am just in the stages of getting to grips with Photoshop CS and I dont think I have used more than 10 layers... Dont think I would like to manage more than that yet lol