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WindowBlinds 5 Beta 1 Released

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WindowBlinds 5 Beta 1 Released

Notes

from Stardock Forums

WindowBlinds 5 beta 1 (4.90) has been released on Object Desktop (it's only available if you have Object Desktop presently).

UPDATE: 4.9A now up -- support for older nVidia cards added!

Release Notes:
------------

This build is the first beta for the upcoming WindowBlinds 5. There are going to be some rough edges as it gets out in wider distribution, so please be as detailed as possible with any feedback.

Requirements:
Windows XP.  Does not support Windows 2000 or Windows XP 64-bit (64-bit version will come later though).

The Big One - Per-pixel borders on XP

-Per-pixel (alpha-blended) titlebars and borders. It's been an internal struggle over the last year or more as to whether we would be able to implement these on Windows XP with reasonable performance. We have, _if_ you have a relatively modern video card and good drivers for it.

What does that mean? Your video card needs to have hardware support for alphablending and a driver with SHADEBLENDCAPS support implemented and functional. ATI Radeon's 9000+ or later should be fine, NVIDIA GeForce 6000+ or later should be fine, and even chips that you wouldn't expect like the integrated Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME run fine with it.

Some boards are not going to work with this release, though we hope to be able to work with the driver vendors to find a workaround. GeForce 4600/5200 and related seem to be a common trigger for that (like they are losing the alpha channel for the images). The top/bottom borders with per-pixel skins seem oversaturated, but the left/right borders are working (and you can click "through" the top border).

Yes, you can put shadows on your borders and make them part of the skin. See the Arrow sample that is included. The shadows are part of the skin.

Other new features:

By Per-Pixel, we mean elements that have full alpha blending support (anti-alias themselves to whatever graphical elements are around it).

  • -No wbload.exe process. The binary is still there for installing skins.
  • -Per-pixel menus
  • -Per-pixel taskbar
  • -Per-pixel progress bar overlay
  • -Per-pixel "Please wait" dialog
  • -New wbconfig previews
  • -New skincast features (not in this build)
  • -Lots of optimizations under the hood.

When reporting problems, please check the Troubleshooting section of WBConfig. Select the text with the left-mouse button and press Ctrl-C to copy the text. Please include that when reporting any visual-bugs along with a screenshot (cropped if appropriate for size).

There is an updated SkinStudio beta available to Object Desktop customers with support for creating per-pixel skins. You must still include the non-pp images for systems that don't support the new frames, so the skins should still work with WB 4.x.

Note: To change skins you have to load WBConfig now.  There's no system tray icon yet.  You can change skins from display properties (msstyles now show up side by side with WindowBlinds skins btw) or you can put a short-cut to WindowBlinds config somewhere handy like on the Quick Launch or use Keyboard LaunchPad to assign a hot-key to bring it up.

Enjoy!

Support: https://forums.stardock.com/?forumid=167

53,580 views 76 replies
Reply #51 from WinCustomize Forums Top

So far so good with StealthOS.

WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to RADEON X700 Series
'RADEON X700 Series Secondary ' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

Nicely done, Stardock.

Reply #52 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I forgot to mention that the Min, Max/Restore, and Close buttons for the windows both Poser 5 and Painter IX now work (they did not work in Version 4.60.x).

Very exciting.

SoundPackager - Customize the Windows sound scheme
Reply #54 from WinCustomize Forums Top

With all skins?

Neil, if you are referring to my comment on Poser 5 and Painter IX, the answer is yes - the Minimize, Maximize/Restore, and Close buttons on the top right corner of the application window in both of those applications failed to respond to any clicking (left or right) using any of the 30 - 40 popular skins I have installed and running on WindowBlinds version 4.4.x and up.

I was still able to use the taskbar button's right-click menu to perform all the functions, but I chose to exclude instead.

One other thing I noticed with Painter IX skinned by version 4.4 - 4.6, was that the tool "property bar" (just below the standard menu bar) would load with a space between the property bar and the menu bar - which does not occur with the default windows themes service. This also appears to be fixed in the 4.90.x beta version.

The new 4.90.x beta works as expected with those applications - no delays in responding to the use of those control buttons.

Note - when I reported this to Tech Support and requested any advice, I received a response indicating that some applications use a different drawing method in the titlebar, and this might be the cause.

Thanks.

Reply #56 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Good on Dell laptop running the Stealth WB as well.

WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Default Monitor) 1 is attached to ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300
'ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 ' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

BTW - the non-transparent taskbar is actually a nice feature for the use of ObjectDock Plus tabbed drawer docks - it might look strange if you can see the icons and dock through the taskbar all the time.

Reply #57 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I downloaded the beta version of WindowsBlind 5 and my task bar just froze,in effect my computer just stooped functioning.
I had to do a system restore to correct the problem.
You would think that one did not need to upgrade hardware(that is about a year old) every time a newer version of your software is put out on the market. But it seems that at Stardock, you don't bother to take that into consideration, not to mention a system crash, as mine nearly did. Why do I have to be forced to upgrade my VGA card & motherboard to allow the new version to function?
I have been a long time fan of Object Desktop, but in future I will have to consider other easier options. :
Reply #58 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I should point out that the software is BETA.  This means it might not work, it might crash, hang, it could even cause you to have to reinstall.  Now its unlikely the reinstall issue would happen, but crashes etc are normal for Beta releases.

I doubt your problem is anything to do with your VGA card or motherboard.  Most likely explorer hung on skin apply and you just need to kill it using taskmanager & restart it.  If it still happens then we would want to know what explorer addins you have etc.

Reply #59 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I've down loaded the new WB5 at least 4 times trying to get it working properly on my system. My problems are 1) On the Task Bar there is a spot next to the Hide / Show button that is not skinned there is a blank spot that is either white or gray that is a quater inch wide and just as tall as the Task Bar that just won't go away. This situation effects every skin with WB5. 2) In the Window Blinds Configuration Window the bottom scroll bar only goes in one direction when viewing skins. The actual WB5 program works great on the computer except I can deal with the unskinned portion on my Task Bar, it destroys all the thrill that I have for the upgrade. I had to do a system restore and return to 4.5. I did this after working 2 hours trying to fix this Task Bar Bug. I am going to wait until I hear about all bugs fixed before I try WB5 again.
Reply #60 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This current version of WB 5 beta is still not perfectly compatible with my
PC. The problems are:

Norton Internet Security Parental Control does not load correctly. After
several attempts, the status bar which shows that Parental Control is
loading freezes and the dialog box doesn't disappear.

When you roll over the icons in the status bar/tool tray, the pop up text is
hidden behind the bar.

I have activated the option "hide status bar/tool tray automatically". When
the bar/tray disappears it doesn't hide smoothly. Especially with the new WB
5 skins.

I found these problems after spending only an hour using WB 5. I couldn't
use the program extensively because I couldn't remove the Parental Control
dialogue box from the middle of the screen. Being "on top", the dialogue box
also prevented me from using the other applications on my computer.

This has forced me to go back to using the old version of WB, at least until
these problems with version 5 have been solved.

The new version of WB is fantastic, so it's a real pity that I can't use it.
I'll wait until it works properly.

Thanks,

Maurizio.
Reply #61 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Monitor Plug and Play) 1 is attached to RADEON X600/X550 Series
'RADEON X600/X550 Series' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

Norton Internet Security Parental Control does not load correctly. After
several attempts, the status bar which shows that Parental Control is
loading freezes and the dialog box doesn't disappear.

Maurizio.
Reply #62 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Monitor Plug and Play) 1 is attached to RADEON X600/X550 Series
'RADEON X600/X550 Series' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAY2', but is not attached to the desktop.
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

Problems to the start with the wallpaper that appears before LogonStudio.
Problems with the window of loading of the Parenteral Controls of Symantec (it doesn't disappear).
Problems With the visualization of the descriptions of the icons on the bar of the start (they are hidden).
If it goes on so it is a problem behind the other.
I don't absolutely satisfy any progress.
Slow start!
I don't renew the signature, because cannot use the skins anymore!
A disappointment!
But do I am alone to comment?
Reply #63 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Maurizio,

If you are looking to use WindowBlinds to skin the explorer shell without bugs, I suggest you revert to the officially released WindowBlinds version 4.6 until the official release of WindowBlinds 5 comes out.

Beta versions are released for people who do not mind the bugs, and wish to help in the development of the product by testing on their machines. It is understood that the beta versions will have issues until all (or most) are ironed out and a release candidate is offered.

From my understanding (and experience on my machine), this new version of WindowBlinds is significantly different in the handling of certain aspects of skinning the shell. Therefore, we are not seeing a simple upgrade of the 4.6 handling.

Have some patience while Stardock improves the "first draft" of the new version. I do not know for sure, but would suspect that Christmas would be a target for the full release (if all bugs are found and fixed).

Reply #64 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks Wizop Corky O,

I have understood now perfectly, but I have the computer from little time and I like WB a lot.
I will wait for the definitive version.
I didn't want to risk to not be able to use it to the best.

Maurice.
Reply #65 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WindowBlinds 5 BETA Troubleshooting Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(ViewSonic PT813) 1 is attached to NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
'NetMeeting driver' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV1', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.
'RDPDD Chained DD' also exists as device '\\.\DISPLAYV2', but is not attached to the desktop and is a mirror driver.

___
Everything looks and handles great. Except when I'm running with Photoshop CS2.
If I open several files inside of photoshop the only way that I can bring one that is partially covered to the foreground is by clicking on the the image area or one of the rules. Clicking on the title bar for a window that is partially obscured doesn't bring it forward. Since I share this pc, this has to work for me to continue to run window blinds... This system is up to date with all patches for windows xp sp2 and has all patches for CS2 as well.
Reply #66 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have to ask, Ati Radeon Mobility 7500 at 64 MB is too old for WindowBlinds 5? Doesn't it accelerate per pixel? Please do answer this as it is vital for knowing which machine to have...Thanks.
Reply #67 from WinCustomize Forums Top
First of all, i really love the alpha blending features in WB5. I have only one problem, is it normal that you have to apply the skins manually each time you startup your pc?
The rest is working perfectly tho
Reply #70 from WinCustomize Forums Top
xXDimiXx: Please upgrade to the 4.90g build.  If you are still having problems, contact support@stardock.com with your information and they will be able to assist you.
Reply #71 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm having difficulty with multiple user logins on my machine. I recently upgraded from 4.6 to Beta 5 and now all the other users besides myself are unable to use Windowblinds or any other element of Object Desktop. All I get when I try to use them is your standard Windows "Blah blah has encountered an error," or something of the likes.

Any reason why this would happen now and not with 4.6?
Reply #72 from WinCustomize Forums Top

The current WB 5 build on OD (4.95 beta) should handle multiple users just fine.

Just open wbconfig to change skin.

Reply #73 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The current WB 5 build on OD (4.95 beta) should handle multiple users just fine.

Just open wbconfig to change skin.


Tried it- no go. "wbconfig.exe has encountered an error."
Reply #74 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WindowBlinds 5 BETA 2 Troubleshooting Report:

Every time I try to update the version, rebooting afterwards, I end up with no theme, i then try to open Windowsblinds and I get an error saying that wblind.dll is not installed properly, please reinstall.

I then have to uninstall Windowsblinds, reboot, then install, reboot and everything is fine again.

I have had to do this for every update so far.

Apart from this problem, everything is just great




STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+ TRAY+


WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

Wblind.dll 2005/11/11 17:06:20
Wbsrv.dll 2005/11/11 17:06:22
Wbconfig.exe 2005/11/11 18:08:00
Wbload.exe 2005/11/02 13:36:34
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 16:37:00
Wbui.dll 2005/10/17 10:55:14
Tray.dll 2005/11/02 13:28:26


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