Windows Blinds

tezza

Nov 1 2006, 11:43 AM

Wasnt really sure where this would go so I thought I would put it under utilities. Does anyone use Windows Blinds or any of their other applications?
I have used it and thought it is pretty cool as you can download various cool features however it has its drawbacks. Still it gives WIndows a whole new feel.
If you do please post your screenshots.

wutske

Nov 2 2006, 05:39 PM

I've used their stuff before. I mean, it looked good, but I quickly get bored of all those fancy looks and I didn't like the resource it eats ... even the default windows Luna theme didn't last longer but a year

. I prefer the basic win9x theme, it's fast, it's compact and at least I don't get bored with it

.

So I can't provide you with any fancy screenshot, but only with the advise that it's a resource eating combo

foolakadugie

Nov 2 2006, 07:11 PM

Yeah I had this program long time ago and it slowed my computer way down. The loss in ram just wasn't worth the eye-candy to me. Now I use a windows shell that let's me skin it, while still using less resources than windows default explorer shell.

tezza

Nov 2 2006, 11:22 PM

fair enough. I have used it and thought it was great but like you say it does eat at your computers resources. Cool stuff though.

Arbitrary

Nov 3 2006, 01:01 AM

I agree with most of the posts above. Windows Blinds was nice, especially with all the styles to choose from, but as soon as it started eating away at my computer's resources, it became a big no-no. Great looks don't exactly make up for an extra slow computer. It's probably the same reason I quit using Firefox themes--most of them end up slowing Firefox to a crawl. Once it got so bad that I had to reinstall Firefox. :-(

JJGY

Nov 8 2006, 10:35 PM

Windows stuff in general has just started becoming more and more demanding. I run Blackbox Lean as my XP shell, and it uses next to nothing in the way of ram. I also love how customizable it is and although you lose some ease of use, it's a much more practical shell.

KDEWolf

Nov 9 2006, 02:38 AM

Seriously, you all have no idea of what you're saying. Unless the versions you guys tested were from years and years ago.

WindowBlinds' rendering engine is dozens of times faster than Windows XP default one (since it uses hardware acceleration, and many technologies like Hyperpaint), and uses much less system resources like CPU and RAM memory, though might use more of your video card (what's nowadays a big advantage, since even some old Video cards do a wonderful job).

Also, once you use WindowBlinds, you should disable XP's Theming service, to free up system resources, so you don't have both running side by side.

Levis

Nov 9 2006, 06:14 AM

I personally have Tuneup utilities which allows you to acctaully install the skin on the cmoputer with using a program such as blinds to translate the skin into windows UI. Anyways, after using their default skins, i begran to learn how to design windows default skin which supposedly should not be known. Try Tunup Utilities 2006, their skin mode, and you might learn more about themeing Windows XP.

tezza

Nov 9 2006, 09:53 AM

Thats a very interesting story KDEWolf. I didnt realise this. I may have been wrong saying that Windows Blinds slowed my computer down. It could have just been the software I had open at the time. I will test this to see.
As for windows blinds has anyone got any screenshots they care to show us of their desktop set-up? It would be interesting to see this.
I will post mine shortly when I get in, as I am currently using my work computer.

Quatrux

Nov 9 2006, 10:43 AM

I used to use WindowsBlinds for over a year and I really liked it, now I use other of their software, like Iconpackager, Boot Skin and CursorXP.. But when I used to use WindowsBlinds, it didn't get any slower and didn't eat a lot of resources, for me everything was clean and nice. I just don't use it anymore, because I want to get bored of the Windows XP Default theme.

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Grafitti

Nov 11 2006, 05:39 AM

I tried Windowblinds as well and found it a bit too much on resources. Msstyles is also pretty heavy, but i found that for me it used less resources. Not content with that, i tried the 9x look, got bored of that, then tried 3Ddesktop, too cumbersome to be useful, and then Astonshell. That used a little less resources than msstyles or windowblinds, and was a tradeoff, as it never loaded explorer. I found those to be more robust, the ones that completely replace the explorer shell. The only place i ran into trouble was when i would install user-created skins, which, if they had bugs, would cause frequent crashes. SO eventually i opted out of that, and switched to the KDE transformation pack from Bricopacks. I was happy with that until the Royale Noir was leaked, and so switched back to that...
but no screenshots of all those other systems. here's my current: IPB Image

larger size: Desktop jpg 200kb

foolakadugie

Nov 10 2006, 10:20 AM

QUOTE(KDEWolf @ Nov 8 2006, 06:38 PM)

Yeah the last time that I used it was years ago. It has probably been at least 4 years but maybe more, so I don't doubt that it has improved since then.

Quatrux

Nov 10 2006, 07:04 AM

Well, OK I will post my Screenshots:

My old Desktop (2004-2005)

My second old Desktop (2005-2006)

My current Desktop (PNG Warning 2MB)

My current Desktop (JPG Warning ~450KB)

the last screenshot, I mean my current Desktop does not use WindowsBlinds.