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WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface. It has been developed by Stardock since 1998, and is the most popular component of their flagship software suite, Object Desktop. It is also available separately, and as an ActiveX/COM component called DirectSkin. Now in its sixth version, it supports alpha blending effects similar to the compositing of Windows Vista, but on Windows XP. “Software development†redirects here. ...
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems, later known as Stardock. ...
Code complete redirects here. ...
is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ...
“Windows†redirects here. ...
Computer software can be organized into categories based on common function, type, or field of use. ...
A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ...
Look up shareware in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML...
A computer program is a collection of instructions that describe a task, or set of tasks, to be carried out by a computer. ...
In computing, skins and themes are custom graphical appearances (GUIs) that can be applied to certain software and websites in order to suit the different tastes of different users. ...
“Windows†redirects here. ...
“GUI†redirects here. ...
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems, later known as Stardock. ...
The Object Desktop 2. ...
Component Object Model (COM) is a platform for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. ...
DirectSkin is a software component that is used by software developers to add skinning capability to their applications, which may or may not be exposed to end-users. ...
Alpha blending is a convex combination of two colors allowing for transparency effects in computer graphics. ...
In computer graphics, alpha compositing is often useful to render image elements in separate passes, and then combine the resulting multiple 2D images into a single, final image in a process called compositing. ...
Windows Vista is a line of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ...
Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ...
WindowBlinds has been downloaded over 10 million times[1][2] and was voted "Best Vertical Market Program or Utility" in the 2006 Shareware Industry Awards Foundation People's Choice Awards[3]. As of June 2006 there were over 3800 WindowBlinds skins available at WinCustomize, with an average of nine being added per week; another popular repository is deviantART. The Shareware Industry Awards Foundation (SIAF) was formed in 1991 by Marshall Magee (a successful shareware author), Bob Ostrander (head of Public Brand Software), Paris Karahalios (head of Trius Inc), Randy MacLean (head of FormGen, and Jim Perkins (FormGens head of marketing) in order to create and administer the...
The WinCustomize logo features a tramp, a reference to changing appearance using skins WinCustomize. ...
deviantART is an international online artistic community. ...
Skin formats
WindowBlinds skins come in two formats: "Basic" (or "UIS1+") and "Advanced" (or "UIS2").
Basic (UIS1+) Despite its name, the "Basic" skin format can be used to create fully-featured skins, and it is still used today. The main limitation is that skin borders may only be "standard" sizes (four pixels wide for most of the side borders). This restriction was significantly relaxed when skin metrics—adjustments to using the standard Windows methods—were introduced, allowing changes to (among other things) the standard height of the titlebar. It is also only possible to put buttons on the titlebar, and scripting and titlebar background animation are not supported.
The advantages of UIS1+ are performance (Stardock has claimed that a UIS1+ version of the Windows XP "Luna" visual style is twice as fast as the original in repaint and resizing) and compatibility. Most msstyles can be converted to a UIS1+ skin.
Advanced (UIS2) The Advanced skin format is provided for when a skin design cannot fit into the above restrictions. Typically these skins may have wider borders in some places, or none at all. They may also feature titlebar background animation, or the use of scripting features.
This format offers maximum flexibility at the cost of slightly reduced performance (as compared to UIS1+), and potentially more chance of incompatibility with applications. Some UIS2 skins include a UIS1+ subskin; if problems occur, this subskin may be substituted as a "per-app" skin.
History WindowBlinds started in 1998 when lead developer Neil Banfield teamed up with Stardock. Stardock was looking for a developer to create a window skinning application, and Banfield had already created an application that he called "Window Blinds" in 1997. Previous attempts by Stardock had included "Object Look", a minimal skinning application, and "WindowFX", an application written in Delphi. That name would later be reused for WindowFX, also created by Banfield. For a short time there was also a scaled-back version of the original Window Blinds called "WBLiteFX", a name which was still present in WindowBlinds registry settings as of May 2006. Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems, later known as Stardock. ...
Delphi is the primary programming language of Borland Delphi. ...
A sample transition WindowFX is a desktop magnifier that is designed to allow Windows 2000/XP/2003 users to have special effects in the desktop elements like in Windows Vista and Mac OS X. It is a component of Stardocks Object Desktop package. ...
The Windows registry is a directory which stores settings and options for the operating system for Microsoft Windows 32-bit versions, 64-bit versions and Windows Mobile. ...
WindowBlinds (now rebranded as one word) quickly made its way to a 1.0 release, driven by the requests of users to add "freeform skinning" (customizable window border shapes), sounds, and animation. Scrollbars, the task bar, the start button, menu items, the menu itself, and other GUI elements were added later.[4] The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ...
WindowBlinds 2 was a major redesign in C++ that added the following features: C++ (pronounced see plus plus, IPA: ) is a general-purpose programming language with high-level and low-level capabilities. ...
- The "Basic" (UIS1+) format, which offered greater program compatibility in exchanged for a restricted feature set.[5]
- Compound skins (later known as "subskins") which made it easier to provide alternative versions of a skin. For example, a Macintosh skin could now have two subskins to offer control buttons at the left or right of the window.
- User skin recoloring.
- Scripting, though this was not widely used.
- Font and color sections for specific controls and states.
- Support for additional controls.
At this time, "BuilderBlinds"—re-branded as SkinStudio in February 2001—became a popular tool, as it enabled artists to create skins without spending a deal of time learning the intricacies of the UIS format. It also allowed experienced users to avoid trivial errors. The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ...
Scripting programming languages (commonly called scripting languages or script languages) are computer programming languages designed for scripting the operation of a computer. ...
“Font†redirects here. ...
SkinStudio (previously known as BuilderBlinds) is a software tool by Stardock used to create skins for their WindowBlinds, ObjectBar, WebBlinds and PocketBlinds programs, as well as Koala Player and Windows Media Player. ...
WindowBlinds 3 accompanied the release of Windows XP, which contained its own skinning system called "visual styles". It was thought that visual styles might deal a blow to commercial skinning systems. This proved not to be the case; in fact, sales of WindowBlinds rose, buoyed by a new set of users who had seen the changes offered by visual styles and wanted more. Even after modifications known as "uxtheme hacks" (named after the file they modified, uxtheme.dll) became available, WindowBlinds remained popular, since it had additional features that visual styles did not. Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ...
 WindowBlinds skins can be animated; ChristmasTime, for example, has falling snowflakes. However, the program still contained flaws. WindowBlinds 3 had many new features, but with new features came new bugs, including compatibility problems. Additionally, performance was suboptimal. Interim releases addressed these issues and provided for those areas of the Windows XP user interface that could not initially be skinned. Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 583 KB)Screenshot of the ChristmasTime skin by mormegil for WindowBlinds. ...
Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 583 KB)Screenshot of the ChristmasTime skin by mormegil for WindowBlinds. ...
By the time WindowBlinds 4 arrived, there were fewer problems, due in part to an increased focus on stability for DirectSkin clients. In addition, SkinStudio now provided a method to import the Microsoft msstyles format. DirectSkin is a software component that is used by software developers to add skinning capability to their applications, which may or may not be exposed to end-users. ...
WindowBlinds 4.6 was released in August 2005[6], with the addition of mouseover "translucent glow" effects for the titlebar buttons, push buttons and other controls. Windowblinds 4.6 has now been renamed "WindowBlinds Classic", and is meant for non-XP Windows versions, which cannot run the new Windowblinds 5.
WindowBlinds 5, released in November 2005, extends translucency through per pixel alpha blending to the entire window frame, including the borders and taskbar. Alpha blending is a convex combination of two colors allowing for transparency effects in computer graphics. ...
Competitors WindowBlinds has had many competitors over the years. Initially, it was not clear which skinning program would be the most popular, and there was active competition between the programs from 1999 to early 2001. Most are still around, but they have generally faded in popularity, since WindowBlinds can alter more GUI elements.
eFX eFX was a popular program made by Thirty4 Interactive that claimed to be the first skinning engine to offer freeform skinning. However, development stopped at eFX 0.40 when the program was sold to Akami Design in 1999. Many eFX skins were hosted at skinz.org, a very popular skinning website which had been founded for that specific purpose. EFX may refer to: EFX (show), a Las Vegas show Enterprise Framework (EFx), see EFx Factory Enerflex Systems, a Canadian company listed as EFX on the Toronto Stock Exchange Equifax, a U.S. company listed as EFX on the New York Stock Exchange Das EFX, an American hip-hop group...
Illumination Illumination was written in Delphi, initially released on November 1, 1998 and open-sourced under the GPL in March 1999. It was notable for supporting early KDE themes. The most recent release was in January 2001. Delphi is the primary programming language of Borland Delphi. ...
is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...
The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ...
KDE (K Desktop Environment) (IPA: ) is a free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use desktop environment. ...
Chroma Chroma was a technically sophisticated skinning program by Thematic Software. First released May 15, 1999, it quickly proved to be flexible; later versions used a skin definition language called Chromumll. However, it was perceived as difficult to use, resulting in a low number of skins. The last release was in August 2000, possibly due to a server crash in September, or perhaps in fear of competition from the impending release of Windows XP. is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
This article is about the year. ...
CustomEyes and ShellWM CustomEyes, first released in December 1999, was a skinning program that progressed slowly, only reaching a 0.3 beta. It was effectively abandoned in late 2000 but open-sourced in October 2001. This led to the foundation of a project called ShellWM in 2002, which was intended to be the window-skinning sidekick to a variety of shell replacements. It was therefore restricted to titlebar skinning, although skinned menu backgrounds have also been shown in screenshots. In late 2004, ShellWM was itself forked into BB4WinSkin after a period of inactivity. As the fork had not been previously discussed, this resulted in a further loss of interest on the part of the main developer. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Shell_(computing). ...
msstyles and StyleXP With the release of Windows XP, a new option for skinning was made available: msstyles, the format used by the XP skinning engine. These were not intended to be usable by end-users; themes were checked for a digital signature to prevent unsigned msstyles from being loaded at all, though this protection was broken before release. Initially, only patched DLLs were available, but eventually a company called TGT Soft created a product called StyleXP to perform the patching. Early versions simply applied the patch; later versions employed a system service to do the same. In cryptography, a digital signature or digital signature scheme is a type of asymmetric cryptography used to simulate the security properties of a signature in digital, rather than written, form. ...
In computer science, a library is a collection of subprograms used to develop software. ...
StyleXP is a computer program designed to modify the graphical user interface of Windows XP. As of version 3. ...
In Unix and other computer multitasking operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs in the background, rather than under the direct control of a user; they are usually instantiated as processes. ...
Skin design The popularity of various designs has changed along with the skinning community. Initially, remakes (or "ports") of older operating systems like BeOS and AmigaOS were very popular. Users then began to explore the potential of such features as freeform skinning, titlebar animation, and scripting, resulting in a number of unique skins. An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ...
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. ...
AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. ...
When Mac OS X was announced, its Aqua visual style was the subject of numerous ports, some of a high quality. This was displeasing to Apple, as it did not like the misappropriation of its brand, and several skins were taken down at the company's request. Similarly, the run-up to the release of Windows XP resulted in many Luna skins. Skins with "XP" in the title were very popular that year. With the recent release of Windows Vista, numerous skins were created prior to release that replicated Vista's GUI. Microsoft has sent a cease and desist letter to the creator of at least one of these themes.[7] Mac OS X (IPA: ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ...
Mac OS X 10. ...
For other uses, see Brand (disambiguation). ...
Luna is the codename for the default Windows XP theme. ...
Windows Vista is a line of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ...
Cease-and-desist is a legal term meaning essentially stop: It is used in demands for a person or organization to stop doing something (to cease and desist from doing it). ...
References Download. ...
Tucows (originally an acronym for The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software that has long since been dropped) was formed in Flint, Michigan, USA in 1993. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
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