We are putting together the schedule to make WindowBlinds 11.
Customization is a lot harder now than it used to be. Microsoft, for reasons unknown, has actively encouraged developers to take care of their own client and even non client (border, frame) painting rather than using standard Windows controls.
Microsoft's baffling decision to throw away trying to provide a standard set of in-app controls for developers and instead provide vague, often conflicting standards (cough, Fluent) has resulted in having less and less of the OS we can even touch.
Which is unfortunate because WindowBlinds, in theory, could actually give Windows users a consistent, OS-wide Fluent if apps weren't handling the drawing of their own UIs these days.
Still, with that in mind, there are things we can do such as skin the standard OS controls and then handle apps on a case-by-case basis. Keep in mind though, the more non-standard apps we have to handle, the harder it is for us to keep compatibility.
Earlier this year we released Curtains which doesn't even hook into the OS. This means it is 100% compatible. Skins, even the weirdest ones, won't break a given app. Of course, the price is that it doesn't skin nearly as much (no client area GUI controls like scrollbars, push buttons, radio buttons, etc.). It's done quite well. However, we know there are still plenty of people out there who would like to have more full control over how their Windows desktop looks.
That's where this thread comes in: What would you like to see in WindowBlinds 11?
Thankyou don5318, we just hope to add to the bigger picture enabling a speedy release of WB 11, as that is what we all want.
I too am a Guy in my later years and can still show the young un's a thing or two as IT is my passion, a bit slower maybe, but i think experience is everything.
It is hard to keep up on tech trends for sure. No matter how tech savvy you are, if you blink you will miss something and already fall behind.
I like to think I was tech savvy even before it was considered cool so that helps me keep up some. But, there is no denying this younger generation are pretty tech savvy as a whole and that is a huge change from a decade or two ago. Kids are pretty much born "cyborgs" in this day and age by having a touch screen device at an age of 3 and pretty much never letting go after that. So, I have to say even I sometimes learn things from these young 20 year olds.
Tell me about it PhoenixRising1 , after what seems like a lifetime of Soldiering in some terrible places and being one of the oldest mature students in University (Did my masters Degree in my late 30s) i can testify to the younger peeps getting a good head start with all things IT, we just never had those things.
I am sure when we do get WB11 , it will set us up for several years at least, or hope so depending how many future changes MS like to do to the current Win 11.
I can confirm after hours and hours of testing, working with all settings(obviously not changing settings unrelated to the transparency issue but many, many tested) in 3 programs, the transparency issue may be one bug for the development team to deal with, many thanks PhoenixRising1 for sharing your discovery with the rest of us (not yours but you get my drift) i for one am grateful to be able to use WB10 with Windows 11. Just to be sure i have bought several smaller SSDs so i can have a Win 10 set up on one, another with WB10 on Win 11, and a third with Another Win 11 using my previous (without Windowblinds using UXThemePatcher) , so now back to the wait for WB11, bring it on.
Naroon,
It looks like you are having fun playing around with software there. Maybe there will be a higher demand for customizing windows 11 in general this generation compared to windows 10, I know I am wanting to change things more then usual.
I did try uxthemepatcher just to say I tried it. Overall, I will still say that windowblinds 10 with explorerpatcher still has a leg up in placing skins on windows 11. It may take a little more customizing to get the correct look but the programs are more clean to use. Dare I say even explorerpatcher feels more clean when it comes to registry alterations. This is not to say uxthemepatcher is bad, just that it could use some tidying up.
These are the only methods I have even found yet when it comes to changing window 11 skin, so it would seem we are at the trial and error stage.
Anyways, have fun playing around with your pc the way you want it to be, and happy holidays.
Maybe i am like you PhoenixRising1 in wanting Win 11 to be as customized as possible, but to be honest i was like that with other Editions of windows. I came to Windowblinds back in the old XP days and was blown away with what it can do, still am, maybe that is why i started talking in this thread, i honestly thought WB11 would be right behind Start11 and was a bit shocked to read how long off it would be, that is why i had to force myself to look elsewhere, i can say moving over to uxthemepatcher has had it's ups and downs, but as soon as i found The Tron Legacy theme i was 95% happy again, then to work alongside yourself with explorerpatcher (UXTheme Has It's own old/new explorer incorporated into the themes) gave me and others i am sure a second wind, and now i have several SSDs i can experiment freely keeping my main SSD for my Forum and real world online job and using the others to play around with.
What i miss the most from WB when using other software is "The System Colour Changer" as i like to modify any skin or masterskin to match my system and style using Dark skins Like Stealth Drone and many others and changing the colours to give me a skin very dark but with Electric Green text etc.. , this way my whole system looks bespoke, before i buy any masterskin, in my head i am seeing it in my colour scheme and the slider in the colour changer can when moved give a good idea of what the skin will look like in my colours.
For a long time now Windowblinds has been right at the front of software "I Can Not Do Without", i have even made up a colour scheme list detailing every single colour setting should i need to re install my OS to get me back looking the way i want as soon as possible.
I love WB and hope we see a beta soon to test out, but thanks to you and reporting back about explorerpatcher i have tested a lot of the older skins as part of my experiment and discovered some new to me but much older skins that will and do look good in my colours even a skin from many years ago called MRX4 Reloaded looks brilliant which i seen in the "Best WB Skins list"
I wish the planners of WB11 understand just how important that small colour changing tool is and how important WB11 will be to so many older and new users, i look forward to enjoying the futureWB11 and will be one of the first in the que with my Bank Card, bish, bash, bosh job done.
To all at Stardock i wish you all a happy Xmas.
But why you upgrade your Windows 10 to 11 ? Windows 11 22000 its more like beta. I test Windows 11 and i come back to Windows 10. Moste time i play games and i have the same fps. Other progrmas run almost identical on Win 10 and Win 11.
Robert84MK
You must have missed my previous comments. I have to use Windows 11 as i need to understand the Operating System so i can offer support for my IT job, and in that, i have no choice. I do now have multiple SSDs so at least now i do have
A Windows 10 SSD with WB10 Still working
A Windows 11 SSD using WB 10 using the Explorer Patcher to make it work 95%
A Windows 11 SSD using UXThemePatcher with Tron Legacy Theme Installed
A Windows 11 SSD For Work (No Choice)
A Windows 11 SSD to experiment with seeing what themes and Windowblinds will work, used to test out suggestions discovered with PhoenixRising1, testing much older and more recent Windowblinds, so if it all goes belly up (That has not happened yet) it's no loss as i also have an Image of a clean Windows 11 up to date OS ready to bring my whole PC set up back online in less than 10 minutes.
I was reading an article on Toms hardware in regards to performance and testing of certain games. There was actually a lot of back and forth between windows 10 and 11 in what game was performing the best. Sometimes Windows 10 was coming out on top but Windows 11 was coming out on top slightly more. Therefore, I can clearly see why a lot of people would call it a wash.
It is really going to come down to the U.I. improvements to upgrade. And with people like me it will be U.I. improvements with modifications such as start 11 and explorerpatcher that will make Windows 11 desirable.
This may be an important piece of Windowblinds 11 development. I am sure start 11 will be a big part of making Windowblinds 11 fully functional. Most skins need some sort of program to fully work.. Part of the delay is probably coming down to the fact start 11 isn't fully finished. In particular the taskbar features. It also shows what a good selling point integrating skin into windows 10 and 11 themes will be since that will be a factor stardock's competition such as "start is back" simply can not do.
If this is true. Windowblinds 10 + explorerpatcher may be an alpha look into what this finished product may start to look like as development continues.
But why you read sponsored articles ? test Win 10 and Win 11 on you own pc. I'm test it and games runs almost identical. But GUI win 11 it's very unfinished. Maybe Win 11 will be ok 6 month after release.
This may be an important piece of Windowblinds 11 development. I am sure start 11 will be a big part of making Windowblinds 11 fully functional. Most skins need some sort of program to fully work.. Part of the delay is probably coming down to the fact start 11 isn't fully finished. In particular the taskbar features. It also shows what a good selling point integrating skin into windows 10 and 11 themes will be since that will be a factor stardock's competition such as "start is back" simply can not do.If this is true. Windowblinds 10 + explorerpatcher may be an alpha look into what this finished product may start to look like as development continues.
We can but hope PhoenixRising1, let us hope that all the testing and reporting back we have done does help to some point in the Planning of the next WB11, it was good honest work which i enjoyed, always love a bit of a challenge as the IT Worker in me, makes me adapt and at least try to overcome what is in front of me.
The wait has expanded my knowledge base of other ways to customize my Desktop, testing out methods i have never needed to use before and now i am reporting back to several other Theme makers products on the net as they were faster in moving with the release of Win 11 updating UXTheme Patcher allowing for more and more Win 10 themes compatible with Win 11, so far i have fully tested more than 20 themes and only one has not worked well with Win 11, but as they gave me a 50% and then another 25% off the price, it was well worth it.
Honestly, I think the whole idea that a certain OS will improve gaming performance is mostly just hype anyways. In this day and age if you want to run a game on ultra with 120 fps, then the OS is going to have very little in making that happen. It really just comes down to your gpu as it always has. Whatever resources are going to the OS is going to be minimal to most high end pc's.
The real irony here is that Windows 11 actually does matter to low end pc's that do in fact need the extra boost. Windows 11 would help them run better, but it is too bad that they do not meet the hardware requirements.
Any Kind of update on when WB11 will be in a Beta Stage, please throw us a morsel, something a bit more solid than it will be 2022, cheers.
🍺🍺 Thanks 🍺🍺
It's a conspiracy, I say .... a conspiracy. I tied Win 11 on my HP 2-in-1 and it performed dismally. I was slow and often times unresponsive. Admittedly it isn't a powerful machine, but it goes to what you are saying, that the machines which could benefit most from a power boost aren't going to get it from Win 11. I do have machines that will accommodate Win 11 but I'm in no hurry at present to install it.
Starkers - You are the second person I have seen that has complained about the hp 2 in 1 running Windows 11 poorly. I have an Asus Zenbook 2 in 1 myself and the update went very smoothly. I do know that Windows 11 seemed to have made some changes in regards to the GPU and they left it completely up the gpu makers to fix it. If you are able to update your gpu that should fix it, if it does not have an update yet then that does sound like a conspiracy to force a new laptop purchase.
The only other thing that can and will speed up you laptop is turning off (vbs) Virtualization Based Security. That security feature is a resource hog.
When my systems indicated they didn't meet the requirements I believe the wording was 'at this time'. Either that's bullshit...or maybe they're wanting you to 'live in hope'....
The last Windows 11 DEV build broke some stuff and looks like it just pushed back all development 2 weeks. The next DEV build looks to be Windows 11 big one for the year code named Sun Valley 2. It is rumored to have even more taskbar changes and this could unfortunately set back development even further. Hopefully Microsoft will settle down some after that build drops.
A better question maybe is. How soon after Start 11 setbacks and finally the release of Start 11 v1.2 can we expect the development of Windowblinds 11 to begin.
I am really looking forward to start 11 v1.2 btw.
The last Windows 11 DEV build broke some stuff and looks like it just pushed back all development 2 weeks. The next DEV build looks to be Windows 11 big one for the year code named Sun Valley 2. It is rumored to have even more taskbar changes and this could unfortunately set back development even further. Hopefully Microsoft will settle down some after that build drops.A better question maybe is. How soon after Start 11 setbacks and finally the release of Start 11 v1.2 can we expect the development of Windowblinds 11 to begin.I am really looking forward to start 11 v1.2 btw.
I do not even have Start 11 installed anymore, removed it when i realised WB11 was not right behind it. I do have Start 10 on my Win 10 SSD, may take another look at it when v1.2 arrives to see anything new that may come with it, but as my Win 10 SSD is now my least used Drive, not sure what direction to go as of right now.
It was a load of fun going through my WB MasterSkins collection and loading them into Win 10, forgot about some of them if i am honest and besides 3 or 4, my collection is dominated by neone6 and Vampothika as they create the MSkins i love the most.
Naroon-
WindowBlinds 11 could still be right behind Start 11. Start 11 still isn't finished, the taskbar is going to receive an overhaul and I bet that WindowBlinds 11 will use that. Kind of like how uxthemepatcher uses "startisback" to get their themes running on windows 11.
Right now some of the best customization for windows 11 is actually the tiles / icons for the latest build of Start 11. I find the new custom images a must have and I really hope windowblinds 11 accommodates windows 10 / 11 themes for that reason. It does provide a nice distraction while we wait...
Speaking of which wincustomize could probably create more traffic in the short term if it advertised itself as a platform for custom tiles / icons specifically for start 11. It could feed some starving artists
I would be very surprised if WB11 was right after Start11 v2, enough members have commented in this topic about the lack of updates even about a WB11 Beta. Noticed in other topics too about new staff for the company slowing down things (things not connected Directly to WB), but things like Masterskinners waiting too long for there latest skins to be processed before we seen them in the listings.
Never say never, as stranger things have happened, just not getting the Vibe WB11 has moved up the priority list.
Here is the buried list from the CEO. I fixed the typo to prevent confusion
1. Looks like it has gone over schedule, I myself am part of the crowd that complained that start 11 needed to fix the taskbar so this is actually satisfying a lot of people with a very big complaint.
2. Completed
3. In Beta
4. (Behind schedule) My Guess is it will be started once Deskscapes is completed
5 (On schedule) My guess is this is Neil's brain child so logically I would guess it's production will start when his team finishes Start 11
6. (On Schedule) Very needed in my opinion, I opened skinstudio 10 on windows 11 and did not find it intuitive.
1. Looks like it has gone over schedule, I myself am part of the crowd that complained that start 11 needed to fix the taskbar so this is actually satisfying a lot of people with a very big complaint.2. Completed3. In Beta4. (Behind schedule) My Guess is it will be started once Deskscapes is completed5 (On schedule) My guess is this is Neil's brain child so logically I would guess it's production will start when his team finishes Start 116. (On Schedule) Very needed in my opinion, I opened skinstudio 10 on windows 11 and did not find it intuitive.
WB11 being 2022, there are still plenty of weeks and months still left in 2022, based on the way things have stalled for WB11, it would not surprise me if we see nothing for most of this year. Even if it hits in November, 2022 would still be 2022 and still far too late for many. It is what it is, i just hope when it does land , the wait is worth it and it blows our socks off. After falling behind other market customizing Programs, it has too.
Where I am at that is a problem most places could only dream of having. Restaurants / stores have very odd and unpredictable hours, schools are closing for extra days, public bus routs are being cut... All because no one wants to work where other people are located ever since the shutdown of 2020.
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