visual styles

[Guest]

i know that there are third party programs that allow you to use visual
styles other than the three that come with xp. i was wondering if there was a
way to do that manually without having to install a third party program

 

[Thane of Lochaber]

Yes, you would need to use a hex editor to make a change to the file
uxtheme.dll, but it's a bit complicated. There are actually free utilties
that will patch this file for you. There is no need to purchase the Style XP
program. Check the forums at the two sites below and you should be able to
come up with at least one. Remember Microsoft does not support this so it's
at your own risk.

http://www.neowin.net
http://www.msfn.org

 

[Alec S.]

Remember Microsoft does not support this so it's at your own risk.

Well it's MS's own fault for denying people the ability to use non-MS
skins in the first place. It was either very shortsighted or very selfish
of them to do it that way.

 

[Thane of Lochaber]

Well, I believe the reason was because they didn't want people installing
poorly written themes and having problems, plus they wanted to keep the
interface consistent to make troubleshooting easier for them.

 

[Alec S.]

I can understand having the interface consistent to simplify guiding
newbies—"click the little button in the upper-right corner with the X on
it..."—but as for poorly written themes, that's a bad excuse. They let
people install poorly written software which is much more dangerous.
Imagine the outrage if they started limiting the kind of software you could
use.


I also don't understand why StyleXP, WindowBlinds, etc. use the MS
visual styles to do their thing. Why didn't they just come up with their
own implementations. Obviously the MS method was good enough to support
anything people want to do when it comes to visual styles. Microsoft chose
to add visual styles to Windows, preventing people from using anything but
MS themes is a poor move and was quickly defeated. Their implementation
while belated as it was—people were expecting an official version for quite
some time and had to resort to 3rd party utilities in the meantime—would
have been lauded and appreciated had MS opened it to everyone. But since
they didn't, people just saw it as a neat little thing for a few days until
you get tired of the same 3 styles. That's why Stardock and TGTSoft made an
easy killing once ThemeUI.dll was cracked. Microsoft really needs good PR
and allowing 3rd party themes really could have given them a much needed
boost.

 

[Thane of Lochaber]

Stardock does have it's own implementation; WindowBlinds does not hack any
files or even use uxtheme.dll as it has it's own engine, and has since long
before XP even existed. The themes for it are not compatible with msstyles
and it works not only in XP but with other versions as well, and is a
Microsoft certified product so they do fully approve of it.

 

[Nik Blackwell]

There is also the point that Microsoft possibly does not want to be seen to
be stepping on even more toes. Stardock and WindowsBlinds might have
struggled to remain viable, had Microsoft made another product free, which
was had previously been sold. They probably would have done had it had the
possibility to increase their monopoly, à la Internet Explorer vs. Netscape
Navigator.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?B?uyBtcnRlZSCr?=]

Stardock worked with MS to create the 3 available XP style color schemes. Stardock also has more products than WindowBlinds. Check out www.wincustomize.com and www.stardock.com.

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________in response to__________
| There is also the point that Microsoft possibly does not want to be seen to
| be stepping on even more toes. Stardock and WindowsBlinds might have
| struggled to remain viable, had Microsoft made another product free, which
| was had previously been sold. They probably would have done had it had the
| possibility to increase their monopoly, à la Internet Explorer vs. Netscape
| Navigator.

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Stardock worked with MS to create the 3 available XP style color schemes. Stardock also has more products than WindowBlinds. Check out www.wincustomize.com and www.stardock.com.

I didn't know that. Far out! now I can blame Stardock for that ugly
green Start button.

Donald L McDaniel
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Post reply to original newsgroup
=======================================================

 

[=?iso-8859-1?B?uyBtcnRlZSCr?=]

Get WindowBlinds and change it!

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________in response to__________
|
| I didn't know that. Far out! now I can blame Stardock for that ugly
| green Start button.
|
| Donald L McDaniel
| Keep the thread intact
| Post reply to original newsgroup
| =======================================================

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Get WindowBlinds and change it!

I already have the latest version.

Donald L McDaniel
Keep the thread intact
Post reply to original newsgroup
=======================================================