What's the difference between the new "Curtains" and "Window Blinds"?

Hello,

No, you can't have both running at the same time. Curtains have its own advantage and limitation so does Windowblinds. It is hard for me to list down all the differences. I can simply say that Curtains is a cut down version of Windowblinds but with some added advantages that Windowblinds can't do.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Curtains should also be easier to create for than WindowBlinds.

Well, I wanted to test... but here I am totally disapointed.

Sure, I must miss something, cause I can't see a real utility to this software. Nothing really works and permits to custtomize anything.

I try to recolor the taskbar, it works better if I do it with the windows options.

I try to recolor the start10 menu... well we are far from windowblinds...

I check if I can put any special button like my must have "always on top"... well maybe it will come one day

I try to use the 3 colors we can configure... no luck anything I do as 0 result.

I searched a way to recolor texts or windows color in windows (like the text selection color (windows blue horrible color)... well again I guess it will (maybe) come later... or never.

Also, the interface is terrible... (by terrible I mean horrible, without any indication of what we can do)

Tbh, windowblinds is 1000% better. Someone can point me to something that can proove me that I did not wasted just 10 € ? cause actually I can't see anything that curtains can do that I cannot do with windows.

Oh yeah... I understood that we can add layers... something I can also do with windowblinds... but better.

Edit: I uninstalled it as I cannot do something with... this. I returned to windowblinds, I just hope stardock won't give up windowblinds for... this.

I am sorry you are finding the software confusing.  I assume the confusion is with creating styles vs actually using them.

Given the only OS option to alter the taskbar are the colour I cannot see why you would think you can achieve more with that than with Curtains.  The taskbar support is almost as much as with WindowBlinds.  If you look at the XP luna theme you can see how the taskbar can look different.

The Start10 support is designed to me much simpler to use than the WindowBlinds one as a common complaint with making skins was the time needed to make all those parts.  It actually makes life easier to achieve certain effects as well.

We do not support additional buttons on the titlebar and will not do so in the future.  That is not the purpose of the software which is to provide maximum compatibility.

I think you may have misunderstood the colouring system.  Each layer has the option to be recoloured using one of those three colours.  As recolouring usually uses hue shifting, the colour you set in the editing page for colours is the base colour.  Then when the user picks a colour the difference between the new colour and the old is used to hue shift the layer.  Some of the included styles have support for this.

The purpose of offering three colours like this on a per layer basis is to offer greater control to the end user of the style.  A style could expose one colour for the titlebar buttons, and another for the taskbar, or start button or anything in between.  With WindowBlinds you have just one colour which is far more limited.  There is also no need for mask images with curtains as you can control it on a per layer basis.

We do not expose changing system colours currently as system colour changes tend to cause application slowness on style change and some applications handle these poorly using the wrong colours on the wrong parts.  It is possible this is an area we will revisit in the future though.

The purpose of the product is not to replace WindowBlinds, but to provide a nice simple to use entry level product for those who want simple changes to their UI.  It is therefore of concern that you seem to have had such trouble with the interface.

I do not create Windowblinds but I've gone into a lot of skins in SkinStudio and I can change things to suit my needs in certain skins. I call it tweaking. The point being is that I understand how SkinStudio works and how much work goes into making a Windowblind.

As far as Curtains is concerned it appears to be a lot simpler but I can see where someone could get confused trying to "tweak" or even create a skin. My advice there is trial and error. It doesn't seem to be that involved. Certainly not as involved as creating a Windowblind. I think if one can work in Photoshop or Gimp it helps when working with layers and saturation and coloring etc. At some point I may even try and create a skin in Curtains.

I can't see Curtains replacing Windowblinds. If Stardock did that I feel it would be a huge mistake. Neil says Curtains will not replace Windowblinds and I take him at his word. As far as creating a unique and total UI in Win10 Windowblinds is the last word as far as I am concerned. Curtains is fun to play with and much better than the "stock" options available that Win10 has to offer but is not a replacement for Windowblinds.

Hi all,

I'd also like to know the differences between "Curtains" and "Window Blinds".

What I'm trying to do is having a basic, stable Windows 7 skin on Windows 10 Pro. Using SecureUxTheme, a Windows Theme downloaded somewhere, and OpenShell for the Start Menu and Taskbar, this is what I currently have:

What is missing is Aero Glass in some places, rounded window corners, and transparent text background in titlebars.

Which product (and wich skin, if applicable) can be recommended in this case?

Thanks

I don't know but for what I've read here I'm discouraged to use "Curtains".

Some time ago I used the trial of "Windows Blinds" and it looks Marvelous... unfortunately at that time I haven't the money for it so I uninstalled it.

Maybe if I have some spare time($) I'll try "Window Blinds" again.

If it's worth of something, I can't judge "Curtains" but, certainly I think Stardock haven't sent the right message with this product above all for customers who have already tried "Window Blinds"...

I mean just after finished viewing the "Curtains" video introduction the first thing that came to my mind was the question of this thread:

_What's the difference between the new "Curtains" and "Window Blinds"?_

IMO, That shouldn't be.

J.

I'll give it a whirl.

WindowBlinds: Skins more.  A new skin starts with the Diamond skin.  A skin will have a few hundred image files, most/all of which need to have proper settings (margins etc) for them. Defines system colors, which adds variety but can also interfere with programs that mismatch them.  Most technical adjustments need to be made through Skin Studio.  Most image changes need to be done through SkinStudio.

Curtains: Doesn't skin as much, uses Windows itself.  Makes good use of the Windows Light and Dark modes and Windows Accent colors.  If a person basically likes the Win10 look and just wants to change the window frames for example, that can be done by creating a new skin without having to create and make settings for a few hundred images.  A skin can have very few images, they seem to be running 15 to 40 images right now.  Adjustments are made directly in Curtains, and/or by directly editing images from Explorer.  Since Curtains doesn't try to skin as much, it seems to be less intrusive on various programs, which can detract from the overall "Skinned" look but also lets them primarily display as designed which can make life easier.

I'm finding Curtains (in Windows Dark Mode) to be refreshing and honestly it's had more screen time since the first beta than WindowBlinds has.  I'm not deleting my WindowBlinds skins though.  Yet.

WindowBlinds has extra skins on DeviantArt and I hope Curtains will too in time.

I've tried Curtains now, but got nowhere near to what I'm trying to achieve as in below screenshot. Also, I had to do a system restore afterwards, because Curtains wouldn't give me a way to undo the skinning   

I'd appreciate if I could be directed as to...

To return to the default Windows, click on the very first skin the the Curtains list, "Windows 10 by Microsoft".

Thank you Neil for your messages. Very appreciated.

Tbh, I don't see how the program can be usefull for me. At least I would suggest you add the possibility to change windows color, something we can't do natively in windows 10 but can be done easily by modification of the registry.

Well, I will keep using windowblinds. I was thinking that curtains could be something good if it could have permitted to tweak windows appearence easily and by the fact it seems something really light in ressources, but the possibilities appear, for me, too limited.

But I hope, for the work deployed on the application, that it find its public.

Just keep for us Windowblinds

Honestly, Curtains is a brand new program because they couldn't deal with windowblinds bugs with win10  

Let's face it, most wb skins are outdated and very repulsive for casuals users.

If you need a testimony I got the original windows start button bug with start ten trial and no matter the uninstall, the win icon is missing with wb, long time reported bug.

Windowblinds doesn't work that well because winapps fail and exclusion is random.

Why so much rage O.o I'm I talking in a LoL forum ?

Back on topic plz

For my part, i can't imagine my bars without wood textures, but wb as reach a breaking point; i would be dumb to pretend not.

I like Windowblinds but I am enjoying Curtains as well. I've been using 'blinds since the early 2000's and could not live without it for the most part, but then as Microsoft began continuously changing and updating Windows, my systems started having more trouble with installing, loading, and stability. Plus, I'm not much of a customizer anymore, just want to make things easier to use because my eyesight is failing, and Curtains is doing that for me because I can download and apply styles without much hassle at all, so I'm happy with it. I also like just about anything that ditches the total flat look --- that also has to do with what's easier on the eyes --- I need to be able to easily distinguish items on the desktop. Now if only Windows would allow the option to select rounded window corners, I would be even happier. Thanks Stardock for another great product.

I totally disagree.

Windowblinds is not easy to use as, if you want to tweak it a little, you will have to use skinstudio and this program is not easy to use.

But, windowblinds works like a charm. I use it every days. I bought a theme and I tweaked it a lot. I was able to change several picture, recolor the theme (not by windowblinds but by using Gimp), added several colored subthemes, added my loved button "On top".

The only thing I would like that they add is the possibility to program themes for the day and for the night (based on sunset). In fact it is easily done with windows (a small program permits it), there is an add-on for firefox that does it, only windowblinds is annoying enought to make me to have to open the prog and change the theme at night.

I precise that curtains block the change to dark mode of the small program I talked about.

from howtogeek,.com

And Finally: Curtains vs. WindowBlinds

Stardock also sells a similar Windows 10-skinning product called WindowBlinds. What’s the difference? Curtains works with Windows 10’s own native skinning functionality that enables  Dark Mode. That makes themes built with Curtains easier-to-create and potentially compatible with more applications.

There are some drawbacks, however: Unlike WindowBlinds, the title bar buttons must remain in their usual places, and scroll bars cannot be re-skinned.

WindowBlinds takes over rendering windows completely, so it can render more complex themes—but the themes are also more complicated to create, and every interface element must be created from scratch to have a cohesive theme. On the upside, WindowBlinds themes have more power over the way application windows are displayed, so title button locations can be rearranged and scroll bars can be skinned.

Have fun customizing Windows!

So, does this mean that Curtains is suitable for people who like the simplicity of Windows 10 native theme and simple themes in general who just want to change the color and/or appearance of the native windows without altering any dimensions, font or behavior?

I think it sounds like it might be just what I want, if I can recolor or texture Windows 10 window frames and they maintain exactly the same dimensions. With WindowBlinds, every new theme change requires all the window size and positions to be manually re-adjusted a bit because the dimensions of the elements can be markedly different, and this also tends to break screen capturing tools that capture window elements only. Another issue with WindowsBlinds is that some minor aspects do not return to default Windows 10 (the highlight color from the last applied skin becomes the default for Windows 10 native, for example).

If it works with more applications (like Chrome Edge), so much the better. Also, using the built-in Windows theme engine sounds a lot less likely to run into issues (perhaps it even means themes can be used while developing and testing apps, if it turns out functionality and dimensions remain completely unaltered).

I wonder if it may also be another route to obtaining an effect that I really like about Start 10 (being able to adjust transparency of taskbar)? Even just making the taskbar more transparent alone can be a nice improvement.

WindowBlinds is brilliant, but it may not be the best fit for me (too powerful for my needs) and it might be time to consider a change.

Yes....;)