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WindowBlinds 11 planning

WindowBlinds 11 planning

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?  

2,440,368 views 670 replies
Reply #651 Top

Everything still a go for this week? 

Reply #652 Top

LOL...RND remembers why SD rarely commits to release dates.    ;P  

 

 

Reply #653 Top

Quoting Hankers, reply 648

Not confirmed but I would think that it would be available for users as part of Stardock's Object Desktop suite.

If you have an active Object Desktop account it should be available when released.
What I said. Thank you Hank.

Reply #654 Top

Seems as if WindowBlinds 11 is out in beta. Article on Neowin and Stardock website yet nothing on this forum?

I take that back. Apologies.. one of my first comments in months and I mess up.

Reply #655 Top

If I buy WB11 beta, will I be able to access the full version of WB 11?

Reply #656 Top

Quoting Robert84MK, reply 655

If I buy WB11 beta, will I be able to access the full version of WB 11?

I believe, the answer is yes.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

+1 Loading…
Reply #657 Top

Ok.

 

Got the e mail for the upgrade for £9.99. Can or does anyone know what the Full price will be, and another question if anyone has answers. Can WB10 be left running on Win 10 (as its already paid for) and if the full price is paid for WB 11, can i run WB 11 on Win 11 independently of each other, Or maybe if WB 11 can be installed on both my Win 10 and Win 11, cheers.

Reply #658 Top

Quoting naroon1, reply 657

can i run WB 11 on Win 11 independently of each other, Or maybe if WB 11 can be installed on both my Win 10 and Win 11, cheers.

No, its one or the other.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Reply #660 Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 658


Quoting naroon1,

can i run WB 11 on Win 11 independently of each other, Or maybe if WB 11 can be installed on both my Win 10 and Win 11, cheers.



No, its one or the other.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

 

Sorry as my head is at another place today.

 

So i can not keep WB 10 which i have paid for on my Win 10 SSD (as it is now) and buy WB 11 for running on my Win 11 SSD, surely that is a mistake, What exactly will happen to my WB 10 if i did nothing.

Reply #661 Top

Quoting naroon1, reply 660


Quoting sdRohan,






Quoting naroon1,



can i run WB 11 on Win 11 independently of each other, Or maybe if WB 11 can be installed on both my Win 10 and Win 11, cheers.



No, its one or the other.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager



 

Sorry as my head is at another place today.

 

So i can not keep WB 10 which i have paid for on my Win 10 SSD (as it is now) and buy WB 11 for running on my Win 11 SSD, surely that is a mistake, What exactly will happen to my WB 10 if i did nothing.

 

But WB11 works on Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you upgrade licence from WB10 to WB11 than why you want old WB ?

Reply #663 Top

Quoting Robert84MK, reply 640


Quoting Aggeman,

Sounds good, I only want to skin the OS anyway, since more and more apps, and games, crash or present bugs when skinned. My exclusion lists grows ever larger, and some apps/games are such a mess with EXEs, I can't even find the right one, and just have to close WB instead. 

Looking forward to beta, if eligible. 

 

Well WB10 works correct on Windows 10. All apps and games run nice, no crash or other bugs.

---

Good for you, but far from it for me. The exclusion list grows ever larger, and some applications and games have a lot of EXEs, and no easy way to tell which one you need to exclude. I have 5 EXEs listed for Macrium Reflect for example, but still it gets skinned, so some areas of the application are impossible to read (black on black). 

Not to mention the hours spent on bug hunting before you think to "unload windowblinds". The emails I wrote some russian who had made the best skin for AIMP, but it wasn't working properly, until I realized it was WB trying to skin a skinned application. :-)

Glad to say, Call of Duty Modern Warfare now works great with the 11 beta as does Assassins Creed Origins. Not going to test other stuff, like my old version of Office and Powerpoint, as I recently upgraded it anyway. 

On the topic of the exclusion list ("special settings"); I'd like to be able to see the full path to the file. I have excluded files called "updater.exe" (or similar), so now I have a few, but can't figure out what applications they actually belong to. 

Some Windows dialogs aren't always skinned with the 11 beta but were before, I guess that's a "beta" thing; work in progress. Telegram for example, still needs an exclusion but now the "Save As..." dialog aren't skinned but were with WB10. EDIT: Now it is, I had to MOVE the dialog window once, then it got skinned, weirdly enough). 

 

Reply #664 Top

Quoting naroon1, reply 660


Quoting sdRohan,






Quoting naroon1,



can i run WB 11 on Win 11 independently of each other, Or maybe if WB 11 can be installed on both my Win 10 and Win 11, cheers.



No, its one or the other.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager



 

Sorry as my head is at another place today.

 

So i can not keep WB 10 which i have paid for on my Win 10 SSD (as it is now) and buy WB 11 for running on my Win 11 SSD, surely that is a mistake, What exactly will happen to my WB 10 if i did nothing.

I think they were referring to the part where you mentioned having WB11 on both Win10/11 as that would not work. Having separate versions with separate licenses would not be an issue.

Reply #665 Top

Quoting bobj420, reply 664


Quoting naroon1,






Quoting sdRohan,











Quoting naroon1,







can i run WB 11 on Win 11 independently of each other, Or maybe if WB 11 can be installed on both my Win 10 and Win 11, cheers.




No, its one or the other.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager




 

Sorry as my head is at another place today.

 

So i can not keep WB 10 which i have paid for on my Win 10 SSD (as it is now) and buy WB 11 for running on my Win 11 SSD, surely that is a mistake, What exactly will happen to my WB 10 if i did nothing.



I think they were referring to the part where you mentioned having WB11 on both Win10/11 as that would not work. Having separate versions with separate licenses would not be an issue.

 

Cheers bobj420, that is what i thought.

 

Can anyone answer the earlier question please, Do we know how much WB 11 will be as a stand alone product as i intend to keep Win 10 and WB 10 (for now ) on the SSD it is now on and concentrate mostly on my Win 11 SSD . 

 

EDIT

Just checked the SD page for the price of WB 11, and it says it can have 5 active installs, Can someone confirm why i can not have it installed on both Win 10 and 11 as that is surely 2 active installs ??

Is that just for peeps buying WB 11 as a stand alone product or is this the same as as the Upgrade ??

Reply #666 Top

Hi

I am finding that when I apply a style, I have a black background in all folders?

 

Terry B

Reply #667 Top

If you have HDR enabled that happens try disabling it. Stardock is aware of the issue. 

Reply #668 Top

Quoting naroon1, reply 665

Just checked the SD page for the price of WB 11, and it says it can have 5 active installs, Can someone confirm why i can not have it installed on both Win 10 and 11 as that is surely 2 active installs ??

Is that just for peeps buying WB 11 as a stand alone product or is this the same as as the Upgrade ??

That would be correct. Running on Windows 10 and 11 would cost you two active installs. I am not sure if the upgrade price includes 5 installs or not but I believe that when you do upgrade your Windowblinds 10 license should remain intact. As long as you still have access t the installer then your Windows 10 start up should still be able to use Windowblinds 10.

EDIT - Anytime I have ever skipped the 5 installs I have regretted it. I would always recommend getting that one over the 1 install option.

Reply #669 Top

where do I post windowblinds 11 bugs?