WindowBlinds in Windows 11 Explorer

Interesting.

I have used exploerpatcher to achieve this. But, it is nice to know there is a more direct approach as well. It seems that the issue with windowblinds 10 is the command bar.

I do wonder how this more direct approach compares. In explorerpatcher there are a few things such as transparency that are an issue in Windows 11.

In any case you can always get good advise in toms harware, it is a pretty good site.

Sounds like fun.  In 'theory' you can swap out the regular Windows Shell and replace it with another, however as they say "results may vary"

20 years ago I 'mostly' left Explorer and replaced it with Litestep as, although it was often a bit 'clunky' to code with you could do some seriously odd things that Microsoft never even thought of.

The warning is...when you mess with things you can get messages onscreen like "You MUST reinstall Windows".   That one scared more than one LS user over the years...;)

Public warning.

Editing your registry can do HARM and should NEVER be treated lightly...;)

I decided to give this a try, and it does work.  Just in case anyone is interested.

Windowblinds 11 alpha level of working. Only Stardock developers can go higher then alpha.

You can open File Explorer without it crashing like it did before.  Basically it works like it did under Win10.

lustik and FatPotato , can you please post some screenshots showing a Skinned Explorer Window, if you look at the link below

https://forums.wincustomize.com/508783/page/2/#3834123

You can see down the sides of my Explorer, there is a transparency running the full length of the window, i used the ExplorerPatcher method itself and can not correct this  transparent issue. Using the explorerpatcher method, does give you a stable Explorer without crashing, does the reg edit method give the same results, if it does not we may have another step forward in using WB10 on Win 11 machines. Interesting.

Hi RedneckDude hope you are well.

Before we had ExplorerPatcher it was almost impossible to use WB10 on Win11 Systems due to the constant crashing caused by the differences in Win 10 and Win 11 Explorer Ribbon. After using this method myself and posting screenshots, we have achieved a stable Working WB10 on Win 11 PCs, granted there is a small issue of transparency in the Explorer Windows sides but it does work with a, can we say "Cosmetic" issue. I think this makes it past the post for Working, the transparency issue does not effect any functions or stability and considering before this, we could really say , "WB 10 Did Not Work With Win11" , we have come a long way, would you agree to the phrase "Stable and Functional" instead.

Technically, a master skinner could create a skin that is specific to Windows 11 using this method and create something that works perfectly well. There are certain features they probably can't use. But as an artist it is always their job to use the tools that are available to them.

The same goes for these skins once Windowblinds 11 hits. All the skins available are still going to need new touches done to even be 100 percent compatible as any skins done for Windows 10 specifically will not translate to Windows 11 out the gate working 100 percent.

Have you had experience with skinning, and have you had experience with Skin Studio?  I have and I do, as a Master skinner, sometimes the "tools" one uses can be outdated, therefore, you're left in a position, to do the best you can with what you have (and that may not work like you think it should), so your comment; "But as an artist it is always their job to use the tools that are available to them." falls way short, in my opinion, prove me wrong, make a few skins using Skin Studio, and show/teach me how I should be doing it, I'm always open to learning new techniques, just saying.     

You got me there Don. All I know is that I can tweak things in the settings to hide some of the issues I am experiencing. But I am by no means an artist.

But we are Windows 11 users, and that is not going to change. Right now this is the best way I know to skin this particular OS unless you know a better way?

Quoting neone6, reply 13

Quoting don5318,

reply 12

prove me wrong, make a few skins using Skin Studio, and show/teach me how I should be doing it        

   

This guy.  

In the interest of trying to make things work, and since you guys are inclined to play with it and I can't, has anybody tried checking the option in the WB Config / Settings main page "Do not use per pixel frames even if the style supplies them" (third one down)?  It may or may not help, don't know, but it's something I'd give a shot.

But I give you kudos for getting the crashing to stop.

Hey, yall really wanna impress me, make Oculus software install on Windows 11.  I'll kiss your ass for that!  LOL

Quoting RedneckDude, reply 18

Hey, yall really wanna impress me, make Oculus software install on Windows 11.  I'll kiss your ass for that!  LOL

 

   

Easily done with this blast from the past fix

Oculus software fix tutorial

Funny man....lol.     

Just having fun with you!     

Often it depends on which skin you're using.

I use StartAllBack, which pretty much eliminates all the Windows 11 lameness!

I also use Old/New Explorer and QTTabBar..., Explorer is almost tolerable but, there are still some Control Panel applets that look terrible!

I agree that WB is all about cosmetics but "Unusable" (Not Working) is going a bit far, it does work and is stable, the transparent edge does not effect how the Blind is or can be used (spent a few hours making sure"

As For Oculus, it does not fall into my interest zone or i would definitely have a go as i love a challenge, being a Beta Tester, you can only work with things that fire your imagination as the time spent going through hundreds of settings and there impact, is a long process, you can only do it if you love the subject matter, sorry.

You never know, someone may share your passion for Oculus, so keep those kissing lips puckered up.      

Quoting fictitiousfellow, reply 22

Often it depends on which skin you're using.

I use StartAllBack, which pretty much eliminates all the Windows 11 lameness!

I also use Old/New Explorer and QTTabBar..., Explorer is almost tolerable but, there are still some Control Panel applets that look terrible!

Reduced 34%

Original 1920 x 1080

Startallback works with WB10, i thought to achieve the full affect of a WB skin, you needed Start 10 or 11 or earlier depending on your set up, if i have any spare time i will put in some man hours and give it a go.

It appears I spoke too soon.  I found a couple of glitches caused by using Windowblinds under Win11.  If I open something up under Notepad, the text isn't visible.  Wordpad seems to work normally, however.  And I just noticed that anytime a popup box shows up (i.e. the one that asks you if you want to save your document), the text is slightly garbled.

If I unload Windowblinds, then these issues don't occur, so it's not caused by the registry hack.