Refitting Windows

Everybody wants Windows XP. Who either honourably admit so, or stubbornly deny, fact is that Windows XP is a very wanted piece of software right now. With about 3 more weeks to go (today it's October 5th) to launch, it's every serious pc user's dream to be able to run an operating system that has the stability of Windows 2000/NT and the functionality and compatability of the somewhat unstable Windows 95/98/Me.

Next to the heavily improved performance and Win 2000 kernel, Windows XP of course stands out of the croud for it's fresh and groovy looks. So it's goodbye to the dull Win95 grey and in with the funky WinXP blue/greenish windows! A week ago, I've had enough of the wait. I wanted XP and I wanted it now! So, I installed the next best thing. I decided to install a skinning agent that would fully redo my entire Windows 98SE OS. Of course, the first application that comes to mind is Stardock's WindowBlinds.

Stardock began about 2 years ago with their WindowBlinds project. While those beta versions were quite revolutionary and cool, they were also marked by their relative unstability and inconsistency. WindowBlinds, which operates as a layer on the Win98 Explorer shell, wasn't fully integrated in the OS. Certain applications refused to adapt to the WindowBlinds skin, and the Internet Explorer was slow and prone to crashing. As the betas followed, WindowBlinds became more stable though, and Stardock expanded their skinning suite with the total Object Desktop program group, which contains WindowBlinds but also a skin editor, ObjectBar (manipultes toolbars) etc.

Today, WindowBlinds promises complete Windows compatability and minimum performance reduction. Well, I must say I think they're right. I've downloaded an evaluation copy of WindowBlinds and went browsing for a Windows XP skin. There were quite many to choose from, but I chose LunaXP from Dan Campeanu. Installation is very simple. WindowBlindslets you browse through compatible files which then appear in an easy scrolldown list. After you've selected the skin you want, you just click ok and watch how Windows changes form in front of your very eyes. The result is quite astounding. Everything: toolbars, windows, buttons, etc. is altered. Even the Start button is changed. I must say WindowBlinds work quite well. Also, every application I ran (3DMark, Dreamweaver, Internet Explorer, Configuration) was redone nicely according to the selected skin. I seldomly encountered errors and my entire system didn't slow down at all.






EP sez:

So is there a flipside to this all-good news? Well, to be frank, no. While my pc is quite advanced (check it out here), WindowBlinds offers a complete skinning solution to the rather boring Windows environment. What's more, many new skins are available on the website of Stardock and on third party sites. Go ahead and try WindowBlinds. It's real fun and will not at all crash or corrupt your system.


(c) 2001 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin

Links

> Stardock
> Wincustomize.com