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Hi all. Not sure where this rant belongs, but this seems the least inappropriate 😉 !?
Despite years online, and constant chat about PC stuff with many online friends, I’d never heard of “WindowBlinds” until I found BigBlueBall.
It seems this WB thing exists purely for people to install, then wonder why their YM/MSN/AIM/ICQ etc etc misbehaves.My gripe is that I infer from most posts that WB was installed first, so if YM (or MSN, etc) then doesn’t work, it must be YM’s FAULT. 😮
It seems YM works fine without WB, and perhaps/probably WB is fine without YM, so basically these 2 progs are just “incompatible”.Whose fault is that ?
I don’t know the inner technicalities, but I suspect from the evidence here that WB is incompatible with a LOT of internet stuff – but what else (apart from WB) does YM (OR MSN, OR AIM, etc) conflict with ?
Those who choose to install WindowBlinds should NOT then go running round asking people why their PCs aren’t working properly. 😡
Keep your PC simple and uncluttered, UNLESS you know exactly what you’re doing – and remember, All That Glitters Is Not Gold!(I just searched BBB, and find 36 posts, going back to 2002, about “windowblinds”.) :sick:
Strange. I use WindowBlinds and I’ve never encountered any error or problems (not even minor ones) with any program. All I know is that it takes memory from my computer but then again this is an old desktop so I knew it would happen.
A safe and better alternative to WindowBlinds is styleXP. It’s less of a memory hog, and it will even let you choose not to let it run everytime you use it. Basically, that means this thing doesn’t have to be open or in your taskbar unless you want to change themes. IMHO This is a better and safer alternative to WindowBlinds. Try it out! 🙂
MiamiGuy wrote:Strange. I use WindowBlinds and I’ve never encountered any error or problems … …But I’d guess that you HAVE, at some stage, set it to ignore YM ? ?It seems from dozens of posts here that that simple step stops the problems.
Eagle_Kiwi wrote:But I’d guess that you HAVE, at some stage, set it to ignore YM ? ?It seems from dozens of posts here that that simple step stops the problems.
Nah actually I haven’t touched anything on WindowBlinds since I installed it and my Yahoo Messenger is currently skinned by WindowBlinds. All is working well. Perhaps the problems were encountered in older versions of WindowBlinds while the new one has corrected it? I have the latest version.
Here’s a link that may help you (link), Follow the instructions, but do it for Yahoo!, not AIM.
Slayer, you got the wrong idea somehow.
None of us in this thread have any problem with Windowblinds upsetting OUR PCs… I’ve just been complaining about all those that DO – and besides, the “solution” is posted all over these forums.
Eagle_Kiwi, your post was seriously misinterpreted as a problem (note the section is Computer Suppport) instead of a rant. I’m not entirely sure why you posted this, if there are solutions all over the place (in your own words, “36 posts, going back to 2002, about “windowblinds”“, why would there even be a problem to rant about?
Spike wrote:A safe and better alternative to WindowBlinds is styleXP. It’s less of a memory hog, and it will even let you choose not to let it run everytime you use it. Basically, that means this thing doesn’t have to be open or in your taskbar unless you want to change themes. IMHO This is a better and safer alternative to WindowBlinds. Try it out! 🙂I have to agree with you here. I’m using stylexp now. windowblinds was way unstable and did use a lot of memory compared to stylexp.
good advice! 😀
I use style xp right now, I tried windows blinds and I didnt like it at all because it like used “images” or whatever for the titlebar and buttons and junk…. or something…. and it was bad…. stylexp seems more “natural” and well….. the only good thing about windowsblinds is that it can work on windows 2000 or below too….. not sure if stylexp can do that (hence the name style*XP*)
Spike wrote:A safe and better alternative to WindowBlinds is styleXP. It’s less of a memory hog, and it will even let you choose not to let it run everytime you use it. Basically, that means this thing doesn’t have to be open or in your taskbar unless you want to change themes. IMHO This is a better and safer alternative to WindowBlinds. Try it out! 🙂I’d be careful how you judge WindowBlinds. Beta 5 is a real nice alternative for Windows own theme’ing system. And before you state, once again, that it uses less memory than WindowBlinds – check again. Whereas MS Styles has not been updated all that much, WindowBlinds has been and still is being optimisied. They’be been doing this for years and are still doing it. Where MS Styles isn’t improving all that much, WindowBlinds is a true skinning system for Windows.
As for WindowBlinds – you can stop it from starting up automatically. And it doesn’t have to be open or in your taskbar unless you want to change themes either…
A little note on StyleXP:
A simple modification to your system file uxtheme.dll will allow you to use non-signed, non-official Windows themes (which is what StyleXP does when it installs). So if you want the same functionality as StyleXP, without having to install a program – there are many patches out there to deal with modifying your uxtheme.dll – Neowin’s one is great.Still, once again, with MS Styles, only the usual old modifications are allowed. With WindowBlinds, a skinner can add buttons, modify the behaviour of the control box (minimise, maximise and exit) etc. – really, compared to MS Styles, the possibilities are endless.
It is a matter of taste,needs and experience when using one of them, some people would use Style xp because – resources + styles and it’s more easy to configure and others WB has more option,replace shell,StyleXP a bit too restrictive in it’s skinning….
A little note on StyleXP:
A simple modification to your system file uxtheme.dll will allow you to use non-signed, non-official Windows themes (which is what StyleXP does when it installs). So if you want the same functionality as StyleXP, without having to install a program – there are many patches out there to deal with modifying your uxtheme.dll – Neowin’s one is great.I don’t like either of them. I always prefer integrated support rather than addon programs to do the same job. Although, I suppose windowblinds is a slight exception seeing as it adds more functionality…
I’d say that those people who blame YM! and not WindowBlinds are probably inexperienced computer users. Anyone tech sevy would be able to tell. I took WindowBlinds off my computer after it began to cause alot of problems.
I find this same situation with anti-virus. Things like Norton are so bloated now that if you try and install them on slightly lower end computers, you experience alot of problems. Do people blame this on the AV? No, They blame it on the computer or other programs.
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