This is the 4th GUI Championships and in that time we've seen some great skins made.  WindowBlinds is a program that allows users to change the look and feel of the Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 graphical user interface (title bars, Start menu, push buttons, borders, checkboxes, etc.).

I am one of the 3 judges for the contest. Our votes help determine the 10 finalists who will be voted on by users. My criteria are the following:

1. Originality. How creative a concept is it?  The benchmark is Luna, the default skin of Windows XP.

2. Usability. Does it allow me to use my computer effectively? That's a big part of it but it also has to be something I would want to use too.

3. Overall. This is largely a combination of the two but often times a skin is more than the sum of its parts. Using Windows XP's Luna as the middle benchmark, if a skin gets higher than a 5, it's better than Luna in my opinion. If it gets less than a 5, it's not as good as Luna.

Supporting Vista isn't required in the contest but obviously, if the skin doesn't work on Vista at all it's going to take a hit given that a quarter of the users out there are using it and that's only going to grow.

Now before people get upset with all the "low" scores let's remember that we're using Windows XP's default look, Luna, as the baseline for 5. It took countless meetings and effort for Microsoft to create Luna so anything that gets over a 5 is pretty impressive.  Most scores are going to be less than 5.

 

Example of Luna (XP's default visual style running on Vista)

Luna from Microsoft is what you get when a committee designs a skin. It's quite usable thanks to good use of contrast and the title bar buttons are very large. It's not particularly pretty but it gets the job done. The borders aren't alpha blended so there are jaggies around the edges, no shadows, and the overall look is a bit of a drab blue.  It's not ugly by any means in my opinion so I'm okay running it but it's also not particularly compelling.

Originality: 5

Usability: 5

Overall: 5

 

An example of a skinned OS:

Dragon from Stardock Design is a very original and well executed concept. The actual Windows title bars, borders, etc. have dragon scales on it. The dragon on the start menu is actually animated and extremely fluid. No included wallpaper in the skin, no dialog background texture but a very good explorer texture is provided. Very good use of colors keeps it highly usable and makes me, as a user, want to use it.

Originality: 10

Usability: 8

Overall: 9

 

...And it begins...

Agua is very original as a concept with an animated title bar and start menu. Unfortunately, it's not as usable as it could be because of the text color choices in various places makes it hard to read.

Originality: 7

Usability: 3

Overall: 3

Aqua XP is an interesting idea but the technical execution keeps it from being competitive.  It's very hard to read the text and the art level and design quality aren't competitive as some of the elements don't remotely match.

Originality: 5

Usability: 1

Overall: 2

Aqueus makes good use of the Aero style but strikes me as being a bit too derivative of Aero to be considered original. Moreover, the lack of contrasting in the skin (it's all a blue-ish green) make it hard to use overall.

Originality: 4

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

BBK is a pretty creative idea that makes use of animation in the please wait dialog, the start menu and in the title bar. The constant flashing of the active window, however, makes it less uasable and the currently selected window in the taskbar is hard to find. Some of the text color choices keep it from being as usable as it could be too.  The explorer background it includes is quite nice and it provides a consistent look and feel. Has a Vista version but it defaults on Vista to the XP version. A very good skin overall.

Originality: 8

Usability: 4

Overall:5

Black Cat is a cat inspired theme though other than a few claw parts it's not clear what's cat like about it. It's more complete than some of the other skins in that it has support for IE 7 buttons. It is also quite distinctive. Color choices make it less usable than it could be though.

Originality: 6

Usability: 3

Overall: 4

Cappuccino is a reasonably good effort. Both XP and Vista substyles included.

Originality: 4

Usability: 3

Overall: 3

Ce has some cool animation parts and is a good effort. Multiple substyles are included for XP and Vista. The usability is very limited due to some color choices but the skin is very complete.

Originality: 5

Usability: 3

Overall: 3

Cherry Chocolate is a fine effort that is a lot like Cherry Coke, it is probably an acquired taste.  The IE 7 controls are pretty awful but the explorer background and some of the header images are really good.

Originality: 6

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

Denim is a very clever concept that is quite well executed for the most part. The Start menu text isn't as readable as it could be but that taskbar is really well done.

Originality: 8

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

Dream Loricae has one of the coolest start menus I've seen. It has some other pretty clever controls and makes very good of UIS2 on Vista. It's not really my type of skin but I can admire what it was going for.

Originality: 7

Usability: 5

Overall: 5

eXoroid is a very original idea marred by poor technical execution. The title bar text falls off the title bar area. In many respects, one coudl imagine this as an msstyles file that was ported over to WindowBlinds. It's a good effort overall though.

Originality: 5

Usability: 1

Overall: 2

 

Flash has a full-screen please wait screen which is something I wish more skinners would do as it helps create a more complete experience in my opinion. The skin itself is very creative with good support for XP and Vista.

Originality: 8

Usability: 3

Overall: 5

 

2004 GUI Champs Winner: VectorCell by b0se Looking at this screenshot it's hard to believe that this skin was created 3 years before Windows Vista shipped. That means it didn't have the benefit of knowing what the Vista start menu would look like and doesn't have the benefit of alpha blended edges. And yet, it still looks great today. Originality: 10 Usability: 10 Overall: 10

 

 

Flouxytine is a relatively clean skin but has aesthetics that could use some work particularly with the push buttons which could have benefited from being mono-color. It's a clash of styles with some parts being flat and other parts being seemingly rounded.

Originality: 6

Usability: 3

Overall: 4

Free Area is one of the best skins of the contest. It has a simple, clean style to it that makes it very usable but also very attractive. This is a skin I would use.

Originality: 6

Usability: 9

Overall: 8

IceBlue is one of those skins that falls into the trap a lot of skins use of picking a color and having everything be a hue of that color without concern with the effect on usability. The art style is also not competitive with th eother antries but there are some clever design concepts in it.

Originality: 3

Usability: 2

Overall: 1

iDive is a nice effort but suffers from some technical failings such as not controlling the title bar text and some inconsistent color choices.

Originality: 6

Usability: 3

Overall: 3

 

iSpire is a skin done by someone who knows how to skin WindowBlinds quite well. Good use of colors and active an inactive window colors demonstrates a great deal of technical expertise.  The art quality and in particular the art direction are not strong. The Explorer buttons, for instance, are a completely different style from other areas of the skin -- crisp versus non-crisp. The use of colors in the skin also takes away from any consistent theme. There are some elements of the skin that are really tight that I like like the URL window controls. But then you'll have something like the tab controls which completely clash.  Thus far, this is the best technically implemented skin. One could imagine the author teamed up with a professional graphics designer to create a skin that dominates.  Still, I'd use this over Luna. Also loved the please wait animation.

Originality: 7

Usability: 5

Overall: 6

 

Kiwi has one of the cutest please wait dialogs in the contest. But holy cow is this skin hit or miss in its design.  Definitely one of the most original skins I've seen in awhile, it's technical implementation could use some work. The inactive menus, for instance, completely clash (see the notepad menu). It's a combination of genius concept with sloppy implementation that keeps it from being the game winner it could be.

Originality: 9

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

Default WindowBlinds skin comparison    Leo from Stardock Design is a MacOS inspired theme designed to give Windows a clean simple but usable look. Subtle shadows, good use of colors make it highly usable. Originality: 1 Usability: 9 Overall: 8

 

Linea Roja is an extremely original skin. It's definitely one of the most original in the contest. It's a pity it doesn't have Vista support as a good explorer background would have bee nice and a dialog texture could have made the effect more complete. The use of animation in the Start menu is creepy and good.  The usability of the skin isn't very good but it definitely is something a lot of people would likely want to use, especially with some customization.

Originality: 10

Usability: 3

Overall: 6

Lotus is a very fine concept marred by a few usability bugs (title bar text not being controlled) and some cosmetic issues on Vista. But the usability of this skin, assuming a fix to the title bar text, is very good.

Originality: 3

Usability: 8

Overall: 7

 

Mammas Boy is one of the better skins in the contest easily. Good use of color and art direction good Vista support, a roll-up button and a slick design make this a definite finalist.

Originality: 7

Usability: 8

Overall: 7

 

Mera has some parts that are really well done and other parts that make my eyes bleed. The choice of fonts, font sizes, and font colors in some places make me cry. The title bar buttons are terrible as well as the scrollbar controls. And yet it has terrific push buttons, a nice start menu and many other elements that make it quite nice.

Originality: 4

Usability: 2

Overall: 3

 

Metal Stone is an interesting XP-centric theme that is a good idea with some minor execution issues.  I like the Start menu in particular but it also makes me think of how good the title bar and frames could have been with the same kind of creativity. This skin is basically an msstyles that looks like it was ported to WindowBlinds or more to the point, it looks like an msstyles to me which is a shame because the concept is so clever it could have been a really ground breaking skin.

Originality: 5

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

 

O Stage  has one of the more clever please wait screens.  Very technically well executed, it does suffer from some art direction issues (tabs and buttons should be as functional as possible).  It's still a very good effort and demonstrates what is technically possible. I like the explorer background it comes with too.

Originality: 6

Usability: 4

Overall: 5

Pad is a very clever concept that takes the LCAR design and envisions it as a windows GUI.  Unfortunately, its usability is severely limited because of some of the choices made.  If I were doing LCARS, I probably would have forgone the metalic border entirely and had the border be simply a 1 pixel colored edge. That would free me to work with more of a black background. Here, the author has to battle way gray and black backgrounds which don't work so well.

Originality: 6

Usability: 3

Overall: 4

 

Panels is a good effort in many respects but in other areas it causes me pain to look at because of some of the mixes and matches in color It defaults to XP on Vista but once you get around that, you can see some great ideas and some painful art design choices.  When people say "WindowBlinds skins are ugly" what they really mean is that WindowBlinds gives authors a lot more rope to hang themselves with because it is so much more powerful than uxtheme.  This is a case where the author would probably have benefited from less rope. The Please wait screen is very clever though.

Originality: 4

Usability: 2

Overall: 1

 

 

Plastic Fantastic has one of the best please wait dialogs in the contest. Like the icon package of the same name, it may be the best entry in this year's contest. A few technical bugs. Near-perfect technical implementation, good art direction make this a must-have.

Originality: 10

Usability: 8

Overall: 8

 

Psycho II is a pretty neat skin. Good technical execution and a plainly awesome Start button and Start menu. Like many skins, it does suffer from GUI controls (buttons, scrollbars, etc.) that are not as committed to the design as they could be. Overall a fine effort.

Originality: 9

Usability: 5

Overall: 5

 

Rainbow is one of the few skins that actually attempts to do something different with the title bar buttons.  In this case, the result, while original and creative, is not quite as usable as it could be. Like many skins, in some parts, it's extremely creative. In other parts, it's blurry and inconsistent.  A very good effort overall though.

Originality: 9

Usability: 2

Overall: 4

Razor X doesn't mess around with its design. The Start menu is very up front and personal.  With the right wallpaper combination this could be an extremely compelling experience.  Definitely one of the better skins of the contest.

Originality: 7

Usability: 5

Overall: 6

 

Santa Toy box is a cute theme for the holidays that implements it better than most.  Again, like many skins, it falters on the actual GUI controls like push buttons and scrollbars. But overall, it's a very nice design.

Originality: 8

Usability: 5

Overall: 6

Shimmer is a fine effort that suffers from the belief that "more is more" in all cases. Sometimes, less is more.  It has some really nice parts including the title bar buttons but the title bar itself is somewhat distracting. The start bar is pretty well done but again, the taskbar buttons tend to be harder to read due to all the glassy effects. 

Originality: 4

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

 

SkyUI is a fine effort though not really my taste but worth checking out.

Originality: 3

Usability: 4

Overall: 3

 

Synthetic is a clever idea that could use a little more more in the art direction area. A fine effort though.

Originality: 6

Usabiltiy: 3

Overall: 3

 

Tattoo is a really original concept that I really like in some ways. The Start bar and Start menu are really neat. I twould benefit from a Vista version but it is still really quite cool. It still suffers from what many skinners suffer from -- poor GUI controls in the push button and other GUI controls.

Originality 9

Usability: 4

Overall: 6

 

Under the Gun demonstrates good technical execution but middle level art direction.  Unlike most WindowBlinds skins in the contest, it has pretty good GUI controls, the push buttons, radio buttons, checkboxes are quite usable.  The title bar buttons aren't really usable because they require the user to know what the buttons do based purely on their position but at least it has a roll-up button. One of the better entries this year.

Originality: 6

Usability: 6

Overall: 6

I like WVS quite a bit. Definitely one of the best entries this year and one of the very few to have push buttons that are both cool looking and still usable.

Originality: 8

Usability: 8

Overall: 8

Comparison: Winter Wonderland from Stardock Design Winter Wonderland is a skin made by Stardock Design that is available as a MyColors suite.  It's done by pros so one expects it to be of higher quality. The start menu is animated, the snowman falls down from the top nicely, the color and art direction is top notch and it combines originality and subtlety in just the right amounts. Originality: 10 Usability: 8 Overall: 9

 

White is a pretty traditioanl design that has a lot of promise but actually is broken on Vista because the per pixel frames are actually not complete (there are no title bar buttons). I had to run it with no per pixel support to get it work. That said, it's a reasonably good skin. My only complaint is how the title bar buttons actually work in practice, they're so squished together that it's easy to click on the wrong one mistakenly.

Originality: 4

Usability: 5

Overall: 5

 

Windows Mini Pro continues the trend of dark skins with a blue hue.  Title bar text isn't constrained so in many ways it reminds me of an msstyels. But it's still a fine effort.

Originality: 5

Usability: 3

Overall: 3

 

X-Rumax is a interesting concept that has some really nice title bars and borders but the area with the actual title bar buttons feels a bit out of place.   Some of the controsl don't really match with the rest of it but overall it's a nice effort.

Originality: 6

Usability: 4

Overall: 4

Yellow is an example where glass is not always your friend.  Sometimes, it really is okay for a skin to be fully opaque.  Yellow is a case where that is definitely the case.  A very nice design overall that could be fixed up to be even better with some customization, it's a fine entry overall.

Originality: 7

Usability: 6

Overall: 6

 

 

Green Arista. Very creative but not very easy to use but a pretty well made skin.

Originality: 7

Usability: 2

Overall: 3

 

 

Called "Leonbox" in WindowBlinds but uploaded as "Serenity" this is a very usable skin other than a few minor bugs. Fairly traditional XP style.

Originality: 3

Usability: 7

Overall: 6

 

 

More to come...