Step-by-Step Tutorials	#8 - Tool-Tip Replacement
A series by RomanDA

Listing of other DX Tutorials: Click here
Today's Lesson: "Tool-Tip Replacement"

In this lesson we will make a replacement for the built in Tool-tip, one that can be made any color, shadow, transparency, and have it re-size automatically.

This is not going to be a simple STEP-BY-STEP, I'm assuming if you are this advanced into DX, I don't need to explain how to get the script windows up, or edit properties!  This is more like a SCRIPT example, not a step-by-step.

For this and all the Step-By-Step DX Tutorials you will need to purchase DesktopX for $14.95 from Stardock.

Lets get started.

STEP 1 - Create a simple graphic bg to use.

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I made a very simple rounded corner background item to use for the tool-tip background.

• The reason for the RED is because that's the best color to use for changing hue's
• Rounded corners (just cause)
• black frame cause I liked it.
• You can make yours anyway you want.

STEP 2 - Create the ToolTipBack

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Create a new object (see previous tutorials).

• Select the tool-tip-back.png from above.
• You will need to set the "ADVANCED" properties on the object so it can be re-sized easily.
• Click on the "summary" tab and name this object "ToolTip_Back"
• Make this part of the GROUP "ToolTip"

 

STEP 3 - Add the ToolTip_Text to the ToolTip_Back

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Create a TEXT object, place it inside the ToolTip_Back object, position might change, on mine its 6/8.

• Make the text about 10px Arial black, or whatever color you want.
• Call it ToolTip_Text
• Make the Parent/Owner  ToolTip_Back
• make the Group ToolTip
• for this example change the left/top to 5 & 5

STEP 4 - Making a test object for the tip.

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The idea of this tutorial is to have a new-look tool-tip that would replace the built-in one.  So, we need something to mouse over to see this tool-tip.

We need to make something, anything to mouse over.  You can use the "default" object since we dont really care what it looks like.

• Make a NEW OBJECT, call it TEST_OBJECT.
• use any image you want, or just the built-in default image.
  (this is what I will show here)
• We need to add a script to this object.

Vbscript  Code
	Sub Object_OnMouseEnter   Call ShowToolTip("This is my Tool-Tip") End Sub Sub Object_OnMouseLeave Call HideToolTip() End Sub

STEP 5 - Adding the code for the Tool-tip

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Add the following code to the above TEST object.  Put it at the bottom of the code, under the OnMouseLeave sub section.

I will try and explain some of the code below. (look for the yellow info)

Vbscript  Code

Function ShowToolTip(TextToShow)   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Text").text = TextToShow 'The Text you passed to the function '--- Set the height/width of the ToolTip_Back object (the +10 +20 are used to give the text box some padding around the text.   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").height = desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Text").height + 10   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").width = desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Text").width + 20 '--- We need to position the tool-tip above the object you are mouseing over. '--- Its a little complicated, but basically we get the width of the object, and the width of the '--  tooltip_back and center the tooltip_back over the object.   ttw = desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").width/ 2   ow = object.Width / 2   temp = ttw - ow   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").left = object.Left - temp   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").Top = object.Top - desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").height - 10 '--  We have to add a few "IFs here" to see if the object you are mouseing over is at the top of the screen, or of its to close to the left or right side of the screen. '--  We move the tooltip_back over, down based on the position of the object.   If desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").Top < 20 Then     desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").Top = object.Height + 20   End If   If desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").left < 20 Then desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").left = 10   If desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").left + desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").width > system.ScreenWidth Then desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").left = system.ScreenWidth - desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").width - 30 '--  I have some issues here with these.  I have struggled trying to get the tool tip to show '-- ON TOP of things on the screen.  It should work with these 3 below.   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").OnTop   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").SetFocus   desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").visible = True End Function '--  VERY simple function here, HIDE the tooltip_back! Function HideToolTip() desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").visible = False End Function

STEP 6 - Test it out.

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Once you put the above code into the test object you should be able to mouse over and away and see the tool tip text pop-up.  You might have to make some changes to the above code.

You can move the tooltip_back up or down more based on your preferences.
The changes would be on the places where it shows "Desktopx.Object("ToolTip_Back").Top = ...
You can make that + or - smaller or larger to suit your desires.

STEP 7 - Changes and more changes.

---

Things you can easily change.

• Color of the tool-tip background image (play with the hue/brightness/contrast to get it looking the color you would like.
  You could also CODE this so that important tool-tips show up in RED, info in Yellow, etc. Its up to you.
• Transparency: make the background image as clear as you like.  Again, this could be coded easily.
• Text: using the  Call desktopx.ScriptObject("ToolTip_Back").ShowToolTip("This is my Tool-Tip")  you can change the text in the tool-tip easily here you can even add multiple lines.
  EX: Call desktopx.ScriptObject("ToolTip_Back").ShowToolTip("Tool Tip Text Line 1" & vbnewline & "second line here" & third line here")

CONCLUSION

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This is just my idea on how to change out the built-in tool tip command.

I hope you have enjoyed this step into DX, and look forward to the next installment..

Enjoy, RomanDA AKA: David A. Roman http://romanda.wincustomize.com

Someone made a comment on another thread that Vista has gotten the nickname "ME2". And while that may be oversimplifying things, the truth is that in the big picture Vista is likely to be remembered more as a disaster than a success. Maybe "New Coke" would be a better analogy.

In my rather limited empirical experience I am seeing a lot of people purchase ill advised Vista upgrades, only to see them dump them in favor of their old XP installation. Not techies, mind you, but regular end users. End users who, to put it bluntly, do NOT like the new O/S.

I have said for months that Vista may be the O/S that pushes Linux into the mainstream. I honestly like Vista, but when I put myself into the seat of someone who is not very familiar with computers, it's a pain. Many people have spent time painstakingly learning the basics for their XP systems; by changing the file structure and even the names of the tabs so thorougly, Microsoft has put them back to square one, and made not only their computers, but their operating systems obsolete.

But the biggest users are usually the business users. And Vista is, in my opinion, destined for modest success at best in that arena. If I were managing a network of computers on XP, my advice would be simple: don't upgrade. XP's extended support will go through 2011, and MS' next OS release will be two years on the market by then (ok, given that MS has NEVER met the deadline on an OS release, let's say one year).

Windows Vista is, in my opinion, not worth the cost of upgrading. Not unless it comes installed on a purchased machine. And it may well be a significant marketing blunder on the part of the boys in Redmond.

This is the second part of "Home Office Software Essentials" that I recently wrote.  In these articles I give my recommendations on software that is useful for home office setups.  As said in last weeks article, home offices are growing, and having the right software can make your job that much easier. 

Now the type of software you need will obviously vary on what type of work you do, but the applications I have listed are perfect for general use, even for people who just use their offices for personal use.

Last time I covered office applications, security, and backup programs.  Today I will cover graphics and utility programs.

Graphics

This is an area that will really depend on your needs based on the type of work you do.  Many people could just by with a basic image editor to modify digital photos, but some may need a really power and complete graphics solution. 

I will start with the one I'm sure most people are familiar with....Adobe Photoshop.  CS3 was recently released with Vista compatibility and other new features.  Photoshop is available stand-alone or part of the Creative Suites which include other applications such as Dreamweaver or Flash.  Photoshop is no doubt the industry standard when it comes to graphics, but there are plenty of alternatives if Photoshop is more than what is needed.

Corel Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop Elements are two lower cost alternatives that offer much of the same functionality of Photoshop, and are especially good for people looking to edit digital pictures.  If you need more of a vector/drawing program than CorelDraw is something to take a look at.  Expression Design by Microsoft is still in beta, but it looks likes a very promising application for illustration and graphic design.

If all these suggestions are just too much for your needs, then the free Paint.NET is something I can definitely recommend.  It was has many features and is a big step up from Paint that is included with Windows.

 

Utilities

Another trend I see is more and more people having multiple computers, and multiple monitors.  With some offices having limited desk space, having 3 sets of keyboard/mice on the desk is not always practical.  Multiplicity by Stardock lets you control multiple computers with a single keyboard and mouse, so when you move your mouse to a given monitor, you are then in control of that system.

I have dual widescreen monitors on my desktop, one hooked up to my main PC, and the second hooked to a Mac Mini running Windows XP.  Being able to control both computers and with the ability to copy files (pro version), Multiplicity has become an extremely invaluable asset to my office.

 

ObjectDock is a program that adds a skinnable dock to your Windows desktop.  It is one of the most popular desktop enhancement programs available. 

ObjectDock 1.9 is such a major update over 1.5 that it could have been called ObjectDock 2.0. In fact, there was a lot of internal debate on this with 1.9 being the compromise versioning!

So what's new in it?  Here is a list of changes from v1.5:

What's changed in ObjectDock 1.9 over 1.5:    Brand new awesome weather docklet! New docklet uses brand new technology to fly out your 5 day forecast when you click on it or hover over it, and hides it when your mouse goes away. Zoomin/Zoomout smoothness *significantly* enhanced, and is now adjustable! Find the new options in the "Quality & Performance" settings ObjectDock now comes bundled with some really great artwork (icons and backgrounds) from the community. (Permission recieved to use all of the images involved). New artwork has been pre-associated with over 50 different programs! As result, chances are if you add a program, it will show up with a nice high-resolution icon! New minimize effect on Vista! When Live Thumbnails are in use on Vista and your dock is showing a taskbar, windows will now do a nice minimize animation into any zooming dock. I Live minimize effect should be smoother than any other program available! Effort was made to make it work with minimal to no interference to your workflow, and the animation should never jump around / flicker heavily at the end unlike other versions of this effect you may have seen. "Live previews" for files and folders are enabled! While folders will not have their icons update automatically if their contents change, when loaded folders will show as their correct preview. The same with other types of documents that offer a live preview (PDF's, etc) In Vista, all minimized windows will show up as a live mini-thumbnail in the ObjectDock taskbar! Optionally you can have all windows, minimized or not, show up as thumbnails. Note: this feature is only available for zooming docks, it does not support tabbed docks. New background ability! Tile-based backgrounds can now adjust the size/position of the original icon, end result, really cool tiled backgrounds. Check out the included HyperGrass theme for an example of how cool tiled backgrounds can now be! Completely redone the mouse-activation / layering system. See the new "interaction" area in zooming dock's positioning options. The new interaction abilities should make ObjectDock a much more pleasent program to use! Custom icons set for program file shortcuts now automatically sync with custom icons set for windows of a program in taskbars. Entry areas in shortcut dialogs now use AutoComplete Entering in generic terms or filetypes such as "internet", "email", ".doc", etc for a shortcut will now Background code *significantly* improved. New "Troubleshooting" dialog with quick access to disabling features of ObjectDock Increased drawing optimization code's ability to manage images. Should result in quicker than ever drawing and decreased memory usage for zooming docks. Docks can now not only be left/right/center aligned, but anywhere in-between. See the new slider in zooming dock's positioning options Brand new "Show Start Menu" functionality! Will show your existing startmenu/startpanel right next to the cursor when you click it. Add one by right clicking dock and choosing "Add -> New Start Menu Entry" "Add" menus now significantly more useful ; they now give you the option to add a wide variety of different built-in entries New "command entry" abilities! You can now create a dock item to toggle autohide on and off, or toggle hiding/showing the taskbar. Very useful! New option available to turn on "proportionate stretching" for backgrounds New mode available in plus: "keep on top, hiding off-screen for maximized applications", which makes the dock always on top except when a window is maximized, at which point it will automatically temporarily turn on autohide Improved dock's ability to judge what maximum size it should be. Dock will now exactly fill the screen when you set it to be as large as possible, and it will properly maintain this as you add/remove items. Brand new taskbar modes available in Plus! Your taskbar can now be set to show "all windows", "minimized windows only", or "non-minimized windows only" Dramatically improved behavior during right click menus on zooming docks. When you right click and the dock's zooming locks in position, if you click/right-click on another item ObjectDock will now correctly select the item that your cursor was over at the time, not what i would be after the zoom lock is released. Similarly, if you begin dragging an item while locked, the program will behave appropriately instead of its prior very unpredictable behavior. Improved handling / awareness of full-screen applications Completely redone system tray mechanism for Plus, which is more lighweight and does not require any additional resident EXE (that’s right, sdmcp.exe will be a thing of the past ) System tray will not currently work on 64-bit versions of Windows, but they do work with Windows Vista, including the new "Special" tray icons in Vista. Performance and memory usage has been improved. Lots of optimizing for CPU usage. Every single 'glitchy' behavior that we/users could find in previous versions of ObjectDock has been fixed When using extension-only in shortcuts, the item's title will now automatically update to the name of the application, not just its filename. Ability added for ObjectDock to apply included default images for programs that do not have high-resolution icons already included with them. For example, a default Notepad shortcut on XP would use the included custom high-quality icon, but on Vista where a high-quality icon is available for Notepad, ObjectDock will use the actual Notepad icon. Improved system tray, should now work more reliably than ever! Outlook 2007 and Windows Live Messenger should both now work reliably. Fixed up a couple minor resource leaks Improved taskbars / thumbnail behavior. Added option to turn off tabbed docks' ability to automatically dock to the edge as a drawer when dragging. Option available in "misc options". Fixed multimonitor issue with the Start Menu functionality, and added better problem-notification. Fixed issue with flyouts where if they contained 9+ items and zooming is disabled, they could show up partially behind the dock. UI improvments Ability to export backgrounds added to the DockZip packaging format. Try this feature today by right clicking the dock and choosing "Pack images for sharing" Dialog flow / layout improved for zooming docks Colorizing a background now also colorizes the indicators you've selected to use When packing up icons, you can now reliably drag dock items on to the "packager" dialog, and the icon associated with that item will automatically be added to the package you're creating Improved autohide ability in general. Also, added ability for autohide to give activation back to the window that had it if an autohidden dock gets activated temporarily and then hides. improved shortcuts so that the dock longer pauses for a moment when you run something improved delete-item animation so that there is no longer a delay when you delete something from the dock clicking empty space directly above/below a zooming dock that is still part of the background (e.g. a shadow) no longer causes the dock item below it to get selected. similarly, right clicking that area will bring up options for the dock itself, not the item below where you clicked. On Vista, Taskbar should now show / be able to interact with applications ran as administrator when UAC is enabled in vista, even if ObjectDock isn't elevated. (Minimize animations will not work for programs ran as administrator however) Fixed issue where icons for url-shortcuts would not get remembered Can now drag/drop "Internet" and "Email" shortcuts from start panel into dock ObjectDock is better than ever at picking up the best high-quality icon for your file, particularly in Windows Vista. You can now zoom icons up to 256x256. Click Here to check out some of the features of ObjectDock as a video.

 

In short, a lot has changed.

Highlighted Changes

There's so many new things in ObjectDock 1.9 that it's hard to narrow things down to a handful. And even the above list isn't complete!  Here are some of our favorite changes:

It's Faster!

 

Probably one of the first things some users will notice is how much faster ObjectDock 1.9 is.  That's because the underlying engine was largely rewritten to take advantage of advances in OS and video card technology. It's faster while using less memory.

It's Prettier!

 

Another thing users will notice, especially long-time users, is how many cool new backgrounds and icons come with it. The default look has been changed, the default icons changed, and a ton of artwork from the WinCustomize.com community (with permission) has bee included.

One other note about that screenshot, ObjectDock supports backgrounds on a per item basis!

It's more useful!

ObjectDock is popular not just because it's so visually cool and pretty but because it is very useful. Docklets that support searching and the ability to display running tasks as part of your dock are examples of why ObjectDock isn't just a cool program, it's a very useful one.

ObjectDock 1.9 includes a new weather docklet that on a single click will display the 5-day forecast.

 

ObjectDock 1.9 also includes a new Start menu docklet that will bring up the real Start menu (and if it's skinned, then it'll still be skinned!).

It's more usable!

ObjectDock has always been strong about having features that make is convenient to use. But ObjectDock 1.9 goes even further!

ObjectDock 1.9 now includes options for dock placement that is completely free-form! Put the dock anywhere you want on the screen!

 

It's easier to use! 

 

The user interface has been updated to be easier to use with functionality much more accessible!

It has more Windows Vista support!

While users of Windows XP have much to rejoice, users of Windows Vista get live thumbnail previews and minimize and restore effects thanks to the new Windows Vista desktop graphics engine (the DWM) which provides hardware acceleration features!

It's more fun!

 

With thousands of skins and icons for ObjectDock and tons of cool effects and options to choose from, ObjectDock doesn't just look great and work great, it's just fun to use.

And it's still free!

The world's most fully featured dock on any platform is still freeware. 

Stardock also makes ObjectDock PLUS! which adds tabbed docks, system tray support, additional mouse-over effects, multiple dock support, taskbar grouping, and more!

But ObjectDock itself remains free as it always has even with all these new features.  Try it yourself and find out what millions of others have learned -- it's fun, pretty, and useful!  

Get it at http://www.objectdock.com

Alright, first things first...download an IRC client. For the purpose of this guide, going to use mIRC. Why mIRC? Because it's simple and doesn't have a bunch of crap bloat that anyone would need anyway.

Download it here.

First you install it obviously, then after it's installed open the mirc.exe.

Next we'll have to add the Stardock server to the server list. Just follow the screenshots and you should be fine.

Click on the little hammer icon thingie at the top left, this is the mIRC Options. The Connect section should come up, enter in your details there. Full name and email address don't really matter, you can put any kind of nonsense you want there. For your Nickname I suggest using your Stardock login name. No spaces, if you want spaces you'll have to use an underscore. For the alternative, something similar (this is used when you get disconnected and your nick is still in use).



The click on the Servers area and the Add button. Then fill out the information accordingly. After that press Add.



Now we're going to setup the Perform on Connect settings, with this you will automatically join the channels and identify to nickserv once you connect. Click on the Options section under Servers, then click on Perform. Make sure the Enable perform on connect is checked. Now click on the Add button, find the Stardock server we just added and then select Ok. Now select Stardock from the Network dropbox. In the textarea, add the following information as shown in the screenshot, the click Ok at the bottom.

Notes:

• The first line identifies you to your registered nickname (if you choose to register it [explained below], if you don't register it then you don't need to add the command).
• The next two commands automatically join you to the #wincustomize and #stardock channels. You can add or remove whatever channels from autojoin if you want. If you want a list of other channels, type /list in the status window.
• The last line disables the server's language filter. The language filter prevents anyone from sending you a private message that contains swearing. Personally I tend to swear like a sailor so I find this little feature annoying and silly, so I have it disabled.

---

Before we connect, I'm going to show some optional settings I find useful. Click on IRC in the menu list. I would suggest checking Prefix own messages, Show mode prefix, Whois on Query, Rejoin channels when kicked, Rejoin channels on connect, and Keep channels open. This way is for some reason you get kicked (hey it happens) mIRC will automatically have you rejoin the channel without you having to manually do it. Keep channels open just keeps the channel there when you get kicked/banned, normally the channel would close and disappear and you'd have to rejoin it.

Also, click on the Options section still under IRC, and under Show: check User addresses (you'll be able to see the isp the person is connecting from) and under Flash on: check Query message (this way when someone sends you a pm, the window will flash in the taskbar to notify you). If you go to IRC > Messages, you can enable the Timestamp. Check Enabled and then you can edit the display. I'm using [ddd h:nn:ss TT] which displays as [Tue 5:18:34 PM]. You can change how it's displayed by changing the identifiers. You can find a list of those identifers Here or in mIRC go to Help > Contents and in the Index search type "time" and the first thing listed should be the Time and Date Identifiers.

Next I'd go down to Display, click on it, then make sure always highlight and blink icons are checked, this way the windows inside mIRC will flash to notify you that there has been a new message in the chat/pm window.

Speaking of display, by default mIRC uses the lame Fixedsys font but this can easily be changed by going to View > Font. I use Verdana size 8. You can change the fonts on a per channel/window basis pretty much, but I have mine set globally.

---

Now we can connect. You can do this a few ways. The first would be to find the Stardock server we added in the servers list and then click on the Connect to Server button near the bottom of that window. Otherwise you could just type this into the text area at the bottom of the screen.

/server irc.stardock.com

You should now be connected to the server and have joined #wincustomize and #stardock. You can now register your nick if you choose to do so. To do this type the following (without the brackets of course).

/nickserv register [yourpasshere] [youremail]

You should then get a message from Nickserv saying the nick has been registered to you. Now go back to the options and go to the perform window, enter your password in the settings as we showed above. This way when you connect you will be automatically identified to Nickserv.

If you get disconnected for any reason and your nick is still showing up in the channel, you can kill it so you can use it again. To do this use the following command:

/nickserv ghost [yournick] [yourpass]

You can now use your nick again. To change your nick, just use /nick [newnick]

Another thing you should do is add your hostmask to the Nickserv access list so you won't get Guested if you fail to identify to Nickserv for whatever reason. First you will need to find your hostmask, to do this perform the following command:

/whois [yournick]

After you've gotten the whois result, copy the ident@host (highlight it, mIRC will automatically copy anything that is highlighted) and then do the following command.

/nickserv access add *!*ident@host

Example: Say my whois result showed this for my host (IP address edited of course): ~supervixen@cpe-255-255-255-255.socal.res.rr.com. Now if your IP tends to be dynamic and change a lot, you might want to edit it when you add to the access list. This is how I added mine:
/nickserv access add *!*supervixen@*.socal.res.rr.com

---

That's pretty much it for the basic setup. mIRC has a ton of other options and settings you can play with, just look around. One I use frequently is the Colors option (click on the Address Book icon next to the clock and select the Colors tab). Here you can colorize your own name, friend's names, and user modes (ops @nick [usually Stardock employees and/or WC mods/admins], voices +nick [special people], channel owner .nick etc). This makes it easier to spot who is chatting in the window. It should be pretty self-explanatory to get it working, but I'll give some examples anyway.

Go into the Colors option like I explained above, make sure Enabled is checked, and then click on Add. On the left is how it looks to color my own nick. This way whenever I say something in the chat and in the userlist, my name shows up as pink. On the right is how it looks to color all ops as bright green (I use a black background).



You can also change the color theme for how your mIRC is displayed. As I mentioned, I use a black background because it's easier on my eyes. Just click on the Crayons icon to mess around with the colors. Just click on whatever you want to change and select a new color. To change the background color just click on any of the white space. Here is how mine looks:



One of the other features I use a lot is Highlight. If you go to Options > IRC > Highlight, you can set it up there. What highlight does is what it says, if it finds a match for something in the highlight list, it will change the color of that entire line to whatever color you set, and can also beep to notify you. To use this, make sure Enabled is checked, then click on Add to add your highlight trigger. I have highlight set for whenever someone says my name. Here is how mine looks:

---

Additional Commands

Often you will see people talking in third person, this is done using the \me command (I had to use backwards slash because the forums parse it the other way). Example:

\me waves hello (don't forget to use forward slash!)

Will be displayed as: * BebiBulma waves hello

If you need to go away for a while, you can use the /away command. This way when someone does a /whois on you or sends you a pm, they will get a notice in their status window that you are away.
/away Gone out, be back soon

To disable the away, simply type /away and it turns it off.

Perhaps you want to ask someone something but not in the public channel, then you can use the /query command. However, it's always a good idea to ask someone first before you pm them, it can be irritating to have someone pm you just because they can without any real reason. Tip: If you type the first few letters of someone's nick and then press Tab, it will go down the list of names of all that match.

/query Nick Hi there, nice day?

---

If you need further help with this, you can post a comment here. Also, you might want to check out this IRC tutorial for a more lengthy guide on the commands and other features IRC has. If there are other features I didn't cover but someone would like more info on, let me know and I'll see what I can add. Come chat with us on IRC!

*For these screenshots, I'm using the Argos premium suite.

As I have said in previous articles that Photoshop CS2 has been great with XP, but not as much with Windows Vista. I also don't want to spend the $200 to upgrade to CS3 just to make Photoshop work right on Vista. So I started looking to see what other options I have when it comes to graphics software when I finally decide (which may be soon) to go back to Vista full-time.

The first application I am evaluating is Corel Paint Shop Pro XI.


The second trial I downloaded was Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.


So for you who are running Windows Vista, what graphics software are you using?

I don't know if anyone will be interested but after a month in the making, i finally finished by Windowblinds/Skinstudio Video Tutorial If you have ever wanted to mod, create or just wanted help with skinstudio and a windowblind, this is what u need. It will help give you a basic understanding of how Skinstudio works and how to go about creating your own skin. Deviantart has helped with this and Aquasoft are linking it. Since this is the home of Windowblinds and Skinstudio, i thought u guys might like to know Check it out at http://mrrste.deviantart.com

If your wondering, due to the file size and bandwidth needed for this, DA has given me special persmission to host it on my site. They have even promoted it from there accounts and in there newsletters   

Well the end of the month is approaching and I am having a hard time picking skins to feature.  Not because there weren't enough, but because I'm just having a really hard time choosing from all the great submissions.  Remember I always appreciate your suggestions on skins to feature, and feel free to e-mail me your suggestions.

Also, don't forget the WebGizmo's ObjecDock Background Contest that is going on.  The deadline isn't until May 11th, so there is still plenty of time to enter.  Now let's take a look at this weeks picks.

 

INDUSTRIAL conformity for CursorXP
By Drill'n Boss

 

I really like the animations with this cursor.  He says it goes with Industrial skins and I can definitely agree, but even if you don't have an industrial skin, be sure to download it anyways.

 

 

 

 

CPU_TEMP in DesktopX Widgets
By RomanDA

 

Here is a simple CPU Temperature widget.  Color changes depending on temperature range.  Be sure to check his gallery for more great gadgets.

 

 

Ovals in Dreams
By Neil Banfield

 

 

This is a dynamic dream with two slowly moving semi-transparent oval shapes.  It's simple, but it looks really good on the desktop.

 

 

 

 

Clear OB for ObjectBar 2
By Quentin94

 

 

The ObjectBar 2 gallery on WinCustomize is started to get populated, and that is great news.  Quentin94 has been hard at work adding  a few skins in there, and this latest one deserves to be featured. 

 

 

 

 

Leather Dock Backgrounds for ObjectDock
By messiah1

 

 

 

This is a really cool set of dock with a real leather look to them.  Very nice work.

 

 

 

 

PoulanZ_Vista IE7 for ObjectDock
By PoulanZ

 

 

If you use IE 7, and there are people who do, then you should definitely check out this icon by PoulanZ.  Great job.

 

 

 

Fantasy World in Wallpapers
By enormousaxie

 

This is a really nice wallpaper, and I hope to see more from him.  However, I would like to see some resolutions with it.

 

 

 

 

Nuage Redux in WindowBlinds
By essorant

 

 

This skin is based off the original Nuage and makes great use of transparency.  There is also Vista compatible versions as well.

 

 

 

 

There were many great submissions this past week, but time and space won't let me list them all.  Be sure you browse the galleries on WinCustomize because you don't want to miss the other skins that are there.  See you next week!

 

Last year was another great year for skinning. Users from around the world created some incredibly fantastic skins. 

Culturally, skinning is a great deal different today than it was back in the late 90s.  Back then, a popular skin might get a 1000 downloads. I remember when the first "Aqua" skins came out and the infamous "WinAqua" from Dangeruss managed to get 5 THOUSAND downloads total which was, back 2000 or so, a real milestone. Now, downloads of 50,000 are common and most of the top skins can expect to be reaching towards 100,000 downloads.

The popularity of skins has altered the way skins are made. Designs tend to be much more mainstream.  While programs such as WindowBlinds and Winamp allow for pretty free-form skin designs, the trend has been to make them conservative and "clean" to appeal to the widest audience.

In this article, we look at some of the best skins of last year. This article is, by no means, the end all be all list, we do try to include a good selection of the best creations from the past year.

WindowBlinds

WindowBlinds is a 3rd party program developed by Stardock (whom I work for) that lets users apply GUI skins (often called visual styles) that change the overall look and feel of the Windows interface (title bars, push buttons, Start bar, etc.).

To use WindowBlinds skins you will need to download WindowBlinds.

Last year was a great year for skinning. Not counting the great skins that came out of the GUI Championships, here are ten of the best (there were so many great ones to choose from so apologies to all the other great skinners we didn't include).

Some Popular Skinners

 

XP MSStyles

Last year might have been the twilight of XP msstyles with Windows Vista's arrival this year.  But it was still a great year for .MSSTYLES.  MSStyles is Microsoft's skin format designed for changing Windows XP's look and feel. While not as powerful as WindowBlinds, it has a significant following. Third-parties can make skins and use them provided that the uxtheme.dll is cracked to disable digital signing protection. Below are some of the notable ones we found made from last year.

To use .msstyles you will either need to crack the digital signing verification in uxtheme by patching it (which you can obtain at Neowin.net and elsewhere) or you can download/install SkinStudio and use it to convert them to WindowBlinds format. There's a quick guide for that here.  In the case where we took our own screenshots, they were taken on Windows Vista via WindowBlinds since XP msstyles won't run on Vista.

Here are some of the best from 2006!

	Luna Element 5 from Tornado was easily one of the favorites of users everywhere. With a clean UI that blends XP and Vista together seamlessly, Luna Element makes our list of one of the best skins of 2006. LE 5.1 released in January of this year keeps the updates going. [Download]
	Kol did double-duty with Thallos. Available both for WindowBlinds and as an msstyles, it was a user favorite. [Download]
	No top 10 list on msstyles would be complete without mentioning MohsinNaqi's Tener VS. What makes Tener so special is in the details. The taskbar is extremely well done and the colors are very carefully chosen. Mohsin Naqi is a top skinner with icon packages, wallpapers, WindowBlinds visual styles, and more (you can check out his site here). [Download]
	heylove's Area04 (Areao4.2), like many of the top msstyles, made deviantART's daily download (this one on New Year's Eve!).  It is significantly different than most of the msstyles we saw last year. Combined with its original design, clean style, and several different sub-styles, Aera04 makes our list. [Download]
	Schluepfer's very first visual style was Klarheit. And if this is what his first effort is, we can't wait to see what he makes for 2007! [Download]
	hsn's Mint 2.0 started its life as a Linux Gnome GTK2 theme and brought over to Windows XP. Despite not being "original", it is still one of our favorite skins of 2006 regardless of where its original platform was. For the shadow effect, you'll need a shadow program such as WindowFX. [Download]
	Tempura is another Linux GTK theme that was ported but like Mint, the platform is less important than the excellence in the skin itself. Lokheed had a great year and you can see his complete portfolio here. hsn's port of it really shines. You can see how it looked on Linux by going here. Like Mint, you'll need to download a program like WindowFX to get shadows. [Download]
	Bant's Reluna Em3lent is a great example of Bant's elegant design philosophy of creating usable, clean, and elegant skins. The skin actually comes in several different flavors that look significantly different from one another. Any individual sub-style would be on its own one of the top skins of the year. Getting them bundled together in this single visual style package makes it just that much sweeter. [Download]
	Cyberchaos's Aquanox VS was one of the most popular msstyles of 2006 with over 100,000 downloads at deviantART. Inspired by some of Kol's other work, this clean, usable and original skin makes our list. [Download]
	dobee's NeoGeniX's is one of the most polished and original looking msstyles of last year. It was a favorite of many of us this past year. When combined with the right icon package, a toolbar theme, and the NeoGeniX ObjectDock, users can give Windows a whole new look. [Download]

 

Winamp Skins

Winamp was the skinning program that started it all. Originally Winamp skins were very limited in what they could be.  But WinAmp 5 supports both a free-form skinning format as well as the easy but limited skinning format.  Here are some of the highlights from last year.

To use Winamp as your media player, you will need, of course, Winamp.

 

	NeuroSKINS Meridian was definitely one of the best looking Winamp skins we saw last year. Taking full advantage of the Winamp 5 skinning engine, it's both highly usable and just looks great. [Download]
	883's Drone was possibly the best Winamp skin of 2006 that we saw on WinCustomize.com. 883Design has been perfecting this design for quite awhile but its final arrival was Summer of 2006. [Download]
	Tiggz's GT3 skin was ranked on our list as one of the best Winamp skins we saw last year. Part of the GT3 skin series, it is a clean, bold look with a high degree of functonality. [Download]
	In a year with a lot of glass skins, GlassAMP from jeree01 one of the best we saw combining the signature glass look with a high degree of usability. [Download]
	While not as usable as the cleaner, simpler skins made by others, Skinister's self-named skin has a high degree of creativity and originality putting it on our list. [Download]
	faris's Cell skin was another favorite for many users. With over 50 different color styles and many different ways of using, Cell was easily one of the top skins of 2006. [Download]
	Inter-Pol.info AMP continued the trend of glass-styled skins. But unlike many skins, this one was able to carry it out without it looking like a Vista clone. An exceptional skin. [Download]
	Maybe we were a little biased but the Heavy Equipment community project (which delivered skins for dozens of programs) gets bonus points for letting users have their entire UI have a consistent look (screenshot of complete suite here). But regardless, it's still a great skin. Winamp skin from Elvee. [Download]
	MrV2K's Pebble skin has a great, polished design. Its usability to the user depends on the user of course but we found this to be one of the better Winamp skins we found this past year.  [Download]
	Snowman's 5imple Winamp skin takes a different route than most. It makes Winamp into an almost iTunes-ish media player with a very simple and clean skin based on the popular WindowBlinds skin. [Download]

 

Conclusions

That's it for this year. There are so many other skinnable programs out there that I wish there was time to cover them all. If you have your own list of favorite skins, feel free to comment here and I'll try to check in and update the bottom of this article with some other noteworthy lists or produce a follow-up with with favorite skins of other programs or ones you think we missed.

Related Articles

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Home offices are becoming more common in households as more people use a dedicated space in their home for a computer/office setup.  Whether it's a small spot in the corner of your bedroom, or an entire room, your software needs are basically the same in your home office.  Now a home office doesn't necessarily mean that you are running a full-time business out of your house, or are telecommuting for your employer.  Home offices can just be a space where you can do those things, or just a spot for you to manage your bills and take care of personal business.

I wanted to write a guide that lists software that every home office should have.  Being someone who works from home, I understand how important it is to have software that will make your life that much easier, and your work more productive.  Part 1 of this article will deal with office applications, security, and backup.

Office Tools

Aside from a web browser, the Microsoft Office 2007 is one of the most used applications on my PC.  There are about 8 different suites from the Office Basic version on up to the Enterprise edition.  You can check out the comparison chart to determine which suite includes the applications you will need.  The most noticeable difference in Office 2007 is it's new interface which includes the new "ribbon".  Now I know some will disagree but I have grown to like the ribbon and once I had become familiar with the new layout I found it quite easy to use.

Word 2007

Part of Office 2007 or available stand-alone is Outlook 2007.  It is open all day on my PC, and it is essential for my e-mail, calendar, and contact information.  One of the really cool features of Outlook is the to-do bar which contains a mini-calendar, upcoming appointments, and displays your task list.  This is great because I don't have to switch views just to check on today's upcoming appointments.  Other features include RSS feeds, integrated search, and an attachment preview feature.

If you don't need the complete Office suites, then OpenOffice is a great alternative.  OpenOffice does not include an e-mail client, but another I can recommend is Mozilla Thunderbird. 

Security

Anti-Virus and security tools are very important in your home office setup.  There is such a wide variety of good, quality solutions for this, so I'm going to list some of the most popular applications.

• Trend Micro Internet Security 2007 - This is what I personally use and it's a great solution for anti-virus, firewall, spyware protection, wireless networking monitoring, and parental controls.
   
• Ad-Aware - One of the most popular anti-spyware applications, and they have solutions for personal and business use.  The signature files are updated often and it does a great job of cleaning your system.
   
• CCleaner - Another popular application is CCleaner.  This program does a fantastic job of cleaning up unused files on your hard drive.  It also has a registry cleaner, and tools for cleaning your startup programs. 
   
• Windows Defender - Another anti-spyware program which also includes real-time monitoring.
   
• KeepPass Password Safe - This is a password manager that allows you to store all your passwords into a database that is protected by a master key or key disk.  This is very handy if you have a lot of passwords and want to organize them in one place.
   
• Zonealarm - When people think firewall, Zonealarm comes to the mind of many.  Zonealarm has grown into a complete security suite, but the free personal edition is still available.
   
• AVG - AVG is a great, free anti-virus program for non-commercial personal use.  Talking with many members on WinCustomize this seems to be one of the favorites.
   

Data Backup

Stardock KeepSafe - KeepSafe is an application that I really can't go without.  If you have typed a long report or article and had it suddenly disappear after one of those "rare" occasions Windows crashed, or accidentally overwritten an important file, then you will appreciate what KeepSafe does.  It will save your important files in real-time as you are working on them, and you can easily choose and configure which file types to have saved. 

The first time you recover a document that has been lost or corrupted you will understand why this is such a valuable program.  When you first start KeepSafe there is an easy setup wizard that will have your documents protected in no time.

Acronis True Image 10 - This is another program that has saved my data many times over.  True Image allows you to create an image of your entire hard drive, including the operating system, and will restore in case of hard drive failure or if something goes wrong with your operating system.

In the next part of this article I will cover graphics programs, utilities, and misc. software.  The software I listed today are all things that I use and recommend to anyone.  If you think I missed something or would like to add your recommendations, please feel free to post them.