Under The Skin: (Episode 2) Show Notes.
Meet Kris Kwilas (Nakor)
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: OS Customization
| Under The Skin: (Episode 2)
|
|
| This week on Under the Skin we do our first interview on the development side of skinning. We interview perhaps one of the most unknown, yet most important people in the skinning development world: Kris Kwilas (Nakor). We ask about Object Desktop, its history and its future. | |
|
Show Notes: Host: Paul Boyer Last, I will be doing several panels at DragonCon this weekend. So if you are in Atlanta, stop by and say hello. | |
Support Under The Skin by subscribing at:  and  | |
| Under The Skin thanks Stardock.com for their support, and more importantly their bandwidth. Visit www.stardock.com for all the latest skinning software. Thanks to Wincustomize.com for hosting my blog, which I am abusing by hosting our show notes and the Under The Skin, index. If you have any questions comments or suggestions please email us at undertheskin@gmail.com | |
WinCustomize Magazine: September 2005
WindowBlinds, IconX, and more!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: Community
 |
September 2005 |
Get your own free blog site.. |
WinCustomize.com - 15090 Beck Rd. Plymouth MI 48170
Technical Writer Needed
Multiplicity Manual
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 by KarmaGirl | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Stardock has a contract job open for a technical writer. The work would consist of writing a very straight forward user manual for Multiplicity Pro. This Manual will be about 16 printed pages, and will need to be written for the "common user" to understand. The work is currently only for the manual, but there may be more work available in the future, which will be done on a per project basis.
If anyone is interested in this position, please send a technical writing sample to: jobs@stardock.com
Skinning Sales Trends: DesktopX
2003 to 2005
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: DesktopX
Looking at the sales of DesktopX over the past 3 years for the month of August (first 23 days anyway of it) shows an interesting trend. Historically, it was pretty flat, sales were decent but not great. But in August, sales took a big jump over the same period in the previous years. Sales of Stardock's customization programs have all increased each year over the past 3 years but DesktopX has seen the biggest jump in recent times.
Google Releases the New Google Desktop
Includes the New Sidebar
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 by Larry Kuperman | Discussion: Windows Software
It is as fast and slick as one would expect from Google. Installation was trivial and there was virtually no set up. (I had to enter my Gmail account to have that checked, but it detected my Outlook settings by itself.)
If you need to search for emails, documents, etc. then this is a valuable tool. The search seemed even faster than in earlier versions. It also offers a news ticker, weather, the usual conveniences. I thought that the addition of a "Scratch Pad" for notes was a good idea. The "Quick View" of frequently visited web pages and files was also nice.
If you find a sidebar intrusive, you can also configure the Search bar to float, allowing you to place it where you want, or to be a part of your Windows taskbar.
The most pleasant surprise was the integration with Outlook. It adds a Search field right into the Outlook toolbar.
Google is offering an Enterprise version, intended for businesses. See http://desktop.google.com/enterprise/index.html. Not only does the Google desktop integrate with Outlook (which I still think of as a business application) but with Lotus Notes, as well.
At the risk of being trite, it is clear once again that Google "gets it." This is clearly a well-conceived and well-written application. I give it a 10 out of 10.
Creating DirectSkin Visual Styles With SkinStudio DE
Monday, August 22, 2005 by koop | Discussion: Skinning
DirectSkin allows you to apply custom visual styles to your application by replacing all of the standard Windows controls with your own graphics. SkinStudio Developer's Edition is an easy to use graphical skin editor, complete with context sensitive help and dynamic previews.
SkinStudio DE is not an image editor, however. First, you must create your skin images in a graphics application, such as Adobe Photoshop or Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Then, you can use SkinStudio DE to assemble them into a skin.
When you create a new skin, you are presented with the default Windows XP visual style as a template. The easiest way to begin assembling your skin is by opening the default images in your image editor and replacing them with your own.
The best place to start is the window frame. Once you've completed the window frame and titlebar buttons, you'll get a first glimpse at how your finished skin is going to look. SkinStudio's live previews let you fine tune your skin as you work, without having to apply it to your application to test every change.
Next, you can continue creating images and assembling the menus, tabs, scrollbars, buttons, and other controls. Many of them can be seen in the main Window preview, others are shown in the Controls preview. SkinStudio makes it easy to visually adjust the sizing margins for each control to define which areas should stretch or tile.
In addition to the previews, you should go through the Explorer tree on the left pane to make sure you have completed all of the sections.
You'll also need to modify the colors shown in the Classic Colors preview. There are many cases where applications make use of Windows system colors. These colors include the classic titlebar, window backgrounds, and 3D objects, among others. You'll want to adjust all of the color settings to match your skin.
Once all of the controls have been skinned and the colors adjusted, you're ready to test the skin with your application. At this point, you may find that you need to go back into SkinStudio and make final adjustments until your skin is perfect.
With its hierarchal tree structure and complete attribute listing for each section, SkinStudio Developer's Edition is a powerful tool that offers everything you need to turn your graphics into a custom visual style for your application.
Stardock Media offers a full range of design services including application interface design. To learn more or for pricing, contact corpsales@stardock.com.
Fresh Suite
A Fresh suite by Josephs
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 by Josephs | Discussion: OS Customization
My first Article here on WinCustomize, I was wondering what people thought about my three suites so far. I first started serious skinning when I made my Darkest Foundation set, which then moved to the District RS suite and my latest Suite , Fresh inspired by rpeterclarks Winamp skin 'Simple'.
Earlier this year, I started my first WindowBlinds skin entitled; Darkest Foundation. Which I put alot of effort into, figuring out how to use SkinStudio and more programs. Sometimes making specific parts of the skin (Such as Bulletpoints or Tab Buttons) can make you druel, day-dream, or in other-means; Trip-Out. So starting other parts of the suite, such as Logons or Bootskin re-stimulate the mind so you can continue the WindowBlinds skin. After about 1 week, the WindowBlinds suite was made and A few parts of the theme.
Weeks after releasing the suite, I kinda got to thinking about making more suites, but the pain you sometimes have to go through was way to much to think of. So starting with a colour scheme on a different kind of skin got me started. I made a red and white bootskin which I entitled 'District RS' which then led to the creation of the entire suite. The WindowBlinds this time around, I started with a Top-Down approach. Starting with the Startbar and Window Frames first give you a better feel for the skin-in-progress when you apply it and test it, making me anxious to finish it. District RS was a overall fun input and a nice suite.
This Month, Rpeterclark released a Winamp skin entitled 'Simple'. Using graphics and Winamps inbuilt VGA generator, allows code to create images through code. So no images are compiled with this skin, just code. I enjoy the appearance of the skin. A Glossy.. Luna, you could say. Animated Close/Max/Min buttons and a great colour scheme. That, was the inspiration.
So I jumped on DeviantART and send a E-mail to rpeterclark making him aware that I was going to make a Visual Style and suite with a very similar style, and colour-scheme. Days later, No responce.
Oh well... Screw that, got to it. Started skinning the WindowBlinds skin straight away. Some new experimentation with SkinStudio allowed me to make Animated Titlebar buttons, Animated System Buttons and System Animations made in Flash. Something a little different this time around, making, what I believe was a more simple way of running the style. Almost Fresh. Once again, a Animated Start button and a All Programs BMP, meaning Extra sub-styles for those Non-English users. Toolbar Icons were a breeze, With my first set of Toolbar Icons, I couldn't figure out how to add a Transparent Alpha-Channel to my TGA, lowering the overall quality of the Buttons. Whereas having experience now making a more Fresh design. Next, were the rest of the suite.
I always take pride in those Logon Screens with Centre panels and Resizable backgrounds. The centrepanel is such a obvious piece of art. Any image you want in uber-high quality. So making a little panel for the logon was great fun. And I used the PSD from my wallpaper to make a high quality BMP. Meaning, if you use the logon, and have the wallpaper applied, after you log on the Wallpaper on your desktop is the same as the Logon background making it look all cool like (Duh!).
The CursorXP theme made with love, I did on a school break. I don't think its anything special, but goes with the Suite. Looks nice made in Photoshop all on the same day. It only took around an hour. I mean, they're just .PNG's. No compiling or anything. So easy! And the same story with the Bootskin. Used 'Green' as my Colourscheme and it worked nicely when converted.
So, after a long few weeks work. I present; my most Current suite; Fresh (Cuz it is)
I tried uploading the wallpaper to WinCustomize.. but the 'Guidelines' say that Wallpapers featuring any WindowXP environment, logo's or orientation will not be accepted unless they are exceptionally overwhelming... So DeviantART accepted it in 3 seconds.
All parts of the theme are available on WinCustomize.com, DeviantART.com and Customize.org. But for these links, all WinCustomize and Wallpaper DeviantART. I also wouldn't mind some PORTING done. If you have skills in Trillian, Sysmetrix, FireFox, IconPackager or any DX3 widgets PLEASE EMAIL ME at Jos3phs@bigpond.net.au
But for now, Here is the Fresh suite:
http://josephs.wincustomize.com/viewskin.aspx?skinid=5231&libid=1&comments=1&SID=6557&UID=1533826 + WindowBlinds
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/21628670/ + Wallpaper
http://josephs.wincustomize.com/viewskin.aspx?skinid=5034&libid=26&comments=1&SID=6557&UID=1533826 + LogonStudio http://josephs.wincustomize.com/viewskin.aspx?skinid=3690&libid=32&comments=1&SID=6557&UID=1533826 + BootSkin http://josephs.wincustomize.com/viewskin.aspx?skinid=1616&libid=25&comments=1&SID=6557&UID=1533826 + CursorXP http://josephs.wincustomize.com/viewskin.aspx?skinid=505&libid=37&comments=1&SID=6557&UID=1533826 + RainLendar
https://www.wincustomize.com/ViewSkin.aspx?SID=1&SkinID=1328&LibID=10 + WinAmp (By ~rpeterclark)Leave your comments, suggestions and requests all down here and maybe we can expand the Fresh suite. And please! If anyone has any information on some programs that can port WindowBlinds themes to MSStyle (Windows Visual Styles) please let me know. Lots of people have asked for permission to port it, but I dun wanna let 'em, I want to do it! So please, pitch in if you know any info!
Enjoy!
Josephs
(Uber L337)
Is Skinning ALL Stardock Is About?
Or could it be they cater to wider interests?
Monday, August 15, 2005 by Zoomba | Discussion: Virtual Communities
Over time I started to explore the other sites and products from Stardock. I gave Object Desktop another spin and found it vastly improved since I had last visited the product set, and I found that there were other games for me to play. But to play them I needed a Dregnin subscription, so I got a discounted subscription since I was a GalCiv owner and got access to the rest of the Stardock games. While I was diving deep into the other products offered by Stardock, I stumbled on this site called JoeUser, yet another web log site. The difference here was the community focus and the style of articles written. It wasn't like LiveJournal where people whined and complained because their 8th grade boyfriend/girlfriend hadn't called in the past 2 hours and they missed them so much and how their parents just didn't understand how you two are deeply and truely in love and want to get married and have kids and you'll always be together and and and *gasps for air* Here on JU, it was (mostly) adult conversation. People wrote interesting things and debate/discussion often resulted.
From there I started fiddling with Stardock Central a bit more and noticed the IRC client, so I started popping into #Stardock and #GalCiv and would occassionally jump in on some conversation here or there. in #Stardock, mostly the topics revolved around skinning and the ObjectDesktop suite of tools. Sometimes it would wander and just be about silly fluff, but it usually came back to skinning. #GalCiv was pretty dead since a fair bit of time had passed since release of the game and interest had started to drop off. I frequented the channels off and on for about a year. It wasn't until GalCiv 2 was announced and then we started the JoeUser chat room that I became a more permenant fixture on the IRC server.
Why do I write all of this? Why do I recount my path of discovery as it relates to Stardock and its products and services? Well, because for some reason there are a lot of people out there who seem to think that ALL Stardock does is Windows Customization software and services. While I admit it's the lionshare of their business, it is not all they do. I have been chastised in #Stardock for having the audacity to start a conversation on anything that didn't directly relate to skinning. I've gotten put down for talking about GAMES and TECHNOLOGY before because it strayed too far from the sacred topic. People at WC lament regularly that content that may be relevant but originated outside of the sacred WC forums shouldn't be cross-posted as it is now, as if us unwashed masses are going to dirty the pure clean waters of their holy home. I just want to remind everyone that the skinner is not the only type of community member, it's not the only interest catered to by Brad & Co. Here's a quick list of some of the OTHER things Stardock does, for those of you who seem to have forgotten/been unaware of:
1. Game Development Company
Stardock has developed and released several top-notch games ranging from Lightweight Ninja, a Sonic The Hedgehog like sidescroller, to Galacitc Civilizations a turn based space strategy game to The Political Machine, a presidential campaign simulator. Up on the horizon they have Galactic Civilizations 2, a reinvention of the series in a damn good looking 3D engine as well as Society: The Game, a Real Time Strategy Massively Multiplayer Online Game. There are a lot of people out there who buy and play Stardock Games. With the addition of TotalGaming.Net, a new online game distribution channel, gaming is becoming a big pull to Stardock.
2. Online Communities
WinCustomize is probably the site everyone is the most familiar with since Win Customization is their biggest business right now, but they also have JoeUser, a great blog community that they just haven't started charging for yet. All of their sites attempt to foster community centered on the site topic, and they also attempt to share content across them when posted in relevant channels.
3. Office Productivity
Enter ThinkDesk, the latest tool offerings from Stardock. Right now there's only Multiplicity, which allows multiple computers to be managed from one keyboard and one mouse, but they've got other nifty goodies lined up to go. These programs are catering to a COMPLETELY different crowd than their previous offerings.
4. Unrelated but cool ventures...
Poweruser.TV comes to mind as a pretty cool and really different direction for Stardock to be going in. Here they're addressing all sorts of different topics that span everything they do and more. Games, customization, new technology etc. This is going to bring to the larger community, Power Users who might not have taken notice of Stardock in the past.
Now, gamers may explore and discover that they can also change the appearance and behavior of their computers, or skinners may find a new game they adore, or maybe people from either camp would find some insanely useful ThinkDesk tool that simplifies their real life work. Then maybe they would start posting thought-provoking aritcles on topics that interest them. It's a massive cross-pollination of thoughts and opinions, and it exposes us all here to something new that we might not have considered before. I know I dabble a lot more with ODNT, and plan on buying Multiplicity the second there's a Mac version and will probably poke around with the other tools when they become available. Stardock sucked me in with a single game, but now they have a customer that has bought a wide range of their products from all categories.
I just want you, the elitists amonst the WinCustomize community, to remember all of this next time you turn your nose up at anything that isn't connected to skinning. Remember that there are people out there in the Stardock network that didn't come here to tweak DesktopX, that didn't come here to get the latest ObjectBar skin and aren't interested/capable of making our own themes or whatnot. Remember that we, just like you, are customers of Stardock, we put in the cash just like you and we contribute in our own ways and in our own areas just like you do. We are no better and no worse than you are, so please cut the sneering, jeering and condescending tone you take with us. Stop acting all self-righteous when one of us writes a RELEVANT article in the areas of technology or the Internet and it gets crossposted to your sacred site. We get your stuff too all the time but you don't see us popping in on your threads saying "I don't think this belongs here on JU/GalCiv/Whatever site).
We're all part of a larger community, I hope you can learn to become better neighbors."
Windows Vista Preview (pre-Beta 1)
A general overview
Sunday, July 24, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: Windows Vista
Very shortly Longhorn Beta 1 will be coming out. The current expected date is August 3, 2005. So what's in it? What can we expect? Microsoft was kind to inform a group of us what beta 1 would be like. Because of our NDA, I can only recap what is already known with a bit more detail. Once beta 1 ships, we'll be free to write more. And hopefully I'll be able to show some cool screenshots.
First off, as many already have heard, Longhorn has been christened "Windows Vista". It will probably come out in August 2006. In my view, Windows Vista has 3 goals:
1) Security. Microsoft wants to make sure Windows Vista is very secure. It will hopefully bring an end spy ware and malware and the like.
2) Developer Flexibility. A great deal of work in Windows Vista appears to be setting the stage for the future. Long ago, there was a second Microsoft OS code-named "Blackcomb" which was to be the follow-on to Longhorn. In my opinion, Longhorn is setting the stage for what comes next. It is doing this through the creation of several new, and more effective ways of creating content and software. For example, Avalon is a development platform that is designed to make it much easier to create visually exciting applications. It's a whole new presentation sub-system. Avalon applications are typically written in a new mark-up language called XAML. There is another mode called Avalon-Express applications which I think are particularly exciting -- Avalon apps can be run as part of a web page. Naturally, some Macintosh users will claim that this is like "Dashboard". And indeed there are similarities here. But Microsoft has been working on Avalon a lot longer than Apple was working on Dashboard. And Avalon Express applications are designed to be very secure from day 1. Another new development platform is called Indigo. It's .NET based and is designed to make it much easer to create network-based programs. And then there's the integration of RSS into the OS. Microsoft seems to believe that RSS is going to be a dominant way of making use of data in all kinds of interesting applications. We think the same thing. For example, when IE 7 starts coming close to release, we plan to make WinCustomize's skin galleries support RSS.
3) Polish. Microsoft had little more than a year to take Windows 2000 and turn it into Windows XP. This time, Microsoft has put a lot of effort into figuring out how to make Windows easier to use and have better "fit and finish" to it. Much of this is provided by the new user experience called Aero. And it really kicks ass. Early on, there were screenshots of concepts for Aero. They were bulky, ugly, and over-kill. Aero has come a long way though and Microsoft seems to be intent on making this version of Windows the most polished, cleanest, best OS they've made yet. We're not just talking about being pretty, which it is. But also being far more responsive to user input, booting up faster, better memory management.
When beta 1 comes out, bear in mind that the "good" stuff won't really show up until beta 2 Beta 1, I believe, is primarily designed to knock out compatibility bugs and put what's there through the ringer to make sure they've got a solid foundation in which to take care of the rest.
When you put all the pieces together, you have a pretty significant improvement over Windows XP. It should be a secure, fast, visually appealing OS that lends itself to new and innovative software development opportunities.
When Beta 1 is released, I can go into much more detail and with a lot more specifics. Stay tuned.
Related Articles:
Stardock & Windows Vista
A sneak preview..
Sunday, July 24, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: Windows Vista
Windows Vista may be the most extensible version of Windows yet. With its rich new set of APIs that allow users to create unique applications quickly and that the interface has been moved away from GDI (the old drawing method) to a whole presentation system that makes use of 3D hardware acceleration, developers will be able to make Longhorn shine very so brightly.
Stardock's goal on Windows Vista will be much the same as it was on Windows XP -- to enhance and expand the feature set of the OS. The difference this time is that Microsoft is giving us a lot more tools to play with.
Object Desktop, Stardock's premier suite of desktop enhancement programs will be getting a host of new features in order to enhance the Windows Vista experience through customization and new abilities. At the same time, Stardock will continue to enhance its support for Windows XP users as well.
For example, WindowBlinds 5, which goes into beta this Fall, can support Aero-Glass type effects on Windows XP (see screenshot, that's Windows XP). DesktopX will take widget and gadget making to the next level on Windows Vista. DesktopX allows users to visually create mini-applications using an object-oriented interface. But under the covers, DesktopX creates XML and Javascript/VB Script files. In Windows Vista, our goal will be have DesktopX generate XAML code and hence, on a Avalon-enabled system to make use of everything Avalon has to offer. And on systems in which Avalon isn't, on, DesktopX can use its own internal DirectGUI engine.
Windows Vista, so far, looks to have more potential for enhancement and extension by third-parties than any Microsoft OS before it. It's built on a solid foundation and Microsoft really does seem to have taken the view of trying to create the OS as a platform as opposed to the OS as a application bundling opportunity (ala Apple). We'll keep you posted.