WindowBlinds 6 Guide WindowBlinds Guide 1 Important: Read this before using your copy of Stardock Corporation's WindowBlinds. End User License Agreement This user license agreement (the AGREEMENT) is an agreement between you (individual or single entity) and Stardock Corporation for the WindowBlinds program (the SOFTWARE) that is accompanying this AGREEMENT. The SOFTWARE is the property of Stardock Corporation and is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties. The SOFTWARE is not sold, it is licensed. LICENSED VERSION The LICENSED VERSION means a Registered Version (using your personal serial/registration number) or an original fully working version of the SOFTWARE. If you accept the terms and conditions of this AGREEMENT, you have certain rights and obligations as follow: YOU MAY: 1. Install and use one copy of the SOFTWARE on a single computer. 2. Install a second copy of the SOFTWARE on a second computer only if you are the main user of this computer (home computer or laptop for example). 3. Install the SOFTWARE on another computer only if you change your main workstation. In such a case you must uninstall the software from the old computer. 4. Use the SOFTWARE via a network, only if you have purchased an adequate number of licenses. The number of users must not exceed the number of licenses you have purchased. 5. Make a copy of the SOFTWARE for archival purposes only. (continued…) WindowBlinds Guide 2 YOU MAY NOT: 1. Copy and distribute the SOFTWARE or any portion of it except as expressly provided in this Agreement. 2. Sublicense, rent, lease or transfer your personal registering number. 3. Sublicense, rent or lease the SOFTWARE or any portion of it. 4. Decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or modify the SOFTWARE or any portion of it, or make any attempt to bypass, unlock, or disable any protective or initialization system on the SOFTWARE. 5. Copy the documentation accompanying the SOFTWARE. 6. Upload or transmit the SOFTWARE, or any portion thereof, to any electronic bulletin board, network, or other type of multi-use computer system regardless of purpose. 7. Include the SOFTWARE in any commercial products intended for manufacture, distribution, or sale. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER The SOFTWARE is supplied "AS IS". Stardock disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The user must assume the entire risk of using this SOFTWARE. DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES Stardock Corporation assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of this SOFTWARE, even if Stardock Corporation has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Any liability of the seller will be limited to refund of the purchase price. TERM This license is effective from your date of purchase and shall remain in force until terminated. You may terminate the license and this agreement at any time by destroying the SOFTWARE and its documentation, together with all copies in any form. (continued…) WindowBlinds Guide 3 COPYRIGHT NOTICE The Company and/or our Licensors hold valid copyright in the Software. Nothing in this Agreement constitutes a waiver of any rights under U.S. Copyright law or any other federal or state law. ACKNOWLEDGMENT: YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THIS AGREEMENT IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND THE COMPANY AND SUPERCEDES ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR ENDORSEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN YOU AND THE COMPANY OR ANY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMPANY RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AGREEMENT. Developed and Published by: Stardock Corporation 15090 Beck Road - Suite 300 Plymouth, MI 48170 USA www.stardock.com Stardock is a registered trademark of Stardock Systems, Inc. WindowBlinds is a trademark of Stardock Corporation. .UIS format and contents (c) copyright Stardock Corporation 1998-2008. Image resources included with visual styles remain copyright their respective authors. (c) 1998-2008 Stardock Corporation. All trademarked names mentioned in this document and SOFTWARE are used for editorial purposes only, with no intention of infringing upon the trademarks. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from Stardock Corporation. All rights reserved. WindowBlinds Guide 4 Welcome to WindowBlinds WindowBlinds is a software utility that allows you to completely change the look and feel of Microsoft Windows. It works by applying new visual styles, also called skins, across the entire user interface (i.e. title bars, buttons, start menu, taskbar, etc.) of the operating system. As a result, you gain complete control over the way Windows looks. Features of WindowBlinds 6 (Enhanced Version) Includes all of the features of WindowBlinds 6 trail version, plus the following: • Skin non-theme aware programs. • Skin unsigned per pixel skins • Change color/hue/brightness on the fly. • Change toolbar icons of Internet Explorer and Explorer type windows.. • Change progress animations. • Semi-transparent, Explorer backgrounds. Features of WindowBlinds 6 (30 day Trial Version) Most features are available in this trail, but after 30 days WindowBlinds will stop working. • Skin Theme-Aware programs. • Skin Windows Start Bar. • Add surfaces to dialog windows. • Skin different programs with different skins. • Skin Explorer Views (shell styles). • Add more title bar buttons (roll-up, etc..). • Skin scrollbars and toolbar icons. WindowBlinds Guide 5 System Requirements • Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit), Windows XP (32-bit or 64-bit) or Windows 2003 Server (32-bit or 64-bit). • 60 MB free drive space. • 256 MB RAM. • 16 MB DirectX 8 or later compatible video card with appropriate driver support is required for per-pixel, alpha-blended skins. Some integrated graphics solutions and lower-end cards from before 2004 may not be able to use per-pixel skins. • 1024x768 minimum supported display resolution. • Languages Supported: Azerbaijani, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese - BR, Russian, Spanish, Serbian (Srpski), Swedish, Turkish Note: The interface has been localized for these languages, but the documentation and help (where available) will be in English. A Note on Drivers and Compatibility WindowBlinds has been designed and tested to be as compatible with thousands of applications and pieces of hardware available. Its memory load is quite low (unless you are using complex skins with lots of animation) and any oddities with specific apps can generally be worked around quickly. Upgrading Install the new WindowBlinds version and reboot when prompted. When upgrading from previous versions, WindowBlinds will automatically move visual styles to the new folder and perform cleanup. Updates The most convenient way to get updates for WindowBlinds is by installing Stardock Central (SDC), which requires internet connectivity. With SDC you can register your Stardock products, download updates, join in discussions, chat, read Stardock news, browse for other software, visit the Stardock web site, get new visual styles, purchase software, and blog. The SDC will display what version of WindowBlinds you have installed and the version number of any available update. WindowBlinds is listed under Object Desktop software. If you decide not to install Stardock Central, you can get updates from: www.Stardock.com/Support/ . Type in the email address you used when ordering WindowBlinds originally and an email will be sent to you with a link to the latest version (build). File Types The following is a list of common file types used by WindowBlinds: • .SSS - are substyles, slightly different versions of the skin. • .UIS - is an INI type text file with instructions for WindowBlinds on how to handle the substyle. See www.WindowBlinds.net for information on the UIS Language. • .WBA - is a compressed ZIP file containing a skin downloaded from the internet. It includes all of the files that make up a skin (i.e. SSS, UIS, BMP, TGA, JPG). • .ZIP - of a skin downloaded from the internet, may contain all of the above plus other files (i.e. BMP, TGA, JPG). WindowBlinds Guide 6 Installing Additional Visual Styles To download over 4,100 free WindowBlinds visual styles (skins), please visit: www.wincustomize.com. WindowBlinds skins have the file extension of .WBA or .ZIP (compressed file). After downloading, there are a few ways you can install the new skin: • The best way to install a new skin is to let WindowBlinds handle it. On the tab, select “Add visual styles”, then "I want to install the skin from a file on my computer". Locate the .WBA or .ZIP and WindowBlinds will add it to the list of installed skins to choose from. • Alternately if using Windows XP, you can add the skin through Display Properties (covered in Appendix A). Right-click on the open desktop, select “Properties”, and then click on the “Appearance” tab. Click the button and an Explorer window will open. Use it to locate the new skin file (.WBA or .ZIP file format) on your computer system. Then click to add it or to abort. • The last method is to add the skin outside of WindowBlinds using Windows Explorer by double clicking on the (.WBA) file to install it. Then when you run WindowBlinds, the new visual style will be included in the list of styles and can be applied to your desktop. Compatibility WindowBlinds visual