Windows Beauty Therapy (Stardock Windowblinds)

Name: monkeyboyuk

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Product:	Stardock Windowblinds
Date:	01.11.00 (598 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Your Computer, Your look

Disadvantages: MAy take getting used to

Are you tired of the same drab old windows interface?

Do you long for more control over the way your window works other than the colour and size of fonts?

Not interested in installing a different O/S?

Then “Skinning” or “Shelling” is the thing for you.

We all know that Microsoft spent forever researching the way the Windows interface is laid out, but easy to use doesn’t necessarily encompass pleasing to the eye.

A few months back I decided that I was growing tired of the sight of windows, and after using programs such as Winamp and 3d-Ftp, which are both skinable. I decided it was time to look for ways of changing the appearance of windows to something a bit more suitable to me and that looked how I wanted.
After a brief search on the net I discovered a whole wealth of programs and utilities that allow you to “Shell” or “Skin” windows. Allow me to explain these terms:

--Shell--
The entire Windows interface is what is called in the business a Shell. Windows uses a shell called Explorer (not to be confused with the file browser or net browser). This Shell is what tells windows how the interface works and looks (e.g. the start button, taskbar and system tray are all controlled by the shell).
Hence if you use a different shell you change the way Windows looks completely. However sometimes this can be a hard thing to do because it may involve dealing with important Windows files, however some programs deal with this automatically.

--Skin--
All of you that use Winamp and various other skinable programs will be familiar with this term. Skinning is not as drastic as Shelling. Skinning is basically changing the way something looks (normally a window or control panel). A lot of programs being released now days are skinning compatible. This is normally done via an options menu from within the program to be skinned.
Programs are ava
ilable that skin the Windows environment, in other words you don’t lose your old faithful Start button but you do give it a makeover which can give you a very pleasing change from the norm and add a touch of your own personality to your desktop. Some programs even help you design your own skin!


The choice between the two of these options is down to yourself as to how much you want to change the look of Mister Gates infamous software. If you want something completely different and feel confident enough to mess with some of Windows .ini files then give shelling a try otherwise you would be best sticking to skinning.


I have been trying various programs myself, and will be following this opinion up with a few reviews of the software I find. The first of which is Outdoors99. Which is a shell program.

Novice or Expert I recommend you give it a try and add a touch of your own personality to the computer world. It can be quite simple and is very addictive.
I have included below a list of helpful links on the subject

http://skinz.org
www.dtop.org
www.dtop.org/outsider99
www.litestep.com

Some other programs I have yet to look at are: Geoshell, ShellON, WindowBlinds, Chroma, Desktop Changer.

I am still only a learner in this matter; I am just writing what I learn. If anything is wrong here please let me know. If you know any good programs please put them in the comments section.

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