Thanks. I still have such a HUGE list of really cool things to add that making the Theme Builder (skinning options previously were part of the GUI) kind of took a back seat. But now with lots of renewed interest in Winstep applications I fully realize I need to make the damn thing or WebGizmos will be stuck in v9.5 forever (chuckle).

That and finish the new User Guide. If you guys knew how much I *hate* writing User Guides... I would actually pay someone to do it for me.

Hmmm... Anyone interested in the job? It's 80% done. Mostly it's revising what is already there, bring it up-to-date, and adding some formatting. Would have to be someone familiar with Winstep software, however.

It's such a shame Nick essentially gave up on it as he was about to add alpha channel support.

Sometimes I think about asking him if he would mind me making Winstep Xtreme directly compatible with Sysmetrix skins. I could add a kind of 'all purpose' desktop module/widget for that.

PLEASE!!!! Ask him JC. There's so much SMX is capable of. I can practically mimic a DX now. Modules are different of course but...how I'd love to get my hands on...hmmm. Any chance of checking out version 9.5 for winstep? Ideas in mine head now that I think about it. That...DX...SMX.....what an interesting combo.

What do you mean what happened? Those are both nice, clean, usible skins. Just different styles. It's just a matter of preference as I see it. There's always been an array of different styles. Thats what makes them unique.

Josh.

True. But I feel like the minimalistic look is more user-friendly and enduring. Just my 2 cents though. I can see where you're coming from - but in my eyes, I wouldn't necessarily say that the 2nd look is less artistic by any means.

I will say that I do like the minimal skin every now and then, but I will always prefer the more original looking ones. They do need to be usable though, and that is getting harder and harder to do every time MS comes out with a new OS.

Windows 8 ??  What a drag it seems... Something even the minimalists can´t skin...coloured squares, No bevels, No shadows, No nothing... The fonts maybe, but they´ll have to be really clean to fit the Os.

Just like Phoon said "The only thing I've found to be reliable is Winstep and I'm waiting on the skinning tools for that before I have a go at it."

And the support from JC (Winstep on his forums) is just phenomenal!!

Wow! You mean what I've been telling folks for years is actually true? Who'd have thought it?

What did I tell you about the number of skinners Jorge?

Now get that skinning module done!

gawd....acsension REALLY needs an update...........

i think imaginative skins can be userfriendly if they are done right... i disagree with gaudy though, i think most artistic skins are awsome,

its out of the box.. and different from vanilla. not saying there is nothing wrong with vanilla though.

yeah and crack the whip with Nick Jorge! I LOVE sysmetrix....its one of my fave desktop apps...

A lady after me own heart Luv ya Kitty.

No. I seen her first. So there...nyah!

I could go on with screenshots of old here. There are so many that could use an update to Vista/7 and still would shine. Both artistic and the ones with usibility in mind.

What we did with Sountox or Synapse in 2001 for example was never meant for the corporate desktop. We just did that for fun and because we could. Funny thing, working with DesktopX was much more relaxed back that than it is now. Of course with Vista or 7 doing a WB skin nowadays takes much more time.

Heck, see what we could do over 10 years ago :

I mean without anybody shouting 'Bloated !' all over the place. But Neowin was not there those times. *whistle* The shout 'Bloated !' was invented there, it seems to me.

Synapse..... :')
Those were the days!

The WB needs some serious TLC!

/me pokes Carl with a very large stick! Get the message?

Snowy, I really doubt I would have the skills and/or the patience nowadays to bring that one to Vista/7. Converting WBs to XP has been difficult for me already.

The usable vs. artistic thing will even get worse with everyone and his grandma agreeing the Metro look is the next big thing.

Yeah, right, we have so much graphical and cpu-power in our machines nowadays to look at plain boring pastel colored rectangles everywhere...

I mean it is okay for mobile apps, but please not all over the PC world...

Yeah but Win8 allows you to switch to a conventional desktop according to what's in the thread on Win8. https://forums.wincustomize.com/409181

Hopefully MS will stick to it and we'll be able to skin it. If not lets all go to Redmond with a brown paper bag full of shit, put it on their doorstep, set in on fire, ring the bell and run away really fast.

Since getting my new laptop, I haven't installed one Stardock product on it.  Blasphemy I know, but Win7 has pretty much all I need.  All this other stuff from Stardock is add-on junk anymore.  Sure, I like to come out and see what's being created still, but it's mostly lame.  And I haven't been into skinning that long but from when I started to now...it's gone down hill fast.

What really gets to me is seeing people never progress.  They started out with horrible graphics and design skills and they've been pumping out skins but not gotten any better AT ALL.  That's kind of been mentioned already (the quantity vs quality).  Problem is, nobody says anything.  It's always "That's great!", "That's super-duper!".  That's bullshit is what it is.  Those types of comments only serve to puff up the head of the shitty skinner.  But most people on here can't take constructive criticism. 

And then you have others who preach "Skin for yourself..."  News flash, if they were truly skinning for themselves...they wouldn't be sharing it on WC.  People come here and share because they want people to like their stuff.  Nobody likes rejection, but it serves to make some people strive for better results.  Others just get pissed off and say "fock you, let's see you skin something."  Look, I don't have to be a skinner to know something looks like shit.  I've got enough design experience to know if it looks like shit, it's because it's shitty looking.  Not because I don't know how to skin.

Bottom line, 10-15% of the current skinners around here are really striving to better themselves.  The rest are attention whores and download count sluts.  A perfect example of someone striving to be better and making it...Xiandi.  Look at her gallery from beginning to end up to her current WIP.  Now that's a skinner.