Shadows?!

from Stardock Forums

Hi All,

 

I was a WindowFX user some time ago, and always enjoyed the benefits of a cleaner and more recognizable window stack due to the added shadows. Now with Windows8 there are no shadows anymore provided by the OS, therefor I remembered WindowFX and bought it again in the newest incarnation. But I can't find any option about shadowing anymore? Am I just too blond to find it, or is that feature no more?  If the later, please add it back, and you'll get a lot of Win8 users as customers. There are lots of people unhappy with that flattened look of the classic desktop apps!

 

Thanks!

wOOdy

 

windowfx
22,676 views 15 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

The current incarnation does not support shadows. :(

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Since the Holidays are over now: any chance to get a reply from Stardock itself?

 

Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

@woody, if look under Zubaz's avatar: He is with Stardock Support therefore what he says is...

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting woody-soft, reply 2
Since the Holidays are over now: any chance to get a reply from Stardock itself?

 
End of woody-soft's quote

Zubaz is from Stardock Support.  :sun:

EDIT: Looks like my typing speed needs to get in another gear.  :rofl:

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

yep, we want shadows back!

Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Only if Microstuff puts it back in Win8. I said they're takin' away all the toys.

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 6
Only if Microstuff puts it back in Win8. I said they're takin' away all the toys.
End of Uvah's quote

no, not necessarily.

many people were using YzShadow on XP before MS introduced shadows. while i did not test it in the short period i tested Windows 8 i am willing to bet it works under Windows 8 as well.

there was LokaiShadow by Brandon Sneed that did put the menu shadows under the window borders and a few more i do not remember. all before Vista/7. 

blurring is possible as well without Aero, there just needs to be someone that codes it. somebody already did it for XP here.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

moshi: You are clearly not aware that WindowBlinds 5 introduced glass frames on Windows XP and added blur in WB6.

Unfortunately the OS has changed greatly and the methods used in the past are no longer viable on a machine that has desktop composition.

It is worth remembering that WindowFX used to offer shadows but again these were removed as the OS already provided them.  Windows 8 still has shadows it is just they are very very small.

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 8
moshi: You are clearly not aware that WindowBlinds 5 introduced glass frames on Windows XP and added blur in WB6.
End of Neil's quote

actually i am aware of that. it'll get a mention next time. we seem to agree that shadows, etc. do not depend on Aero then. 

Quoting Neil, reply 8
Unfortunately the OS has changed greatly and the methods used in the past are no longer viable on a machine that has desktop composition.
End of Neil's quote

time to find "new" methods then. Mr. Yamaguchi found them in 2002. ;) YzShadow still works on Windows 7 (just tested).

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting moshi, reply 10
Quoting Neil Banfield, reply 8moshi: You are clearly not aware that WindowBlinds 5 introduced glass frames on Windows XP and added blur in WB6.

actually i am aware of that. it'll get a mention next time. we seem to agree that shadows, etc. do not depend on Aero then. 

Quoting Neil Banfield, reply 8Unfortunately the OS has changed greatly and the methods used in the past are no longer viable on a machine that has desktop composition.

time to find "new" methods then. Mr. Yamaguchi found them in 2002. YzShadow still works on Windows 7 (just tested).
End of moshi's quote

It may 'work', but that doesn't mean it works well enough for our customer base.

They will not animate in with windows in open / close / min / restore for example.  Stardock had shadows before YzShadow even existed and they too would work in Win7 in the same way as they used to, but with the same limitations.  In fact I believe Stardock even offered a shadows feature on OS/2 back in the day.

However my reference to things not working with composited desktops specifically was about blur.

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi Neil,

 

thus: if you (Stardock) removed the code in WindowFX, maybe you could get hold of the old codebase, and copy the relevant parts back into the product again ?  It's interesting to read, that you're proud to have had shadows and glass way back before the other had them. But now you're not able to reactivate the great knowledge of those days? Oh, come on: You surely can get that done!  :)

 

 

 >> Windows 8 still has shadows it is just they are very very small <<

Maybe then there's a way to hack it to make them more visible as a first step?

 

Stil hoping...

wOOdy

Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting woody-soft, reply 11
Maybe then there's a way to hack it to make them more visible as a first step?
End of woody-soft's quote

 

the shadows are still part of the msstyle. they are in one of the three PNGs that are in the STREAM section if you open it with a resource hacker. although they are smaller, they occupuy an area of the same size as the shadows in a Windows 7 msstyle do.

it is likely that MS did not change the cropping area and you could indeed replace (or completely alter) that part of the image with the corresponding part in a Windows 7 msstyle.

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Damn, bought windowblinds, without win8 support. Today I bought WindowFX, now without shadow option.

I'm doomed :(

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

Ok, just bumping this thingy up again...

It's now over a year later, and I wonder if something was done in the meantime to enable / add / enlarge the Win8 window shadows ?