WindowBlinds 0.90
-----------------

Thank you for installing WindowBlinds 0.90!

If this is the first time you have used WindowBlinds,
welcome to a new way to customize your OS. We are
pleased you've taken the time to download this
pre-release of WindowBlinds and we look forward to your
comments and suggestions.

If you are interested in making your own skins, be
sure to check out the UIS2 File Format document in
the WindowBlinds Documentation folder under your
Start menu. A tutorial is also online on the website
and a ThemeBuilder for skins is also available for
download.

Information on new releases, FAQ's, and additional
downloadable personalities/skins can be found on
the Stardock Systems web site at http://www.stardock.com
or at http://www.windowblinds.net. The Download
More Personalities link in your WindowBlinds folder
takes you to a download link for a couple of pre-built
packages of some of the most popular skins with an
automatic installer.

Enjoy!


Getting in touch with Stardock
------------------------------

Should you find a bug or have additional comments,
please get in touch with Stardock Systems so that
we can help resolve them.

The best place for bug reports/suggestions/general
chat is the WindowBlinds newsgroup.

Server : news.stardock.com
Group : stardock.windowblinds
URL: news://news.stardock.com/stardock.windowblinds

We are also found in the #stardock channel on EFNET
and you can e-mail us at wblinds@stardock.com


What's new?
-----------

WindowBlinds 0.86 continues to support UIS1 and
UIS2 personality formats, as well as the new
UIS2 Plugin interface (see the new online Help!)

Here is a list of the main changes since 0.50

- Dramatically improved stability and performance
  (thanks in no  small part to everyone who offered feedback)
- Complete set of online help files
- Extended UIS2 File Format (see the UIS2 File Format
  document under the WindowBlinds Start menu folder)
- Support for new UIS2 titlebar plugins (see the
  Creating a Skin section in the Help)
- Alpha blending support (see Tips and Tricks in the Help)
- Fixes for things like author-defined bitmaps that
  were not loading properly in 0.50 plus loads of other
  fixes/tweaks.
- ICQ and WindowBlinds should coexist happily now, though
  the mini-titlebar on the main ICQ window is not changed
- Control Panel accessible again from Start Menu
- Self-extracting installer
- Improved handling of menus
- Reduced memory footprint
- The ability for the skin authors to specify maximized sizes
- Support for animated active titlebars
- New layer support for UIS2 skins
- And much much more..


What's next?
------------

With WindowBlinds enhanced stability and performance in
the majority of instances, we'll be able to take some
time to add additional features in the coming weeks.
Possiblities include things like scrollbars, progress
indicators, and enhanced alpha blending support (and
lots more!). The next release should also include
additional author-definable support for color schemes.

Stop by the Stardock web pages to take advantage of IconPackager
for even more flexibility in customizing your desktop.


Installing additional personalities
-----------------------------------

To cut down on the download size, we have only included
a couple of default personalities. Hundreds of additional
ones (and more all the time!) are available from
http://www.windowblinds.net, http://www.customize.org,
and http://www.betanews.com/contest (which is currently
running a contest with prizes for the best skins).

Simply download the .ZIP file containing additional
personalities from one of these sites and use the
"Install a new personality from ZIP file" button in
WindowBlinds to quickly add it to your system.

Note: WindowBlinds is currently relying on the name of
the .ZIP file downloaded to install the skin properly.
If the name of the .ZIP file is not the same as the .UIS
file inside the .ZIP file, rename the .ZIP to match the
.UIS filename. e.g. MyLatestSkin1.ZIP is downloaded, but
the name of the .UIS file inside it is MyLatestSkin.UIS.
The .ZIP file must be renamed to MyLatestSkin.ZIP in order
to install properly.


About the exclusion list
------------------------

We have tried to err on the side of caution with regards
to the applications included in the default exclusion list.
Many people have no problems whatsoever with the apps in the
exclusion list. Applications can be removed from the list
to see how they function on your system.

If you've been downloading WindowBlinds since it became
publically available in early February, you've seen some
of the dramatic improvements in stability and performance
as we've moved through the development process. 0.86
represents another big step forward in terms of
enhancements/fixes/improvements to the WB engine itself, as
well as a reduction in the number of apps that need to
be excluded.


Known Issues (some of them actual problems, some just
things to be aware of)
----------------------

As WindowBlinds is still in testing, there are bound to be
some bumps along the road.

While we have done an extensive amount of testing
with this build, it is possible that there will
still be issues that we have not run across that may
occur on your system.

With hundreds of millions of 32-bit Windows machines (and
more all the time), tens of thousands of applications,
hundreds of peripherals, and all sorts of other variables
in the mix, statistically WindowBlinds will probably get
confused at times.

There are a vast variety of applications out there from
thousands of developers. Some follow Windows programming
guidelines better than others, which is important with
WindowBlinds because hidden little problems that might not
otherwise be visible tend to creep out when WindowBlinds is
working its magic. If you are having problems with a
specific application, please try adding it to the exclusion
list.

- Application X is not getting any WindowBlinds effects

Some applications are excluded by default either in the
exclusion list or hardcoded into WindowBlinds. We have
erred on the side of caution if there is the possibility of
a problem. Feel free to try experimenting with removing
some of the exclusions.

By default, control panel applets are excluded from the
WindowBlinds effects.  These can be re-enabled if you
remove the exclusion for rundll32.exe

- This skin is cutting off part of my application's window

Though this tends to happen with skins with very large
window borders, it can also show up in some other instances
Some of these windows are not properly reporting their size 
and are thus a little problematic at the moment. We are working 
on this, but forcing non-sizeable windows to resize correctly is 
a tricky business.

- I downloaded a skin and installed it, but it's not
showing up in the list

WindowBlinds is currently relying on the name of the .ZIP
file downloaded to install the skin properly. If the name
of the .ZIP file is not the same as the .UIS file inside
the .ZIP file, rename the .ZIP to match the .UIS filename.
e.g. MyLatestSkin1.ZIP is downloaded, but the name of the
.UIS file inside it is MyLatestSkin.UIS. The .ZIP file must
be renamed to MyLatestSkin.ZIP in order to install
properly.

- I can't access Organize Favorties on Internet Explorer 5

This occured with version 0.80, but should be fixed for 0.86

- Application X is crashing, help!

If a particular application has problems when WindowBlinds
is loaded, try adding the .EXE for that program to the
WindowBlinds exclusion list. We've included several
programs in the default exclusion list that are known to
currently cause problems for some users (and we'll continue
to try and work around these problems in future releases).

- Unloading WindowBlinds

Unloading WindowBlinds should function properly and not
cause any running applications to crash. If this is not
working correctly, please contact us so that we can fix any
remaining problems.

Should WindowBlinds be crashing on unloading, try closing
open applications beforehand. Alternatively, apply the
"disabled" option on the WindowBlindsconfiguration page to
remove the enhanced effects.

- The text in my dialogs on Windows 98 is all screwed up!

Some video card drivers do not properly implement some
features at all resolutions and color depths. Odds are,
based on our testing, any RIVA-based video board running in
16-bit color under Windows 98 will exhibit this problem
(not all of them, but enough). Simply switch to 32-bit
color mode and you should be all set.

- Internet Explorer folders are no longer getting
WindowBlinds effects

Sometimes, Internet Explorer folders get a little confused
and no longer show the WindowBlinds effects. Reboot and you
should be all set. We are working to fix this.

- Using Custom Buttons

Custom buttons using UIS2 skins may appear to be slightly
clipped on the right edge, particularly on Windows 98. This
is due to a bug in the StretchBLT call that we have not yet
worked around. Disable custom buttons on the Settings tab
if desired.

- Explorer crashes

These may still happen from time to time. If they are
reproducible, please let use know what is causing them to
happen on your system.

You might also try disabling the bitmap support for dialogs
and Explorer backgrounds.

- WindowBlinds crashes when I start it (possibly Explorer
as well)

Make sure your video drivers are updated to the most recent
level.

Try closing all running applications prior to starting
WindowBlinds and adding them back in one at a time to find
what is conflicting.

- MSDOS prompts and Word MDI child windows look like they
always do

These windows are somewhat naughty in their implementation.
WindowBlinds does not support changing them (this will
probably change in the future for Word).

- Menu's and their flyout menu components have a gap between
them

This only happens with a few skins, but it's a WindowBlinds
bug. We're working on it.

- What's up with 16-bit applications?

By default, all 16-bit applications are excluded from being
impacted by WindowBlinds. This option cannot be
changed as 16 bit applications tended to cause problems.

- There is a crash in EM_EXEC when starting WindowBlinds

We are working on a conflict between some levels of
Logitech software and WindowBlinds. This does not occur on
all systems, so its taking some time. Loading the Logitech
software after WindowBlinds should [re]enable all
functionality.

Updating your Logitech drivers to the latest revision
available from http://www.logitech.com also appears to help
in many cases (as opposed to the driver included with
Windows).

- My Explorer folders are gray after unloading WindowBlinds

This is a side effect of unloading and releasing the folder
background bitmap from memory. Any open folders will have
their correct colors the next time you open them.

- Yikes, this personality looks really bad on my system!

We are still enhancing the UIS2 format so that skin authors
can define suitable system colors for a particular
personality.

- This personality looks SO COOL!!!

Most personality authors include their email address in the
UIS file or in a README file in the ZIP it is distributed
in. Consider sending them a short note to thank them for
their efforts.

- I'm not interested, I want it off my system!

Well, we're certainly sorry to hear that and we hope you'll
check out future WindowBlinds releases down the road.
Simply use Add/Remove Programs (in your Control Panel) to
uninstall WindowBlinds. If you have configured WindowBlinds
to start from the registry, please disable this option prior
to uninstalling. We also recommend that you reboot without
WindowBlinds before uninstalling to make sure the files are
removed. If you have added additional skins, you'll need to
delete the \Program Files\Stardock\WindowBlinds directory
to remove them. We've played it safe with the uninstall and
not attempted to remove additional files.


Custom WindowBlinds
-------------------
An OCX version of WindowBlinds is available in a demonstration
format from http://www.windowblinds.net. The full version of
this OCX can be used to provide WindowBlinds supported effects
to your application. DLL versions and possibly others will
become available over time.

If you are interested in a "custom" look for your application,
give the demo a spin and drop us a note for pricing and availability
information.


Obligatory Bits
---------------

SimpleRemix personality designed by Luche (http://www.luche.com)
and is included with his permission.

WindowBlinds incorporates decompression code by the Info-ZIP group.

There are no extra charges or costs due to the use of this code,
and the original compression sources are freely available from
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/ on the Internet. We will also,
upon request, mail you the full sources on a 3.5" MSDOS-formatted
diskette for the cost of mailing.

The full source of the InfoZip compressor/decompressor can also
be obtained from ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/.

All companies legal trademarks mentioned anywhere
within this distribution are respected.

WindowBlinds is a trademark of Stardock Systems, Inc.

Copyright 1997-1999 Neil Banfield and 1998-1999 Stardock Systems, Inc.
