WindowBlinds 3.3

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: CNET Staff

No matter what themes, backgrounds, or colors you choose, certain aspects of Windows always remain the same. WindowBlinds doesn't revolutionize the functionality of Windows XP, but it does give you more control over the cosmetics through themes that change the taskbar and windows within the operating system. You'll find very good integration with XP in this release, as configuration options are easily accessible from the Windows Display Control Panel. The new WindowBlinds also gets high marks for performance; we found the skins loaded seamlessly after a couple of seconds. A performance slider lets users with slower PCs choose a setting that won't interfere with the normal operation of their machines. This release offers a few interesting thematic options, such as iSkin, which portrays the look and window control buttons of the Mac interface while retaining the functionality of the Windows Start menu. If you want to edit the themes through the program, you'll have to install the publisher's SkinStudio. Bored Windows users might get a kick out of WindowBlinds.

Publisher's description

From Stardock :

WindowBlinds is a program that makes Windows into a fully skinnable operating system. It allows users to apply visual styles that skin virtually every aspect of the Windows GUI (title bars, radio buttons, check boxes, scrollbars, explorer backgrounds, and so on). It is the Microsoft certified way of adding more visual styles to Windows XP. WB visual styles can be used on Windows 98, ME, and 2000.

Version 3.3 is a major redesign that provides global bitmap caching, which dramatically improves performance while decreasing resource usage on all versions of Windows.

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