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[bebop]

Does any one here use this program?  It appears to be similar to windowblinds/object desktop.  Just downloaded it as a trial (it's shareware) and thought I'd find out more info from all you experts out there before I make the decision to buy or not.

[Omni]

Never heard of it.  What's the link?  I might want to check it out myself.

[bebop]

Here it is - I just sort of stumbled on to it when I was perusing some skins...http://www.astonshell.com/

[Omni]

Thanks for the link.  Looks interesting.

Obviously, I can't comment on Aston which is what you are interested in hearing about, but I will say that personally, I would probably stick with Stardock (and their Window Blinds) since they and Microsoft actually have a kind of partnership going on, or at least they used to I think.

Unfortunately, I don't remember all the details, so hopefully someone else more knowledgeable can pipe in, but I think Microsoft's internal theme engine was actually designed either using Stardock's engine, or at the very least, in conjuction with Stardock's engine.  (Again, oddly, I don't remember the exact details.)

Does this mean Anton's engine isn't just as compatible or just as good?  I have no clue.   Competition is always a good thing, so in their quest to enter the theme market, they may actually produce a better engine for all I know.

[bebop]

  Thanks, Omni.  I was hoping that there was someone here that had used it, since there seem to be many "skinners" and tweakers around      Not being very technically inclined, I defer to those with knowledge.   

  So far, I have found a few articles that compare it to Talisman, which is another program I know nothing about, so the comparisons are rather meaningless in that regard. 

  Have been playing around with it for a few days now, scouring the site and the links for themes, walls etc.  Nothing major, mind you - haven't tried to put a theme together just yet. My poor attempts at doing so with Desktop X have made me a little gun shy in that regards (can you say, see Bet crash the program    )   I have noticed that there are a few names of themers that I see at wincustomize doing themes for Aston as well and that it supports many of the Lite-Step plugins. 

  So far, the only difference I see is that the themes are more minimalistic (this is good, as that's what I like - an uncluttered desktop, but an easily managed tool/task bar. And there aren't that many on the site, but there are links to ones that have more (Like Skinbase, Skinartisty. and Devient Art).

  The forum, however looks a little scary       The MC Forum is such a helpful place and newbies can ask a zillion stupid questions (like I have  ) and not get made to feel like they are just too dumb to be talking.  From what I read, that isn't always the case over there.

  Well, will keep putzering around with it, after all I have 28 more days on my free trial.     Bet

[bebop]

Here are  a couple of things/ articles  that I found about this shell

http://shell-shocked.org/article.php?id=187

http://forum.deviantart.com/galleries/skins/themes/199505/

[Omni]

Your first link reads like a paid endorsement.    Your second link was funny. 

Coincidentally, I've been looking recently to incorporate some sort of third party theme manager to my Windows box.  (This is one of the things I love most about Linux.)  I was going to look around last month when I was on vacation, but I just got too busy doing other stuff.

Anyway, I was going to try out Stardock's stuff this weekend, but given your [humorous sarcasm]glowing review[/humorous sarcasm], I'm a bit hesitant now.  Aston looks okay, but I'm not impressed with its current limited selection regarding themes, and more importantly, plug-ins.

Well, keep us updated on how your experience with Aston goes. 

[bebop]

Don't get me wrong...i like stardock...it's my skill that's lacking in getting Desktop X to do what I want to do...those parent child relationships are tough for  someone with such obsolete knowledge of programming so my objects kept straying out of their containers and even vanishing just when I though I finally got it right!!     Guess I'll have to re-do the tutorial 

And your're right - the first did sound like a paid endorsement - that's why I wanted some real users to let me know what they think.  Putting a positive spin on products keep advertisers happy and mags in production.  It's a fact of life. 

Am going to attempt to tweak an Aston theme this weekend - just have to find the tutorial and some icons......

 

[bebop]

So, played around with the Aston shell replacement last week and  over the weekend and here's what I discovered:   Keep in mind that I have no knowledge about skinning, except that I like the stuff that others make!!!

  Installation of the program is  very  easy and you can swap between Aston and Explorer by simply clicking a button.  Setting up a theme the way you want it is extreamly easy...just open the A Master box and click on the area you want to change, choose to add, delete or change and away you go.

 Most of the themes that I have checked out from various sites have two things in common - a top bar and minimal cluttering of the desktop.  Both of these I really like.  Most top bars are sleek and have active menu systems.

   All of the themes that I tried were what are considered "suites" by wincustomize - they include walls, icons, cursors and skins.  This is nice, providing you like the icons.

   Herein  lies my problem with this shell replacement program - I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get the icons into a "package" that Aston would read, figure out where they should reside in the program folder, nor could I get  it to change any system icons to some I like (I hate those yellow folders!).  Yes, I read the tutorial - three times.  And it should have been easily accomplished, but the changes wouldn't stick.  So purused the Aston forum and found that there seems to be an ongong problem with this aspect of the program.   Aston 2 is supposed to clear up this and other recurring problems, but no one has any idea when this version will be available.

  Secondly, there just aren't that many themes around - Aston has hundereds as opposed to thousands. 

  I perused Skinbase, Deviant art, Skinartistry and Customize.org in my search, and looked at every page and still managed to get 6 hours sleep at night!!   Not so when I first discovered Wincustomize- didn't sleep for two days and am still finding new stuff now that I have discovered all these other sites!

 There aren't many plugins available for Aston either and the icons  available on the Aston site  take up a single page.  And in case I haven't mentioned it, I love to change all my icons and wallpapers whenever the mood hits- kinda like buying new shoes    , and I adore shoes!!!!

 So I am going to put off my purchase until I see what Aston 2 brings.

 Maybe, with some luck, someone will make a great suite for wincustomize with a sleek top bar  similar to the "Insignia"  or "deva V2"  on this page http://www.astonshell.com/skins/?page=13   

  So for now, it's Wincustomize for me and I will continue my stuggle with Desktop X - if I managed to get three children safely into adulthood I should be able to  figure out how to get my objects to stay in their little containers!!!!   Bet

[bebop]

Here's a screen of my desk as it is now

,

Just a little update...changed the desk to this one.  I even got brave enough to have submitted it to wincustomize and it was put into the screenshot gallery. 

[bebop]

Well, my 30 day trial is over for Aston, and I must admit it...I purchased the program.  Not that I'm going to give up my Windowblinds - far from it - I discovered that it's just a single click to switch back and forth, which I am happily doing.

Here's my progress in learning about both these programs (remember that I am very new to all of this , and am not the least bit tech minded).

I love WindowBlinds!   It's even better now that I discovered how to customize some of the stuff the way I like it.   I have even put together some desktops of my own using various bits and pieces that some of the great techies have made (you can see a couple of them here:  http://bebop-girl.com/gallery/Boopish  ) 

I have even tried Objectbar - which is a little challenging -  made my own popup menu's!  They wern't pretty, mind you, but they worked.   Iconpackager is another favorite....so many icons to choose from - I can change them in one fell swoop!  However, I haven't figured out how to get  the ones that aren't already "Packed"  into a package form to use them...

DesktopX is still giving me some problems...still haven't quite worked out those parent-child things, but am getting better.

Now onto Aston:  there are getting to be more and more themes available, and they come with icons and an object bar already built in. and the set up to my preferences is very eady - just one box and no thinking about is this a popup menu, a folder or a document.      Most of the themes are for higher resolutions, which is good now that I have my super monitor (a 19").

There are problems though, still very few plug ins or extra icons to choose from and it doesn't ask you what name you want to save your changes to, it just overwrites the original (not good, as I tend to goof up a few times and if I find a wall that goes great with a particular theme, then I want to save it under that wall's name. 

The icons don't always "stick", especially for system stuff.  Everything else will be all perfect and then , you will have all those qawd awful yellow folders here and there.  So far, no fix is on the horizon as far as I've been able to see from reading about it on their forum.

I also can't figure out how to import icons into the program.  I followed the instructions, but it just didn't work.  Again, did a search on their forum and others were having the same problem.



One good thing, you can switch back and forth between Aston and your original windows shell as Aston is a shell replacement.  It does require a restart, but it's automatic and if you have checked the option to save your Explorer settings, it goes right back to the way you left things.

So there you have it, my venture into shell replacement. 

I am certainly not ready to start "theming" by any means, but I sure am having a ball changing how my computer looks (sometimes on a daily basis).  I admit it, I am hooked - now I must get back and scour Wincutomize for more blinds!  (whilst listing to my tunes on MC, of course!!! !!)  Bet

[bebop]

In case any one is interested, I have made progress...I have made a few logon screens and boot screens from some of the great wallpapers that I found.  I am learning Photoshop7 by experiment, but keep that rather large text handy just in case. One of the first hurdles was keeping 16 color and 16 bit streight!!! Boots only use 16 color, or so I'm told (but then how do they make those stunningly fabulous ones that I see everywhere???!!) I am now even happily experimenting with Objectbar - both as a top bar and a side bar (ala Longhorn style).   


 http://bebop-girl.com/gallery/Screenshots

[bebop]

A little update:  ASton is getting more and more skins and stuff...but i still use Object Desktop for the most part (but still haven't mastered DesktopX).

I have however, ventured into more customization stuff...I have gotten the hang of logons and Bootscreens and have ventured into recoloring icons to my personal taste (who would have thunk it?!!).  I am heading into scary waters with Photoshop (so many buttons!!!) and have learned how to change the color depth of stuff, and how to change colors of an entire wallpaper.  I am not good, in fact hardly even passable at this, but it sure gives me a renewed appreciation for the real artists out there who keep putting this stuff out there for us no to mention the people who actually do the coding behind the programs themselves. 

Here's a link of my latest stuff that I did

http://www.wincustomize.com/Preview.aspx?Source=http://skins3.wincustomize.com/boopish/screenshots/8595.jpg

[bebop]

Update:  the windowblinds thing has keept me busy and gave me something to do while I was laid up with the flu.  Here is alink to all the stuff that I have done (they are all screenshots, just click on "Boopish" under the title of the shot, and then you can go to all my stuff. http://www.wincustomize.com/ViewSkin.aspx?SkinID=9136&LibID=13&comments=1

 I am slowly learning my way around photoshop - and have even got so bold as to import some windows visual styles into the windowblind format.  Not that hard, really, once I got over the sheer terror of looking into the file itself, and adding elements that were missing - mostly skinning the  logoff dialogue box, maybe adjusting some buttons and title bars.

 I still can't imagine doing the coding, the skinstudio program does it for you, but, the real professionals do it all by themselves.  It took me a week just to import a skin, get all the stuff so none of the "magic Pink" was showing, and then work on a logon and boot screen using the wallpaper.  Then I even got bold enough to ask the original author for permission to share what I had done.  I was shockled and happy that he agreed!  So now I just have to get brave enough to post it.   

 This is not as interesting as King's fantastic alien tomatoes or the building of a great HTPC,  but it's keeping the old mind busy and that means a few less of the little grey cells are turning to mush.  This is a good thing.     

 Feel free to comment on any of the stuff I made or to point me to your favorite skinners,  windowblinds , icons or walls! 

Updated the view of my latest screenshot.  Gawd, this stuff is a addictive as music!!!

[bebop]

News Flash !!!     Made myself some WindowBlinds!!!

 Yup, perservered with Skin Studio and Photoshop and actually did it!!!    Have posted screenies of some of them on my site: http:\\bebop-girl.com/gallery/album07

[bebop]

Well..just an update:  I have finally done it!  I have actually made some skins, and they aren't even that awful  LOL!  I have them posted  here: http://boopish.wincustomize.com/Gallery.aspx  and here:  http://skinartistry.com/download.php?list.2