drjolie wrote:
I just joined the Winstep Forums and perusing all the different topics. I am especially interested in themes, especially vertical themes. I previously used Stardock's programs, then switched to Winstep, which I preferredl. I recently tried ObjectDock again, just to see if it had been improved, but no luck. I do like some of the programs, such as Cursor FX, but I'm not touching WindowBlinds or some of the others. I upgraded my laptop to Win 11 and it has been working beautifully, so I don't want to mess it up!
I plan to install Winstep and start reacquainting myself with its features. I would like to explore the issue of theming with whoever else is interested. I have been agonizing over which external monitor to buy, since I want one that is 30 inches or over and also want one that pivots into a vertical monitor. Hence, my interest in vertical themes. I have wondered if it is a good idea to consider getting both a wide monitor and also a vertical monitor instead of switching one monitor back and forth.
I've learned that so many things come around in cycles, and I wouldn't be surprised if theming is one of them. If new themes, especially those that are different, such as vertical themes, are made available, it could give people a pause and consider trying them out again. Now that so many people are working from home or doing hybrid WFH arrangements, many with shiny new laptops, they may be interested in jazzing up those laptops to help enliven their "working environment" on the PCs.
I've thought that this is a good time to encourage people to look into the functional advantages of using Winstep to increase/improve functionality.
I apologize for my windy introduction :\ I wanted to let you all know that there is interest in theming, at least from my end, so I'm hoping we can explore this further. I am looking forward to doing so, and getting to know other forum members!
ObjectDock hasn't seen any development for a few years now, and unless I'm very much mistaken the only Stardock app still in active development is WindowBlinds. (Which I tried some years ago and very swiftly removed again when I realised it had made a complete mess of my registry settings when it was supposed to return to the Windows defaults. Took me a good few hours to get everything back to normal. Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole again.)
Where monitors are concerned, whether to use a separate horizontal and vertical monitor very much depends on how many apps you need displayed at the same time, and on the way you work. Personally, most of the time I'm perfectly happy with one vertical monitor, the exception being when working with most GFX. Vertical is incredibly useful with any textual apps, esp. with things like WP, text editing, and the like of course. I'd been dreaming of vertical monitors for decades, ever since first encountering them while working with some of the major workstations of the day. But there are times when I'd prefer to use both a V and a H monitor together, when working on one of my Linux boxes with GFX. But of course, YMMV.
As regards theming/skinning, I very much doubt that it will ever return to anything like the popularity it once enjoyed. I also tend to think that that is not necessarily a bad thing. As I see it, theming offered far too much choice to the user, and too much choice is decidedly not a good thing in anything. (One just has to look at the consumer society we have become and the waste that results from that.)
Concerning vertical themes in the Winstep context, the main problem really is that most if not all wallpapers simply don't fit the vertical format. But even some of the Winstep components don't work too well even when used vertically with a horizontal display. The prime example is the NextSTART Taskbar; it really needs a lot of TLC to make it look better when vertical. The simplest solution to the problem would be for theme builders to include both an H and a V wallpaper with their themes, and - ideally - the Winstep app switching to the relevant WP. Otherwise, the user would have to just rename the WP file accordingly, but this would only work in the case of a single monitor or all monitors using the same orientation. The other thing is that in many themes, some components just don't look good or right in another orientation to that which the theme creator used. The remedy for that would be using separate GFX for V and H orientation, which can already be done. This especially seems to affect docks, which can look quite odd in V orientation as so many themes try to copy the ghastly Mac dock.
More generally, theme creation for Winstep at present is not for the faint hearted and requires familiarity with the multitude of configuration files for themes. This is due to the present shortage of documentation and especially the absence of 'the thing that must not be named', i.e., a new graphical theme creation utility. There was one until about 12 years ago or so, which was part of the 'Preferences' panel, but fairly radical changes meant that this had to be dropped and would have to become a separate app. (Jorge had made a start on this a good long while ago and there is an alpha for the dock, but he hates working further on this and the very mention of it which is why we tend to refer to it as 'the thing that must not be named'.
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Sorry for the 'windy' reply.
(Sorry Windy, no connection intended.) (Windy is one of the long term users and a regularly active member of this board.)