I'm trying Winstep Extreme for the first time. I really like NextSTART and WorkShelf, and foresee purchasing the entire package. I do have some questions regarding the NextSTART Startbar:

According to the NextSTART help file, "If you set the startbar to Reserve Screen Area, maximized windows will not cover it when the Startbar is docked to one of the four screen edges." When I implement this, the Startbar still covers a maximized window, but moves the window up as I resize the Startbar itself (still covering the same original height of the startbar). One would think Reserve Screen Area would push any maximized windows to rest on the upper edge of the Startbar, but that isn't the case here. Am I misinterpreting this or doing something incorrectly?

In addition, I would like to lock the Startbar so the height (as in top-bottom width) is not adjustable. As it stands, whenever I hit the top edge of the Startbar, my cursor changes to allow me to adjust the height of the Startbar. This change is very distracting, and sometimes leads to inadvertent Startbar height changes. Any corrections here?

Thanks in advance!
Chuck

And that's what it should do. Any chance of a screenshot to fully understand what is happening?



There is an option to Lock the Startbar, but that only affects the ability to drag a floating (i.e.; not docked) startbar. I've changed the code so that it also affects whether the startbar can be re-sized or not - this change will be in the next release.

Here's with the Startbar set to Reserve Screen Area:



Here's with the Startbar expanded (note background showing at bottom, with Startbar still over maximized window despite Reserve Screen Area setting):

Any follow-up to this?

Ooops, sorry Chuck!

That is really weird! One question: in NextSTART's Global Preferences, Reserve Screen Space section, are all the four screen sides set to zero?

All are set to zero.

Another question, then: if you disable NextSTART task management, where is the Windows taskbar located and what are it's settings?

I uninstalled the software. My early excitement wore off as I found Winstep as a whole slowed my system, questions were unanswered (I realize you're one man, and my hat's off to you, nonetheless), and I wasn't using it enough.

In fact, I found myself only using NextSTART (though it was slow and didn't react as I had hoped). It often painted slowly (I prefer the startbar to autohide), either from autohide or the system tray itself maximizing. (no such issue with the generic Windows startbar with Stardock Windowblinds theme)

I used the CPU module from WorkShelf only due to its listing memory hogs, which I found somewhat useful. I had no use personally for WorkShelf itself (although it has obvious benefits to some), and would minimize it as much as possible. If I could use modules totally independent of WorkShelf, I might take another look. I'll stick with SysMetrix and it's design flexibility for now.

Nexus had no draw for me as I'm effectively using Stardock's Object Dock + with tabbed docks to meet that particular need.

I had absolutely no use for the font browser and, quite frankly, found more effective freeware solutions.

I will continue to follow Winstep, and look forward to giving it another go in a future release as features change.

That's rather strange, since Winstep uses little CPU and RAM resources, even on very low end machines, as can be testified by many current Winstep users. Obviously, Winstep Xtreme does wear a lot of hats, and, as it is to be expected, the more complex the theme and the more modules/features you use, the bigger the CPU/RAM usage.



Sorry about that, and it's true, you did get a bit negleted, mostly because I had no clue on what could be causing your startbar overlapping problem.



Hmmm... Maybe that is the first clue to the real culprit: a slow graphics card or one not optimized for alpha blended bitmaps? Were you running Winstep Xtreme on a laptop?



Which explains why you didn't feel the need to use WorkShelf either...



Ah, but Fontbrowser, although included with Winstep Xtreme, is also freeware and available for download stand-alone from the Winstep web site.



Thanks!

Actually, it's a desktop: Dell Dimension 4600 2.6GHz with 2.5 GB RAM and nVidia GeForce FX 5500 with 256 MB RAM running Windows XP Home SP 2.

Maybe the 'animation' speed settings were set too high then?