bigmuscle

I would rather recommend to write range 10-40, just because values near zero can generate invalid numbers for gaussian blur which will result in glitchy look.

AERO GLASS for Win8.1 Alpha 1 So for everyone who wants to TEST, let's call it alpha. It is full of bugs and not optimized at all. But it should work... maybe. Some feature of Win8 version have been reimplemented - rounded corners, custom resources, glow effect, maybe bypassing theme signature (this has not been tested at all). You can change some options via registry - blur deviation, transparency (aka BlurBalance). For glow effect, you need to have glow.bmp in folder with DLL; for custom theme resource you need to save it as themeatlas.png into folder with DLL (no registry settings for these now). There is a known glitch when frame extended into client area or ribbon window is covered by another frame (part of border will be black). Currently 64-bit only and intended for testing purposes only. At this time, I recommend to install it in the same way as Aero Glass for Win8. You can use loader from previous prototype but it won't load your registry per-user settings then. http://prdownload.berlios.de/glass8/win81_x64_alpha1.7z

You've no doubt seen the one I've created, at the end of page 3. It's yours for the publishing. Enjoy! -Noel It seems that your resource works even in Win8.1 :-)

Thanks for the update BM, this was a feature I really wanted as well from the very start, to have a way of turning Blur off, although I still wouldn't mind having a way to turn off the colorization as well, not that I have checked out this update yet so maybe that's already the case with the blur turned off, thanks for the update anyway mate, I will donate another 12 euro just for this Colorization can be turned off easily by lowering Intensity slider to minimum (in control panel). It can be done even via registry but I don't remember the exact value (I guess there is something like EnableWindowColorization). Sorry. i just don't refresh main page of your site ))) Yes, it sometimes takes some time before changes are visible, berlios probably caches the pages. Unless you take out the HDD where your OS is installed then nothing happens. It just depends on the main system HDD.

Actually, I don't want to create GUI just because there is nothing important to be set. Everything can be via classic control panel. But on the other side, the number of options increases so I will probably rethink that. The problem is that some options cannot be applied in real time because it depends when DWM sets the value (e.g. inactive frame color is applied only when window is made inactive and not everytime it is refreshed/moved/etc.) Where is the wrong version? Main page contains "Current version: 1.1", did I forget to change somewhere else? Yes, changelog will be there when I reorganize download page, together with custom theme resources. btw, I changed the licensing statement on the website a bit to be more clear that my software is not licensed by something written on wikipedia.

How is it painful? That you donate how much you want and you get number of free licenses adequate to your donation? Maybe I should create phone hotline to reactive your license as some big companies have? And this is what I was talking about. Aero Glass license is tied with HDD, I doubt that you change your HDD even once a year (and if you do that's the reason why you have available more licenses to use) - it is just creating non-existing problem. Total Commander was just an example of one software where user must click something every startup. To get rid of that, he must pay 32€ per license (for this value, you would get 21 licenses for Aero Glass). In case of Stardock products, the license is valid for one year only then you must renew. Every software has its policy and if user does not agree to it, he is not allowed to use the software. I have no problem to accept criticism. But I must take it easy due to my experience from the past. Many users who criticize would not donate at all, they just create long essays which could be shortened to "give me full version for free".

AERO GLASS for Win8 v1.1 As some users were requesting, I've implemented algorithm to generate gaussian blur offsets and weights: * you can change blur deviation in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\DWM:BlurDeviation (DWORD, default = 30) * do not set it too high (low performance) or too low (glitchy look) * setting blur deviation to 0 will result in transparent non-blurry frames When you upgrade your CPU, you can now generate new additional license for free.

The main problem is that people are creating non-existent problems. They are trying to make some implications from something. They behave like they boot their computer ten-times per day and that one message box makes their computer totally unusable. I already fulfilled users' requirement made during RC phase (to provide popup-less version for small fee) and as a bonus I also decreased popup interval to one at boot. And wtf? They are demanding more and more. It's always "It would be better to do this way" and if I do it that way, they complain again. Next time, they will criticize that free version stops working when first Windows update breaks something or that they cannot change HDD twice a day or something similar. There are many applications which behave in very similar way. For example, Total Commander makes you click on the dialog every startup (and what worse, the button has always different position), old XP Stardock programs such as WindowBlinds or ObjectDock didn't display anything unless you clicked the "XXX days remaining" at every boot, some applications have countdown and you cannot click the message until the timer reaches zero, and more. Yes, there are some big differences - these applications are very often time-limited, you must often pay fairly big fixed value and brings many other limitations (e.g. you cannot apply glass in free WindowBlinds on XP) etc. So ok, if you don't like my licensing, I will change it to the state of commercial software - message at startup + no more glass after 30 days + 30€ payment. Is it fair now? Would you rather use limited glass for 30 days and then would be completely forced to pay else you cannot use the software anymore? So let summarize current licensing of Aero Glass: a) This software is copyrighted work protected by copyright law and EULA. If you don't agree with EULA, you are not allowed to install this software. b) This software is free in the sense that you can use it for unlimited time, on unlimited number of computers and for personal and business use. No restrictions in the use. c) Paypal donation system is used to support the development and you get access to advanced features by donating (and removing the startup message is one of those features). d) The price for this software is not fixed and you can pay how much you want except some micropayments which are non-fair to legitime donators. So, if anyone wants to make some false implications, start reading again from the point a). ... or maybe, I should again start considering making this software private? If users don't like it, why should it be released to public?

There is only one problem - this software has never been marked as "donationware". Dot.

Btw, how many custom theme resources are we able to collect? I should realize my old plan to make custom themes gallery on my website. I know some of you already sent your themes in old RC4 topic but it's pain in the a** to search for something in there.

What would be the sense then? Would you really donate when the version has no restrictions at all? I doubt... The popup was delayed because users were asking for this - not to display it on login screen but delay for several minutes.

Please follow this topic http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/163570-aero-glass-for-win81-preview-prototype/ for Windows 8.1. It's for 8.1 Preview only but when alpha/beta/whatever for RTM is ready, it will be mentioned in that topic. Current status is that the basic concept is almost ready (without additional features such as custom theme resource, inactive frame colors etc.) with one glitch which I need to resolve first.

Hello, there is always a small risk that any future Windows update breaks something but Aero Glass is coded in that way to minimize this risk. As I wrote above: ZIP code is just for authenticating the user (to ensure that some spam robot does not try random e-mail addresses), just fill in the postal code which is associated with your PayPal account.

I don't know answer to your question. Aero Glass does not cause black screens - it's users who install unsupported 3rd-party tweakers etc. who is responsible for black screens. And I'm not going to provide any support for any kind of tweakers etc.

Yes, and the package depends on your Windows version.

Generating machine code is very simple procedure. It is based on your CPU vendor+model and HDD, if one of this component is changed, your machine code will change too. Other hardware change does not influence it. Yes, it could be more robust but it is not necessary for this small utility. Everyone gets at least two licenses to be used either on two computers or in case of CPU/HDD change. If only CPU is changed, I have no problem to block old license and provide a new one. However, as I already stated, don't forget that by donation you don't buy the licenses - it is only a gift for the donation (Aero Glass is not regular paid application) and to be fair to all donators, licenses count depends on amount of donation. Sorry, but I cannot help you in this. I don't know what registry values AGTweaker changes so I don't know defaults for them. As already said many times, I will repeat for the last time and then I will make statement in FAQs. Aero Glass needs to find the exact memory location where the code needs to be injected. Normally, it automatically searches for this location, but if Windows update breaks something and the location cannot be found, you must specify the location by other way. And public symbols can be used for it. In such case, AeroGlass loads symbols from <your aero glass folder>\symbols folder and if not found, they are downloaded from Microsoft symbol server. However, free version does not support symbols servers thus you must download them manually.

Yes, it is true that I should add some more information about it. I just expected that no-one don't want to donate before trying Aero Glass first - it shows the messagebox with machine code then (+ it is written into debug log). 1) yes, if you upgrade HW, you will need new license file - that's the reason why everyone gets possibility to generate two license files. 2) currently, only automatic symbols downloading in the case that Windows update breaks something. 3) inactive border color is normally generated from active border color. If you change it, it will use your color regardless the colorization settings. You should revert AGTweaker changes back to defaults to make your Aero Glass work correctly. It's either in donate request message box or written in debug.log (which is in the folder where you've installed Aero Glass to)

1) You must restart dwm.exe process (or your computer) after storing your license file. Also ensure that you store license in correct folder. I have some reports that user installs AeroGlass correctly, downloads license file and put it in the correct folder. But then he uses AGTweaker which messes up the folder (i.e. copies DLL to different location) which makes license key non-loadable. So pay attention at this. 2) Yes, you can generate 2 licenses per each 3€. You use the same mail+zip, just different machine code. Then you should at least ship the old readme from 0.95 with 1.0 changelog added to it. Would be much more tidier. I don't see it as a good idea. Version 1.0 is intended as final version, the first release of Aero Glass for regular users - and for such users there is no "versions before 1.0" or similar.

There are currently no official options except of inactive colorization settings which are described on the website. Other options (such as round rect radius) are, as I wrote in the past, only the unofficial thing.

Installer automatically installs swatches thus registry script is not needed there. About, DLL size, I cannot say surely - but can binary size change just on rebuild? I did new complete rebuild before releasing. Nobody said that it is generated by HDD number. HDD is just the main component which the license is tied with. Someone could help me? Right click on your desktop, select Personalize and there is a link to colorization settings. The free final version has donation pop ups, not demo message boxes.this is from the website that pretty clear - it shows popup box several minutes after execution - it did that for me last night after a restart - it then showed the box again some 18 hours later - the machine had not been turned off or reset in that time - so is it once after execution or an ongoing nag for a donation Actually, the timer can be reset everytime DWM process is restarted or DLL is reloaded. btw, I have a week off. Then I will target on finishing Win8.1 version. If anyone has any suggestion for upcoming version of Aero Glass (especially features for Win8), feel free to write it.

Nope, it does not. There is nothing which could be put in GUI. Anything is settable via classic Colorization control panel. Did you generate your key at http://glass8.berlios.de/donate.html ?

Sorry, but I really didn't know what to answer to question whether it is better to you testing or final version. Final version contains many fixes and optimizations, it does not contain plenty of debug checks and is compiled with full optimizations enabled. It is only partial true, because updating one line of code mostly does not change the function prolog which is important for my utility. The change must be more complicated and it happened only once during whole Aero Glass development.

Nope, it does not restore the theme. I'm aware that it is the problem and that it will result in black screen (when using custom unsigned theme) but it is the reason why the feature is marked as experimental. But I should add it to the FAQ. Btw, donation key for Win8 should work also on prototype for Win8.1.

Of course, you are right. It is even better to use version 0.1. It is same - just recompiled. Only installer has changed to apply some ideas from testers (and I hope I didn't forget for anything :-))