bigmuscle

Yeah, that's the point. This thread is about providing the first look at implementation for Win8.1 and not about providing scripts for hardcoding the library into the system. I coded this two weeks ago (yeah, I have not much time to code currently so I just provided what I had done before) and I have not tested it at all thus running it automatically at startup is insane. It also makes no sense to start automatically something which stops working after several tens of minutes. It really does not help anyone.

for me it is the same. This is really slow. I must admit that I didn't optimize this build at all. I just compiled my first try to reimplement glass safety zones. But on the other side, I don't notice any visible slow down here but if there is any it is noticeable regardless AeroGlass is running (I say that DWM in Win8.1 is very slow).

Ah, sorry, I forgot about that. I edited the first post with additional glow information.

Symbols downloading is disabled in this version, because it is not needed. It is intended for build 9431 only which is hardcoded.

It has been said many times. Win8.1 is complete new reimplementation of all objects. Win8 is just re-use of already existing objects + reimplementing of small part of code which reuses that objects.

In the case of Win8.1, it can be nicely installed just by extracting files and schedule exe file to start with computer with admin privileges. Uninstalling is just removing the scheduled task and deleting the files. However, in case of Win8, it is really complicated to ensure it will be clean and safe.

There is no rule that final software must contain the installer. The majority of the software on the berlios/sourceforge/etc. does not have any installer and is available in the form of portable file only. It depends totally on the user how he installs the software into his computer. I already wrote it earlier. WindowBlinds completely replaces the default UX theme service which makes complete rendering non-native. Also, WindowBlinds are the commercial application so there is the demand it has the installer. I am a developer of a library which reimplements blur effect, not a software company which creates complete solution. There is a big difference. In case the installer does it, user has absolutely no control what's changed. In case the advanced user does it, he knows what he changed and what to restore back in the case of any problems. I have one installer prepared for a long time but since this library is very advanced/low-level thing, you can't never ensure that it works properly. It is not just "extract, modify registry value and restart", you must handle various cases such as updates, uninstalls, other software injecting via AppInit_DLLs, not having black screen on uninstall if user changes default theme, etc. etc. many of situations that you cannot handle completely by automatic installer.

Ladies and Gentlemen, meanwhile I'm fixing the last important stuff in release version of Aero Glass for Win8 (it's really hot here so I'm lazy to code anything and I do now want to make any bug in last changes), I decided to provide you the first look at Aero Glass for Win8.1. This is the prototype only so it misses all additional features. It simply adds glass effect to windows frame and glow effect to windows caption. No additional settings available, every value is hardcoded. The prototype is not intended for daily use nor for bug hunting. It is just for showing you how the implementation for Windows 8.1 could look like and for discussing the main glitches in the glass design. This thread is not intended for any kind of support so do not ask when it is released, how to do..., how to change..., etc. Just for looking at. Simply unpack to your custom location and run attached EXE file. Already opened windows are not handled correctly for various reasons so do not report this as a bug. The glow effect is always loaded from the file C:\glass\glow.bmp (the path is currently hardcoded) and if this file is not found, it will try to use glow effect from your Windows theme (not that one in theme resource but that one which is used e.g. for ribbon windows). http://glass8.berlios.de/win81.html Oh yes, I would forgot, since it is prototype only, it works only for a very limited period. Do NOT ask how to extend this period, it's not sense of preview. Donators can use their keys to use this version without any limitation.

Yes, in-memory patches (such as UxStyle or my Aero Glass) are proof of small changes in ux files (uxtheme.dll, uxinit.dll, themeservice.dll etc.). If structure of their code is changed or compiler/optimizer does certain optimization then our tools can fail too.

Of course, it depends what is changed by the updates.

I have switched from UltraUXThemePatcher to UxStyle and so far no Black Flashing screens after doing 57 updates..DP Is UxStyle immune to the black screen/unbootable problems that some people say it has? No, it's not. The black screen is not realted to any kind of UX* patcher. It simply means that DWM failed to load theme specified in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT registry key (which can happen regardless the used patcher). I think it's wrong behaviour to restart itself infinitely instead of using some default hardcoded (or none) theme.

He thinks it's funny to annoy the users. I guess I have different taste in humor. I don't find viruses infecting someone funny either.Nobody said that it's funny to annoy users. I said that it's funny that users complain about problems which do not exist at all. If I say true, I wanted to make my software open-source but I changed my mind due to the users' behaviour. But on the other side, I do not care much about the license. People also do not realize that there is no limitation in the preview/beta version, there is no message box etc. Yeah, situation changes if someone uses it for not-intended purpose, but it is his problem. I just don't understand why people still shout, nobody forces them to use my software so if they don't like it, they should not use it. The same situation can come e.g. with automotive industry. Some car company presents the prototype of their new car. There is big banner on the front glass "PROTOTYPE" and car manufacturer just says "This is a new prototype, check how it looks like" and people starts to shout that they cannot drive the car because there is a banner on the front glass and they don't see the road through it.

But there is no update which makes problems with Aero Glass. It's not fault of WU that your computer blocks connections to download public symbols to identify demanded functions in DWM libraries.

Sorry, I didn't read your post completely just because my application is not open source.

But this is what I said many times and people were still shouting. Next time, I will not put message box there and I will ensure that Aero Glass stops working after 1 hour completely, or maybe I will present screenshot only. Maybe, everyone will then realize that this is preview only. As I said many times, I have no problem if anyone cracks it or do anything with it on his computer, I just see a bit rude to to publish any cracking methods in public forum next to the official AG thread. The good way of non-cracking I see the utility which adds ability to enable/disable Aero Glass in context menu. You either want to test Aero Glass, so you enable it. Or you want to play games(or do other work), so you disable it. This is very good solution. But of course, many people don't like it because they want to have unlimited fully-working version and that's why they shout. Current state of this crack seems to be acceptable to me too. If someone installs any software which uncontrollably spam windows message queue and kernel message queue then it's balanced solution :-)

The main disadvantage of all builds is that they were compiled as debug with all optimizations disabled and many debugging operations enabled.

Having a debug window isn't the only way of getting debug messages though. The most common way is having log files automatically created (log files stay there even if the system crashes and you can't manually record debug messages). Just quickly... yes, you can log into files but accessing HDD is extremly slow, especially in the case when you need to log every rendering operation in DWM to see what really happen. So logging into window is much faster here and does not stress your HDD. (And I should also mention that many people install this into folder where DWM cannot write) We're still turning in a circle. So again, look at this: you develop something just for fun in your free time and you decide that you show the current status to the public. Some people says "it looks nice/bad", "I would improve this and that" - it is good behaviour. But many people only start to shout "This application disturbs me", "I cannot play games when I run it" etc. So what do you think of? Why the hell they are using this application if it annoys them, it was not intended for them!

1) I like to have things in my taskbar I actually use and it was way too easy to accidentaly click on it.Ok, so it means that you don't want to have AeroGlass in taskbar because you don't use it? Or it seems to be very illogical to me. You want to help with debugging but you hate that it displays debugging window... weird. 3) Whether you intended it to be used for testing or daily use is irrelevant. It's my fault if I screw up my W8 install not yours. Since 0.7 it was good enough to leave all day with only minor slowdown.No, it is not irrelevant. There are some usage condition and if you use software against it then you violate the license. Of couse, it is your fault if it screws your OS, but it is also your fault that you install debug/testing/preview sofware and it disturbs you from normal work. And this is the reason why I won't release Win8.1-version to public at all. I sometimes don't understand this behaviour. You can see it with e.g. Windows 8.1 Preview too. Time-limited preview was released and people started to search for ways how to remove watermark on desktop or how to extend trial period (a bit illogical). How does it help MS with development?

How should you even know that there is no message box with one-hour interval when you use crack? No, there was not messagebox in first versions. There was only debug console because the version was intended for debugging only. And isn't it a kind of paradox that people download debug version and they try to get rid of debug window? How can they help with testing then? Yes, it took space on the taskbar - the same space as any other window/application takes, or do you complain that e.g. excel wastes taskbar space? Thus I redirected debug messages to file and displayed single startup messagebox. People were complaing that this one click blocks them from testing. bul*****... so I changed to one-hour interval to block people from using it - only to serve the original purpose = preview. Later I changed to two-hours interval and now it can happen that you won't see the message for six hours at all. And people still complain about one-hour interval. Also, just as I said above, the messagebox is displayed only when request to draw glass frame comes. And people still complain - not because they have problems but because they got limited version for free and they want full version for free. That's it, that's the real reason. I must admit that I already wanted to release final version, but I delayed it. Why should I hurry? I don't think that people deserve it. They don't want to help with development, they don't want to test anything, they want only to abuse it for they own profit, nothing more.

And that is what I said. The interval is not every hour - it is much much longer. Also, if no-one would care about startup-only, why users tried to crack startup-only message/background console when it was there in the first versions?

What that obviously means is that people are not using the versions with the popup. Which also means you have fewer people testing it for actual bugs. It just doesn't really make sense why you'd want that. From what I observed in the past is that it is enough that program is somehow limited so people must crack it. Many times, they either don't know what they gain by cracking. And this is the same situation - I wrote a note about messagebox into the changelog thus people must complain about it and they must crack the application. When popup shows once a year, users will still complain that it disturbs them and will try to crack it. I could also say that messagebox is one the things which can be easily cracked. As my utility injects into DWM I could easily render any message into desktop directly and it would not be possible to easily crack it. (Yeah, everything can be cracked but in such case it would be much easier to write glass rendering from the scratch)

1.0 directly.. there is just a few minor fixes which do not need to be tested globally.

Win8.1 uses Direct2D for desktop rendering. Win8 uses Direct2D for Start screen and Direct3D 10.1 for desktop. Btw, I was trying to fix the last WinUpdate issue - to be 100% compatible without the need to download symbols (to work on non-internet systems) but I am currently unsuccessful to ensure backward compatibility too. Now I will be away for a week and then will release the current state of post-RC4 as final. Then I will target on Win8.1.

Please, if you want to discuss bugs which are not related to Aero Glass directly, create separate thread for it.