drakenabarion

Thanks for all the feedback. About the artifacts, I am not using Native Blur. If there are some logs or system information I can provide, let me know. I'll help out as much as possible!

Oops, I did not intend to make Artifacts the new discussion point - nothing changed in respect to them (I think) in the newer version, I am merely better able to reproduce the conditions needed to make them occur more consistently. But we have had artifacts since version 0.1 - (And clearly if they were something easy to deal with, they would already have been dealt with, but it is something of great complexity). Actually, does anyone think that MS might have pulled the Glass effect because something else they feel is of vital importance broke it and they rathered just remove it than fix it? Nah, that's not very likely.

That has nothing to do with uninstalling the other version. You need to take ownership of the keys referred to in the .reg file, otherwise it is read only and cannot be modified... Except making read/write in the registry is more complex than to do it with a file... so... I'm kinda too scared to guide someone else with doing it Lots can go wrong when editing the registry, so I am only comfortable doing it for myself... (I also do not have a guide for it, since I have been doing edits like that for so long) Edit: It is a little different in Windows 8... this one is for Windows 7. http://superuser.com/questions/98739/unlocking-a-read-only-registry-entry-in-windows-7 And I cannot seem to find any applicable guides that do it well.

New beta works nicely. The taskbar on both screens matches nicely. If using Startisback, it is required to untick "Disable Transparency" in settings because then (and no fault of DWM) the task bar does not gettransparent on the secondary screen. I am unsure what the Swatches is meant to be doing, because when I first merged to registry (after letting Administrator have permissions to add the .reg file) and before I restarted, I got an error when trying to click Personalisation > colours (because registry values would not have been properly activated). But after restart, I do not see any new settings. I was guessing that you were introducing the option to separately colour active and inactive windows from there, but, the option does not yet exist. The order of the colour boxes is different I actually guess you must have added presets that look better for your Aero Glass - transparency is much more obvious in the preset colours than before. Edit: Yes, you can make fun of me I re-read that the swatches revert the colour options to the Windows 8 RP build - hence the nice optimization for transparency. Edit: I get some artifacts when I move my pointer from active windows on one screen to inactive windows on the other (without clicking). https://www.dropbox.com/s/t57peyy5zx35chu/2013-05-04%2018.16.57.jpg Also, I get artifacts that are caused a distance from the edge of a window in window borders behind the window. If I move the upper window un and down I can make this banding effect. https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqqdbmf0w0f6a20/2013-05-04%2018.19.12.jpg Well, I know these are not the most horrible things in existence and they are hard to fix, but I am just letting you know they are still there. But also, they might be more related to multi monitors in my case.

I would say, that would be very helpful!

You are probably using native blur method. Yes, that's what I wrote ^^ Is this behavior "intended"? No, Big Muscle said it is buggy. Its a reimplementation to code that was removed by MS so therefore takes some fixing before its properly usable.

This is just speculation of course, but, I've used programs in the past (mostly in games) that hook onto DirectX calls and do things like replace textures and shaders, allowing changes to game appearances and sometimes adding new effects not originally apart of the game. If this program was somehow able to intercept some of the graphics and shaders, would it in theory be possible to not only have a blur effect, but more advanced things like animated water ripple? Like I say, this is speculation, not suggestion. Even if it was possible (and it probably is not), it may not be desirable because there would be a huge hit to performance and probably stability too. @BigMuscle - I had a problem leading to a black screen with the charms bar visable (but unusable) while I was updating my GPU driver a couple of days ago. When I update the drivers, I uninstall my driver completely first as it reduced problems I had in the past with leftover files etc. The Black screen happened when I uninstalled the driver. My guess it that the DX level changes when there is no driver installed, or when a new driver is installed, and DWM does not have a catch to deal with it. So I would recommend people to reboot and hold CTRL while Windows is loading (which doesnt load AeroGlass to memory). Here is the Debug log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/inzf30tzj2ksksp/debug%2026-Apr-2013.log?m

I've followed several very interesting and well made projects in the past that got cancelled because people weren't smart to just shut up and let the developer develop in his/her own time. Many of us voiced our opinion to a select number of stubborn or greedy members that kept asking the same thing over and over again even when they were told good valid reasons why they could not get their way. Why are such people so self entitled to think that anyone owes them anything? Well, thanks for ruining something good - I hope you are proud of yourselves! Where once we had an open place where bugs can be resolved and features potentially (and not repetitively) get discussed, now what are people going to do? The world has so many geniuses. Why cant more of them be on the internet... @bigmuscle: While I don't blame you for not wanting to have to deal with all that chaos, I just hope that you can still work on this project silently in the background. Away from the greedy *meows of some people. I bet it would be much nicer to have that privacy to just program. I'm sure you have many fans who will wait patiently (and without constant nagging) for a finalised version. Thank you for the hard work. Oh and here is a debug file if that may be of any use. Its from 0.85, but I bet you already moved beyond that already. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bjp3k6n3odtmi6/debug%2022-Apr-2013.log?m *(yes cat analogy - some people seem like greedy cats. I mean no offence, even when such people themselves are offensive)

Oh I never really noticed the taskbar thing, but, now I notice the colours are different on each window as people are saying. Its difficult to test on 3 monitors for the average person. I have a GTX card with slots for 3 monitors but only 2 can work on a single card. Anyone here with a SLI setup? Thats the only way to test I think.

With this version, I do not get a popup and blur worked for me. However, there are some artefacts, but that could be due to force exiting the DWM process so that it would reload the new dll. (That happened to me when I was testing out different png themes.) Also, new windows initially popup opaque, but in white which is acceptable and not distracting, so this is good behaviours Edit: I got the normal popup after a few minutes. Oh cool, version 0.85

Well, here is my debug.log from the past few hours - I will test the new build so I might aswell send this now since it wont be truly vaild after I install the new build. https://www.dropbox.com/s/n6y8wpbzg6vvthj/debug-0.8-only.log?m

Big Muscle, I changed around versions of your DMWGlass.dll between 0.7 and 0.8 a few times today to test differences. For that reason Debug.log and Crash.log may contain information from both versions. So before I provide these logs, I'm going to run for a few hours on v0.8 after deleting the log files (Well, after moving them to a backup folder). Edit: I will run in the non native blur as I will guess that would be of most help for now. Edit: A pleasant effect I was not expecting - my Chrome tabs have a nice transparency (approx 80%) in my inactive tabs. I think its not apart of the Chrome theme I was using, as this is the first time I saw it.

Oh I meant in previous versions. Yeah there is no D2D in this version. I thought you were asking for previous function reasons like device level etc. :-)

Any chance you folks who see completely transparent borders were using Direct2D settings before? Have you cleared out the settings you changed in the registry? -Noel D2D mode has the blur and for me I'm pretty sure it always did. I am playing around with the registry, so if I find something I will post about it. Generally, the Native Blur looks well, but, the half second non transparency is getting frustrating. Its good that I am only testing it and not expecting it for daily use, right?

Right, for me, in v0.8, I get no blur by default. Just complete transparency. I get blur when I enable Native Blur. However, Native Blur is more prone to artefacts (yes I know you mentioned it would be buggier ) I know that now you are colourising the window borders in the same way as in Windows 7, however, I think this comes through slower. I like my borders with a charcoal glass shade, so until the blur occurs, I have a flash of black window borders for approximately a half second. The border colourisation in Windows 7 was always the same type of silvery white, so its less noticeable in Windows 7, but because user can recolour the window borders in Windows 8, the flash of non glass borders can be more distinct. Also, the borders become solid when clicking the X to close windows. (I've only used for a few minutes, so I'll assess things more later.) Edit: The border thing only happens in Native Blur, and is as before when that is disabled. There is just a lack of blur when its disabled, but I assume its something to do with customised values.

a quote from a post above where have you seen that I was sure I read it, but perhaps not. Still, current uptime since last reboot - 08:53:35 and no popup. (But cant we all just let that discussion just fade away?)

Big Muscle removed the popup in the v0.7. But can you all remember what you did before it started to pop up again? (Perhaps changed some things using the very functional AGT GUI? - Big Muscle said several times that its not supported, even if it is very useful for setting values). Simple reinstall in the exact way Big Muscle said to install should fix it, no? Anyway, I think that people are getting a little too intense right now. In the end, this is Big Muscle's project. He is creating something that I believe the vast majority of Windows 8 users will appreciate greatly. Still, I get worried. In the last few pages, I've seen this thread fall into a pattern I've seen before in other places and other forum. Lets all behave well so that we don't end up annoying a valued developer. Remember, if you are on this thread, I'm certain you will want him to stay here Thank you Big Muscle for all your hard work. On-topic: I am sorry, I have nothing new here. This post was mostly to say what is above. I will stay on topic in the future.

I'm not sure. Before, I used a version that did mod files. It was a true hack. I thought UXStyle was just a gui for placing/modding dll files, but now, I don't think the UXStyle mods files like I thought it did. Installation did not ask to access admin privileges and the log file for SFC did not indicate the normally required dll files were changed. (Yes I'm pretty embarrassed I misjudged that for so long - I had problems with the modded files, but since this does not mod files, I do not see it being a problem again).

Oh I forgot I can do that. I use that command for fixing thing but forgot it can verify files too. I had some owndership errors apparently but no mention of UXTheme dlls in the log file. I guess it really does leave system files unmodded!

Are you certain that Uxstyle doesnt modify a dll? I mean I have problems with many windows updates due to modified dlls files when patching for theme support. Or do you just mean no more manual patching cause its an automated gui? Hmmm, thats probably way too off topic but its a concern to me.

Thats a very good shadow! I hope you don't mind, but I applied the button colour changes and transparency I liked to that theme. Here is the result. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9os68uz6kmqj9rx/Capture9.PNG?m It had a ruby coloured look on a darker background: https://www.dropbox.com/s/14stgj143lp7phc/Capture.PNG (I wont share the theme png without your permission since it is more yours than mine even after that edit) RP theme is the best with dwmglass. Thanks. I dont have the RP theme tho (no png or .theme/resources). I imagine it needs UXTheme? From what I can tell, its like a combination of AeroLite and Aero themes. But if it works without UXTheme, I'll definitely find it. (and am searching for it after this post ). I suppose that since it is from a version of Windows 8, then its possible it might work without hacks. {edit} ahuh, thats cool. No need for edits I think. {Edit} Ok I added the RP theme. But I am not seeing how it is different to the AeroLite Theme... So I gues it needs UXTheme afterall {Edit} Tried a different download and now it works Its quite nice! Except I guess I would need a new PNG to work out the resources - The glow is not enabled on the theme. EDIT Yes its on the theme but not as intense as I'd like. I'm gonna work out how to extract the png now {Edit} Ok I have not quite worked out how to extract the resources for a theme from the .mui files but I will get there. Interesting thing I am noticing about the windows RP theme - some people mentioned previously that certain applications like Explorer and Paint had no text glow (and I noticed this when I tried them also). Well in the Windows RP theme, those applications have perfect text glow, while other applications have a glow, but its very faint. Which leads me to believe that in the RP style sheet png image, it would should the correct location for the Explorer et al text glow. Although, the Windows 8 theme default style png provided by BigMuscle is a bit messed up when using the Windows RP theme.

In that case: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2pgimb7sv5uaio/AlternateTransp.png

Thats a very good shadow! I hope you don't mind, but I applied the button colour changes and transparency I liked to that theme. Here is the result. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9os68uz6kmqj9rx/Capture9.PNG?m It had a ruby coloured look on a darker background: https://www.dropbox.com/s/14stgj143lp7phc/Capture.PNG (I wont share the theme png without your permission since it is more yours than mine even after that edit)

Thanks for the suggestion to work on the ColorizationColorInactive and ColorizationColorBalanceInactive keys. I'd forgotten about those, as they're not currently defined in my registry at all. I'll fool with those and see what I can accomplish. One thing I'd like to note here: I am not willing to hack into Windows (i.e., break System Protection, take on the potential problems of updates, etc.) to achieve a custom theme. I don't imagine in the general case anyone would like to do that - they'd prefer Aero Glass for Win8 to grow up into a product that can returns style and usability to the desktop look and feel and allows them to keep Windows unmodified. I sense that's your goal as well, Big Muscle. The use of a custom .png file, in concert with BigMuscle's CustomThemeResource registry value is as far as I'm willing to go. As I understand it, that means DWM will still think it's using the Windows 8 supplied theme to do its work. I'll be the first to admit I don't even come close to fully understanding all the relationships between themes and what is being overridden and accomplished by Aero Glass for Win8 and I greatly appreciate the patience of those here who help educate. FYI, I've fooled with the drop shadow definitions in the PNG file and have achieved a bit of a look and feel improvement of sorts... I now have managed to put a subtle light edge on windows, and that seems to help when using dark backgrounds. Next step, getting the inactive window titles to show up more clearly. By the way, today I've seen a couple of cases where glitches have shown in the blurred areas with the Direct3D setting. Unfortunately I wasn't poised to screen grab them, but I will try to be ready next time I see them. -Noel I have not yet edited the borders but that is quite nice. Just out of curiousity, how are people editing these things? I am using the png supplied by BigMuscle as a template and editing in image editing sortware. I put a deeper white dab where the text glow portion of the png is to increase the whiteness of the glow. As mentioned, the inactive window has a less intense version of that and I will see how the inactive colourisation settings affect it. Also I have tried to change the style of the buttons. I have an ok looking (nothing special so no point of uploading) cloth texture, and a transparent button (uploaded since I cant screenshot the artefacts it develops). The transparent button cause unusual artefacts about 2cm of screen space outside the window border however... Its as though the border area is extended invisibly but the artefacts happen at the edge of this invisible area.But I dont quite like what I've done and it is my first attempt, so perhaps its nothing important. Hmmm, is there a part of the png files used for themes that is responsible for inactive bar text glow? I dont see a white dot that would correspond to that like it does for the active window. I can work out every other element however. (Or at least I think I can ) Anywayyyy... I am glad there is the *.png theme method and I hope that people use this more rather than just using UXThemes - The UXTheme patching is too unreliable for me to want to use it on a regular basis. I am rather happy with the transparent Windows 8 theme but, I would hope for base optimisations of the default setting rather than needing things like WSB. Then once that is at a good standard, people could use UXThemes for whatever alternative changes they like. But perhaps it is too early to think about the finalised default settings I have to play around with the colourise inactive, which is fine at this point. I have no issue doing this kind of thing (and sometimes even enjoy doing these things). (Whew, more than I intended to say - I hope it kept everything coherent!) Edit: I keep forgetting to mention. The taskbar colour is different on main ans secondary monitor. Both look nice, but, they are using different methods to gain transparent. I guess secondary monitor uses default Windows 8 methods.

Well, I got Glow working, and its working well with the exception of a few applications (I think they have already been mentioned but they are generally the Windows Accessories kind of applications like Wordpad, Paint and Windows Explorer). I have been running the Beta 1 about as long as it has been available. Yes, I know its "Not for every day use" but I tend to like to stability test on top of feature test. Well, I have had no failures with the latest version in all the time using it. Booting works just fine, no black screen problem requiring holding ctrl when starting. 3D performance has been unaffected - Playing games like Tomb raider 2013, DMC 2013, etc (Aye yes its the year of game reboots, isnt it? ). If performance was going to be affected on my PC, it would be while running Tomb raider as it pushes my gpu as hard as I have ever seen a game doing. The game runs fine with no apparent drop in fps or fluidity. On my multi monitor setup, transparency works on both screens. I have them at the same resolution (1080p) so of course I am not affected by the issue with the transparency area being based on the primary monitor resolution. Oh, and thanks for sharing the Windows 8 theme png. I can use this as a template to change around some of the window border imagery to my liking. I will share if I manage to make a particularly nice setting. And thanks again for all your hard work! Oh and the DLL versions: dwmcore.dll = 6.2.9200.16433 uDWM.dll = 6.2.9200.16420 Same as everyone elses.