NoelC

By all means, please post images to illustrate. -Noel

Yes, they're being devious and predatory IN ADDITION TO being incompetent. It's an inescapable conclusion. -Noel

Conventional patchers also break system protection as well, rendering them unacceptable to people who would like to keep their systems sane and sound for the long term. Big Muscle's approach where the software works at run-time and even tries to automatic follow Microsoft's updates (thinking of how Aero Glass works with the symbol servers) is the only one that's even remotely acceptable. -Noel

Don't feel bad about having missed those links, but they're really there - yes, in a clean Win 8.1 installation. -Noel

Well, as a computer engineer geek I *do* look for a new OS to bring me capabilities I didn't have before. Yet today I still push around a mouse and use a keyboard that (in my case literally) hasn't changed in 30 years? Last time the OS sold systems was (big surprise) the last time major innovation took place (e.g., introduction of graphics, or Explorer-centric "files as objects" operation, or 32 bit applications vs. 16 bit). Real Innovation is more difficult than rearranging the draperies. That's why it takes a giant, well-funded company to do it. Except... Right now Microsoft is doing LESS than individuals in this very forum who tweak themes! (!!) How is it so few people see this issue? I'm not identifying anyone in this thread; we DO see it - but the world seems willing to just accept whatever Microsoft does as "innovation". -Noel

Direct link to screen grabs: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/c1b984c3-bad8-4c88-8326-72039a0bf14b/local-accounts-in-windows-81?forum=w8itprogeneral#9f447018-f3b6-4fae-85fc-c2c3ba2eb760 -Noel

No, you don't have to give it up, but the method to set up with a local account is well-hidden in plain sight using dimmed, small text and confusing wording on TWO separate screens. See my posts in this thread: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/882eaf9f-2456-4c7a-9a2e-e11de70d9123/skip-sign-in-to-your-microsoft-account-windows-81-setup?forum=w8itprogeneral -Noel

Last time I went down this road with Microsoft on the phone trying to get a Media Center key to work I had gotten my system into a "not activated at all" state and they charged me on the phone a whole $99 to get an entire new license. I'm not stupid but they adeptly got me between a rock and a hard place on that one. The important point is that a Media Center key can allow your system to upgrade (and there's NO way back) yet not work once it's upgraded. I regard it as a nasty trap door they've set up. I'm just mentioning this because it might just be better to just pay the $9.99 for another one and not use up your time. -Noel

That's a bit depressing to hear since it means &$#&^@ Microsoft still hasn't gotten the message that they need to provide ways to do what people want not block everyone's attempt to turn their OS into something better. I have this vision of the Microsoft CEO sitting alone in his walled garden, talking to the cucumbers. -Noel

Maybe you're not using the right terminology... A theme atlas is a collection of graphic resources specifically crafted to work with a particular theme, and can be inserted quite easily (and without introducing any problems with system protection) by the Aero Glass program simply by setting a registry entry. A theme is a larger thing, involving more files and other 3rd party software beyond just the Aero Glass product. The theme atlas has to be crafted to exactly match the theme. We've pretty much reached about the end of my knowledge about full themes, but my understanding is that this thread describes replacement theme atlas files for use with the out-of-box Windows 8 standard theme. -Noel

Sorry to hear you're having problems. You might get more on-target help if you elaborate a bit... -Noel

Who's running the place that thinks re-implementing control panel stuff from GDI to Modern is important? Does anyone there really believe that's going to sell even one more copy of the OS? -Noel

What paradigm, laboring in Chinese factories? -Noel

See BurrWalnut's post in this thread for where I found the info: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/3b700ea8-1385-4599-9183-04614f6d6629/windows-experience-index-in-windows-10 The above, broken up into a step-by-step... Run perfmonExpand Data Collector Sets > System Right-click System Diagnostics, click Start and note the StatusWhen it has stopped Running, go down to Reports in the left paneIn Reports, expand System > System Diagnostics and click on the line that starts with the name of your computer.Scroll down in the main pane and expand the Hardware Configuration drop down Expand the Desktop Rating drop down Expand the [+] sign below QueryExpand the [+] sign below Returned Objects to display your WEI score. -Noel

I don't have a 3rd party app that opens applications in the same places, though I have heard of video driver software (from nVidia I think) that will do that. I do have a tool that opens File Explorer (folder) windows in the same places they were before. I have several icons on the desktop that open to particular locations (e.g., C:\, D:\, etc.) that open to the same places on the screen each time as a result of this app. http://www.sevenforums.com/free-developer-programs-projects/40916-shellfolderfix-manage-folder-window-positions-size.html Note that on the above site he mentions something called "Window Manager" that presumably could do the job. -Noel

Thanks. I have actually shot images of Saturn, some 8-1/2 years ago, through the same telescope, using a camera called a "Meade Lunar/Planetary Imager" -Noel

While I agree that it's been a long time since I saved anything to a floppy disk, why bother to change the icon? It just makes it difficult to find things that one was used to. Was anything really wrong with the word "Save" (as in File - Save)? Why is a ribbon better than menus? Does anyone really, sincerely, think ribbons are better than menus? There is nothing NEW about what's being done in Windows 10. Rearranging the draperies is not useful; it's not needed. Doing so is worse than doing nothing if there's no goal; no improvement. Microsoft wants to do new things with the UI? Fine - Why can't we, even in 2014, rely on applications opening where we last left them (without 3rd party software)? No wonder we don't have flying cars in the 21st century yet! They would not stay where parked if Microsoft software ran in them. Why can't the webcam be monitored for eye movement and used to enrich the mouse/keyboard experience? Why isn't there brain wave input? Better speech recognition/control (I've tried voice input; it's primitive)? Speaking of speech, why can't I have a new eMail read to me in a natural voice while I'm looking elsewhere? I have to have an old app installed from the mid-1990s to vocalize text for me (e.g., for helping proofread). It works but the voice is anything but natural, and I can't teach it to improve as well as need be. Why are things becoming LESS consistent? Microsoft invented themes. They provided a whole theme realm, including online resources. Now they don't adhere to a theme at all. What utility do borderless windows without drop shadows provide (see Office or Visual Studio for examples)? Why are menus written in all caps? Why does Microsoft insist that avoiding doing anything done the past is the way to go, instead of building on it? We've SEEN better already. Past versions of Windows focused on "Experience" and improving same. Who said it has to go the other way? Who said the best experience possible had been obtained and that it was not possible to make it any better. Themers right here on this forum have been building better, more beautiful, more modern looking themes than anything out of Redmond. They're online for all to see! We can only conclude Microsoft is A. allergic to difficult work, and B. trying to destroy the computer industry so they can start over and make money doing what they've already done. Except they're not capable of doing it even as well as before. They're either trying to be massively manipulative or incredibly stupid. Probably both. We thought maybe Win 8 would be the end. It almost was, though by bending over backward some of us were able to make it work. Many others just kept Windows 7, because it REALLY works. Win 10... Less of the same? -Noel

Here's how FireFox looks with my theme atlas. I don't find all that wasted space at the top without any title text in it particularly impressive myself; I prefer Internet Explorer. I simply haven't had the time (nor interest, frankly) to try to set up any 3rd party full themes. I was hoping Big Muscle's theme signature workaround app might make it quick and easy, but from what I have read above it doesn't work in Win 10. -Noel

Aero Glass 1.2.6 Beta testing Feedback: No visible problems in intermittent usage as a test, including some borderless windows (e.g., Visual Studio 2013). Works well with a replacement theme atlas. Debug.log from a few weeks light usage here: http://Noel.ProDigitalSoftware.com/ForumPosts/Win10/Debug.log -Noel

Mike, how about the opposite... Adding borders to Windows 10 windows? Some of us abhor the borderless look. -Noel

It's anyone's guess why a company like Microsoft would stray from their course on releasing updates to Windows 8 and instead suddenly rebrand the whole product - all the while just continuing to plug along and do .1 types of things to it. It seems to me it just makes their credibility evaporate a little more... -Noel

I wasn't expressing any opinion of you whatsoever, Tonio, it just seemed to me that you were asking the wrong person for information about an only loosely related product. I'm glad BigMuscle was able to respond. Clearly he's done his homework and looked into how Stardock works. -Noel

You have a commercial product that doesn't work... Seems like you're in the wrong place for support. What do the authors they say when you ask THEM? -Noel

That's quotable!! -Noel

I haven't found one. With a good CPU and GPU it should really be possible to shrink them down to a pixel. It's a feature Microsoft really needs to add. Please remember to submit feedback via their Feedback app. -Noel