NoelC

I'm not complaining, mind you; I figured you'd want to know about a potential crash bug. Would you rather not hear testing feedback at all? By the way, I've improved the themeatlas I use a little bit... I made the window edges a little more definite, and made the buttons look a bit better. http://Noel.ProDigitalSoftware.com/ForumPosts/themeatlas.png -Noel

BigMuscle, I was testing some UI work with one of my products, and I set the Win 8.1 desktop to 150% (slider all the way to the right to "Larger" in the Display dialog) and while testing some theme change logic I suddenly got instability from your product. It ended up getting into a loop where the DWM kept crashing. Finally I held down the Control key after a few restarts and it stopped the loop of failures (and of course eliminated transparency). Here's what the debug.log showed for that: [0x94C] Hook (USER32.dll!SetWindowCompositionAttribute from explorer.exe) installed [0x4B8] License file loaded [0x4B8] Machine ID: CG6OCCLNFHOH5LOSAU3ILTAPGVTLO335QDLJRAKI4LOGYZUQ [0x4B8] License code: 0 [0x4B8] Hook (api-ms-win-core-registry-l1-1-0.dll!RegQueryValueExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x4B8] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x4B8] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateRoundRectRgn from udwm.dll) installed [0x4B8] Hook (USER32.dll!DrawTextW from udwm.dll) installed [0x4B8] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateBitmap from udwm.dll) installed [0x4B8] Delayed hook (UxTheme.dll!GetThemeStream from udwm.dll) installed [0x4B8] Aero Glass for Win8.1 Alpha 2 correctly loaded. [0x1354] DBGHELP: Symbol Search Path: .;SRV*C:\BIN\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols [0x1354] CTopLevelWindow::UpdateOcclusionHints hooked successfuly [0x1354] CGlassColorizationParameters::AdjustWindowColorization failed (0). [0x1354] DBGHELP: .\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0x1354] DBGHELP: .\dll\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0x1354] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0x1354] DBGHELP: udwm - public symbols C:\BIN\symbols\uDWM.pdb\DD3C8972CDAC4CFC8B46002E393E434D2\uDWM.pdb [0x1354] Symbols loaded for udwm.dll as 3 (#0) [0x135C] Propagating user logon successful. [0x1354] CDrawingContext::DrawGlass failed (0). [0x1354] CDrawingContext::DrawGlass failed (0). [0x1354] DBGHELP: .\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0x1354] DBGHELP: .\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0x1354] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0x1354] DBGHELP: dwmcore - public symbols C:\BIN\symbols\dwmcore.pdb\36D905E5B57C49E48A0964A5662379F02\dwmcore.pdb [0x1354] Symbols loaded for dwmcore.dll as 3 (#0) [0x9FC] License file loaded [0x9FC] Machine ID: CG6OCCLNFHOH5LOSAU3ILTAPGVTLO335QDLJRAKI4LOGYZUQ [0x9FC] License code: 0 [0x9FC] Hook (api-ms-win-core-registry-l1-1-0.dll!RegQueryValueExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x9FC] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x9FC] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateRoundRectRgn from udwm.dll) installed [0x9FC] Hook (USER32.dll!DrawTextW from udwm.dll) installed [0x9FC] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateBitmap from udwm.dll) installed [0x9FC] Delayed hook (UxTheme.dll!GetThemeStream from udwm.dll) installed [0x9FC] Aero Glass for Win8.1 Alpha 2 correctly loaded. [0x9F0] DBGHELP: Symbol Search Path: .;SRV*C:\BIN\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols [0x9F0] CTopLevelWindow::UpdateOcclusionHints hooked successfuly [0x9F0] CGlassColorizationParameters::AdjustWindowColorization failed (0). [0x9F0] DBGHELP: .\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0x9F0] DBGHELP: .\dll\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0x9F0] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0x9F0] DBGHELP: udwm - public symbols C:\BIN\symbols\uDWM.pdb\DD3C8972CDAC4CFC8B46002E393E434D2\uDWM.pdb [0x9F0] Symbols loaded for udwm.dll as 3 (#0) [0x9F0] CDrawingContext::DrawGlass failed (0). [0x9F0] CDrawingContext::DrawGlass failed (0). [0x9F0] DBGHELP: .\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0x9F0] DBGHELP: .\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0x9F0] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0xFFC] Propagating user logon successful. [0x9F0] DBGHELP: dwmcore - public symbols C:\BIN\symbols\dwmcore.pdb\36D905E5B57C49E48A0964A5662379F02\dwmcore.pdb [0x9F0] Symbols loaded for dwmcore.dll as 3 (#0) [0x1004] License file loaded [0x1004] Machine ID: CG6OCCLNFHOH5LOSAU3ILTAPGVTLO335QDLJRAKI4LOGYZUQ [0x1004] License code: 0 [0x1004] Hook (api-ms-win-core-registry-l1-1-0.dll!RegQueryValueExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x1004] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x1004] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateRoundRectRgn from udwm.dll) installed [0x1004] Hook (USER32.dll!DrawTextW from udwm.dll) installed [0x1004] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateBitmap from udwm.dll) installed [0x1004] Delayed hook (UxTheme.dll!GetThemeStream from udwm.dll) installed [0x1004] Aero Glass for Win8.1 Alpha 2 correctly loaded. [0xD50] DBGHELP: Symbol Search Path: .;SRV*C:\BIN\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols [0xD50] CTopLevelWindow::UpdateOcclusionHints hooked successfuly [0xD50] CGlassColorizationParameters::AdjustWindowColorization failed (0). [0xD50] DBGHELP: .\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0xD50] DBGHELP: .\dll\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0xD50] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\uDWM.pdb - file not found [0xD50] DBGHELP: udwm - public symbols C:\BIN\symbols\uDWM.pdb\DD3C8972CDAC4CFC8B46002E393E434D2\uDWM.pdb [0xD50] Symbols loaded for udwm.dll as 3 (#0) [0x1198] Propagating user logon successful. [0xD50] CDrawingContext::DrawGlass failed (0). [0xD50] CDrawingContext::DrawGlass failed (0). [0xD50] DBGHELP: .\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0xD50] DBGHELP: .\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0xD50] DBGHELP: .\symbols\dll\dwmcore.pdb - file not found [0xD50] DBGHELP: dwmcore - public symbols C:\BIN\symbols\dwmcore.pdb\36D905E5B57C49E48A0964A5662379F02\dwmcore.pdb [0xD50] Symbols loaded for dwmcore.dll as 3 (#0) By the way, you might want to consider adding a time stamp to one of your messages in the log (e.g., the "user logon" message) so it's easier to tell what log entries go with what issues after the fact. The exact same operations work perfectly at the leftmost (smallest) setting in the Display dialog. -Noel

Wow, I didn't notice that before. We are left to wonder why Microsoft would put effort into making such a change. More of their gradual "weaning" away from allowing users to customize the UI at all? When does that ridiculousness end? When there's one and only one UI look and feel, I guess. Definitely goes against everything BigMuscle is doing. -Noel

I was thinking about this just the other day. Time was, the window caption was over at the left edge, so you'd get a bit of extra help reading dark text if you have a dark background. Now with Win 8+, captions are in the middle. Now lo and behold Microsoft has these ribbon-enabled windows, which paint the title bar themselves... Might be nice if you could have an option to make the center portion of the top be a little "shinier" than the other parts. -Noel

ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity works great too, and is nicely variable per the setting. I ended up settling on 75 (decimal), though even at 100 it's not overwhelming. It actually helps a bit with the visibility of the titles in the active Explorer or Wordpad window (i.e., those with ribbons), as long as the background isn't really dark. And the background windows stay nice and transparent. -Noel

Looks nice, BigMuscle. Inactive windows are a good bit "glassier" looking than with the previous version. I like that. All in all it looks quite polished. Good job! I haven't experimented with ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity yet. -Noel

Oh come on. Like you understand what Microsoft does and doesn't do. Some of us have friends on the inside... Microsoft didn't just "accidentally" remove Aero. They're actively removing things that people want. Who does that serve? How does that help? Do you actually buy their BS that window effects cost battery life? Give me a break. There have been non-DWM themes for a long time that could have been used. No, why are we here, in this thread? Because we want something Microsoft won't give us any more. They're obviously turning away from the desktop (all meanings), by taking away things like Aero, Windows Backup and any number of other things that computer users use and need. The management at Microsoft are manipulative bastards who are actively trying to steer us away from our love of the desktop, in order that they may make more money. Sooner or later they will win. There are only a handful of brilliant and energetic persons on the planet capable of making the Windows 8 desktop better to use. One day they'll grow tired of doing so. -Noel

I did notice the borders seemed a little different size. That smells like Microsoft futzing around with the theme implementation to try to frustrate 3rd party developers who are trying to return some style to the desktop, not to mention make it uglier for users. The basic flawed assumption in all this is that people want Windows 8, presumably for all the wonderful great things in the App Store. Microsoft is falling on its face by actively making parts of its system less than perfect in order to try to herd Windows users in a direction that makes Microsoft more money. -Noel

I don't see a problem in the graphic file. Can you shed more light on what might be going on there, BigMuscle? -Noel

Can you suggest how to test that? I do see transparency at the bottom of things like the Picture Viewer and Tortoise SVN. Or is that not what you mean? Edit: Now on looking again I do see something wrong with the bottom right edge of the Tortoise window. Let me see what I can do about that. -Noel

Hancoque, this one paints those parts correctly; maybe you can compare and try to see what's gone wrong. http://noel.prodigitalsoftware.com/temp/AlternateTheme.png -Noel

Thanks. What made me curious was that someone had asked what the Windows 7 equivalent setting was, and I thought I saw you answer "30". I don't remember where I saw that (maybe earlier in this thread). -Noel

I've noticed that ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity seems to be all or nothing... BigMuscle can you confirm that this is to be expected? With ColorizationGlassReflectionIntensity set to various amounts... -Noel

I agree - this adds a nice little bit of extra polish. I didn't think I wanted it, but when I turned it on I saw that it helped just a little bit with visually identifying title bars, and every little bit that helps make the desktop more usable is well worth having! Well done. -Noel

Perhaps it's because your screenshot is downsized, but I'm not seeing a glitch. Can you please be more specific? -Noel

Nice, though I don't think it really needs the WshShell.RegWrite "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\DWM\CustomThemeResource", "C:\Bin\themeatlas.png", "REG_SZ". At least not currently. -Noel

Your posting it here implies you'd like comments. Here's one: Stop wasting your time whining about how awful it is to use the FREE SOFTWARE someone was kind enough to give to you. -Noel

Ribbon-enabled windows use different composition than normal windows. Apparently something in the theme implementation itself has to do the work; the Windows 8 standard theme - even with CustomThemeResource replacement graphics set such as the one I posted on a previous thread - won't put a glow behind ribbon-enabled windows. You'll need to use the experimental theme signature disabling logic of Aero Glass for Windows 8 and replace your Windows 8 Aero theme with a different one. -Noel

I run Windows 7 on my main workstation. It's not Aero Glass for Win8 that is the reason I don't run Windows 8 there. It's that Windows 8 is inferior to Windows 7 for everything I want to do. There are many features missing and degradations of the user experience that I'm not willing to accept. If I were to get a new system on which I could only get Windows 8, I can now (using BigMuscle's awesome software among other packages and tweaks) configure and augment Windows 8 to be almost as good as Windows 7. But it's just not all the way there, and offers nothing I wish to have - so why change? It's not an upgrade by any sense of the word. So I run Windows 8 et. al. on VMware virtual machines for development and testing and book writing, while keeping my workstation on Windows 7 for all its nice features. -Noel

I guess the Microsoft version of glow.bmp is a bit wimpy. Here's an updated glow.bmp that gives a more readable title against a black background and when the color intensity is turned down. As always, it's free for your use or to publish on your site if you'd like. http://Noel.ProDigitalSoftware.com/temp/glow.bmp -Noel

Thanks. Setting the name of the file to themeatlas.png works. Now the only things wrong I'm seeing are these: 1. File Explorer and other ribbon-enabled windows such as WordPad don't get a title background glow. 2. The title background glow could be brighter with the other windows where it does work to improve readability. 3. Sometimes with multiple overlapping windows open I'm seeing glitches in the glass background in the form of broad swaths of color that looks like it's coming from somewhere else. I've pointed orange arrows at it in the following screen grab. 4. The Hue/Saturation/Brightness controls in the Color and Appearance control panel work, but they're not quite calibrated the same way as in Windows 8. I can't quite achieve the same look as I have with the older system - but they're not far off. This looks very promising for Windows 8.1! Well done so far! -Noel

Thank you. It's great to see you're making progress with this. The DWMGlass.dll file is version 0.0.0.1, and I've set up the registry via the following, and the glass effect works nicely but the CustomThemeResource registry entry doesn't seem to be processed. There is no drop shadow and the theme resources appear to be the stock ones. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows] "LoadAppInit_DLLs"=dword:00000001 "AppInit_DLLs"="C:\\BIN\\DWMGlass.dll" "RequireSignedAppInit_DLLs"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM] "CustomThemeResource"="C:\\BIN\\AlternateTheme.png" Is there any dependence on the folder being C:\DWM? I've put the software in C:\BIN. Here's the debug.log: [0x338] Machine ID: CG6OCCLNFHOH5LOSAU3ILTAPGVTLO335QDLJRAKI4LOGYZUQ [0x338] License file not loaded (2) [0x338] Creating debug console... [0x338] Hook (api-ms-win-core-registry-l1-1-0.dll!RegQueryValueExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x338] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from dwm.exe) installed [0x338] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateRoundRectRgn from udwm.dll) installed [0x338] Hook (USER32.dll!DrawTextW from udwm.dll) installed [0x338] Hook (GDI32.dll!CreateBitmap from udwm.dll) installed [0x338] Delayed hook (UxTheme.dll!GetThemeStream from udwm.dll) installed [0x338] Glass DLL correctly loaded. [0x3B0] DBGHELP: Symbol Search Path: .;C:\BIN\symbols [0x3B0] CTopLevelWindow::UpdateOcclusionHints hooked successfuly [0x3E4] Failed to load custom theme file (0x2) [0x3E4] Propagating user logon successful. [0x3E4] Failed to load custom theme file (0x2) [0x46C] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from shell32.dll) installed [0x46C] Hook (USER32.dll!SetWindowCompositionAttribute from explorer.exe) installed [0x46C] Hook (dwmapi.dll!DwmEnableBlurBehindWindow from explorer.exe) installed [0x46C] Hook (USER32.dll!LoadImageW from themecpl.dll) installed [0xFEC] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from shell32.dll) installed [0xFEC] Hook (USER32.dll!SetWindowCompositionAttribute from explorer.exe) installed [0xFEC] Hook (dwmapi.dll!DwmEnableBlurBehindWindow from explorer.exe) installed [0xFEC] Hook (USER32.dll!LoadImageW from themecpl.dll) installed [0xB08] Hook (USER32.dll!CreateWindowExW from shell32.dll) installed [0xB08] Hook (USER32.dll!SetWindowCompositionAttribute from explorer.exe) installed [0xB08] Hook (dwmapi.dll!DwmEnableBlurBehindWindow from explorer.exe) installed [0xB08] Hook (USER32.dll!LoadImageW from themecpl.dll) installed [0xFEC] Hook (USER32.dll!SetWindowCompositionAttribute from explorer.exe) installed Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to check. -Noel

Today I've installed VMware Workstation version 10, just released. Other than in Windows 8 the screen going black during the install of the latest version VMware tools, Aero Glass for Win 8 works perfectly, even with the virtual hardware upgraded to version 10. I just upgraded to Aero Glass for Win 8 version 1.1 and that works fine as well. The prototype Aero Glass for Windows 8.1 software works great with it as well. Honestly, VMware Workstation 10 doesn't really seem much different than version 9. -Noel

You've no doubt seen the one I've created, at the end of page 3. It's yours for the publishing. Enjoy! -Noel

I finally got around to trying this. Looks very promising. I'm looking forward to the time when it can facilitate resource replacement via the CustomThemeResource registry entry, as that will take Windows 8.1 usability up another notch. -Noel