MikeRL

No problem. I use Linux as well as Windows, but I keep up with news on both. The patch would've came on Patch Tuesday regardless. But I figured if anyone wants to enjoy their games this weekend without bashing their skull into their keyboard, it's best to get the news out now. Most people work in the week, so now this weekend can be spent gaming on 8.1 and taking in the new DirectX features. If you have the time and don't want to be frustrated by a noxious bug, it's worth patching now. Trust me, both platforms have their share of them. This patch is a nice step in the right direction. Also if an admin reads this, now that MSFN is nice and stable, works great on mobile (via website and Tapatalk) how about you guys get back to the basics? What I mean is we need the ability to thank a post (and possibly like it) but a thanks button would be enough. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Misses : jaclaz I think you deserve to loose your job if you think the best thing to do with a shiny new server is play games on it. Install the Hover app and go back in time LOL to when you worked at McDonald's! But yeah they might as well patch it for that too. I've already patched my machines. However, the stupid Xbox music and video apps are giving me issues. Tried deleting data from app sizes. Tried a complete uninstall of the apps. Tried CCleaner, Bleachbit, messing with my MS Account, etc. Gives me the same stupid Service 6000-yadayadayada error. Any clue where I can get some help? I'd fix it myself but even Google cannot find the error. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Well, why repost this when it's available on news sites? Because I want the community here to know. This will be included in the upcoming Patch Tuesday, so you can install it then if you wish. But Microsoft has made the patch available. This is only for Windows 8.1. It should solve the mouse lag issue in Source Games and Call of Duty, and possibly even more games. Cannot hurt to install it, but to be safe, as always have a backup, at least a system restore point. Have fun, guys! Official Download Links and Details from Microsoft: 64 bit patch download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40909 32 bit patch download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40910 Official details via Knowledge Base Article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2908279 More details can be found here via Neowin.

Awesome! I guess I was overthinking the key generation system LOL. Everything works now. Thanks! A big part of why it never worked on the desktop before was because I didn't know debug.log had the machine ID in it. I found that out via a post on here recently. I also didn't think it would let me use another key with no special strings attached. Now that's convenient. No problems anymore. Also that "general availability update A" hasn't broken anything at all. Let's hope the general availability update B doesn't either. These updates are supposed to be only bugfixes, but as of Windows 8, you never know. I heard one of these updates will possibly get rid of a nag screen when secure boot is disabled on 8.1. That will make it less of an annoyance when this ships one day for 8.1 RTM. Just glad MS didn't sneak anything in to murder Aero further. Maybe after the Windows 8 rehaul stuff will be calming down from now on. Good news for everyone!

Great work bigmuscle! It's working perfectly on my laptop, [EDIT: Now desktop as well] Never mind, nothing to see here.

Great job, bigmuscle! You've brought back more desktop features yet again! Though I tend to favor Linux, I dual boot and use Windows a lot as well. I think I love you! LOL. No, I just love your work. By the way, even though I had a license.key, the correct DLLs, and followed your instructions, Alpha 2 never worker. I figured since you were just getting your hands on the RTM of 8.1, I'd give you a while to work your magic. By the way, I figured Alpha still means big changes ahead, so today I tried the beta. No flaws on my laptop. Then I will try it on my desktop. Speaking of that desktop, there's still something I'll need to clear up with you later. It's just that I would like another machine code and key for the desktop. I'll email you so you don't forget. I donated with two email addresses (about $5 or more each) so I'm not attempting to milk cheap keys out of you. But perhaps we could do something for convenience (I did donate well before you decided on monetization and had no clue it would be a slight inconvenience to use two email addresses, so sorry about that). Anyhow, I'd like to have an additional license.key for my Gmail, and I'll give you the Comcast key, just so you can blacklist it or keep it as an extra. Just out of convenience. Anyhow, expect me to test it on both my machines. The desktop had issues before on Windows 8 with a test build of Aero Glass, which you fixed rather professionally, by the way. Just expect more feedback and id*** testing from me. I had a bad cold for weeks, and then my allergies went out of control (worst I've had them in my life) but now I have the energy to do testing. Let's hope Microsoft's pre-public release "updates" don't bork anything! And as of now it's running perfectly, at least on the laptop. Even Firefox with an Aero Glass mod meant for Windows 7 works. Also, on a side note, I read a rumor a while back on Windows 9 (take this with a grain of salt because it's a rumor for an unannounced operating system) but the rumor is that Microsoft might return Aero glass and Desktop effects. That would suck for you, but let's hope they return it like they "brought back" the start button (with no start menu). Meaning you still have this as a source of income. Also, will there ever be a way (or is there a way) to hide the command prompt for donators? Would be nice as an option, just so that it doesn't suck up space in the taskbar. Thanks! EDIT: Screenshot must be too big to show here. Click it and it will show on Dropbox.

Hmm. Good job. I've been sick like crap for the past month, though. This application, unlike most other start menu replacements, looks and feels fully native, just like the original StartIsBack. I'm using it after recently getting the RTM of 8.1, but I've noticed an option or two could be added to make it even better. One thing I miss from the old StartIsBack is searching the desktop control panel from the start menu. Is it possible to add that as an option in an update down the road? Would make this even more useful... EDIT: Derp, it already searches it. Either MS has further confused me by changing the search terms that trigger certain control panel options, or maybe it had a rare glitch and didn't search on one occasion. Here's a little enhancement for further fine-grained control. Just a suggestion. Would it be a good idea to separate the one option of "Search Programs and Settings" into two checkboxes, one saying "search programs" and the other "search settings". Just an idea. I'll continue to test and report back. Also, another question. Could you please add an option to disable and enable the "Search" menu item under All Programs? Thanks.

I made a derp then, I guess. I assumed it was open source because it was hosted on a site that is famous for hosting open source projects. I didn't have a clue that they also hosted proprietary software. Mind you I'm no open source zealot. Anyhow, since it's closed source, that changes my opinion drastically. It's your code, and since you have decided on a proprietary license, you do have a copyright, even if it's freeware. In this case, it's not a collective work, so by the book, you're in charge. Even with prerelease software, you should include a license. If it took me a while to figure this out, I would include an EULA in the next release. That way you can prevent reverse modification. But without at least an agreement, there is no law. Your work, your decision. Now that I know the situation, I don't blame you for being mad, but you kind if left the front door open for abuse. You don't need to hire a legal team, but you do need a copyright, EULA, and to enforce this new license. However, the nag screen argument is slightly valid still. I would give anyone who donates a certain amount a way to disable this nag screen. Think about it! It would be an incentive to support your work, and maybe there'd be less cracks. Afterwards I would ask people to remove the cracked versions.

Know what, bigmuscle? I don't blame you for being slightly p'd off. Of course it's your work, but you did make it open source (please keep it that way) and if someone actually can code it without 1 nag screen it shouldn't be too big of a deal. I propose a compromise - we go by an honor system and nobody creates any sort of "silent" version until you say yourself we're one or two releases away from final. I did donate and contribute logs, and if this is your wish I respect it, but there's way bigger problems in life than anyone on the internet arguing over software. Nobody has really started arguing yet, but this cannot be allowed to grow into a flame war. Now it's a constructive debate but just wait until trolls arrive (I remember plenty of them during the beta/RC releases of Aero Glass) and they turned a debate into a flame war. It's your software. But it's also open source. That, however, does not mean that we don't have to respect your wishes. Honestly for me I gave up on using a different version of Aero glass. Too much hassle for a stupid popup. That popup is not the worst thing in the world, for anyone, user or developer. Here we are moaning about first world problems while people are fighting over clean water and a patch of grass to eat somewhere. This application isn't the biggest pain in the butt to exist, in fact it relieved some of the biggest pains in Windows 8. So the benefits obviously outweigh the one little annoyance. And there are programs that are infested with annoying DRM (new SimCity anyone?) This application does not do anything nearly that evil. But users complain. I myself complained. But do not concern yourself with people moaning about the dialogue box. Yes a contribution to the main project would be much better (I'd do it myself and id*** test your 8.1 preview compatible version) but I honestly dislike the stability of the preview of 8.1 from Microsoft, even when compared to the Windows 8 previews. So let's not start a stupid fight. The best thing I could do if I were the OP: contribute to this project in the form of a small donation or code a bit and also try to find bugs. If I were bigmuscle I'd realize that no matter how good his work is to realize that users are impatient. VERY IMPATIENT. Perhaps you should make a "disable the nag screen" script for those who make over a certain contribution. Why not monetize something people are annoyed with at for no real good reason? It's not a perfect solution but it should prevent further distractions in the community. Also please realize that as important as Aero Glass for Windows 8 is, people are "cracking" the app for the purpose of instant gratification, not to annoy you. Unfortunately this seems to be a side affect. So basically everyone needs to stop arguing and stirring stuff up and realize this is the internet - not a life or death situation. But also to respect bigmuscle's wishes. If you find a way to "crack" the app, at least be considerate and don't leave it at a developer's front door here at MSFN. I don't want to see decent enough threads getting locked. Which may happen if we cannot get along. Just a guess. I'm sure I'm not perfect and have somehow added to this mess as well. It's just best we ignore certain things in life. We all have pet peeves but setting them off on other people, whether intentional or not, is wrong and should stop. Hopefully nobody takes this post as a joke or way too seriously; I'm hoping to calm the anger that's brewing and not douse it in gasoline.

Awesome. So I'm not forced to upgrade again overnight again with this rapid release mess that MS is cooking up. Thanks. Brings some sanity to this new "organized chaos".

Awesome. Anyhow, will the old StartisBack be maintained for a short while (I would love to upgrade to 8.1 as soon as it RTMs, but I am quite happy with 8 and compatibility hell would ensue) for Windows 8 even after 8.1 RTMs? I'm not asking you to update it for ages on end, but I am asking for a half year or so of bugfixes and maybe translations if they're provided. I know you're an independent developer, and as much as I'd love to rush over to 8.1, I am going to wait until most of my programs are at least somewhat compatible (probably just a few months) and then I will upgrade. The choice to continue supporting an old version is yours.

I don't approve of this myself, but I don't really disapprove of it either. I know users removing the message box is your pet peeve, bigmuscle, but we're pretty close to a stable from what you've said. Most users are not known for being all too patient, myself included. I even installed this. Both are open source, so it should be all good. Nobody is going to discredit you, remove your copyright or licenses with this. As long as someone doesn't put malware in it and post it to a warez site, this late in the game it isn't too big of a deal. Plus, better to get it from MSFN that some shady backdoor infested site. Just grant the impatient a reprieve this late in the game. If bugs prop up, error, hell if someone's computer explodes due to them forking it, it's not your fault. So have no worries. Besides, you are a developer now (I don't know if you professionally develop for companies) but developers tend to have a lot more patience. But even for me that message box got a bit on my nerves. Not at first but when you game a bit on Steam, you're in a zombie-infested barn in HL2:Episode 2 and you have zombies charging at you and the message box steals focus from the game, it's a bit unnerving to say the least. Not all games will pause automatically, either, like Half Life did for me. In fact, a long time ago if a message box like this popped up I would be cursing in my head. Aaah first world problems.

May fire up a VM or repartition a hard drive when time permits and start testing this, and with the preview version of bigmuscle's Aero Glass, whenever I can nag him for an invitation response (not nag for a yes vote, but just a response, be it yes or no). I'm finicky with my start menu replacements, so I will assist in at least helping you find a pixel-perfect theme and make the final build as pixel-perfect as possible. Now, I'm not an artist, but I can pinpoint minor aesthetic bugs I think should be changed and give constructive feedback. I've seen start menu replacements, and most non-native ones are extremely buggy or looked like crap. Hopefully all the software has matured, especially Startisback. I know native is now impossible (thanks MS!) but that doesn't mean we cannot make this start menu (and button) look as native as possible with Windows 8.1 adjustments. Hoozah! Also on a side note, I really like the new MSFN. Simpler, but more importantly seems to crash less.

To get back onto the main topic, PLEASE do include the installer with the last RC. Since who knows what could screw up on that thing if it is shipped with only one person testing the installer? More eyes=less bugs. That way the final can be as close to perfection as humanly possible.

I just noticed that the caption is rendered via pure GDI functions SetBkColor->SetTextColor->...->DrawText into intermediate texture. I think that returning glow effect won't be so complicated (DrawText hook etc.) but I'm not sure about the background. I guess that simple changing alpha channel of background will have no effect. It seems you have windowsFX installed which is incompatible with this version of Aero Glass, because it injects into DWM too. Thanks. But that's strange since I believe I ran WindowFX before possibly alongside your Aero glass implementation with no issues. I could be wrong. Anyhow, looks like WindowFX will now be disabled. Worth getting Aero Glass back.

Apparently, Windows recently was refusing to start. I tried disabling this application from loading (apparently it was attempting to load itself into the wrong memory location) and everything was fine again. I saw an extra file more than normal, this time in addition to a debug log a dump log was left behind. Please fix this if possible. It may be rare, but if this is a bug then it can prevent Windows from starting. I suspect DWM.exe injected something nasty into Windows's memory, causing Explorer to fail to load. Whole computer locked up. Anyhow, if I'm onto something here are some logs. https://www.dropbox.com/s/66xwujx7nrddi7e/minidump.dmp https://www.dropbox.com/s/o92mngig2r430ex/debug.log

I have had enough betas for quite a while. Nothing personal. But good luck with the new Classic Shell! I'm sure it will save many people from smashing their computers to bits or installing Linux. I dual boot myself. But Microsoft shouldn't have removed that start menu code if they cared about all these alternative start menus and developers. Sad. My fear is that every major OS is going mobile-centric (Windows, Mac OSX, and some Linux distros like Ubuntu) is going to cause a lot of users are going to be alienated. Converging platforms is a great idea, but so many companies are doing it wrong. And hurting their sales and user satisfaction at the same time. They ought to have left in some legacy code or open sourced the remains of the start menu code so Windows 8, 8.1, and whatever else would have a little more chance at success. After all, now that the start menu is dead to them, why not let developers maintain it for those who want it? MS is unfortunately becoming more like Apple in one way and forcing these stupid metro tiles on all of us. I can only hope they wake up and give us choice like they would have before this whole tablet fiasco.

Hmm. Possibly interested. But under one condition. Will it have a truly native modified Start Menu like Start is Back? Or is it just Windows 7 style like the older Classic Shell? I'm asking because resurrecting native code is better than a customized start menu like Start8 for me anyhow. Less bugs and the way MS intended (before the Metro mess). I don't hate Metro, but in my opinion it is a WIP currently like a snapshot of its true form in Windows 8. So, are they rewriting and adding in old code, or making a completely new "look alike"? A screenshot of it would help if possible. If this is native, you can count me in. If not, not interested. Have too many betas anyhow. Not knocking your project it's a great FOSS solution but I prefer what I prefer. I am very finicky with my software.

Cannot guarantee 100% success, but if you're having issues with a DLL try running Windows update, and after installing all the updates and rebooting, run "sfc /scannow" without quotes from an elevated command prompt. A really useful command and non of the all in one tools ever seem to run it (System Mechanic, Advanced System Care, etc.). Running that command checks system files (including DLLs) for corruption. It will replace them with correct versions. Try that and reboot afterwards. Then, you could always redownload some Windows updates and try reinstalling them again.

Thanks. For both working on this and continuing to make the releases public.

My question got buried... Anyhow, are all the old start buttons being removed? I like the white one. Please tell me that one will stay, and just the original is being removed.

Popup will be removed more than likely on the final release. The nagging to remove said popup and people cracking the application was what caused development to move behind closed doors previously. So no annoying these guys. They're doing this for free, remember? It's open source, so you can always compile it yourself without the nag dialogue if you know how to. Otherwise, just have some patience. There's much larger problems in this world than that nag dialogue. My only annoyance with it is that it shouldn't pop up when playing a game or fullscreen application, but that's not too big of a deal.

OK. Thanks was just curious to as why one could handle native blur rendering and the other couldn't. At least it works now.

Yeah it does, but there's still issues with native blur rendering. That was a debug version, right? Or a patched one?

Tihiy, will the white Windows 8 start button stay? Or are all of them being scrapped? I will backup and or find the button elsewhere if need be.