Stardock?

[syntax01010]

I have used StyleXP a number of times, but on a new system i'm putting together, i'm looking to install 98SE onto it. I have never messed with using the Stardock products like WindowBlinds, Object Bar, etc I am curious what other peoples experiences with this softer on older OS's has been. I am also curious how well it does at "faking" the XPish interface. I personally think that XP has a great looking GUI, if a bit bloated, but still looks slick. How does 98 with Windowblinds etc. stand up for styles, themes, etc?

[horsecharles]

2-3 years ago i went that whole route on 98, tried all those related progs-- it does use up resources.

But maybe with a real modern system, unofficial service pack(and say 1gb ram as the new settings would allow), ME2SE, tihiy's almost finished 32bit icon support.... things could well be very different...... only one way to find out.....

[azagahl]

I have never messed with using the Stardock products like WindowBlinds, Object Bar, etc I am curious what other peoples experiences with this softer on older OS's has been

I tried it a few years ago. It's very good looking, but it was slightly buggy and very sluggish. Also, the free version was quite limited.

[SiMoNsAyS]

my problem is the high amount of memory the stardock products take. other than that, they probably cover all of the possible customization under windows.

[azagahl]

FYI the free version of the new WindowsBlinds 3 does not support 9x

So no point in trying it out to see if you want to buy it I guess

You can still find free 2.11 floating around though, I'll try it out and let you know if it's any good.

[tim_horton]

ived uses both windows blinds and object dock to try and duplicate xp style its pretty close to the real thing yet i found it took a while 4 them 2 load and it did slow me down i try themes etc .try the customizing windows forum in drop menu below good tips there my friend.

[Hispeed]

I have been running Windowblinds for over two years now and love it. I have only run it on 2000 and XP however. I have not experienced much memory usage or lags like the others who have posted said. I two systems that I run it on, both have XP Pro and 512meg ram. No problems. I also have used their other products like Cursor XP (awesome prog and now free I believe) and DesktopX which is an awesome program with tons of uses as long as you run it on XP. The early versions were a little jerky but the latest versions are very stable and good looking.

[prathapml]

Stardock is pretty good, but it has lots of problems that has been said above.

If faking XP is all you want, check out Aston Desktop, or Talisman Desktop - both are shells far better than the stardock packages would give. Of course, if you suffer stardock first and then go to these apps you'd appreciate them better.