Stardock has released WindowBlinds 4.6. WindowBlinds is a program that enables users to "skin" their entire Windows GUI to give it a totally different look & feel. When installed, users apply "visual styles" that change title bars, push buttons, radio buttons, the Start bar, etc. WindowBlinds also includes a number of usability enhancements such as supporting roll-up buttons, always-on top buttons, links, and other additions to the Windows title bar (or borders).
System Performance can also be enhanced using WindowBlinds. The program supports a host of performance enhancing features such as Hypercache, a technology that uses the extra video memory in most modern video cards to increase performance along with features to change the way users interact with the GUI to match their needs.
Visual styles in WindowBlinds support a wide variety of features such as animation, sound, flexible button placement, alpha-blended Start menus, skinned menus, toolbar icon changing, and even replacing the copy, move, download animations in Windows.
The new version of WindowBlinds adds the ability to have alpha blended "glow" effects for title bar buttons, push buttons, and other controls. When a user mouse-overs a control in a visual style that makes use of this feature, a glow effect appears that can go outside the window (i.e. it"s really cool looking). 4.6 also has a number of tweaks to further increase performance and reduce memory use.
WindowBlinds is available as shareware at www.windowblinds.net. An enhanced version is available for $19.95 that adds a host of additional features. The enhanced version is also part of Stardock"s Object Desktop suite of Windows extension utilities.