Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.customize (
More info?)
There is also the point that Microsoft possibly does not want to be seen to
be stepping on even more toes. Stardock and WindowsBlinds might have
struggled to remain viable, had Microsoft made another product free, which
was had previously been sold. They probably would have done had it had the
possibility to increase their monopoly, à la Internet Explorer vs. Netscape
Navigator.
"Thane of Lochaber" <NONE> wrote in message
news:%23h$dlcniEHA.2848@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Stardock does have it's own implementation; WindowBlinds does not hack any
> files or even use uxtheme.dll as it has it's own engine, and has since
> long before XP even existed. The themes for it are not compatible with
> msstyles and it works not only in XP but with other versions as well, and
> is a Microsoft certified product so they do fully approve of it.
>
> "Alec S." <a@a.com> wrote in message
> news:uZPxX%23miEHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> I can understand having the interface consistent to simplify guiding
>> newbies-"click the little button in the upper-right corner with the X on
>> it..."-but as for poorly written themes, that's a bad excuse. They let
>> people install poorly written software which is much more dangerous.
>> Imagine the outrage if they started limiting the kind of software you
>> could
>> use.
>>
>>
>> I also don't understand why StyleXP, WindowBlinds, etc. use the MS
>> visual styles to do their thing. Why didn't they just come up with their
>> own implementations. Obviously the MS method was good enough to support
>> anything people want to do when it comes to visual styles. Microsoft
>> chose
>> to add visual styles to Windows, preventing people from using anything
>> but
>> MS themes is a poor move and was quickly defeated. Their implementation
>> while belated as it was-people were expecting an official version for
>> quite
>> some time and had to resort to 3rd party utilities in the meantime-would
>> have been lauded and appreciated had MS opened it to everyone. But since
>> they didn't, people just saw it as a neat little thing for a few days
>> until
>> you get tired of the same 3 styles. That's why Stardock and TGTSoft made
>> an
>> easy killing once ThemeUI.dll was cracked. Microsoft really needs good
>> PR
>> and allowing 3rd party themes really could have given them a much needed
>> boost.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Alec S.
>> alec <@> synetech <.> cjb <.> net
>>
>>
>> "Thane of Lochaber" <NONE> wrote in message
>> news:eNcDackiEHA.1656@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>>> Well, I believe the reason was because they didn't want people
>>> installing
>>> poorly written themes and having problems, plus they wanted to keep the
>>> interface consistent to make troubleshooting easier for them.
>>>
>>> "Alec S." <a@a.com> wrote in message
>>> news:OW4HdZkiEHA.704@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>>> > "Thane of Lochaber" <NONE> wrote in message
>>> > news:uvyXIbiiEHA.3264@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>> >> Remember Microsoft does not support this so it's at your own risk.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Well it's MS's own fault for denying people the ability to use
>>> > non-MS
>>> > skins in the first place. It was either very shortsighted or very
>> selfish
>>> > of them to do it that way.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Alec S.
>>> > alec <@> synetech <.> cjb <.> net
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
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