dtopx, winstep, obbar (I hope this is the right place to ask about them)

Published on June 3, 2002 By nachol In WinCustomize Talk

Hello everyone.
At this point, I am a little confused, and maybe some of you computer savvy guys can help me.
I've used a little of winstep in the past, and right now, I am more in to object bar.
I have downloaded dtopx, but have not used it, since I find it a little overwhelming, like having to learn a whole new UI for my PC.
The point is, how is it that some of the suites include skins for these three apps? Don't the three of them have the same object (changing the shell/UI)? Can I actually run them at the same time? What about the specific difference between winstep and object bar?
Thanks to y'all!!!
(BTW I hope I'll soon pay for my membership in WC, and I'd like to see some of this money in the skin developers' hands, I think they do deserve this. Most of us would be stuck on what MS decides to be the best looking UI if it were not for the skin developers!)

Comments

nachol

on Jun 03, 2002

And I forgot to mention NextStart.
Also, maybe I am showing my ignorance when I use the terms "shell" and "UI" interchangeably.
Thanks again.
(Will I ever be "savvy" enough to help others like I am being helped more often?

)

GreenReaper

on Jun 03, 2002

They all do different things. Stardock apps like DesktopX, ObjectBar and WindowBlinds are intended to work with the current shell, whilst others can replace it.

WindowBlinds skins windows - it change how the frames, buttons and controls look. On XP it also skins the taskbar and start panel.

ObjectBar does bars, like the aforementioned XP taskbar (popular on 9x), but it also does mac-like top-bars and indeed just about any sort of bar you want.

DesktopX is something a bit different. It is based around active objects that can be put together to make your own custom destkop that shows what you want and acts as you desire. It's very powerful (especially with scripting), but very overwhelming, too - it's worth looking into, though.

In regard to your OB v WinStep question - a better comparison is Object Desktop Network v WinStep, as both consist of a selection of programs that do various things. WinStep is effectively most of ObjectBar and DestkopX with a bit of Tab LaunchPad (an ODNT component) and a font browser thrown in. NextSTART is the closest match to ObjectBar, and they appear to have roughly the same features - I think OB is a bit more flexible but a bit less polished/easy to use (it is still only version 1).

[cavaet: I'm judging mostly from the description from the front pages - I haven't really used WinStep in detail]

nachol

on Jun 03, 2002

GreenReaper, your name appears in many of the interesting things about skinning that I've seen, and even some of the skins I've downloaded have your touch!
Thank you.

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