Style XP

• What is a Visual Style?

Microsoft®'s Windows® XP introduced a new look and feel in Windows® XP.  In addition to the "Classic" boxes and gradients introduced in Windows® 95, XP has an additional "Windows® XP" style.

Classic:


The Default Visual Styles in XP:

Blue:


See XP at the Microsoft site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/tours/default.asp

• What is Style XP?

Zero-Footprint Operation Choose to have Style XP run in the system tray for easy management and selection of new styles, or turn Style XP off for zero-footprint operation. No additional memory will be utilized unless you desire it.

Native Style XP skins are zero-footprint because they use the same Visual Style Source that is built into XP. XP's Visual Style Engine will load and draw our start button with the exact code used to load and draw the infamous green start buttons of the original Blue, Olive Green, and Silver skins. This is done by performing an in memory patch to XP's Visual Style Engine. Style XP does not use SetWindowsHookEx, which can noticeably slow system performance. Nor does it hook the "Appearance" tab on the Display Properties property sheet.

New Visual Styles Try out our new "CoughDrop" visual style and color schemes.

Accessibility & High-Resolution Functionality Does your monitor operate at 1600x1200? How about 2048 x 1536? Perhaps you have a new LCD display. At these finer pixel resolutions, the display can exceed 100 DPI. StyleBuilder is designed to build skins which support the higher DPI resolutions so that window controls are easier to see. Since Style XP skins are native source styles, this useful XP functionality is present in its original and familiar form.

ClearType® & Smooth Fonts Microsoft's finest achievement with Windows XP may have nothing to do with flashy features. The new operating system uses Microsoft's ClearType font-rendering technology, which makes text viewed on liquid-crystal displays (LCD) unbelievably sharp. - Joe Wilcox for c|net. ClearType® and Smooth Fonts are fully functional on all windows elements, including the start button and window captions.

Font Sizes Like the original Microsoft Blue, Olive Green, and Silver Visual Styles, StyleBuilder & Style XP skins support three font sizes Normal, Large, and Extra Large. These larger font sizes are important, because they are used by the elderly and visually impaired.

Application Compatibility Our native design allows us to enjoy the thousands of hours of work put in by Microsoft's UI team to ensure application compatibility. There is no list of incompatible applications to keep track of.

Easy Installation The new Style XP install takes minutes to download and seconds to install. No reboot is required. In a short time, you can begin to enjoy your new Visual Styles.

• Is Style XP safe? How does it work? How does it differ from other products?

Style XP has no service or executable code, so there is no worry about your machine slowing. We have completely decoded the luna.msstyles file and have created an XML-to-msstyles engine. Our StyleBuilder product takes the XML with their corresponding images and compiles it to an msstyles file.

• Will Style XP cause my smooth screen fonts to go away?

No. Both the ClearType and standard method of smoothing screen fonts will remain active at all times. This setting can be changed by clicking the effects button on the appearance tab of the display properties. While ClearType was designed specifically for Flat Panel Displays, we find that it enhances the look of text on regular displays.

• Will Style XP slow my system down?

No. Style XP will operate at the same speed as the original Microsoft supplied styles. When compared to the Windows® Classic look, all of the new styles (Blue, Olive Green, and Silver) will run a tiny bit slower. Some other skinning products will produce a measurable system slow down, especially with complex-looking skins.