Get the latest versions:

• bb4win_mod 1.19
• bb4win_mod|bbMien 7.11

bb4win_mod 1.18 is an initial version - intended primarily for stylists. (Final, RC3a, RC2 & RC1 each have individual notes.)

• the following gradients are showcased:
  • splitvertical (2 & 4 colours)
  • splithorizontal (2 & 4 colours) (not yet released elsewhere?)
  • mirrorhorizontal
  • mirrorvertical
  • wavehorizontal (not yet released elsewhere)
  • wavevertical (not yet released elsewhere)
  • blockhorizontal (not yet released elsewhere)
  • blockvertical (not yet released elsewhere)
• unique features:
  • Global Font Shadows (TextColor based - unlike xoblite)
  • upgraded colour rendering
  • menu access to edit all submenu & plugin RCs
  • menu.overlap - both styling option & setting
  • other feature requests & tweaks
  • default menus & settings configuration extensively rethought
• features list & user guide
• MAKE SURE you INCLUDE bbUtils.dll (as provided) in your installation
• menu icons will be in a later release
• the pack includes
  • bbWinSkin 1.20 (new version)
  • existing versions of bbKeys, bbSystemBar (bugfixed), bbBroam & bbRun
• bbSystemBar - unfamiliar users please note:
  • Orientation - Vertical only works properly for Tasks (as explained in the documentation). Comment out all other SystemBar elements before switching to Vertical
• Starters will additionally need the following links:
  • bsetroot (for rendering background images) - to be placed next to blackbox.exe
  • artwiz fonts from here or here - to be installed the using the windows Control Panel
  • gdiplus.dll - 9x & Win2k users only
• a special 9x "lite" build has been necessary
  • no Kill menu
  • no MinimizeToTray
  • bbWinSkin unloaded
  • no new gradients
  • bbSystemBar without the vertical option

Get the latest versions:

• bb4win_mod 1.19
• bb4win_mod|bbMien 7.11

Downloads of previous releases

• final: Vista(unpatched) 413
• RC3a: Vista->2k 463; 9x 323
• RC2: Vista 139; XP & 2k 594; 9x 55
• RC1: 715

This is the area for raising your "what went wrong?" questions.

(Unfortunately, unkamunka will be offline for the first 10 days after the release of bb4win_mod 1.18 RC1.)

I still can't load bbCore.dll, gives me a message about incompatibility with the version.
Maybe I did something wrong, I didn't installed it, I exit my current BBClean, create a folder called BB4Win ( I like to know that you are re-working on this shell) and then launched Blackbox.exe, pops up the message, and so the others plugins didn't load because they need bbCore, what was loaded as plugin was only bbWinSkin. I was so excited about testing the new gradients. Maybe I am missing some devel *.dll
Sorry if this thread is not for this kind of bug.

Try unzipping the entire file with the structure that is inside it. Then add to that bb4win_mod folder - that you get - whatever you need.

No MSVC runtimes are needed. The zip file is structured the very same way that bb4win_mod ran on each of the test systems.

If you try to do it the other way around, there's a good chance that something may come unstuck. If all else fails, try downloading the revised zip file.

But what I was trying is the current version (1.18) and I unzipped all into the folder I created (BB4Win). I updated my system to SP3, does this matter?

I quit bb, then opened task manager and ran your blackbox.exe. It started, but the task/system/toolbar was very short and ctrl-clicking on it always crashed the shell.
I'm also not quite sure what the purpose of this is - is it a new branch off bb4win?

Did you follow the recommendation hereThe fact that your toolbar was "very short" - when the default setting is 72% of your screen (720 WidthPerThou) suggests that perhaps you did not. AFAICS it is a branch off what bb4win was trying to do when it began. At that time, Fluxbox & Openbox (let alone various other shells) were either non-existent or barely started. Things have changed.

Works perfectly well for me, if I don't try to load other bbinterface scripts, or some plugins. Again, I guess this is to be expected. If this is taken care of and icons/volume are added to menus, then we will be talking about a really great build.

For the benefit of other folks who wish to sample these gradients, I hope you don't mind my quoting from your reply to the PM I sent you when I (finally) got back online.

Originally posted: Fri 27 Jun 2008, 22:13

RC1(?) is an interim release (unkamunka will be offline for the next ~10 days)

• MAKE SURE you INCLUDE bbUtils.dll, Utils.dll & PluginUtils.dll in your installation
• non-Vista users regrettably need to unload bbCore & bbKeys
• the grischka version of bb4win's colour engine will need a significant overhaul - as testers of the new gradients will see.

RC2 is a near feature-complete version:

• the bugs in grischka's color engine have been fully shaken out
• MinimizeToTray & AlwaysOnTop bro@ms have been enabled
• Vista users: no special notes
• XP, 2k & NT4 users: bbCore dependencies have been removed - pending the final release
• 9x users (if any are looking in) get a separate version - without the "kill" menu & MinimizeToTray (neither of which will run on Win9x)

RC2:

Same short systembar again.
But this time I figured it out - width, apparently, is not set as a percentage of screen width, but in number of pixels.



But a bunch of other things didn't work for me, and yes, I unzipped the archive with the folder structure intact:
- Placement - broken (in the sense that clicking on something in the menu has no effect)
- Orientation - broken (see above)
- Styles - not working - clicking on a style in the Styles menu edits it, but does not load it

Other comments:
- It's a neat idea to provide links to style makers' sites, but I found it confusing for these links to be in the Styles menu. I guess it's a simple learning experience so it's probably not a big deal.
- What's that second bar for and how can I get rid of it? Bar configuration via menu seems to be more limited than in, say, SystembarEx.
- The kill menu is cool, although dangerous in the hands of a newbie. How does it work though, or does it? I had 2 instances of Excel running so I clicked on one, and I thought it had been killed but after I quit the shell it was still there.
- It took me a while to find the "Quit" command as it was hidden in the bro@ms menu.
- The default style is really ugly (sorry, it is )

What a mess.

Responses to your questions on bbSystemBar have been posted here - to help other users of bbSystemBar searching for solutions.bbSystemBar is an existing release - if you would like me to repeat all the documentation (on an existing plugin) - as standard practice, I will gladly do so.

Links to the documentation - which explained all the issues that were raised - are provided on the main menus of both the plugin & bbwin_mod itself.

Lol, of course not *all* of it. But it may not be a bad idea to briefly introduce some of the new things your software can do. Not everybody's used your SystemBar before. Stuff like "Orientation" could be explained as part of the list of features.

Well, I wouldn't quite call that "all". What about the styles and the kill menu? What I experienced there were also features that are described in the documentation?
And does the systembar really have to so short by default and come as this 2-bar affair that prevents Placement to work?
I realize that this is just a preview, I'm just saying it would be nice if the package was a bit more user-friendly.