Stardock Releases WindowBlinds 4; Windows XP Gets Skinned

Business Wire, April 15, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CANTON, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2003

Stardock announced WindowBlinds 4 today. WindowBlinds is a program that extends the Windows user interface to be fully "skinnable". Once installed, users can change their title bars, scrollbars, push buttons, Start bar, and virtually every other aspect of the Windows GUI using "visual styles" that the user can make or download from the Internet.

By default, Windows XP includes the new "Windows XP visual style". WindowBlinds 4 extends Windows XP to support enhanced visual styles. There are thousands of enhanced visual styles available on websites such as WinCustomize.com.

New features in WindowBlinds 4 over the previous version include:

-- Skinning of the Windows command prompt window.

-- Enhanced Performance. It Incorporates a new graphics

acceleration technology called "Smart Painting" making it

nearly as fast as running just "Classic" Windows.

-- WindowBlinds can now stylize virtually every part of the

Windows GUI such as the task panes, the Control Panel

background, logoff dialogs, and much more.

-- Increased compatibility. Using the new compatibility APIs in

Windows XP, WindowBlinds 4 can work even with the most

non-standard of programs seamlessly.

-- WindowBlinds can now control the size of the Windows start

bar. Users who want a thinner or fatter Windows XP start bar

now have that option.

-- A new configuration program that makes switching between

visual styles easier and faster than ever.

-- Dozens of small changes to make creating new kinds of visual

styles easier, making the program faster and more compatible

on a wide range of configurations.

These features add to the list of enhancements WindowBlinds adds to Windows XP, such as being able to change the color of visual styles on the fly, setting a visual style on a per application basis, making use of hardware acceleration. WindowBlinds has a skin format flexible enough to create visual styles that can emulate the general look and feel of any operating system and virtually any GUI imaginable. These and many other features have made WindowBlinds the world's most popular desktop enhancement program.

WindowBlinds 4 is currently available exclusively for Windows XP. Version 4 for Windows 98, ME, and 2000 is expected this summer. There is a free download of it at http://www.windowblinds.net.

The information guide to it is available at http://www.windowblinds.net/wb4.

WindowBlinds costs $19.95 to register. Users can also purchase Object Desktop, Stardock's suite of desktop enhancements which includes WindowBlinds and a host of other programs for $49.95 at http://www.objectdesktop.com.

About Stardock (www.stardock.com)

Stardock Corporation is a Midwestern software developer that specializes in creating software that extends the feature set of Microsoft Windows. Its software is used by corporations, individual consumers, and movie studios to create Windows desktops that are personalized to specific uses. WindowBlinds has an installed base of nearly 7 million users and is one of the top 20 most popular programs on Download.com of all time. Companies that have licensed WindowBlinds for their own needs include Microsoft, Nintendo, nVidia, Touchstone Pictures and Bell South.