WindowBlinds 11

This might be the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on an app. 70% of the skins are made for windows vista or xp - literally not compatible. 25% are big flashy movie/scene inspired or just a background, literally useless. The rest are mostly people wanting their windows 10 to look like windows xp (I understand the gimmick, but its not worth $40). Oh that's another thing, nothing in the entire app says windows 11. The latest was designed for windows 10. It offers absolutely no customisation - windows settings offer much more. Its all locked in. No options. No configurations. Its slow and horrible and worthless. The few good designs I found, wouldn't even let me change the window colour - so I would be stuck with a nice, round, sleek, and professional looking system... with orange windows. There were maybe a total of 5 or 6 that actually fit my criteria... until I learnt they don't actually apply to the whole system. They only apply to a specific few apps. No icons. No menus. The app's own 'SkinStudio' companion couldn't even display my settings properly and its literally made by the same people. I mean if it doesn't work in any browser (despite a checkbox specifically for forcing chrome, edge and Firefox to use it), it doesn't work on steam, it doesn't work on half the windows' apps, it doesn't work on the start menu despite the skin literally claiming that it does, it doesn't work on any third party app. I tried researching in case I missed something, but no. It's a locked down system from the XP era. Yes the studio does allow for customisation, but its so complex and convoluted. I might as well just have used one of the other many many options out there to customise it from scratch. I tried to visit the website they source the themes from, it was made in 1995. Blocky and simple - like it made in html, called WinCustomize. Oh guess what, the site also provides themes and skins for third parties too. So what was even the point? I spent 5 minutes in windhawk and literally transformed the entire system. I don't understand what is going on.

It was fun for a while, but the novelty quickly wears off once your memory and performance take a hit. I had Windows Explorer crash on me several times while using this... And the fact that Start 11 is needed (not even bundled btw) to get a more authentic experience SUUUCKS. Do not buy this. Please :]

I bought this software at exactly 2:15 PM and returned it by 2:45 PM. If this was a profit-free program then some of the bugs/issues could be excused, however when you are a program that requires previous payment for it to be used, you do not have the luxury of sympathy. I advise everybody who's reading this that It's not worth buying.

I would highly recommend against buying this software, if you want to skin your windows I would recommend something else like BasicThemer, but I am aware that WindowBlinds is really the only decent option you have if you want to skin your windows theme nowadays on Windows 11. The program is constantly nagging you about updates, and then when you do update it it has weird bugs like the one where for some reason you just couldn't open explorer, or another one where it disabled my alt-tab functionality for some reason and I had to completely uninstall it and change a bunch of my windows settings that it changed on its own so that I could alt-tab switch again. I'm one of those goobers nostalgic for the aero glass UI of older Windows NT versions like 7 or Vista, and this program is really the only way to achieve something even remotely similar to that, and I long for the day when that is no longer the case because almost every one of Stardock's programs started out amazing and then got enshittified. Please do not spend your money on this trash.

So, I know the hours are low but I've used the program before I bought it on Steam. I'm going to give an honest review as to why I would recommend it >to certain users<. I hope this addresses your decision on this software if you should or shouldn't buy it. I am running on Windows 11. *Audible gasps*. I know, I know... The way Microsoft has disabled most help support and abandoned the version for, what, Windows 7? It's crazy. I'm going to switch to Linux since I know Palworld runs on it (which you should totally pick up when you have the chance). I digress... Windows 11 has... very limited personality, to say the least. It's clunky, the settings take way longer than it should to load now, and why can't they just include previous shells for us to customize. I hate that Windows 11 is trying too hard to look like an iMac and try to kill it like I'm sure Bill Gates did to Steve Jobs. Shoot... I got off topic again. Forgive me reader and please have patience. I'm just upset because I have to use several third party programs just to fix Windows 11. WindowBlinds 11 is not a pretty software by any means. When you first install it or boot it up to choose a shell, you will be greeted with the familiar to most Gen X, and baby boomers with a BonziBuddy boot of a hundred pop-up command boxes not too unlike when you'd download mp3's off a certain free website during lunch in a computer lab at school or in college. I'm being oddly specific, you say? Once it's booted up, I HIGHLY recommend you download >only< the recent shells. The reason most people complain and get errors from WB11 is from using older shells with Windows 11. In fact, I can tell you from my own personal experience that this softwares problem is 85% because of Windows 11, no joke. The newest updates and just in general has left a bad taste in my virtual taste-buds, (if I had any), with my experience. So much has happened with my version that I ;lost the activation from it a few months ago all because I was installing Powershell, ExxplorerPatch, ThemeUtilityPatch, and the like. I can say that this version has stayed 'wrapped', if you know the term you are once of the real ones, after several attempts to shut down and restart the program. Conclusion: Do to the latest updates I recommend this software if: ~ You have Windows 11 and just want a shell without installing 4-5 programs hoping they work together ~ Don't mind when booting the theme options up or installing the feeling your bank account/sensitive information is going to get leaked from the 30-something pop up CMD boxes that pop up ~ Are willing to pay $15 to use one program in order to fix a few customization and organization issues within Windows 11 ~ Like older themes and still want to keep some of the new features of Windows 11 I don't recommend if: ~ You plan to switch to Linux ~ Don't have Windows 11 ~ Don't care about shells and themes ~ Think $15 is too much to solve a rather virtually superficial issue ~ Your name is Karen ~ Don't like the Windows taskbar centered (which can be fixed with retrobar, Powershell, and/or ExplorerPatch options but please look up a guide beforehand) ~ Hate older programs that feel a little outdated or have a huge collection where more than 90% of it was not made for newer Windows versions ~ Support Bill Gates I'd rate it a BonziBuddy out of an inactive windows version

whatever stardock is doing is causing window resizing to stutter really badly. that + them lying about "5 PCs (1 concurrent) machine activation limit" (according to the EULA on steam, its 1 copy on 1 PC) makes it reeeaaaally hard to justify not refunding it immediately.

Groupy 2, Start 11, and windows blinds was my gift to myself for the new year. I am utterly pissed at stardock, their software has screwed up my pc beyond repair (I'm 10 hours into fixing it, with 15 years as a programmer, working with ai and there is just no solution except to reset back to factory settings) this software is so bad, DO NOT GET THIS PRODUCT

I honestly have no idea what all the negative reviews are about. This program is absolutely awesome albeit a little pricey. I've been using this since 2023 and have the Classic theme. It just works. My computer is, pretty old, and barely takes a hit from this; yet all the other reviewers are complaining this program "drains their resources." All I can say is, it works great for me, and it only takes up to 0.7 MB of RAM for me. The only hiccup is sometimes you have to exclude apps that don't react to WindowBlinds very kindly, but once that's done it's over, especially if it's a program you use a lot like Photoshop. I'd say wait for sale, and then give this a go.

Ну в целом многие окна превращает в семёрочные, но поддержка тёмной темы ужасно кривая, тут либо по уепски затемненные элементы окон, или соседствующие белые, черные и серые задники. Я пал жертвой собственных ожиданий. Взамен артефактов нет, относительно простая установка. Еще и нельзя например оставить все изменения, но чтоб они не трогали панель задач, вообще. Пойду дальше юзать StartIsBack, в нём рил семёрочный таскбар, и меню звука, а тут какая то подделка. Взамен еще утерянные элементы интерфейса в проводник добавялет но тёмная тема это всё для меня. Покеда тогда.

F*d up my computer. Installed a theme which I later decided I didn't like, and now I can't fully remove it. I tried undoing it, I tried uninstalling the entire program, nope. Many windows are now just permanently glitchy and can't be reverted. I STRONGLY recommend against buying this trash. I can't even describe how F**KED up this software made my PC. It is BROKEN. Like, I need to format the entire OS disk now. DO. NOT. INSTALL.