WindowFX

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WindowFX is a "fun" computer program that is designed to allow Windows 2000/XP/2003 users to make use of their graphics cards outside the realm of personal computer games. It is a component of Stardock's Object Desktop package.

A sample transition
A sample transition

WindowFX offers the following features:

  • Transparent and fade-in/fade-out windows
  • Window shadows
  • Menu Animation
  • Taskbar Preview, showa you a thumbnail picture of the minized window
  • Transparent and animated menus
  • Taskbar transparency
  • Advanced desktop icon controls
  • Arbitrary "lit" colouring (in conjunction with WindowBlinds)
  • Tiled windows - fully-functional but reduced-size windows placed on the desktop
  • Window "drag effects", including transparency pulsing and making it actually look like it is being dragged
  • Transitions - animations performed when windows are maximised or restored, which can be of arbitrary complexity
  • Graphical Task Switcher, an enhanced version of the Windows XP task switcher

Features like transitions use the same 3D APIs as mainstream computer games. As a result it can be very demanding on the computers it is run on, and is really only intended for users that wish to push their machines - only basic features are recommended for users with integrated graphics chipsets. One joke is that WindowBlinds got too efficient with CPU cycles, so WindowFX was created to pick up the slack.

Compatibility with graphics card device drivers has always been a problem; few programs use the APIs used by WindowFX in the way that it does. This situation has improved over time - previously, even the dragging of transparent windows were a problem, while nowadays it is more likely to be the transition or tile features that are unusable on some systems.

Transitions are created using a proprietary scripting programming language. There is a free third-party tool called WFXScripter that eases the generation of these scripts.

[edit] External links

Stardock line of products
Object Desktop Products DesktopX | IconPackager | ObjectBar | SkinStudio | WindowBlinds | WindowFX
TotalGaming.net Games (developed, published) BreakQuest | Chrome SpecForce | Corporate Machine | Disciples II | Earth 2150 | Flatspace | Galactic Civilizations | GalCiv II: Dread Lords | Gish | Jets'n'Guns | Knights and Merchants | O.R.B | Pizza Frenzy | Political Machine | Reaktor | Society | Trash | Uplink | WordWars | Xeno Assault II
WinCustomize Products BootSkin | Desktop Pet | Natural Desktop | ObjectDock
Other Products DirectSkin | Stardock Central | TweakVista | StyleVista | ThinkDesk (Multiplicity)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/i/n/WindowFX_724d.html"