All your releases amaze me. You've done the impossible in terms of somewhat native skinning engines on Win9x. Good job.

I'll be testing this as soon as I get my VM's all up and running again. Gotta love VMWare Server...

I hate being a party-pooper, but after seeing the above screenshot, there's only one thing spinning around in my mind: I hope there will be a way to individually opt-out of installing those "enhancements/improvements" such as the half-screen Add/Remove Panel, huge-icons-Control-Panel and so on.

Yes, the LameSkin is welcome, it may take up some extra resources but it just improves existing appearance without adding extra graphic elements. Those huge, IMHO unneeded panels however, I could do very well without. No offense, but for me personally, there's a limit in graphical improvement when it comes to efficiency. I'd like Win98SE/ME to look a little better, but I certainly don't want it to copy the look of something else (such as XP, Vista or whatever).

Just my personal considerations. Nevertheless, I respect the hard work that's being continuously put into this project.

I'll understand if you blame LameSkin or whole RPLite for inconsistency, but not 'half-screen Add/Remove Panel' or 'huge-icons-Control-Panel'.
0) Is is not by default.
1) It is smaller by default than XP one.
2) When you have 100+ installed programs and want to remove one, standard Add/Remove applet becomes useless.

3) Control Panel looks normal even at 800x600. It provides more useful and friendly view then standard 98 or ME control panel, especially on higher resolutions. Besides, you can always switch back to classic mode.
You find XP 'tiles' view not useful?

I apologize if my remark sounded rude, it was not my intention.
There would be a few things to say on this subject. First of them all would be that between me and XP was "hate at first sight". Just couldn't stand its waste of space. After the first encounter, each new one made me hate it more and more everytime. There was always a new reason, be it the fact that some option easily reachable in 9x was now hidden or completely unavailable, or whatever else.
Later on I tried Server 2003. Disabled most unused services and enabled themes, to make it look lovable in a long term. It was simply crawling. Sure, the hardware is not top of the line, I admit that. But Christ, it's an operating system, the frame that allows all other software to run, not THE software. If the OS wastes all the hardware resources, what would be left for the applications?
Anyway, that's generally the way I feel about the post 9x operating systems and there's nobody in the world to prove me wrong or convince me to switch away from 98SE. So - while I agree that 98's GUI is a bit dull - its performances are way superior to anything spawned after it, and it better stay that way. And I sure want to keep a high usability/looks report. If it were to keep adding patches over patches over patches and replace good old poor-looking graphical elements with those fancy modern-looking ones, where would the difference between 9x and XP/Vista be? Only in the version string? That can be faked as well.
So why bother squeezing the brains about which patch goes before which and what "critical" update should be installed or not? Better install the real XP/Vista thing and avoid all the hassle, eh... Well, I wouldn't want to get to that point. I don't know about others...

As for the issue at hand... that tiny standard Add/Remove applet is all I need. Once I decided I wanna uninstall something, I don't care about how much space it takes, when it was installed, how often it was used and all that (oh God... "please wait until [..] is populated" ???); I wanna dump the thing and the name is enough. As for the Control Panel... cascading it in the start menu is something I've been doing since I was using Win95. Always hated opening useless windows, and that was one of them. Why do it, if I can quickly choose the desired item from a menu? But if I were to open it anyway, I wouldn't want it to "eat" the whole desktop, there's just no reason for that. I won't buy a bigger monitor to fit the evergrowing windows.

Oh well, that's me. Other people may find such fancy modern panels nice, useful or whatever - it's just a matter of taste. As long as they are not mandatory and can be left aside, it's fine with me. I realize this post looks a bit harsh, but really, it's just a matter of having the choice, so as long as the choice is present, there's no problem.

P.S. A few days ago I felt the urge to watch some movie or videoclips, so I took an old 2GB HDD with Win95 off of an old Pentium166 machine and installed it on my 800MHz machine. I almost cried when I saw how fast it booted, how simple and clear its menus and windows were, how fast it shutdown...

Drugwash, some day you'll have to take a closer look at Vista.
Don't get a cerebral stroke then. (I almost had )
RPLite is trying to find balance between speed, usability, clarity and graphics for 9x GUI like modern OSes have to too.

I think i haven't failed that task. Maybe i'm wrong. Anyway, you can still customize everything, unlike in that Vista, for example.

Agreed. I think your work is good to make Windows 98 better. Remember Windows 98 was designed for low resolution systems like 640x480 and 800x600. Today however 1024x768 is minimum resolution for most pc's and most use 1280x1024.

Just add an option in Revolutions Pack to disable certain functionality if necessary. I also would like the options of the rpconfig tool to be integrated in the setup.

You haven't failed, you're doing just fine. Your efforts are appreciated by all of us .

hp32guser, everything in the house is old, including me. Alll monitors have a max of 1024x768, so you see... I have to cope with the situation. Options to choose are best for everyone.

Oh and... Tihiy... I hope I get that stroke before having to face Vista. Hopefully not because of RPLite.

I dont think changing webview and altering applets is quite the same as running xp or vista its merely skins and such hardly a resouce drain.True that if u choose 2 run rp5 or 6 or any cosmedic program to get your dull battleship grey 98se to look modern is a little like saying why not just run xp.but on the other hand some of these apps look great on 98 and really give it a new look a well needed makeover.where does it end who knowns if u want 2 stay faithful to 98se i quess u leave its gui alone but ived yet 2 find anybody that complaints about xp icons or browerdll that looks like xp or wallpaper or themes.now if u run 98se then u probably like its simplicity or your shy on ram hardware 2 make xp run efficent enuff on your p2-233mhz running at 66mhz bus.But none of these skinning apps real effect the speed or resouces of 98 .now i no some may effect breaking application due to the user 32 .dll etc thats a small tradeoff 2 beable to change gui .Myself ived tryed all the rps and 98se2me etc all seem 2 work fine on their own thou mixed some conflicts might occur but the programmers in here are commucating and trying 2 avoid conflicts my hats off 2 them 4 that.its probably best to install a fresh 98se on a spare hardrive or vmware or virtual pc and try the program and troubleshoot any problems before u use them on your main hd.and remember alot of clever apps have spawn from these projects standalones that in themselve are great kp project,48lba,over2g fix etc.etc.so dont hassle the guys if u get frusated try it on a spare hardrive works bugs out first.thxz 4 your time.P.S this community works well when we all work 2getter,,Long Live 9x.

I agree.

Vista needs around 500 MB to boot "properly". That's just INSANE.

Hi Tihiy your work is great!
I can see that u are more prosperously from one day to another
and hope that RPlite6 will be more better than RPlite5.Thanx a lot for everything!!!
I have a few suggests for u and one question about my problem with RPlite5...

I hope that you'll take my ideas in RPlite6.
Why u don't try to make a clock in the task bar more bigger than now and the second one idea is
to make date and time properties much better with more options than now or just skinned different.
I would like it and hope many others.

And my problem with RPlite5!!!
When I add this code in shell32.dll I lose my desktop properties with right mouse click always.The code was worked in RPlite4 and older versions just fine but with RPlite5 not.I tried everything but always got error in message box.What is wrong with this code?
Do u maybe know?

Nothing wrong, but you just can no longer Reshack shell32.dll with RPLite5

Is that because RPlite5 use Xeno86's pactching method or what!?
Can u tell me how to make this change in patched shell32.dll!?

Yes, you're exactly right. There is no helping it now

Another important tricky hack:[i]
http://tihiy.ahanix.org/user6.zip
for 98SE2ME & RPLite
Small Icon Size = 16 hack
This user.exe is patched to make Small Icon Size always [not greater than] 16.
So, small icons won't be stretched when Title Bar Height>18 !
This will also allow better looking skins to be created.

Hi Tihiy look this icons please!
It's perfect for RPlite6.Go Here

Not bad, but i'm sure they are not for RPLite:
- They're copyright protected of coz;
- Not enough icons & resolutions.

Removed LameSkin preview from site because it suxx
More to come.

Has anyone noticied which day is today?

Happy birthday Tihiy.

oh, happybirthday for yesterday

Happy birthday Tihiy.Sorry for late...

Happy Birthday Tihiy.

the_guy

Thx u guys!
Okay, i promised better skins and i'm trying to fulfill my promise:
Lameskin had major overhaul resulting in better skinning and even lesser resource usage.
It is now possible to create better skins using 32-bit images.
More to come.
Vista Default:

Vista Basic:

Vista Huge:

Royale Big:

^^ Shocked?
Single line news:
First time ever [in whole RP line] RPLite6 will have a PROPER UNINSTALLER.

Happy birthday!

Those skins look pretty sweet. I'm just wondering about the problems you had skinning the taskbar. What caused you to stop development on that feature?

Too much work. Is is hard to skin existing taskbar and it is hard to create new, lightweight and functional as original one.
I can post screenshots of both projects and they may look wonderful [i've developed dedicated taskbar back in 2001], but unusable...

Oh, I also forgot to say Happy BIRTHDAY!

Your Pack is soooo cool. I get a boulder in my trousers

Yeah post that screenshots!

Cool skins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps and much better

Tihiy I like your new work, even if I have not seen it on my machine yet

If Revolutions Pack 6 becomes stable I hope you can post instructions how to combine it with MDGX's 98SEME pack.

P.S. What about the 64K GDI resources limit? Isn't that a problem using new skinning method?

For some time already, I got used to the functions offered by the DM2 project. Middle/right-click on the titlebar buttons are nice additions, amongst others. But there's one issue: skinned titlebars break those functions. Happens with my browser (SlimBrowser) currently, as I don't have other skinned applications installed.

Questions: have you tested LameSkin with DM2? Would it work? Could you make it work if it doesn't?

Thanks in advance. And enjoy a wonderful life.

I've tested and it seems to work correctly.

Wonderful! Thank you very much!

Hello Tihiy!
Check this vista icons now!!!
LINK

They are too old (5270 Feb build)

Tihiy this is a gr8 accomplishment on your side.I'm Glad to Say I have finaly Upgraded my video Card(Supports 32-Bit Color!).Anyway, you have any future updates to Version V or your starting to work on the 6


By the way...Does the RP V Lite Still Require ME Dll files?

RPLite 6 does not require ME files if you're installing it on Windows ME or Windows 98 with RPLite 5 already installed.

Im currently using RPlite V and
recently installing some programs when the install finishes or is nearly finished it crashes and comes up with an error complaining about shell32.dll

Are you using English or Multilingual version?
That's possible if MPREXE.EXE or MPR.DLL is not 4.90.3000 (ME) versions.
Anyway, point me to those programs!

english

...and what programs you were installing? PM me if you're confusing to say

Possible BUG in all RP/Lite versions
When you open document with OLE-enabled application in Explorer, for example .bmp in MSPaint, application can crash:
"PROGRAM.EXE caused error in SHELL32.DLL at 0167:005021b1"
This issue is less likely to happen with RPLite3, 4 or 5 Multilingual version.
CAUSE
Restorator and ResHacker used to replace icons in SHELL32.DLL cause some internal file structures to misalign.
RESOLUTION
Now the only way to fix it if you've expirienced this issue is to replace SHELL32.DLL with pure ME cd version.
If this issue will be reproduced in typical environment, separate fix will be released.
If not, it will be fixed in RPLite 6.

Still NO FIX for RP BUG
**** **** ****.
I've tried all possible resource changers, wrote my own, recalculated headers manually bit still no luck
Looks like only possible method left is to change icons via registry, ****.
Stay tuned.

Khm: msfn censures \d\a\m\n?!

Is it a real crash, or only some warning message. You might try to attach a debugger to see what's going wrong.
About censorship. MSFN kicks a**

Hi Tihiy

Thanks for the excellent work! I just installed RP Lite V and it kicks ahss.

The new sysprop.dll shows I have Maximus Decimas NUSB installed but I don't.

I don't know if this is related to RP. I have "expand control panel" enabled in start menu options and from the expanded control panel, system properties expands to an empty menu. If I go into the control panel system properties works fine. I had this problem with both versions of sysprop.dll.

The CAD dialog has "other options" greyed out. Is it supposed to be that way?

I have 98se2me options 2 and 3 installed.

Thanks again and keep up the good work.

1. It means you have other generic usbstor-drivers. Dunno where did you get them...
2. Yes, it will expand to an empty menu. This purely cosmetic bug will be fixed sometime.
3. This is bad. That means you've installed Network or Family logon and you're working as default (non-logged) user. To prevent security and stability bugs non-logged users are locked from running programs and using other options in CAD dialog.

Howdy Tihiy

I have a USB driver from simpletech that as far as I can tell only works for their USB cards.



I didn't have network or family logon installed. I tried installing and then uninstalling them both and it made no difference. I also couldn't access passwords and users in the control panel because of system admin but that was easy to change in the registry. I think that happened after installing RP and 98se2me as previously I could access those. Can you advise me on what to look at please? Could it be something simple in the registry?

Thanks

Hokay, annoying crash is fixed.
Time to strengen defences and release RPLite 6.
Hope it will be very soon and very stable...

>> I also couldn't access passwords and users in the control panel because of system admin but that was easy to change in the registry.
!? Do you have 'personal settings for each user' in passwords applet?

The only thing enabled in passwords is "All users of this computer use the same preferences..."

I think the time has come for RPv6 to roll out.I'm still not satisfied that you need windows ME cd to better windows 98.If anyone has the files that rp5 is asking can i please get it?I never seen the fullfeatures of Rp5 as I have to install Without the ME files.

Is there a release date?

If put ME files into RPLite, eidenk will pop out and say smth like: 'Boo you warez junky'.
I'll try to solve your problem.

RPLite6 should be available in two days.

Two days...YES!...