LogonXP developer release...

First some technical details:

Windows XP comes with a logon program called logonui.exe. This contains the nice looking logon screen when you bootup. Very soon after release, technical proficient users discovered they could use a resource hacker and make their own logons. These replacement logonui's have become quite popular. But because they it requires using a resource hacker, most casual users and artists have not really been comfortable using it.

The result has been that mcuh of the logonui's floating around us other people's graphics (rips). I.e. some author's wallpapers are taken by someone else and turned into a logonui without permission.

Moreover, since you're replacing the actual logonui, if something goes wrong, very bad things can happen.

That's where LogonXP comes into play. When you install LogonXP, it works like most other skinnable programs, your logons are in sub-directories. Those subdirectories contain no EXE's but instead contain a collection of bitmaps and a text file describing where they go. So it's very easy to make your own. LogonXP then talks to the LogonUI and applies it. No additional overhead or resources are required to do it this way.

LogonXP also has several safety features - if you somehow "hose up" things it lets you restore to the default Windows XP logon and ensures that you can always recover via the Ctrl-Alt-Del logon pop up.

LogonXP also can import Logonui.exe and save them in its format (there is no logonui.exe format as it's Microsoft's .exe afterall). So you can take your logonui.exe's you've downloaded and import them very easily (and reliably) into LogonXP.

LogonXP is going to be freeware.

If are interested in creating your own XP logons and would like to try it to either make your own XP logons or convert your logonui.exe's, email [email protected] to get a private build.