SKIN WARS

from WinCustomize Forums
...A long time ago...

Which is more popular with skin authors? Given some of the 'tude I've seen by people on other forums you'd think that msstyles ruled Britainia! But it ain't so. As far as I'm concerned all skinning is good. As a WB fan, it peeves me when I see some WB skinner make a post on a forum and some guy says "You should have made it msstyles that's what all the other skinners use".

Using themeXP and Wincustomize for benchmarks:

Nov 2001
WindowBlinds skins: 1,416
Msstyles: 63

November 2002
WindowBlinds skins: 1,916
Msstyles: 578

August 2003
WindowBlinds skins: 2,387
Msstyles: 948

Stats:
WindowBlinds skins created per day: 1.48 per day (1.37 per day avg in 2001 to 2002 and 1.72 per day in 2002 to 2003)

Msstyles skins created per day: 1.34 per day (1.41 per day in 2002 to 2002 and 1.35 per day 2002 to 2003)

Conclusions
Notes: After a good burst msstyle skinning slowed down. Lots of Msstyles are basically duplicate. Lots of recolorizations. Lots of Aqua skins as a percentage. WC also allows skinners to auto remove their submissions. I bet there are another couple hundred skins where the skin author has removed them for various reasons over the years.

In conclusion, WB skinning is alive and well and growing!


4,797 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I would say that since its release last year, Sysmetrix seem to have been a more popular application to skin than WB. In its short time of availability there has been produced a little over 900 skins (averageing just around 3 skins per day) - and nothing indicates that fewer skins will be made in the future.

In the 5 years WB have existed around 4100 skins have been turned out averaging at around 2.2 skins... per day. Not alot of applications can throw those kind of figures around!!

food for thought huh....
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
What absolutely amazes is me is that Winamp.com houses a library of nearly 20,000 Winamp2 skins! Wow!
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
mmmm, I think the point was skipped a bit...

apps are not the point, the point is GUI...

of course I might be totally off base and wackybobo

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
20,000 WinAMP skins....includes 19,000 photoskins of Britney's boobs....[almost]...
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Snowman: Apples and oranges comparison.

Sysmetrix is much easier to skin than WindowBlinds (or msstyles). It's like trying to compare Winamp to WindowBlinds. The easier a thing is to skin, the more skins per user will be made.

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
#5 by Admin Jafo - 8/25/2003 5:39:42 PM

Yes, so, whats the point you are making?
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Styl....Photoskins....Britney's boobs or otherwise, are made by point-and-click junk skin-maker proggies requiring exactly zero intelligence/ability/effort....that's why there are so many WinAMP skins....
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
but don´t forget the best skins are also done for Winamp. you hardly will find skinners of the same skill as Kriptoner, Kinwashi, 883Designs, Uriel, Bartibartman, Mikkeh, Adam1975, Monaux, Intolerat3d, Jason Lange or DJ-Designs for any other application.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I would like to say that "quality" is more important than "quantity". Having used both MSS styles in the past for some time and now that i am a converted Windowsblindite i can truly say that Windowblinds skinners have "quality" by the bucket load. The only really talented skinner in MSS styles that i ever came across in the type of skins that are my preference was Chaninja and i have a sneaking suspicion that he may join us here at some stage soon.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'd take quality over quantity any day. If obscure app X has one great skin, whilst popular app Y has a dozen crap ones, I'll go with X.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sysmetrix is much easier to skin than WindowBlinds (or msstyles). It's like trying to compare Winamp to WindowBlinds. The easier a thing is to skin, the more skins per user will be made


Frogboy, I agree with you. I was not trying to 'compare' the two apps, in such