VLC Media Player is an open source, cross-platform, skinnable media player. As sryo informs me, the most notable feature of this new version, for us skinners that is, is its support for WinAmp2 skins.

VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

Here is a short overview of the main features provided by the skins2 interface:

• Portability: skins work on Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP, and any X11-based OS like Linux

• Ability to load a skin dynamically

• Many predefined controls (button, slider, playlist, etc…)

• Same dialog boxes as the wxWidgets interface

• Resizable windows

• Support for different layouts

• Windows anchoring

• Hotkeys support

• Embedded video output (still experimental)

Its native skins2 engine supports freeform skinning and is quite advanced, so why anyone would prefer those archaic WinAmp2 skins over this is beyond me. However, this support ofcourse does give it instant access to a massive library of skins. So from that point of view, it's quite understandable. || craeonics | comments

Jorge Coelho's WinStep suite of apps used to be just that, a number of apps (most notably NextStart and WorkShelf) that fitted the same theme. But evolution has finally struck, for WinStep Xtreme promises to be a synergy of the two.

Those of you that have taken a peek at the screenshot below will have probably spotted two things eyecandy-wise: widgets (‘shelf independent desktop modules’) and per pixel alpha blending.

“Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

Winstep Xtreme is a change in the direction of the Winstep 2000 Project, one where focus is more on the desktop environment as a whole rather than on individual applications. Although NextSTART and WorkShelf are — and will continue to be — individual applications that can be run independently of one another, they only make perfect sense when run together. The user experience provided by running NextSTART and WorkShelf together proves, without a doubt, that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. […]

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme relative to Winstep Full Pak? There are too many new features to list here, but the following is an highlight of some of the most important:

• Per pixel alpha

• PNG Icon support

• Special FX

• Individual Hotspot Button bitmaps

• Task Snapshots

• Tasklist Context Menus

• Full Task function Support

• Image and Video Thumbnails

• Send To, Open With, context menu options

• Shelf-Independent Desktop Modules

• ‘Wallpaper’ Modules

• Optional ‘Auto Arrange’ Desktop Modules function

• Desktop Module Animation Support

• Proxy Support

• WorkShelf Hotkeys

• Reorganized and simplified Preferences

• Increased Performance

There are literally hundreds of other new features, changes and fixes, far too many to list all of them here. But this is not all: many more mind blowing features are scheduled to be added before Winstep Xtreme goes final. Become part of the Xtreme experience now!”

It seems like WinStep has taken a step in the right direction. It promises to be more than its individual apps separately, jumps on the current widget bandwagon and looks towards the future with its alpha support.

The cynic in me would say that these enhancements are market driven, widgets being the current hype and alpha because the next Windows promises a lot of that, rather than innovation driven. But then again, it is a product ($39.90), so that was to be expected. || craeonics | comments

Alwact Clock is a skinnable analogue clock. It does opacity, can zoom upto 400% and has support for alphablended skins.

“Alwact Clock is an analog desktop clock featuring skins, transparency and zoom. It is possible to set the refresh delay ranging from a few milliseconds(continuous second hand rotation) to a minute. You can also make your own skins using any image edition software supporting PNG.

Version 1.1 now uses GDI+ for enhanced graphics (requires installing GDI+ redistributable on Windows 2000, which is already present on Windows XP).”

I like this app. For the first time I'm actually using a clock app. It's small, simple and that ‘Hands Only’ skin looks pretty sexy when zoomed four times. I'm a sucker for alpha. || craeonics | comments (1)