Now why would I want that? My goal is to be the best. Popular or not, if it ends up being more popular.. too.. then hey.. bonus.

...and how much income can be derived for ones bills and family which, to be frank is my #1 concern. (being an artiste, even the best, comes second) Lest we forget this became a profession for me many moons ago.

As far as clients go, each and every person that buys one of my themes I consider.. a client \ customer and my work, obviously reflects what I think they will like overall... as well as a personal inner drive to provide quality\ease of use\length of use. A happy customer is typically a repeat customer.

Have no illusions , as much as I love what I do, I am first and foremost in this to provide for my family, and in being so, popular is not only good, its manditory.

In Win 7 per pixel I'm fairly positive you can not... and frankly.. having buttons on the side is 1. not terribly creative 2. not very functional  3. pretty offputting.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think I would move them if I could, Titlebuttons are one area that binds familiarity. in the words of some great man.. just because you can, doesnt mean you should.

now now, lets not get political   I'm a fiscal and social Reagan conservative at heart... that it should spill over.. not a shocker.

So say we all to that. There is absolutely nothing creative or original about an orb winflag start button.

As for the skin...not a fan of red but man that is fierce! I like the detail on the tray as well, that's cool.

I kind of agree about the titlebar buttons though.

Well, the start button is a total winner and as usual, you're making very balanced decisions between the art and the marketability and that's completely understandable...especially since the art is so excellent. I'm truly impressed by your judgment here. Very well done, John.

As for the branding? I'd love to see a pair of fangs with a drop of venom...or a scorpion's stinger with a drop of venom...just a thought.

Maybe it's just me but...these ideas on this skin definitely fall into ''pushing the envelopes'' even further.

Look at the titlebuttons, look at those lightings, the lights on the start menu, like the ones when u put them on a wall, the reflections, shadows, fading light on the edges of right click menu(typical for this author),

and those 45 degree lines which add something further insto a skin

and that mouse over lighting, hahah, unbelievable

It's impossible to satisfy everyones wishes, expectations, tastes...

this author created so many (different) skins so IMHO he definitely ''pushed the envelope'', raised some standards, and inspired many others to try the same.

hehe reminds of this

http://www.offensive-security.com/backtrack-wallpaper.jpg

Ooh, now a dragon would be cool.

Interesting conversation between John and Paul.

I have been a long time admirer of John's work and his work is always 'out of the top drawer'. I have virtually all his skins..........some bought by me and others were bought by friends and family for Xmas and Birthday pressies. You can see that John puts a huge amount of effort - heart and soul - into each skin and that shows in the quality - but not just quality. Looking at his skins...........they vary from being minimilistic to quite complex.........but never overdone. There are many skins in 'his box' - of different types - that would suit everyone's taste. This one certainly looks very promising. Finally, one area that I tend to judge a skin is how long it stays on my desktop and what matching gadgets and widgets I can put with it...............I would say the Sexy and Naked Noir WB's have been virtually the only skins on my laptop for ages.

Trying to stick with ideas directly tied to Venom.... Dragons had venom? Napalm, yes. Venom? No. No sparkling Vampires.

ask a few one legged or widowed Indonesian islanders about the Komodo

Seriously, thank-you everyone for your comments and interest, certainly was interesting.

I believe Paul, under that button pushing surface probably would like to see me excel even more and I don't take his words lightly.. Unfortunately, unless you have walked in my, and some other skinners shoes, it's hard to understand just how difficult WB and the current OS is to make themes that are sky high and grounded at the same time, especially when your asking someone to rob the piggy bank to slap them on their desks.

As far as dragons, its a nice idea, but I don't want to get too cliche with the blind, for the reasons mentioned above.. but.. it is early days.

just want to say it's great! i'll definitely buy it ! let me see...i paid you total....30US$! 35 soon

Watch the new Life special on Discovery.

How about a pic of my ex if you want venom! Snakes would flee from her!  

Yup, customisation should steer well clear of that artifact/relic/POS.

Supposed to be changing how Windows looks... not stealing/keeping little bits of it.

So again, fuck the winflag/winflag orb.

I'm sure that I posted this already, but it don't seem to be here...

John, I want to do a DX theme, weather, and maybe some docks for this, if you want. This is sweet!

I love the color combination. And the attention to detail that we've become accustomed to from you.

I will be called a suck up but in my book, you are at the very least one of the best. Probably don't mean much coming from me, but I have been a fan for a long time, and aspire to be as good as you.

I understand about feeding your family and paying the bills. Keep doing what you do, John!