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Not long ago, I had to retake some screen shots for my documentation
and, to keep the look consistent, I changed my theme from XP to Classic,
with the same colors, as well. After changing back and forth a couple of
times (retaking screen shots or getting new ones I wasn't aware of
needing), I noticed that I had a combination of Classic and XP going on!
Some of the windows were Classic, some XP, and the task bar was missing,
at one point! It popped up like it was supposed to, but was blank. I
moved the cursor over it and SOME of the items showed up, but most
didn't. The ones that did were almost like a negative image in
coloration. After getting all of my screen shots, I rebooted and it
seemed to clear things up. IIRC, there was even one window that had
attributes of both XP and Classic at the same time! The graphics cards
I'm using are probably not the best, but I don't think they were the
cause. Still, I'm not sure of that.
Samuel I. Beard, Jr.
Technical Writer
OI Analytical
979 690-1711 Ext. 222
sbeard -at- oico -dot- com
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+sbeard=oico -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sbeard=oico -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Cardimon, Craig
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 8:53 AM
To: Chris Borokowski
Cc: Techwr-l
Subject: RE: Windows themes and documentation
Thanks for the suggestion.
As far as "This is not all that uncommon." Well, color me surprised.
After switching back and forth between Classic and XP a few times to see
what was going on, I also found out my carefully customized changes to
Word were gone. Color me dismayed -- and wiser.
Craig
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Borokowski [mailto:athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 9:28 AM
To: Cardimon, Craig; Techwr-l
Subject: Re: Windows themes and documentation
This is not all that uncommon. If you spent some time
as a developer making an app look great under Windows
classic, it's tempting to preserve that as an option.
If the changes are in appearance only, I would
document for the Windows XP default theme and leave a
Tip or Note: Screenshots may appear different under
Windows classic., and note after that any changes that
could alter instructions.
> I knew that, in general, squared and gray windows,
> messages, and dialog
> boxes would now have rounded corners in Windows XP
> and look flashier,
> but it seems the buttons specific to the application
> change, too. The
> app appears to detect the theme.
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