Classic Shell: Forum

Windows 7.0


Windows 8.1

I don't see a difference. Can you provide side by side screenshot (but as PNG, not GIF).

Im guessing windows uses 128x128 images for those icons in windows 7?, whereas windows 8 only has up to 64x64 pixel icons correct?

In Windows 8 RTM, I see properly resized icons. I haven't tried 8.1. Have MS stripped the 256 x 256 images from the icons in imageres.dll?

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Original Windows 7 menu uses different icons for different settings for the screen size (100%, 125%, 150%), which correspond to these dimensions (for example, a document icon have different number of strips). CS does not increase the icons when you zoom the screen controls.

This looks like a bug in Windows. The icons in imageres.dll are fine, but the new implementation of IShellItemImageFactory seems to be loading them incorrectly. The most obvious error is in the Control Panel icon. Parts if it are completely missing.

I will run some tests and may have to create an example for Microsoft to reproduce the problem.

May be - then use ICO instead of PNG?

If you manually set the icon in the settings it will work. The problem is if you have a link like Control Panel and then I have to get the icon using the API. Then it is corrupted.

I mean - to make reference to the ICO instead of PNG - as in the file imageres.dll images are duplicated in different formats.

I am not referencing anything. I am asking the OS to give me the image for the folder (like Control Panel). That's where it is failing.
If you manually select the icon in the start menu settings (like imageres.dll,27) then it looks OK. Because it is being loaded by my own code.

Is IShellItemImageFactory the only interface for that or the legacy IExtractIcon will also work?

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

IExtractIcon can only reliably get icons of standard sizes. Doesn't work for larger icons.

Maybe then they will have time fixed a problem in the final version, if hurry.

But the DPI problem is there on Windows 7/8.0 too. When the DPI/PPI is increased, the icon doesn't get larger like the Windows 7 menu's icon does due to this bug in IShellItemImageFactory interface?

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

No. I have decided to make the size DPI-independent for two reasons - First, the skin needs only one picture frame, not 3 or 4 like the Aero theme, and Second, I don't want to depend on icons having a larger image than 64x64.

But why 64 x 64? Then there should have been one big 256 x 256 user frame which gets shrunk and the icons too.

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Images work best at their native size, without any shrinking shenanigans. Since most people run 96 DPI, they will always see a shrunken image.

Something is amiss ... If you look at the imageres.dll using MultiExtractor - that there is only a 256x256 PNG ... Then what is the point in the 64x64?

The icons in imageres.dll contain multiple sizes and formats - from 16x16 with 2-bit colors to 256x256 with 32-bit colors. I think the highest resolution is stored as PNG and the lower are BMPs (or something similar).

MultiExtractor can easy extract resources. There are only 2 formats - ICO (up to 256x256) and 256x256 PNG. As seems from my table above - original Windows 7 get not scaled images, CS - scaled from 256x256 (Win 7 documents). Then may be enable scaling and for 125% screen trimming?

The problem is not extracting images from imageres.dll. I can do that. The problem is extracting the correct image for a given folder (like Control Panel). The API for that is "hey, Windows, give me the image for this folder". That's the buggy part. In some cases I can work around it, but in some cases I cannot.

Now look at all those icons - most likely in the Windows 8.1 icons are displayed in 8 bpp color instead of 32 bpp, so the control panel icon with a white stripe at the bottom.

In latest build - fixed.