CrustyWindows:About: Difference between revisions

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=== nLite Era ===
nLite is a tool for customizing [[:Category:Bootlegs based on Windows 2000|Windows 2000]], [[:Category:Bootlegs based on Windows XP|Windows XP]] or [[:Category:Bootlegs based on Windows Server|Windows Server 2003]] installation media. It can do a variety of things, like integrating updates (and "addons"), (like DriverPacks, Kels' All-in-One CPL Bonus, VistaDriveIconthe latest Windows update packs and security patches, Windows Media Player 11/ and Internet Explorer 8, and many more), andpreinstalling evenextra software via the setup hotfix feature, custom themes with the UXTheme patch, unattended installs (used to pre-activate the OS, and change the registration information), and even add in their own post-setup routines and drop custom files to certain locations (most notably, the Windows directory, and sometimes, Documents and Settings and other places), which is contained in the <code>$OEM$</code> folder. Because of its extensive feature set and ease of use, lots of modders use it to create the finishing bits of their creation, alongside editing the system files (and changing the image resources around) with Resource Hacker, and other important additions.
 
The early versions of nLite were first released sometime in October 2004, although it did not gain much traction until around 2005, when some early XP (including 2000, ''and [[Tomato Garden Server 2003|2003]], to a lesser extent'') bootlegs began to use the tool.
 
Examples of mods using nLite around this time are:
The latest version of this program is 1.4.9.3, and can still be [https://www.nliteos.com/download.html downloaded] today. It has not been updated for more than a decade, as the creator has switched to making a tool named NTLite, which has the same purpose, but supports editing Windows 7, 8.x, 10 and 11.
 
Despite not being updated for more than 10 years, nLite has continued to be the most popular program for making Windows XP bootlegs. So many popular Windows XP bootlegs continued to be released into the mid 2010's and beyond, such as [[Gold Windows XP 2016]], which got wide attention around the world. Even after support for Windows XP had ended, many popular Windows XP bootlegs still get released to this day.
 
=== vLite Era ===
vLite is a tool for customizing [[:Category:Bootlegs based on Windows Vista|Windows Vista]] installations, designed as a successor to nLite. Much like nLite, it allows users to remove and add components, integrate updates, add registry tweaks, add custom themes, and more. The program also looks similar to nLite, although it has a more modern UI. Although not technically supported, vLite can also be used to customize [[:Category:Bootlegs based on Windows 7|Windows 7 RTM]] (but not SP1) installs, due to its similarities to Windows Vista.
 
vLite was first released in 2006, although most bootlegs that use it were released in 2008. As many users were unable to meet Windows Vista's demanding hardware requirements at the time, most users stuck with Windows XP, and as such, vLite did not see nearly as much usage as its predecessor. It did not receive many updates and it was discontinued nearly five years before nLite.
 
Some early examples of vLite being used are:
* [[Windows Vista Lite]] (''vLite 1.1.6 on Windows XP SP3, January 14, 2009'')
 
Quite a few famousnotable Vista bootlegs were made with vLite, such as:
* [[Windows Vista Kagome Titanium SP2 Edition]] (''vLite 1.2 on Windows Vista Ultimate SP2, 2009'')
* [[Windows Vista Alienware 2010]] (''vLite, April 20, 2010'')
 
It has also been seen in a few Windows 7 RTM bootlegs, such as:
* [[Tiny7]] (''vLite 1.2 on Windows 7 RTM'')
* [[Windows 7 Apple Logo]] (''ditto'')
 
As many users were unable to meet Windows Vista's demanding hardware requirements at the time, most users stuck to just making Windows XP bootlegs with the purpose of theming it to the Windows Vista style, with the help of the many customization utilities that were available around the time the Windows customization community was booming during Windows Vista's release. Therefore, vLite did not see nearly as much usage as its predecessor. It did not receive many updates and it was discontinued nearly five years before nLite.
 
The last version of vLite was 1.2 Final, and it can still be downloaded on [https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/vLite.shtml Softpedia].
 
=== 7Customizer/RT 7 Lite era ===
In the early days of Windows 7 bootlegging, many tools were created to modify Windows 7 installations, the two most famous ones being 7Customizer by blue4603 and RT 7 Lite by the [[:Category:Bootlegs created by Reckons International Team|Rockers International Team]]. Both tools were intended to replace the notably absent vLite and nLite, and allowed creators to slipstream updates, add and remove programs, add registry tweaks, add custom themes, and more, similar to the feature set of previous Windows installation media customizing solutions.
 
7Customizer was first released in October 2009, and is thus far more common in bootlegs created between 2009 and 2011, but bootlegs in the collection that were made with it remain to be seen, and yet to be catalogued in this wiki.
 
RT 7 Lite was released in late 2010, and as such many more notable and popular bootlegs were made with it, a unique example being [[Windows 7 FaceBooK Edition 2012]].
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