Zubaz,thanks for your time. I'll try to be concise. I'm new to skinning, I'm a user. I went looking
for a launcher and found ObjectDock, then Wincustomize,then Object Desktop. I bought Object Desktop, saved $10 and spent about 24 hrs. downloading it ONE piece at a time. I then needed to move it to a new computer. Do I buy a CD or find the archives by poking around in Program Files & other places, not knowing where they were? (You are advised to put them on a CD by Stardock when you buy OD). I found them & put them on a CD, so you have to know how to find things in Program Files to do that. I decided to buy a CD and install them that way. I waited until after WindowBlinds 6 was out to make sure I got it on a CD. You are told that you get a snapshot of Object Desktop; that means to me that you get Object Desktop, that is, all of the components. I got WindowBlinds 5.0 (not even 5.5), an equally old version of IconPackager & Skin Studio. I forget exactly what else is on it. I opened Stardock Central and saw what was there: nearly nothing. I had to verify who I was. I started downloading. At least two more times I had to verify
who I was; at basically every new program, I had to agree to something in order to proceed to the next download. After a few hours (dialup), I made a list of some of the things NOT on the CD:
IconX, Object Edit,Object Sweeper, Object Bar, DeskScapes (understandable, to a degree), Tweak Shell, Tweak Vista (again, somewhat reaonable) & Stardock Bitmaps. I may have missed some, because I waited awhile. That isn't a snapshot, and where is WindowBlinds 6, which on the very same page you order the CD from, I believe, had a countdown screen announcing it's pending arrival. I think it's reasonable to expect to get v.6. I spent two days watching it download because it doesn't load by itself.
I eventually contacted Sales, and their reply was that there still isn't a release date for a CD that includes v.6, and, that it's unlikely to include the entirety of Object Desktop when that day arrives. I can't figure out why not. So; you can't actually get Object Desktop on a CD, and downloading it is a cumbersome step by step process.
For Theme Manager, I'd like to see it as the applier of themes, as it is now, and individual components (not having to make it a theme). That is, to act as IconPackager, for instance; to be able to view the package, or WindowBlinds skin, etc., and apply it in the manner IconPackager or WindowBlinds does. I'm looking for a central skin application tool to make it easier for a newcomer to change any or all skins the same way from one location, that logically being Theme Manager in an expanded version. The whole thing is knowledge intensive, and scares off most people.
I'm sure it could eventually be made easier to get, and easier to do the basic things like applying a skin.
To show the state of my knowledge, I'd like somebody to tell me how to find the codes for DX weather widgets, and how to apply them.
All this doesn't detract from the fact that Object Desktop is wonderful thing. If I've got it right, there are only 40 employees putting the whole thing together. That would be amazing.
Thanks