Alfie . . good post.

A few things . . Only Island Dog is a Stardock employee and he wasn't cocky.  The other posts, the tongue firmly planted in cheek ones . . well . . that's the community.  If they can be helpful . . they will be super-duper helpful . . but if they can't . . they'll likely have some fun.

No one was mean in their replies.  I'd classify it as playful.

ObjectDesktop is a suite of good applications created and supported by a great company (at a price-point that cannot be beat).  I highly recommend it.

Zubaz...thank you

I understand if others are just having fun, but they must think that if someone takes the time to post and they have no information for them, then the best thing to do is not to reply.
When a person has a question most do not appreciate it when others decide to poke/have fun with a valid concern.
You are correct that Island Dog didn't reply in a mean or angry way, but he didn't answer the question at hand. He basically said buy our product which will give you access to the beta.
My answer to that is...I am not sure I want to buy anything as of yet. I have tried several of the programs which all had issues (other than objectdock which seems to work very well and I have recommended it to others).
Windowblinds and WindowFX both are programs I am very interested in but both have issues on Vista Home Premium. I am an IT professional and know how to find fixes via the forums, but in this case since I am new to Stardock I need to see proof before I purchase.

Thank you

Alfie, what Zubaz said explains it all.  

Take a look through the forum at what Stardock has released. Once you do that you might get a feeling that most of us here in the community are willing to wait until they feel the update is ready for release.

We do have fun replying on posts where some folks do seem somewhat impatient. That's what a community does, we don't want to loose anyone from here because of a missed release date. The programs here are a true value and well worth the wait.   

You make a good point.  Once you know us you understand . . but you have to get to know us. 
But . . you have to admit . . that asking the same question over and over again  . . . when the answer really is "no one knows and SD isn't saying" doesn't serve much point and spreading some humor at least provides some entertainment.  

WindowsFX is not Vista certified.  I have used the Minimize to (active) thumnail successfully but Vista has it's own preview and the WB skins I use have their own shadows so I can't talk to that.

Please start a new post about your WB issues on Home Premium . . lets see if we can't find a fix.    

I hope the Wincustomize servers can hold up to the increased traffic as I feel certain the Dream downloads will increase dramatically once it is released. :NOTSURE: 

On the positive side, our download counts should rise along with it.  

Philly0381.....thanks for your reply.

I understand your point, but mine has gone unanswered. I am willing to wait and have no problems with patience. I do think that those less patient deserve some sort of update.

It is not my fault that Stardock advertised a release, and now leave it up in the air.

A simple March 08, June 08, November 08, or February 09 for that matter would do.

Things happen when trying to ready software for public release, so I do not hold it against anyone for the delay, But I do believe that people who are seeking asnwers in the form of a timeframe for the release, or an update explaining the delay is not asking too much.

Thank you.

Hello all!!!

Since mine other people questions aren't being answered on here, I figured I would try the obvious.

I called the Stardock Sales team.

Apparently the tentative release date is tomorrow 02-27-08, but there is no information as to any delays of the release of Deskscapes 2.0 as of yet. SO check tomorrow, if it isn't there it may take a while...be patient!

I should note that people will typically not give exact release dates in the event the product is delayed because someone will always come back and say..."well "x" told me..."

When there is more information about the release, it will be announced.  Otherwise, we don't want to release something that isn't fully ready. 

Folks, I think if Alfie414 keeps this up he just might become a new member of the community. What do you all think?  

I are anxiously in anticipation of this too too much but...it can't get here before it get here...  

As the OP of this topic, I must say I grew impatient and purchased OD. I have to say, it was one of the best $109 purchases I've ever made, that's right, $109....because of my stupidity.

I added the online DL of OD, $50, but didn't realize I somehow added the cd version, $50, and then $10 for shipping, LOL, so, I made the order, all was good, checked my email to validate OD, and wham!! $109 purchase. I'm like, WTF, however, I called Stardock, very nice people, they stopped shipment, refunded everything except the OD $50 download, and now I am using Deskscapes on Vista Home, having 0 problems, and loving it everyday!!!

OD also has a grip load of useful programs, so, Alfie414, if you really want Deskscapes like I did, buy OD, you will not regret it, and then have a blast with Deskscapes. It truly is an amazing program, and with everything that you get with OD, it's definitely worth it.

Hilarious how far this post has gone.

Good job Stardock!!!!

JHG120:  Thanks for coming back adn posting.  It's more rare for folks to say nice things in a forum.  I saw this post updated adn was prepared for the worst.  Thanks for ruining my expectations.      

  Zubaz spelt "and" wrong twice  

I doubt it's a record.  
At least I am consistant, right?

Consistency is your strong suit.    

There is a version of DeskScapes that runs on all versions of Vista available right now. It's on Object Desktop right now.

As far as a publicly available free version, we don't have a firm date yet.

does it run vista 64bit ???
the deskscapes 2.0
and desk objects

I have a suggestion: we all know that OD subscribers have had access to the beta for over a month now (and yes, your November announcement stated the final public release of DS 2 would be in Feb 2008. I believe it still says that). Anyway, I like many others have purchased far more than $49.00 worth of SD products over the years. I receive betas on SD Central, so why not release the Deskscapes beta to those with SD Central. That should keep everyone happy until the public release. Just a thought.

I can only hope that they will have resolved the missing MPEG-2 Codec error on Vista X64 Business before the release.

Described Here:

https://forums.stardock.com/?forumid=260&aid=301503


I don't think that there is anyone with X64 Business that has it working properly. The WMV's work, but not the MPEG-2's. This is with trying both free (CCCD, Vista Codecs Pack), and paid for codecs (Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra).

Users have said it works with Vista X86, but not X64.

Like many here, I've been waiting patiently for the arrival of DeskScapes for Vista Home Premium. But I've grown increasingly impatient and am very close to breaking down and just buying the whole ObjectDesktop package so I can get the beta. If this was StarDock's business plan, congratulations, it succeeded. But $50 is a lot of money to plunk down just to try something. I bought the full OD package years ago and was continually frustrated at the clunkiness of the way the pieces fit together as a suite. But that was in the early days of XP, so I'm hoping the program has changed now that PCs are more powerful and have cycles to spare. Here goes nothing . . .

If you have any problems . . post here in the forums.  We'll do what we can and if it's not enough . . there is always support.

Thanks. I do appreciate this forum and support.

I downloaded OD while at home on my lunch break. I only had about 30 minutes to tinker, and I'm going to have to tinker some more this evening. I'll figure it out.

I have to report, regretfully, that the clunkiness of OD is still there. Here's a walkthrough of what a new user faces: OK, let's purchase ObjectDesktop. Click buy and complete the purchase. You don't actually get to download OD right away, of course, you have to install Stardock Central. (No big deal for me, I get it, but can you see how this process can already be off the rails for a new user who thought he was purchasing a program and not an interface?) OK, Stardock Central installed. Now I get to install DeskScapes, right? Well, not sure. Have you checked the "show beta" version (or similar) so that you can actually download the version you need? OK, I think so. Great, seems to be installed now. Run the program, open folder containing dreams. Nothing there, even though I thought it came with three dreams by default. No matter, I'll go to Wincustomize and download a dream. "Solar Flare" in the featured list looks good, let's try that. OK, a few minutes to download a 140MB file. Done. Where is the dream file? Can't find it. Lunch break is over, back to work. This will have to wait.

Please don't take any of the above as gratuitous whining, just as an honest observation of what it was like to purchase OD and try to get it going again. This experience was very much like my first time with OD years ago. I was really hoping it would be more seamless.

I'm not a newbie to software, and I enjoy tinkering and getting something to work. It's just nice when software doesn't need that. I'll spend more time with OD and DeskScapes this evening and report back, I hope, with some success.

Hopefully Impulse (the replacement for SDC) will alliviate some of that. I think I read in another post that ODNT subscribes will download the full pack of apps in thier version of the suite by default.

Constructive feedback is always appreciated by Stardock. 

You may have been asked this before Zubaz.... Do you work for Stardock?

We all work for Brad to various degrees. Only some of us know how much.
I've been known to do this and that.