Anakey

Join Date 10/2008

Update on Object Desktop App Develepment?

Ok, first of all, i know there has been quite a lot of work done on windowblinds and deskscapes, however i was wondering if they had been any progress as yet on some of the Aplications that were talked about over the winter when OD10 was released things like a right click replacement, a new version of windowfx that was supposed to take some of the new graphic enhancements of 7 back to vista and xp and rebuilding Desktop x. I know that i am probably going to be shot down in flames for saying this but it seems that over the past few years the focus of stardock has turned to games rarther then its place in the apps market with Demigod and sins last year and now Elemental. I thank stardock for offering Object desktop as a service enabling access to great apps like wb and deskscapes however i would like to see some development in some of the other applications, even Fences Pro which was promising features like skinnable fences seems to have been put on the back burner. I guess what i am saying is its all fine that there is great things said when a new OD edition comes out but its no good if the things that are said don't come into fruition.

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Philly0381

Join Date 11/2004

+844

Anakey you are voicing some of the same concerns that alot of the WC Community have and you won't get shot down in flames from any of us. I think we all understand that Stardock has limited resources when it come to Developers and Programmers.

One thing we have always been able to count on is some straight no BS responses from Brad. It might be time for one of them again.

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I for one would like to see the new RightClick or its replacement.

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c242

Join Date 03/2001

+379

I was warning about this for some time and even was demoted once for that. All the big Bla from Brad and NOTHING came out from that. Instead we read always the same excuses from poor freshly hired people that don't know anything about the history of all this mess.

we have always been able to count on is some straight no BS responses from Brad

Yes and what did those change ?

Brad, remember Your words : "I will care for ODNT personally now.", "ODNT gets some love" etc.pp. NOTHING ever changed - in the contrary it has gotten worse.

IT IS A SHAME !

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Since Brads original post we have had a number of software updates as well as the addition of one totally new product.

Fences Pro was added to ObjectDesktop and has had a 1.01 update recently.
WindowBlinds 7, 7.01 and 7.1 were released on ObjectDesktop.
IconPackager 5 was released on ObjectDesktop
DeskScapes 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 were released on ObjectDesktop.
SkinStudio 7.0, 7.01 and 7.1 were released on ObjectDesktop.
Tweak 7 was also released on ObjectDesktop.
DesktopX 4 beta was released on ObjectDesktop.
SoundPackager had an update too.

Right now I am aware of the following updates due to go on ObjectDesktop at some point in the near future (assuming they pass QA)

ThemeManager with support for Windows 7. This was up as a beta, but has not made it to release status yet. This should be happening soon.
IconPackager 5.01 update
WindowBlinds 7.1a update

Looking slightly more long term (before end of the year) I would expect to see WindowFX 4 appear on ObjectDesktop and I wouldn't be surprised to see some small updates to WB, SKS and DS too.

There may be other long term things that are due for release before the end of the year, but I am only aware of the projects that I am directly working on (WB, SKS, DS and WFX).

I wouldn't expect to hear much from Brad until Elemental has been released as the last days of game development tend to be a little hectic! After that I would hope to see more direct involvement from Brad and as far as I know there is no game planned for 2011.

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c242

Join Date 03/2001

+379

Well, DesktopX 4 is a disaster and OD 2 is missing all it's functionality besides that 'pay for preview' marketing catastrophe. Useful apps like RightClick have been discontinued and bugs in even released apps remain unfixed for years. And I won't start about the new homepage and the ongoing forum-problems.

And to be honest : As an OD and WC subscriber I don't care about those games at all. I want to have a value in what I have purchased. And that is not games.

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OD 2 is missing all it's functionality besides that 'pay for preview' marketing catastrophe.

Works fine for me and all I can say about the marketing ""catastrophe"" comment is

I won't start about the new homepage and the ongoing forum-problems.

But you did....

The site is much more reliable now then it has been in years.

As an OD and WC subscriber I don't care about those games at all.

It's what makes the bread and butter that allows the development of the OD items to continue. Inconvienient, perhaps, but you should take that into consideration.

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Works fine for me

The list of features/config options left out of the OD2.0 beta is well known. To make most settings now you need 1.9 and 2.0 installed.

The site is much more reliable now then it has been in years.

I don't know how WC was prior to 2008 so I can't comment on past performance. Current performance is getting better but like ObjectDock, features and functions we all need and use are still missing. The dedicated people working on the site have done a very good job of both updating it and keeping us posted on developments. (Something the ODNT team hasn't done, aside from Neil Banfield.)

It's what makes the bread and butter that allows the development of the OD items to continue.

That may be, but on the other hand, it could also be that the money we spent on our subs (ODNT and WC) has been used for funding game development we have no interest in whatsoever. It is Frogboys company and his money to use as he sees fit, after all, but If I subscribed to a magazine that put out 12 issues a year and suddenly they decide on 9 or 10(or whatever #, take a guess) but some of those have pages missing or blank, or delivery became a 'whenever we get around to it' thing I think I would find something else to read.

I would like for Stardock to remain wildly successful in both the Gaming and Desktop App fields, but I feel one should not suffer due to more focus being on the other, especially if both user groups have paid their money in good faith, believing patches, bug fixes, updates,etc. will be delivered as promised.

Stardock, your "cutting edge" has gone dull.

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the money we spent on our subs (ODNT and WC) has been used for funding game development

That money would barely scratch the surface of bandwidth consumption $$ I bet.

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And to be honest : As an OD and WC subscriber I don't care about those games at all. I want to have a value in what I have purchased. And that is not games.

Agreed wholeheartedly with everyone here but Phoon....sorry dude...lol.

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Agreed wholeheartedly with everyone here but Phoon....sorry dude...lol.

I never said I disagree with the statement, I just understand that games probably generates more revenue for SD, thus allowing the continued development of the customization apps.

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Quoting Phoon,

reply 10

Agreed wholeheartedly with everyone here but Phoon....sorry dude...lol.

I never said I disagree with the statement, I just understand that games probably generates more revenue for SD, thus allowing the continued development of the customization apps.

But what you are saying implies that we non-gamers, who paid for what we're supposed to get from Stardock/Wincustomize, should sit quietly and take a backseat to the gaming development end of Stardock's business.

We non-gamers want what we paid for to work, and that should not depend on the gaming end of the business. When we bought our subs, we weren't told that the success of our apps would depend on the success of the gaming end.

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Let me be blunt.

I'm not saying a fucking thing other than what I said. It is plain english and implies nothing more than what it clearly states in easy to read text.

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Quoting Phoon,

reply 12

Let me be blunt.

I'm not saying a fucking thing other than what I said. It is plain english and implies nothing more than what it clearly states in easy to read text.

Understood. Wasn't accusing you of anything.

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kyogre12

Join Date 07/2008

+100

As an OD and WC subscriber I don't care about those games at all.

It's what makes the bread and butter that allows the development of the OD items to continue. Inconvienient, perhaps, but you should take that into consideration.

This is wrong, actually. The customization software is where most of Stardock's money comes from. More specifically, the fact that much of it comes bundled on new computers sold by HP, Dell, etc. According to Brad, Elemental (yes, a game) can take pretty much however long they want it to, because they make plenty of money from the software side (that's in some old Elemental dev journal, if you're interested).

Personally, I both play their games and use their other software, although I do a lot more gaming. To be completely honest, right now you all sound like the gamers. They're all complaining that Sins of a Solar Empire isn't getting enough support and patches, or that updates promised for Demigod haven't happened yet, or that Elemental won't be done on time. Back in February Brad said he would do a small update for Galactic Civilizations 2 in his spare time, and that hasn't happened yet. The point is, you guys complaining about such and such program being broken or not being supported sounds exactly like the games complaining such and such game being broken or not supported. Rather humourous, I thought.

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c242

Join Date 03/2001

+379

The customization software is where most of Stardock's money comes from

That is what I understood from different readings, too.

The point is, you guys complaining about such and such program being broken or not being supported sounds exactly like the games complaining such and such game being broken or not supported.

Then it is even worse than I thought...

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Quoting Phoon,

reply 6

OD 2 is missing all it's functionality besides that 'pay for preview' marketing catastrophe.

Works fine for me and all I can say about the marketing ""catastrophe"" comment is (picture of wine and cheese).

There is no need to call us whiners. I however am going to stand fast here and add the statement I made in a previous thread. SD has problems with software development and manpower. They however are there problems not mine. I want the value I paid for in the products I paid for. In today's economy and with the amount of people looking for work you cannot tell me they cannot find competent manpower to assist them. I do not believe that for one second. I have seen the resumes of top programmers come across my desk 100 fold in the last 6 months.

Let me ask you this question...

If Dell has an issue how long do you think they wait for a fix or answer as to why and when it will be addressed?

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I for one think Fences was one of the best app ideas ever (especially once icons stopped magically moving around after I was playing Touhou fullscreen). So Stardock has my vote for quality software there. IconPackager did not work as well for me, replacing icons I didn't want replaced and the like, although I will say I have a lot more knowledge of the Windows registry now than I did before...

You do make a valid point anarkys, but I think part of the problem may not be the fact that they can't find competent manpower, but that said competent manpower wants more money than what Stardock is offering (for reasons I won't dwell upon, I just hope they're reasonable and not because they're just being greedy). I do agree though, that I too want to see the $50 I paid for ODNT come back. It's close, but still not quite there.

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Disturbedcomputer

Join Date 02/2007

+137

I am seeing a lot of SD apps getting buggier then ever and there support

Support use to be fast my ticket for WB's Explorer Background as be up since July 18th 2010 and the last time they sent me an E-Mail was July 23rd 2010

over a month now and they got it on hold..

WindowBlinds 7.1 .... Explorer Backgrounds is Always Checked on and I don't have it on

IconPackager 5 ........ It Don't like adding the Icon Packages to it or like appling them you (I) have to do it 2 to 4 times and even then some just will not go in

DeskScapes 3.2 ....... IS WORKING wow

SkinStudio 7.1 . ....... will not let me install both SKS 7 and SKS 7 pro I use to be able to have both now it wont let you turn MSstyles into WindowBlinds it tells me every time it can't find the INI ... I don't know if that is SD or msstyles doing it but either way if it is not going to work then import msstyle should not be on SKS pro 7

DesktopX 4 ............... A lot ok I have not found a Weather wiget yet that will let me add my Zip code. 662xx

CursorFX 2.05 ........... It don't realy Like Win 7 64bit I would Like to use it can for a little bit then it starts acting up and Messes with OD 1.9 and other stuff to

LogonStudio ............. IS WORKING wow

Fences Pro ............... IS WORKING wow but I have only been useing it for 1 week maybe 2

MyColors .................. I HATE this it is stupid I have WB I (We) should not have to have this to get the Skins for ODNT

And way do I have this In my SD folder in the start menu >> Upgrade to Object Desktop << I have Object Desktop..

and like someone eles Don't get me stsrted on the New Site here a bug there a bug every ever a bug old MCWincustomize has a bug E-I-E-I-O

I do like the software would like it even MORE without all the bugs.. maybe I can call Orkin...

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Import msstyle isn't in SKS 7 Pro and never has been and I am unsure why you would want SKS7 and SKS7 Pro installed as SKS7 offers a subset of the SKS7 Pro features.

If you get a message about no ini then are you sure you are not trying to import a Vista / 7 msstyle? The import tool can only import XP msstyle files and we have never claimed otherwise.

WindowBlinds is due an update in September so I will make sure we look at why you are having problems with the explorer background. This isn't normal for explorer backgrounds.

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DesktopX 4 ............... A lot ok I have not found a Weather wiget yet that will let me add my Zip code. 662xx

Actually the weather widgets (most of them anyway) handle the zip codes just fine. It's the DX weather gadgets that frequently have the zip problem.

Ron

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Disturbedcomputer

Join Date 02/2007

+137

Import msstyle isn't in SKS 7 Pro and never has been and I am unsure why you would want SKS7 and SKS7 Pro installed as SKS7 offers a subset of the SKS7 Pro features.

because it's in impulse and too import MSstyle

when I clcick on SKS pro 7 this is what opens but when I click on about it is V 5.0.1 bulit 1112

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/null]null[/URL] at 2010-08-26

and at this time they both are working again but when I open SKS 7

it tells me it is 7.1 but they both have the word Pro on the top left border so maybe they aren't working ? right

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/null]null[/URL] at 2010-08-26

If you get a message about no ini then are you sure you are not trying to import a Vista / 7 msstyle? The import tool can only import XP msstyle files and we have never claimed otherwise.

All I knew/Know was it says Import msstyle it dose not say I could only do XP and yes I was doing 7 msstyle and it was in SKS7 pro according to the Icon that is in my start menu in Stardock folder and no I have not change the name just moved the Icon from Objectdesktop along with all the other ODNT icons

WindowBlinds is due an update in September so I will make sure we look at why you are having problems with the explorer background. This isn't normal for explorer backgrounds.

that sounds good

My made a post on it too with Screenshots if it can help

Ticket ID: GJL-285223 <<--- Link

I think I should Uninstall all ODNT apps and run some cleaners then reinstall but as meany times I have uninstall WB not sure if I will be able to reinstall

maybe it might help with WB's Explorer Backgrounds and the SKS ??

Sorry If I came across as rude did not mean too....

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Disturbedcomputer

Join Date 02/2007

+137

Actually the weather widgets (most of them anyway) handle the zip codes just fine. It's the DX weather gadgets that frequently have the zip problem.

Ron

cool it is that one then

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There seems to be some confusion here.

The version of SKS you have with the Import Msstyle option dates from before Windows Vista/7 exists. This is why it does not tell you it can only do XP msstyles because it doesn't know about anything newer.

It will be called "SkinStudio Professional" in Impulse and I believe long standing customers still have access to it. The current version of SkinStudio is called "SkinStudio 7 Professional" This version supports Windows XP, Vista and 7 but does not have a msstyle import option.

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New User here,

Does anyone have information on why Desktop X was not in my applist (in My Account)? It was in the advert and with the "Buy" button, which warrents/oblicates that Desktop X would be an app I would be getting. I hope to the good Lord that this isn't a bait 'n Switch. So, hopefully since I am not getting a response from Support, someone on this forum/blog may be of some help.

They do have a number I think, but, I really would just like what I paid for. Not a lot of hoops to go through.

Sorry for my displeasure.

BarJabba

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