Object Dock and Windows 10

ObjectDock works fine on Win10. What version of Win10 are you using? The RTM or the insider preview. ObjectDock does not play well with the insider previews but on the RTM version it does. I'm running W10 version 1511 and the latest version of ObjectDock and the only issue is the ghost icon that pops up from time to time. There are no other issues.

Thanks for your reply. I have windows 10 pro version 1511.

I will give OD another go - perhaps it was something else that caused the issue eg the old blinds version was on the PC and I uninstalled both

Actually I just put blinds 10 on now and it looks nice

thanks again

ObjectDock seems to have serious problems when managing Windows 10 apps (and system actions in general, such as Start menu handling). I'm considering to switch to another program.

Which one??? I doubt you will ever find one.  

I've just found a good alternative that seems to manage Windows 10 apps better, listing them as separate entries in the dock (and not showing them all as a single ApplicationFrameHost entry as OD does). I think it wouldn't be a good think to post the alternative's name here, but you can PM me if you want further infos

Maybe an OD update could fix all these issues, however I don't think OD will be updated soon and I need such a dock program now.

Quoting BlackHeretic, reply 5

I've just found a good alternative that seems to manage Windows 10 apps better, listing them as separate entries in the dock (and not showing them all as a single ApplicationFrameHost entry as OD does). I think it wouldn't be a good think to post the alternative's name here, but you can PM me if you want further infos

Maybe an OD update could fix all these issues, however I don't think OD will be updated soon and I need such a dock program now.

End of BlackHeretic's quote

Just name it, should encourage Stardock to update their software at least, if they still care.

What is it, Winstep Nexus? Gonna try that one

Yes, that is the alternative I found and It seems to work better than OD on Windows 10 computers. I suggest you to give it a chance if you need a dock right now, even if OD is cheaper than WN.

You don't come here often, do you?

Unfortunately, I finally decided to give up on searching for a dockbar for W10: based on my experience, there's no fully-functioning dockbar out there (I had problems even with Winstep Nexus) so I prefer to wait for future releases.

What problems did you run into with Nexus? I'm about to release v16.5, so whatever it was there might still be time to fix it or at least figure out what was wrong with Nexus on your system.

There are thousands of users running Nexus under Windows 10 without problems, and any issues are typically solved as soon as they are reported (provided they can be reproduced in-house, of course).

I already reported the issue via email, I don't know if it has been fixed. The issue occurs when you try to make the dockbar overlap Windows taskbar: every time I opened the Start menu, the dockbar went in background (covered by the taskbar) no matter what settings I gave the dock (for example "stay always on top"). A manual activation of the dockbar made it returning foreground... till the next Start menu opening.

Also, your Winstep Nexus costs twice OD (with similar functionalities, except W10 better support), so I decided to stay with Windows taskbar and try to tweak it. However, I'm happy to give you my feedback so that you can improve your product.

EDIT - I don't remember the other issues right now, but the "background dockbar" was the most annoying one for sure.

Looks like poor old Jorge has been dragged inadvertently into a Stardock Support Forum thread.

As the title suggests.... it's for the Support of Stardock's wares, and not for the bug-hunting of alternatives...;)

Lol, true, sorry, Jafo.

You know well I don't usually do this, but Nexus *was* mentioned here as having issues with Windows 10 and I'm not doing anything Brad wouldn't do (and did previously on the Winstep -  and other - forums when ObjectDock was discussed there).

So, just to wrap this up and then I'll shut up : BlackHeretic, I remember your email now.

It's not usual to have the dock overlapping the Windows taskbar (more usual is to have it above the taskbar, and that way this would not have been a problem) but that is not what was causing the issue by itself. My guess is that this has something to do with the Windows 'Show Desktop' function (WIN+D), the way Windows 8.x/10 accomplishes that and how to detect when 'Show Desktop' is active.

It's a bit technical, but basically Microsoft does not offer 3rd party applications any way to know when 'Show Desktop' is active. This is a problem, because the dock must remain visible even when 'Show Desktop' is active. In previous Windows versions, the desktop window would be brought to the foreground (thus covering the windows of all other applications) by 'moving' it into a special container window (and this is how Nexus could indirectly detect 'Show Desktop' was active) and would then be moved back to its normal place when 'Show Desktop' was no longer active.

Alas, that last part no longer happens which makes it very difficult to detect when 'Show Desktop' is no longer active (I currently do it by detecting if other top level windows are visible, which would not happen otherwise). The problem is, when 'Show Desktop' is active, the dock cannot retain its 'always on top' status or you are going to have a bunch of z-order problems. So, if you have no other open windows, the desktop is currently the foreground window (which is what happens when you click the Start button) and Nexus thinks 'Show Desktop' is still active, you are going to run into what you saw.

I acknowledge this as a real issue to which I have yet managed to find a solution, much to my frustration. Again, it would not be an issue if you weren't trying to overlap the Windows taskbar.

As for price, let me remind you that the price of ObjectDock was also $19.95 for many years (which, given the complexity of both Nexus and ObjectDock, is more than a fair price for both applications) and was only lowered to $9.95 after the last release, back in 2014. Nexus, in contrast, is still in active development and it does have a ton of features unique to it, with more being added all the time.

There, Jafo. I'll shut up now.

I have Windows 10 Pro Build 1511, and would really like ObjectDock or something similar.  I already use other Stardock programs and am quite happy with them as well as recommend them to others.  Any news on when ObjectDock might be available?  I would like something that is Windows 10 compatible.  I am not opposed to trying and paying for the version that is Windows 8 compatible if I do not have significant issues, but then I would have to pay an upgrade fee for Object Dock "10".  Thanks.

 I had a same issue about the objectdock working on window 10 that i just buy the Lenovo Yoga 2 11 , i install the application but it freeze on screen not  activited. it is really sad to happen in real life. it is my computer issue or application issue , have someone know what is going wrong?

I am also having intermittent problems with ObjectDock, but my problem is with Windows 7 on a ThinkPad laptop.   In Windows 7 (Service Pack 1) I get an occasional notice from Windows that ObjectDock has stopped working and it then goes away.   I can restart ObjectDock and all is "great" again.   However, the occasional crash is somewhat annoying.   Any suggestions?

Contact Support at https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/default_import/Tickets/Submit

The problem is likely not ObjectDock but some app acting on it.  They may be able to help track that down.

May I suggest that it's not entirely appropriate to send an email (received yesterday) suggesting we buy OD when it doesn't support the current operating system? I'll buy it when you have it ready.