I've been using Stardock software (mostly WindowBlinds) for more than 20 years now and no matter how much I love the applications, I can't say there haven't been myriad issues with compatibility.  For much of these frustrations, however, one can pretty easily trace the cause back to Microsoft and their tight grip on various components of the Windows platform and their efforts to prevent users from making modifications (either manually or through the installation of software such as WindowBlinds)--so it comes as no surprise, really, that the early stages of WB11 remind me of trying to get WB8 to work with Windows 10, and so on.  

Where I become so terribly frustrated is in the lack of support one gets from Stardock across the board, whether its a matter of customer support for things like upgrade pricing (despite multiple purchases of WindowBlinds versions, the e-commerce platform says I don't qualify for upgrade pricing), or other, more detrimental issues with product installation, general incompatibility or the silence one usually hears following an inquiry like this one.   I'm fairy certain the customer base for products like WindowBlinds is very limited--for this reason alone, I would expect a more hearty response to problems the end user has with the software--and NOT to be referred by default to a user forum!

I was given no choice, however, and submitting my issue here is apparently all I can do.  (Well, it's all I can do until I uninstall WindowBlinds 11 and finally--after 23 years of this nonsense--give up once and for all on the concept of anything with this company being different than it's always been!

[CLIMBS DOWN FROM SOAPBOX]

I installed--without error--WindowBlinds 11 last night, but attempts to launch the software have failed with an error message from WB11Config which states, "WindowBlinds 11 has detected a problem with core files.  Please contact support (like THAT's possible) with error -7.   After clicking OK, an identical message popped up, this one referencing error -2.  This morning, there's only one error (error -7).  

Instead of pursuing the frustration, irritation and defeat that always follows an issue with a Stardock problem, I've decided to report the error to the forum--since contacting support is apparently something only Enterprise level customers can do--but instead of checking for responses to my "ticket," for possible solutions, and instead of wasting my time doing all the things a 20 year career as a field service support engineer have taught me to do, I'm simply going to post this thread and then promptly uninstall all traces of this software--and NEVER even consider trying again!  There are too many options out there for using modified themes through msstyles, etc., and not ONCE have they ever failed on such an epic scale in the way that Stardock does repeatedly.

There you have it...I'm so done with software whose concept is brilliant but whose follow-through is a joke.

Mikeal Segotta

Former Stardock Enthusiast