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Development traffic jam!

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Development traffic jam!

Development not slowing down, communication has!

from WinCustomize Forums

If it seems like things have slown down in the past few months, it's because it has. But not in terms of development  What's been slowed down is our ability to actually release/deliver things.

We've got updates to WindowBlinds, WindowFX, IconPackager, WinCustomize Browser, DesktopX, SoundPackager, LogonStudio, SkinStudio, a couple new premium suites, new fish, new gadgets, ThinkDesk components, ObjectBar, Control Center, Multiplicity, KeepSafe, and a bunch of other stuff. 

So what's the deal?  That stupid game, Galactic Civilizations II, has eaten up so much of Stardock's internal support/marketing/IT resources that, well you get the picture.  The good news is that the game's doing very well and we're on a hiring spree so that this kind of thing won't happen in the future. 

The other good news is that in the coming weeks, you're going to have a downpour of new goodies to play with! Stay tuned.  In the meantime, check out the galleries, some great new stuff from Essorant, ChaNinja and others!

Our goal is to fully build up WinCustomize.com into its own independent "business unit" by the time Windows Vista ships and to have marketing/support/IT resources that are more than capable of dealing with both a popular game and all the other cool stuff.  We're hiring in all areas right now. Tech support, marketing, sales, developers, artists, you name it.  If you are interested in working in sunny Plymouth Michigan, drop your resume to [email protected].

So I want to issue a hearfelt apology that things have been kind of slow in delivering this stuff.  We're working on it. ;)

24,530 views 63 replies
Reply #51 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't want to sound like a prophet or something but I have e-mailed You and Larry about exactly this situation months ago... Because I cared. And I still do. Please listen to Your customers and friends again. And not only the "big names".
Reply #52 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I think the whole problem we are facing at the moment and that causes growing dissatisfaction is promises made and not held. I won't go into much detail here. Latest incident in one word : Apogee. The latest excuse for the update not being available is a problem with the vista-format. How many users here may possibly face that problem ? 0,01 % ? In this case something has really gone wrong with priorities I think.

I think the problem is that some people have unreasonable expectations.  Rather than taking an update of Apogee as being a good thing - something that we're doing well beyond what we need to do, we get treated as if not having significant FREE updates to it out instantly as being a negative. 

Consider this -- we've been doing this stuff for 7 years now right? We've never raised the prices. WindowBlinds is still $19.95.  We still release these icon suites for $8.95. 

And yet the quality and cost of doing them has increased dramatically.  Orion was an anomaly but even it did not come out with tons of different icon sizes. It had a LOT of icons but it was easier to do them back then because no 128x128 versions were needed at first which made it easier to design them.

With Apogee, people expect not just 128x128 but 256x256 sized icons. Now you're talking each icon being a full blown piece of art.

Sir Lantec: Perhaps you should be checking out the beta releases.  WindowFX has undergone a MAJOR update, we just haven't released it as non-beta.  Similarly, DesktopX 3.1 is on ODNT in beta.

You also are assuming that we think the sidebar/widget markets are worth investing a lot of effort into at this point. There's a zillion of them and Microsoft is coming out with more.  Yahoo Widgets is free.  It takes a lot of the incentive to keep updating the widget oriented parts of DesktopX and there isn't any. The next widget revolution, if there is one, is going to be content that makes use of your 3D hardware and that's going to be a Windows Vista thing.

We also have to prepare for Windows Vista.  I don't think many people realize how much of a change it is and how much time and effort is going into developing new Object Desktop software that will make use of it.

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #53 from WinCustomize Forums Top
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Reply #54 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I think the problem is that some people have unreasonable expectations. Rather than taking an update of Apogee as being a good thing - something that we're doing well beyond what we need to do, we get treated as if not having significant FREE updates to it out instantly as being a negative.


If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk.
Reply #55 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I prefered to answer via mail. This is not about wanting an update.
Reply #56 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hey Guys,
I admit, I missed the the site and for my needed help with an object that I'm trying to create (which I'm still waiting on [email protected] to answer..BTW ), however I say to hell with all of the people that lost the most awesome site for a few hours/days!!!! I admit that I "have taken advantage" of my free subscription to wincustomize since I purchased DX. I will also say that I have very minimal income and am not currently able to pay for the OD or a subscription to this site, though please realize my opinion is that ALL of those costs are very worth the price and what you recieve for that price!!! I will be purchasing OD at the first of April (finally!!!!) and will hopefully be able to purchase the subscription to WC soon after. So keep up the AWESOME WORK

Speedy
Reply #57 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Consider this -- we've been doing this stuff for 7 years now right? We've never raised the prices. WindowBlinds is still $19.95. We still release these icon suites for $8.95.

No complaints from here and I've only been a customer since '01. I think your due for a $5 bump just as a matter of inflation.

Sir Lantec: Perhaps you should be checking out the beta releases. WindowFX has undergone a MAJOR update, we just haven't released it as non-beta.

I actually tried out the Betas for DX3, Object Bar and Virtual Desktops. I'm glad DX3 works well although I run dual monitors, Object Bar is a bit buggy, especially while running Right-Click, Virtual Desktops is most definitely Beta as I couldn't get it to work on either my desktop or laptop. I didn't try the WFX beta yet as I've monitored some comments as to it's limited capabilities under WB5. I'll give a try later this month. I've just leased a new building and I'm moving my staff over the next two weeks.

I do believe widgets to be important in the future, especially with MS supporting them. It's kinda like MTV, commercial free in the beginning but as soon as they had a following they started making money with it. I don't profess to be as involved in that area as you but I know what I like. I believe Object Bar could be the best platform of that genre.

I'm not really complaining, I still think your product is a great deal for the money. I've just noticed your domination of the customization world is not as overwhelming as it used to be.
Reply #58 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You're not a subscriber to WinCustomize and never have been. So what are you talking about? Being an OD subscriber has nothing to do with WinCustomize.

When you bought Object Desktop you purchased a software product. That software product, i.e. the one that regularly wins Editor's Choice Awards, has seen significant free updates in the past year.

Your perspective frustrating because here we provide something well beyond what we have to -a FREE skinning site- and in response we get comments such as this.

It's attitudes like yours that tempts me to shut WinCustomize.com down entirely. If you think your $50 Object Desktop purchase, which includes nearly two dozen programs, somehow should also WinCustomize and that any interuption to that service is somehow affecting the value of your Object Desktop purchase then please, don't buy our products. Go. Go NOW.

I think Stardock needs to have a new policy: Object Desktop users don't get unlimited downloads of this site and in fact get no special priviledges. How does that sound? Because we know (obviously) what % of Object Desktop users make use of WinCustomize and it's not large. I realize that sounds extreme but it's quite obvious that some Object Desktop users think that their purchase of Object Desktop includes WinCustomize.com. Her'es the feature list of Object Desktop. WinCustomize is not there.

And before someone starts, we know of people posting anedotal evidence of how they learned about Object Desktop or WindowBlinds from WinCustomize and so we need it. However, since all copies of WindowBlinds/Object Desktop are sold by Stardock and share the same accounts on WC, we KNOW, to the exact number, how many customers of Object Desktop and WindowBlinds interact with WinCustomize. So when I say that Stardock doesn't need WinCustomize I say that as a fact.

Stardock cares about WinCustomize and its community. We care about it. We care about it a lot on a personal level. But from a business point of view? Stardock doesn't need WinCustomize. Object Desktop/WindowBlinds sales actually increased while WC was down, probably because the other sites were faster. So don't kid yourself that Stardock somehow needs this site. It doesn't. It WANTS WinCustomize. We love the community, but don't treat us like we're your servants. If you're a SUBSCRIBER then absolutely, we'll bend over backwards for you. But you're not.

And where were you when the site was in need last October? This whole situation of downtime wouldn't have happened if we had met the subscription drive goal of a mere 2,000 subscribers. You should be thanking the people who subscribed to this site that we were able to keep the site up at all. If it weren't for them, it wouldn't have been 16 hours of downtime, it would have been a week.

The only reason we got the new servers is because of game sales justified adding more servers which WinCustomize benefits from.

But getting back to your main point - Object Desktop gets more free updates in a given year than any other similar product (or utility) that I know of.


Feel better? That's one extremely vitriolic post towards a repeat customer. No, I haven't ever subscribed to Wincustomize. Look at how much I've downloaded over how long I've been an OD subscriber. Without a supporting site, OD is useless and I wouldn't have bothered with it. I hadn't actually noticed any problems with the site because I only visit sporadically when I'm tired of a skin; I probably average a visit once or twice a month unless I think to check it for update news.

You originally stated that OD releases have been getting backed up which is what I expressed disatisfaction with. If releases aren't coming out then it's pointless for me to pay a subscription fee for stagnant software.

YOU decide the pricepoint for OD. It's a useless product without a supporting skin site. If OD alone doesn't merit the infrastructure considerations then raise its cost. Getting pissed off at a paying customer because they aren't buying another product you offer that doesn't offer any incentive for them is poor business.

--

I'm going to write this one off as bad communication. My original post was terse and in the middle of a lot of other complaints. Like I said, my only point was that for the last quarter OD has been dead quiet. Latest news looks promising and I'm sure I'll be renewing soon -- unless you decide that OD customers don't deserve access to WC without paying. By the way, the "Click here to subscribe and get rid of ads" link at the top is a 404 currently, that can't be good.
Reply #59 from WinCustomize Forums Top
But getting back to your main point - Object Desktop gets more free updates in a given year than any other similar product (or utility) that I know of.


WindowBlinds and very few other mainplayers, yes. Others are left alone with bugs - and reports or questions are still ignored. And that is what gets me most...

DXPro has had it's last update half a year ago.
Rightclick ? Bugs, no reaction. Discontinued ?
ObjectMedia ? Discontinued ? No notice.
EnhancedDialog ? Discontinued ? No notice.
ObjectEdit ? ObjectZip ? Discontinued ? No notice.
DriveScan ? KeyBoard Launchpad ? Schould I go on ?

What's up with these ? All I would want is to read about further plans for these in honest words, nothing else.

And that is the same for Apogee.
Reply #60 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Whats wrong with Apogee?

Though I generally side with Stardock in most cases, I have to say that I have been missing the "Network Connections" folder icon since day one (from the main "Apogee" manila colored folders) - which is present in the preview on Stardock site for those who are thinking about purchasing.

I use that icon extensively due to a manual registry edit placing it in "My Computer", along with the "Administrative Tools" icon via the same vehicle. When the main "Apogee" pack is applied, I end up with the "Administrative Tools" icon for both the "Network Connections" and "Administrative Tools"

This seems to be an easy fix to me, and an extensive update is not necessary to fix the one icon. This "manila" colored icon is nowhere in the pack, so I have no resource to fix the problem, and therefore do not have a nice matching set of "manila" folder icons to use on my system.

I do not have an issue with Stardock (and by natural extension, Brad) using the WC resources for a temporary fix of the Game servers, but I do see an issue with holding back on a fix for the Apogee product which was advertised in one way, and delivered short.

Since I work in Quality Control and closely with Tech Support, I understand that it takes time to fix certain customer issues, but the little attention to detail are dead give-aways to the true quality of the product and service.

Waiting for a Vista ready fix, in the case of Apogee, does not seem to be in the best interest of the average customer - who is most likely running Windows XP at this time. It would seem to be more appropriate to create a fix (or update) with the current average user in mind, and then offer the "Vista" ready pack when all the bugs have been worked out. Note - even uploading the Network Connections icon to the "Misc. icons" library would do the job just fine.

Again, I support Stardock, Brad, and the WC community - but I must take it with a grain of salt when presented with the reality of what is being delivered versus what is being advertised (or ambiguously promised).

Okay, I have said my peace.

Back to my mellow self.

Reply #61 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I realize that sounds extreme but it's quite obvious that some Object Desktop users think that their purchase of Object Desktop includes WinCustomize.com. Her'es the feature list of Object Desktop. WinCustomize is not there.


Dang! I'm one of those OD users who thought they were supporting WinCustomize.com! Ah well I better toddle on over and signup for WinCustomize as well
Reply #62 from WinCustomize Forums Top

DXPro has had it's last update half a year ago.
Rightclick ? Bugs, no reaction. Discontinued ?
ObjectMedia ? Discontinued ? No notice.
EnhancedDialog ? Discontinued ? No notice.
ObjectEdit ? ObjectZip ? Discontinued ? No notice.
DriveScan ? KeyBoard Launchpad ? Schould I go on ?

If something has to be updated monthly to count as being actively developed then most software is "discontinued". Should we just do a "touch" on the files, would that please you?

As ObjectZIP and DriveScan, btw, were discontinued and notice was given a lonnng time ago. They're as "done" as they're going to get.

Sometimes software simply reaches the end of its lifecycle. As programs mature, they reach a stage where doing updates for the sake of doing updates doesn't make sense.  Keyboard Launchpad, for instance. What about it? It launches programs. It's one of the first things I put on my computers.  It does what it's supposed to do.  That's the point -- at some point software reaches its maturity and there isn't a lot more to do with it.  Resources are then put into things that are still evolving.

But if your threshold on a program being "discontinued" is that it doesn't get updates very regularly then you're not going to be happy.  When your ODNT subscription expires, you can decide whether there have been enough new updates at that point to justify renewal.  That's the point of having such a renewal system.

 

Reply #63 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If something has to be updated monthly to count as being actively developed then most software is "discontinued". Should we just do a "touch" on the files, would that please you?


I think I haven't to answer that. Maybe we are just too used to quick bugfixes and constructive interaction in the past and have to think different now (Do we really have to ?).

I seem to obviously have overseen notices about discontinued apps in the past and I apologize for that.