FrogBlog: July 2007

Where do things stand?

from WinCustomize Forums

We're already a month into Summer. Can you believe that? The year is gong by so fast.  Some of you may recall at the end I wrote a long flame against Stardock and how it (we) failed the skinning community.  I raised 4 points:

  1. Awful documentation
  2. Lack of support for skinners
  3. Lack of community support
  4. Lack of leadership

So where do things stand since then?

 New documentation is in the works and the launch of Wiki.wincustomize.com has allowed Stardock, WinCustomize, and the skinning community to pool resources to put together info on not just Stardock software but everyone else's too in a single combined place.

SkinStudio, is being rewritten from scratch as you saw in the recent preview to provide better support for skinners.  Moreover, the program will integrate into the Wiki so that people can give each other tips and help on particular sections.

Lack of leadership is harder to quantify. My beef was that we weren't being proactive enough in the community.  What we've done this year is bring Jafo on full-time and Zoomba is now full time on WinCustomize also.  Moreover, this year we formed Stardock Design which incorporates the staffs of Pixtudio and SkinPlant together with Stardock's own team.  It's like the Dream team of skinning. The results from Stardock Design will hit high gear later this year with some big announcements coming up.

We also recently opened up a new data center in Troy Michigan which, upon completion of the migration, should make WinCustomize substantially faster than it is today.

That isn't to say the road have been bump free. The forums always remain a challenge and while WinCustomize 2007's design was a big improvement over the previous one, we are looking forward to the WinCustomize 2008 design created by Stardock Design which will have a much better look.  And I am also looking forward to WindowBlinds 6 which is the first version of WindowBlinds in which the skinners were given the opportunity to come up with features they'd like to have rather than just the development team. There are some really kick ass new features going into WindowBlinds 6.

As for traffic, thanks to Google Analytics, we can monitor that much better.  The site gets 12% more page views than last year and about 5% more unique visitors.  This would indicate that skinning continues to grow in popularity and the site's faster performance (relative to the old site, the current site is still too slow IMO) is encouraging people to stay longer and look at more stuff. 

Probably the biggest challenge right now is the stratification of the Windows market.  Windows XP has a whopping 83% of the site's traffic now (Vista only 15%).  Windows Vista really is a big improvement. But migration has not been as fast as the migration to XP was.  So all new development has to keep this fact in mind.  That's why WindowBlinds 6 is getting killer goodies for XP like glass blurring and hardware-assisted animation (Vista skins get these as well). 

10,277 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
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Sounds positive.
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Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Really good!!! Sounds like it is a go...
T minus and countdown is running well!

SGT  
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
  

The forums always remain a challenge and while WinCustomize 2007's design was a big improvement over the previous one, we are looking forward to the WinCustomize 2008 design created by Stardock Design which will have a much better look.



Looking forward to it but why so many changes? Why not just wait, finish a really good design and then apply it.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Its nice to have updates as sites can get stagnant without regular updates. Sometimes its changes in tech that mean a change is needed in the site, or other times what was originally thought was a good idea, is eventually thought can be done better later. Its really unreasonable to think that you can come up with the perfect design and have it stay for years.
As long as the changes aren't a step back, its welcome.

Also looking forward to WB6. Though my weak video card may mean not much change overall for me, we'll see.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Looking forward to it but why so many changes? Why not just wait, finish a really good design and then apply it.

Each year or two Wincustomize.com goes through revision/ improvements as and when needs arise.  Sometimes it's a virtual rewrite, other times it's 'invisible' tweaks.

Back in the 'bad old days' pre WC2K5, for example, admin 'features' were next to non-existent, and though that might not have impacted all that much on the outside public perception it sure made for some fun hair-pulling...

By WC2K5, and now WC2K7, things on 'this side' are much more rosy, so generally there's less day-to-day functionality dramas....'most' uploads succeed, and almost none disappear into the ether [as was quite common some time ago].

Each site update is a definite improvement...though often speed enhancements are countered by simply more traffic....win some - lose some.

The last WC rewrite achieved closer 'matching' of all the Stardock sites....stylistically more integrated...which is good.

From what I've gleaned about WC2K8 so far it'll be yet another marked/significant improvement feature-wise.  [I still look wistfully towards the skinnable-site ideal - though that can go if it were to slow the site down in any way].

As Frogboy commented...the site is still slow [though generally it's been faster in the 2K7 flavour than in any before it.]

Change is often disliked/resisted....but it's one of life's realities....

 

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Got it. Improvments are always welcome by me.  
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
May I suggest Icon Packager and Developer are really in need of major attention please! Other than that all things are really moving forward!
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It doesn't surprise me at all that Vista is at only 15%, I'd have guessed right around that. It is, however, good to know that because of this Stardock is still taking care of the majority of us that prefer or are still on XP... with regards to the implementing of new features.

That aside, looks like things are progressing nicely and great to hear that traffic is up from last year. As long as computers are prevelant in our society I am of the opinion that skinning \ customization can only grow. I would bet my life on it.

Thanks for the update.   
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top

May I suggest Icon Packager and Developer are really in need of major attention please! Other than that all things are really moving forward!

In what way does IconPackager need "major" attention? The most recent version offers full support for Windows Vista including live folder icons.

IconDeveloper 2.0 is in development and is a complete rewrite and includes a mini editor.

Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sounds like so Cool i can't wait for the updates of WB SKS DX and Icondeveloper
thanks SD and WC team for their Works
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
In what way does IconPackager need "major" attention? The most recent version offers full support for Windows Vista including live folder icons.

IconDeveloper 2.0 is in development and is a complete rewrite and includes a mini editor.

I've found Icon Developer to not be very stable and prone to crash. As well as some graphical glitches here and here. I've not used it that much that I've actually sent a bug reports for the issues I've run into as I usually do. But seeing as ID2 is coming I'll just as well wait for that to start reporting issues.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
there is a bug in Icon Packager that sometimes when you apply icons out of order(ie...going back and changing one after youve already gone thru them, it completely scrambles their order) therefore having to redo it all over again...I hope that makes sense...thanks for the reply...
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Skinhit : Affirmed.
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Windows Vista really is a big improvement. But migration has not been as fast as the migration to XP was.


That's due to the difference between what was being upgraded. Most people were running 98 or ME when XP was released with ME being a major nightmare. The average user saw XP as a "Fix" (no more BSOD) On top of that most people didn't need to buy new hardware just to run XP.

XP SP2 to Vista is just not the same. XP is very stable so the perception is Vista is just a "stylish" upgrade with a few new features, not a "Fix" Many people understand that they may not be able to use all the features of Vista without investing in new hardware.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Regarding IP and Vista, when I attempt to change a drive icon, Windows Explorer crashes. I thought it may be a problem with my installation of Vista 64 so I installed Vista 64 and IP on another drive. Ip was the only app installed. When trying to change the drive icons, Explorer crashed again. I didn't have this issue until the last IP update or maybe the one before that. Until then, changing any icon posed no problem.

Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
and Re:#13 thats XP
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Maybe this is a little off subject, if so sorry but anytime when reporting a rip, it seems the most efficient way is to create a thread. Which in turn a moderator responds to the situation and also tells us to deal with it privately by PM. No problem, but to do that I have to search the forums for a moderators name, right click it and then PM them. A "PM a Moderator" button in the forums would be much easier and may eliminate the public exposure of a Rip.....thanks
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm hoping they'll add report links for the skins and skin comments for WC2k8. They *really* need to be added. It would also be nice if there was a list of all the moderators and what sections they moderate (forums and galleries). But then again I've already suggested those. :X
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top

It would also be nice if there was a list of all the moderators and what sections they moderate (forums and galleries).

Lack of leadership

One of the main issues is a lot of people have no idea who anyone is. Even as a site moderator I see people with a Stardock logo and haven't a clue who they are or what they do...

It would be nice to have a page dedicated to Stardock and WinCustomize officials. Perhaps a short bio saying who they are and what they do, and have contact info too.

I'm hoping they'll add report links for the skins and skin comments for WC2k8

My understanding is that will be a part of WC2k8   

Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I havent a clue what anybody does. all i know is Fuzzys the answer bot and pauls the spelling guru.I have yet to figure out the PM thing.I got one once tho....

wheres the Mods list we used to have posted in resources? it would be a good idea to have it back up and updated with PM links to the various WC staff and descriptions of what they do...

the site seems faster than in previous years.but still bland to look at...white and baby blue kills the eyes....
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This sounds fantastic. Lets face it, in this market NOBODY can afford to stand still.

Personally I've had major problems with Win FX, I tried the beta and I had to go to recovery console to get back. I've uninstalled for now but am awaiting the full release. Agree with points on IP too.

Being a professional developer I do understand how hard it is to develop software which will work for everyone with such a diversity of hardware and software environments out there. On top of that there is the continually moving target and poor documentation offered by MS to deal with. So I'm sympathetic.

Looking forward to the new stuff and keep up the good work guys.

P.S. Xp will be a major OS out there for a long time IMHO.
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Other than the issues with IconDeveloper & IconPackager...which I used to use but haven't in along time..I think you guys are doing a stand up job. And I'm looking forward to all the future goodies you guys have in store.
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Has support for font smoothing per-pixel frames been added in WB6?

With so much transparency abound now this is one improvement that in my mind should be manditory.