BootSkin 1.01 released

ah useinf microsoft tactics by starting free then slowly chargeing for it by witholding features...

TrueKaiser,

Not hardly. True color isn't a part of BootSkin right now. They're not withholding features. They're adding them, if you want to pay for them. Otherwise, the current version will be free. Besides, if you hack the kernel to get a bootscreen, the best you will get is 16 colors. Once they start charging (and it won't be much, I'm sure), you'll get more capability than MS built in.

Folks, Stardock does so much for us for very little money. Please, stop whining. It's the best software value I've seen for a long time.

Brad, My MSI board has a VIA chip - since the Logon app was introduced I've stayed away from it because of all the error/Windows Explorer "send messages" that displayed everytime I booted up my computer....I'm just wondering if this was the cause. I'm upgrading to a new MSI board with an nForce2 chip...hope this kills two birds with one stone. Thx for the update.

elempoimen - Couldn't agree with you more!

Should be fine George, as i have had no issue's with BootSkin on nForce2. Just make sure you get the nForce 3.13 driver kit, their drivers sure are a heck of alot better then VIA.

Ian, I've never installed a motherboard before & won't on my upgrade because I don't understand the bios system or anything ultra technical like MS-DOS. Excuse my ignorance but I assumed the motherboard came with only ONE driver - since the nForce chip is integrated into the board itself. You can tell I have NO experience in this area. My computer came preloaded & was a Xmas present back in '01. I'll certainly ask the tech who installs the board to use the 3.13 driver kit. Thx for responding!

Now it works on my dell inspiron3800 with win2k

I agree with elempoimen. Double cheers for all that Stardock does for the skinning community.

Such is life. A certain percent of the population will always want something for nothing. Remember Napster. But, yes, a certain percent of the population will gladly pay for what they want – the continued success of Stardock and Wincustomize.

Amen!

Well, I had fun making bootskins until I heard they'd be charging for the premium version... But why shouldn't they be like everyone else and want money.. They deserve it I suppose..

I can afford it now, but I just hate the fact that people start out on something for fun, than start expecting money for it...

It would be nice if Bootskin and LogonStudio were linked into Stardock Central. That way I would be able to keep everything upto date from a single place.

As for paying for a version of Bootskin with higher color support, I would be OK with that (with in reason!). It would be a bit like CursorXP, a free version with limited features and a purchase option to add the extras.

Adding >16 color support has involved 4 months of development time and research. And I can assure you, no other third party will be able to do it any time soon. It is an IMMENSE undertaking. If we could have done it in a week then we'd have released such a thing for free, but given how hard it's been to do and how long it's taken, that investment has to be repaid. That's why BootSkin Plus won't be free. But it'll probably be only like $10.

And BootSkin remains totally free and it's a heck of a lot better than any other boot screen changing program in the sense that it doesn't screw around with your system.

True I suppose, there work does deserve to be rewarded..

It's not just a matter of deserved. Stardock developers are paid a salary. You're talking a development team spending 4 months on it.  Even at $10 apiece, it's goign to take a lot of copies to be sold just to pay for that investment.

A suggestion...animated bootskins? I'm thinking Matrix code here. p I can't wait for BootSkin Pro or whatever, i'll be first in line!

im with DrNick, animated boots would be cool, like the old logo.sys, i loved making them... oh and Frog - I think that there will be quite a few copies sold, or else, why selt it at such a low price, i would sell something so cheep if i didnt think i would sell millions.

>

What's that saying? "There's no such thing as a free lunch..."

Freeloaders can whine all they want. Stardock has been kind enough to provide us with a free version of BootSkin which does an awesome (not to mention legal) job of changing our bootscreens.
They've taken four months to *add* a feature to Windows, not included by Micro$oft originally, specifically for skinners and those who customize their computers and you gripe about having to pay for it.

Who here goes to work not expecting to be paid for the time and effort you put into it? Not me, if I work I'm expecting some kind of payment or reward for my labour, unless it's a "love job", but then again who wouldn't want to get paid for doing what they love?
That's not an unfair expectation. It's just the way the world works.
If you don't want to pay for BootSkin Plus... don't. No one's saying you have to buy it, but you ain't getting it for free after all the hard work they're putting into it.

** RANT MODE OFF **

Awesome to hear!! Can't wait until it's available!!
Three cheers for Stardock!

I wasn't sure if I was going to get Bootskin but after reading this, maybe I will give it a try.

For information George, both the regular and Full Color versions of Bootskin work perfectly on my nForce 2 motherboard (aOpen AK79G-1394) )

Will BootScreen Plus be available to everyone who has purchased OD, or will it only be available as a separate product?

Does bootskin work with Windows Server 2003? I've been using it as my main environment for a while now (rocks, BTW), but I've had issues with bootskin in it's earlier versions (booting up to a blank screen etc.). I'd love to be able to use it (and would probably pay for pro), if it does work with win2k3.

Its been tested to work with the longhorn PDC build. But I've not personally tried it with 2003 server.

Should be ok there. Or flip into safe mode and remove \windows\system32\drivers\vidstub.sys worst-case.

well,i guess getting 16 million colours is not difficult too. once you have got hooked, i guess using assembly, you can get into the famous Mode:13, or go for this:
mov ax 0x4f02 for 1024
and interrupting 0x10..
right? hey just asking

Nakor, BootSkin doesnt work properly with the ATi card i have on my laptop! yikes! i got a BLUE screen before the bootscreen! and the computer shuts down. it was too bad ... and i choosed to boot in "Last known good configuration" mode.

please look into that matter. since mine is a P4, the BSODs dont last for even a sec. or a millisec. so, hard to read what it says... Microsoft has to fix this thing up!!!

a wonderful program! BootSkin!! )

btw, how do u get a program runnin up at that time, in WindowsXP? there is no autoexec file. how come? program tricks? i guess it must be the Driver...

Lord, Vmal. Go ahead and try doing it then.

The reason we even attempted to do a high color version is because we thought you could just flip the card into VESA mode and voila. But it turns out to be much MUCH tougher than that. A lot of it has to do with just how early in the boot cycle this stuff s.

I hae an ATI on my laptop and BootSkin works great. (So does the alpha of BootSkin plus).

I'd love a randomization option!

Frogboy, will the new bootskin be included with object desktop?

Please post some details on the ati chipset and general laptop info (Lord Vimal). If there's any .dmp files in \windows\minidump from this (or you can turn on the logging and make them), that might help too.

A lot of effort has gone into the Plus version and we are using it internally. But the stories about how different hardware is at boot times would curdle your blood.

More on availability in the future.