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Object Desktop: Status Report 2011

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Object Desktop: Status Report 2011

from JoeUser Forums

Greetings! Long time no see!

So what’s going on with Object Desktop these days?  The answer: A lot. Much of what we’ve worked on for the past year hasn’t gotten communicated very well to our consumers and I apologize for that. 

As some of you may know, we sold Impulse to Gamestop last year.  A lot of people couldn’t believe that we would sell our most profitable business unit. But I suspect some of you will understand why.  It was consuming us.  In another year, Stardock would have been Impulse and little else.  And if money were the only purpose in life, maybe that would be a good thing.  But Stardockians want to make cool stuff, not put all our time into selling other people’s stuff no matter how cool it is.

image

This past year

That isn’t to say we haven’t been able to release some really cool stuff in the past couple of years.  Fences was recently regarded as the “best. program. ever.” by CNET. WindowFX 4, DeskScapes 3 upped the ante and while not part of Object Desktop, ObjectDock 2 came out this past year. And there have been updates to WindowBlinds, SkinStudio, IconPackager and Theme Manager in recent times to keep building on their success.

The cost of compatibility

At this stage in the development of desktop enhancements, we have to make some tough choices.  The #1 slow down to our development cycles has been trying to get things to run on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Vista 64, Windows 7, and Windows 7 64.  And we are already developing for Windows 8 as well which is, in itself, a pretty significant departure.

So on the one hand, customers want new stuff and lots of updates but on the other hand they want their OS supported and we just don’t have the manpower to do that.  Back in the Windows XP days, we could crank out a ton of cool stuff.  Now, we have to worry about whether certain system DLLs will be available on Windows 7 “Ultimate” vs. Windows 7 “Home” or whether they were taken out entirely after Windows Vista Business.  Desktop Enhancements: Fun times.

Of course, in the old days, I was around to keep everyone in the loop on this stuff. For a lot of our long-time customers, it’s not the slow down in new programs but the lack of communication. Hence, the hidden cost of the focus on Impulse for the last couple of years.

Where we are now

So let’s talk about what’s happening NOW

Tiles

image

Our most radical new program is called Tiles. There’s an early beta of it on Object Desktop right now. It’s designed to enable users to manage their tasks in “pages” of tiles that represent what they’re currently working on or will be working on.

In the old days, we made virtual desktops. That made sense when we were all running on individual, low resolution monitors.  But today and into the future, high resolution, multiple monitor setups are how power users work and what they need are things that let them make full use of that.  That is the purpose of Tiles.

Carousel

In a similar vein, we’re working on a new program that will let you more effectively switch between running tasks via your keyboard.  Microsoft and Apple have each tried their hand with this but we have felt they spent too much effort in making it demo well versus being a practical tool.  And let’s face it, Alt-Tab is starting to get pretty long in the tooth.

WindowFX 5

WindowFX 4 was a significant departure from the old “special effects” concept of WindowFX.  That was because on Windows Vista, all those cool DWM effects were not hardware accelerated (Microsoft wasn’t hardware accelerating a lot of things in Windows Vista and had deprecated GDI+ and at first had removed hardware acceleration).  But in more recent times, hardware acceleration has returned, particularly in Windows 7’s DWM.  This has meant we can start adding lots of cool effects.

DeskScapes 4

DeskScapes is continuing to evolve as we prepare for the day of letting pretty much everyone make their own dynamic content for it.  The idea is to make it so that the desktop background isn’t limited to being pretty but can be made into a useful area.

WindowBlinds / SkinStudio

There’s not a lot to tell (publicly anyway) as a lot of work involved with Windows 8 that we can’t discuss.

Fences

There’s been screenshots of Fences 2 floating around. We have no ETAs on it yet as seeing what is (and isn’t) doable on Windows 8 is taking up some time.  But there’s a lot of interesting new features in the works including letting users define a directory as a Fence as well as having Fence “pages”.

IconPackager

We’ve had a hard time with Windows 7 folders and we’re not sure if this is going to be cured in Windows 8.  If it’s not, we may make changing the default folders of Windows 7/Windows 8 become a “hidden” (i.e. off by default, unsupported) feature.

imageProgram X

Not so much a secret but rather we haven’t come up with a name for it yet. It’s a program for skinning the new Windows 8 immersion UI.

Program Y

Same thing, not secret but a program that takes some of the non “FX” parts of WindowFX and graduates them to their own program.

DesktopX

I don’t have a lot of good news to report on this.  The effort in making it work well on all these versions of Windows is not going well at all.  We are still deciding its future.

Theme Manager

Theme Manager 4 has become our preferred method of applying suites.  We killed MyColors entirely.  So over the coming months you’ll see a lot of of the MyColors themes become Theme Manager .suite files.

CursorFX 3

We are looking at updating CursorFX to support the DWM but it is still in the planning stages as we’re not sure the demand vs. cost of this yet.

SoundPackager 2

This is more an area where we need to bring in more developers.  We’re hiring btw. Smile  If you’re a great developer you can even work from remote.

Tweak 8

Just waiting for Windows 8…

Legacy Programs

Some… a lot of programs are not going to make the cut.  One decision we have made is that if we can’t make it work on Windows 8, it’s dead. That doesn’t mean we won’t still have it available but we won’t be doing updates for it anymore.  Another decision is that we will be ending support for Windows XP pretty soon. We haven’t decided a date but what it means is that after that date, we won’t be testing on Windows XP anymore on new releases. So a program may work…or it may not.  The same is true with Windows Vista.  It’s absolutely murdering us trying to support all these OSes.

So let’s look at the programs that won’t be getting love:

RightClick, TweakVista, Virtual Desktops, LogonStudio, BootSkin, MyColors, ObjectBar, Keyboard LaunchPad.  They’re still available but we won’t be supporting or updating them.

GUI Championships

There will be a GUI Championships in 2012

WinCustomize 2012

There will be a revamp to WinCustomize 2012.  It will be more evolutionary than revolutionary. The main area will be performance and new features rather than a whole new look or something.

So that’s where we’re at.

54,984 views 76 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Looks like the 2012 Microsoft MVP summit will be the one to go to!

Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 23
I shoudl write up more on this topic.
End of Frogboy's quote

Oh please do, but no need to throw Zubazinism's at us!!

ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top

very interesting, so there is plenty going

on and it’s nice to give us this update on what’s happening,


nevertheless I have some questions at this point


if i have read over it correctly XP is causing trouble over vista and w7 so

dropping it would be easier and the most efficient way to deal with capability

issues and then vista - w7+8+ will be fine ?


correct me if i got this wrong...


But wasn’t MS also stating that they will stop supporting XP…

(edit: note to myself use your glasses next time )

And one more question how can you already develop something for a non-existing
alpha

or beta (Windows8) version...just thinking


PS : (lots of talk about JavaScript becoming the future of Windows scripting).

i have read something similar about it over at a german blog but i hope they

stick to Netframework for W8 also wasn’t it sure as far as i read what they
will actually support I have read something that it will be supporting
everything and even have mac support. But i still think those are only rumors
that spread across the infinite web

It sounded more like a hybrid mix OS if that can be even stable is questionable, in
that blog looking if i can find the link again



thanks again for the update

Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top

There's still so much up in the air about Windows 8, I guess literally time will tell.  If they are going to bring mini-apps back to the desktop, I wonder if that would be a good direction for DX to go in.
End of quote

The problem is that DesktopX's foundation is GDI and ActiveScript, both of which are legacy.

So you really need to rewrite it and the ROI just isn't there.

Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 23
Frankly, we need Windows to become a more reliable development platform
End of Frogboy's quote

or.. just more reliable.. in general.

Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting sydneysiders, reply 17
Given this, what will be the requirement in future regarding OSes to be compulsorily skinned for saleable Masterskins?
End of sydneysiders's quote

Given that focus is moving 'beyond' XP I'd expect the same for requirements re Master skins.

EG, currently it may be XP/Vista/7 but it certainly is not 95/98 ....;)

Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Maybe a bit late but what I was referring to was the tiles of the Metro design, not the Software by Stardock. ;-)

Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting c242, reply 32
Maybe a bit late but what I was referring to was the tiles of the Metro design, not the Software by Stardock.
End of c242's quote

Yep...bit late, Carl ....but we'd worked it out....;)

Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top

As I have not been very excited about Fences in the past I must admit that I now use and like it (fetch new files into a fence is really a great feature). And with new features announced I am very excited about what we can do then. Pages is all good and if we at some point could have tabbed fences that would be a burner.

Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Thanks for the update! I think whoever developed Tiles should get a gold star, I love this program and use it always.

Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Well this article is very welcome and quite frankly has brought back my respect and love of WC. What you said Brad about dumping Impulse because you wanted to concentrate on cool stuff well that was awesome. Awhile back I said a bunch of crap about the site and community that I now regret. How can I say I was wrong other than say I WAS WRONG.

As far as the future goes well that's going to be fun. I'm sure that Stardock will continue to come up with cool stuff. 

I'll be back posting stuff and I hope it's accepted. I hope I didn't burn my bridges here.

Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Windows 7 just... works...! Why do we need 8? lol, just as I'd started updating one of my skins for W7 the next version comes along.

Apart from a clean install 18 months ago for a failed mobo, I haven't had to do anything to W7, not a single thing 8C

Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Fuzzy, reply 37
Windows 7 just... works...! Why do we need 8? lol, just as I'd started updating one of my skins for W7 the next version comes along.

Apart from a clean install 18 months ago for a failed mobo, I haven't had to do anything to W7, not a single thing
End of Fuzzy's quote

Agreed 100%. Windows 7 is extremely reliable and solid. 

I was even able to take my OS Hard Drive out, put it in a different PC for a week and then back to the original (after repairs to unit). It STILL worked without a reinstall.

Reply #39 from JoeUser Forums Top

Bookmark.  Thanks, Brad.

Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Indeed, thank you for the update on where things are within your development. I would also like to know where ObjectDock 2 stands in your development, and whether or not its going to get some attention to remedy the bugs that many have in that section.

I agree with many in that we love the apps you guys have developed. My favorites are ObjectDock and Fences, bar none! I had to go another route for theme alterations in Win7 64 bit because of the extensive DLL and explorer.exe tweaks needed to customize this environment. For their part, Microsoft (who I used to work for BTW) got it right and made one hell of an OS this time around. I hope Windows 8 is as good and doesn't turn into the "every other release" where they have tended to screw the pooch. It will be interesting to see how it goes, and I do hope for the best for them and your company.

Thank you...!

Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top

My advice is this: concentrate on making all things work on Windows 7 - both 32 and 64 versions as much as possible.  Don't bother with Vista and XP, two programs that are either non-supported or weren't bought in significant numbers to be supported by other programs.  Windows 8 will either be complete hit or miss, much like Vista (miss).  I suspect miss if it looks anything like what they have shown so far.  Yes, you can make programs that will work on that but concentrate on it secondarily to support for Win7 64/32.  I really suspect Win 8 won't be such a great os; companies won't be rushing to use it unless it is a phone/mobile os primarily.  Dell and all will push whatever M$ tells them but this won't make it a happy toy for the rest of us and many places will avoid it like the plague if it's at all like Vista OR if it's a complete GUI change.  By the way, I use 7/64 with two or three monitors depending on where I'm at, either office or home.  My resolution is pretty high too - 1920x1080 for each monitor, so aim your programs at multi-hd monitor support AND look at getting out some wallpapers to worth with this too.

Gee, I hope java is not the base for new Win 8 development as one respondant suggested. 

As for Desktop X, maybe you can rename it but a complete skinning redo of the GUI is what X is suppose to offer so I think you should keep a program like this.  If the basis for development is legacy then use the new stuff in 7, develop with that and drop support for the legacy stuff, rename the program but make it clear that this is to replace X on 7 and 8.  I really thing that, even if it's tough to use effectively at times, it's still the only thing that can completely make over your desktop so don't get rid of it, whatever you end up calling the program that can do this.  This plus windowblinds are what got me enthused enough to purchase O.D. in the first place.  You need an X type product.

LogonStudio going away?  The only reason I can think of for this is if there is not way to log on as we traditionally think of it.  And as long as there will be multi-user computers, this will not likely change.  The alternative is to have each program available all the time but prompt the user to enter their credentials when run thus cutting down on functionality, denying or allowing full use.  That's rather unix like but even they have someone log in.  Skin the log in section.  You should have a program for this.

Bravo for going back to suites!  What were you guys thinking with MyColors anyway (rhetorical)?  You can improve suites by making sure submissions follow all the rules for the individual sections, whether that's by extension name (hopefully not), using something unique or allow for multiple file type support.  Of course, who knows if 8 will continue to use file types?  (It's M$ - they'll even have legacy 8-bit code somewhere. ;)

I'd like to see better weather widget tools but I think that's not a Stardock issue.  Few tools here are unique, changing the look but not the feel so much, nor the functionality - i like updates at least every hour and very detailed weather info and graphics, like Xav73 did on his tools.  Again, this should be someone else rather than this post but it's on my mind.

 

 

Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting gmknobl, reply 41
I'd like to see better weather widget tools but I think that's not a Stardock issue. 
End of gmknobl's quote

Funny about most of the Widgets here. They are pretty much all a variable of DesktopX scripts that Martin and a couple other people wrote. People have just made new graphics. 

That's another problem with DesktopX. It's a great tool but there are too few people using it that actually know how to do coding for the neat stuff. Calendars and Weather, there are a bazillion flavors of them. DX is a HUGE risk for justifying more expense on IMO.

Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Phoon, reply 42
Quoting gmknobl, reply 41I'd like to see better weather widget tools but I think that's not a Stardock issue. 

Funny about most of the Widgets here. They are pretty much all a variable of DesktopX scripts that Martin and a couple other people wrote. People have just made new graphics. 

That's another problem with DesktopX. It's a great tool but there are too few people using it that actually know how to do coding for the neat stuff. Calendars and Weather, there are a bazillion flavors of them. DX is a HUGE risk for justifying more expense on IMO.
End of Phoon's quote

The computer has come a long way with a lot of things being done for the user so that they don't have to learn or do coding versus when the home computer was the new toy, as it were, in the house. 

In DX, once the code is done for a particular option or function, like weather, how often does it need to be updated?  Weather widgets or gadgets are done that show the information in different ways, granted it is the same information. 

What we can say is that DX has the capability to do much more, it is unfortunate that these capabilities have not been fully explored.  Now with the approaching release of Windows 8 this may never happen. 

New OS always seem to kick some stuff to the curb. 

Just my personal feelings. :S

Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Philly0381, reply 43
New OS always seem to kick some stuff to the curb.
End of Philly0381's quote

I'm still blaming UAC, not the rest of the OS. Getting things (like DX) to work with it on seems to be a bottleneck. If MS wants to improve upon Windows7 they need to get rid of it, imho.

Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Wizard1956, reply 44
If MS wants to improve upon Windows7 they need to get rid of it, imho.
End of Wizard1956's quote

Too many stupid people falling for Nigerian wealth scams etc to allow that. You can't fight stupid.

Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Philly0381, reply 43
What we can say is that DX has the capability to do much more, it is unfortunate that these capabilities have not been fully explored. 
End of Philly0381's quote

Here's another perspective.

You don't NEED to do any scripting at all to make fantastic DX themes. We made some pretty damn cool stuff before the ability to script was put in. Either people forgot how or they just aren't interested in learning the application anymore. I dunno. I just don't see it surviving.

Reply #47 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Phoon, reply 46

Quoting Philly0381, reply 43What we can say is that DX has the capability to do much more, it is unfortunate that these capabilities have not been fully explored. 

Here's another perspective.

You don't NEED to do any scripting at all to make fantastic DX themes. We made some pretty damn cool stuff before the ability to script was put in. Either people forgot how or they just aren't interested in learning the application anymore. I dunno. I just don't see it surviving.
End of Phoon's quote

I would love to know statistics on how people actually use DesktopX.

 

Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top

ID you bring up a good point, are folks using DX to do things for their own personal use and not uploading them.  :S

Reply #49 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Phoon, reply 46
You don't NEED to do any scripting at all to make fantastic DX themes.
End of Phoon's quote

You do now because the addition of UAC hampers the old dx plugins. This is why Brad is concerned with the future of DX.

 

 

Quoting Island, reply 47
I would love to know statistics on how people actually use DesktopX.
End of Island's quote

I use it to replace Object Dock, winstep, any launcher you can name. I use DX to access my shortcuts, browser, even WC.

It would be easier to list what I don't use DX for.

 

When I have a DX theme running, which is 24-7, I don't need the windows start menu, Object Desktop, windows media player, rainlendar, etc. I don't need system monitoring apps, weather sites, etc.

Reply #50 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I use it alongside Winstep and I find the meter functions in DX lacking so I do run sidebar gadgets for GPU and CPU monitoring . Otherwise, what the Redneck said applies to me as well.