I QUIT.

My subscription runs out this month, which brought me to your site. There I noticed WindowBlinds 11 is -finally- available, which my Object Desktop didn't find worth mentioning. After installing WB11 four times, I rebooted once more to your Object Desktop offering me the same update-option a fifth time. I decided it'll have to deal with not finding it sufficiently updated.

Since WB11 did seem to work somewhat, I set out to start customizing my skin - aided by SkinStudio, which should be 'included with WindowBlinds', but after many years still is not.
Google mostly finds obscure SkinStudio-sites, kept on life-support for no reason, which offer to fax me a form I can send by mail in order to get SkinStudio.
And yes, I did search here first. Your own support page, titled: "Where can I get SkinStudio to edit skins", is one of the only three hits shown when searching 'skinstudio'. That page does actually include links to download the studio.
Which, ofcourse, guides me to:

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I'm done. The benefit of your software is cosmically far away from being worth the inevitable headache, that comes bundled with your software due to general inadequacy. Normally I'm fully opposed to piracy, but in your case I'd urge anyone to rip Fences from some 'Bay and to not bother with the rest. You've been paid an immeasurable multitude of what you've earned. 

Then again, that would still hold true if 90% of your customers started pirating your software.

4,149 views 6 replies
Reply #1 Top

In the Windowblinds section of the forum, the first pinned post is the  WindowBlinds 11 Release Issue Report thread. That's where I would go to look for answers if an install didn't go quite as expected. And right there, in the first post is a download link to SkinStudio.

You could also click on your user icon in the upper right corner, and select "My Downloads" that will take you to all your purchases. If you click on the "View Individual Downloads" below the Object Desktop logo, you will find links to installers for all your apps, including SkinStudio.

Another option would of course be to politely ASK for the download link here in the forum. Why spend the same amount of time creating the not-so-friendly post above?

Reply #2 Top

Quoting JanOscar, reply 1

- In the Windowblinds section of the forum...
- You could also click on your user icon...
- Another option would of course be to politely ASK... 
End of JanOscar's quote

To all three: Because I paid for software, not a forum subscription. I shouldn't have to dig around on some forum I don't care about to figure out where the software can be found that should be included in what I did download.

And the politeness ran out after the first 452 things that didn't work and had to be looked up in god knows what cave from a plethora of years in the past.

[Added]: My Object Desktop doesn't even mention the existence of SkinStudio, even though it's advertised as 'part of'. I get your point, and that it makes sense to you, as you've been hanging around here for 20 years. I haven't, and definitely don't care to. I just bought software - that isn't included, doesn't come with a download link provided on purchase (or ever) , but is available through some sort of entirely unnecessary treasure hunt. I mean. Come on. What other company makes you pay for software that you then don't get, can't even google, nor find by using their own bloody support page...

Reply #3 Top

Quoting arti182, reply 2

I shouldn't have to dig around on some forum I don't care about to figure out where the software can be found that should be included in what I did download.
End of arti182's quote
Yet here you are yelling your lungs out.

In your very first post here in the Forum a year ago, you had a question about how to edit a skin, so you obviously must have downloaded Skinstudio at some point. By reading that post now, I'm almost surprised anyone bothered to help, but that's what we do around here. [Link]

Do know that most of us here are customers and customizers, just like yourself, and we voluntarily try to do our best to help others that have issues with using the software and customize their PC. In all the 5 posts you have made since you got here, your behaviour has been hostile like we're the enemy with no respect for your peers whatsoever. Shame on you.

Reply #4 Top

Quoting JanOscar, reply 3


Quoting arti182,

I shouldn't have to dig around on some forum I don't care about to figure out where the software can be found that should be included in what I did download.

Yet here you are yelling your lungs out.

End of JanOscar's quote

Yes, because as stated: the software I paid for can't be found anywhere else. That doesn't mean I care about your forum.


In your very first post here in the Forum a year ago, you had a question about how to edit a skin, so you obviously must have downloaded Skinstudio at some point. By reading that post now, I'm almost surprised anyone bothered to help, but that's what we do around here. [Link]

End of quote

I had it on my pc still, even. Skinstudio 10. I'm talking about Skinstudio 11. And I too was surprised anyone bothered to help - I was however more surprised paying customers are expected to ask for help (due to an unacceptable lack of documentation/usable UI), and it isn't even the ones pocketing all the cash that take that effort... PLUS:


Do know that most of us here are customers and customizers, just like yourself, and we voluntarily try to do our best to help others that have issues with using the software and customize their PC. In all the 5 posts you have made since you got here, your behaviour has been hostile like we're the enemy with no respect for your peers whatsoever. Shame on you.
End of quote


I do know that - and it strengthens the point I'm making. Do you not realise this enterprise isn't just community-driven, but community-dependant? Every post I've made here is to obtain information regarding basic usage of Stardock's software that shouldn't need to be asked, growing ever more hostile because I keep needing to come back to this community because of simply lazy development. My hostility is first and foremost, solely directed at Stardock for rather defendable reasons.

It then almost invariably becomes hostility towards forum-members, because they insist on defending Stardock in some misguided Stockholm-syndrome crazed frenzy. I don't have respect for my peers, as respect is earned and shouldn't be taken for granted just because you exist. I equally have no disrespect for anyone either, I simply have no opinion at all about any of 'my peers'. It's not them I'm complaining about, it's the software.

If anything, a case could be made my peers could do with some self-respect, as they keeping paying for dysfunctional software should most certainly be Open Source. Stardock just dumps bug-ridden concepts on this forum, and let's you all figure it out for them - just take a gander at the pinned post you referred to. How about saying "Gee, Stardock. maybe consider releasing a ready-to-go functional product, for the OS that aired well over a full year ago, as that's what I'm paying for?" I neither know nor care why you feel you must treat them as gods- at the end of the day they are not only virtually having this community do their work for them, but have you pay them while doing so.

And you defend this exploitative behaviour blindly. Shame on you.

Reply #5 Top

Try looking here: 

https://forums.stardock.com/515658/page/1/#3870601

and here:

https://forums.stardock.com/515658/page/1/#3870602

Do what Jan showed, and I bet you find your SKS11.

Happens to be a comment from a helpful guy named JanOscar, for yours truly. What a surprise!

Jan, kudos on your community spirit and knowledge. People like you are the backbone of WC. 

5*  

Reply #6 Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 5

Try looking here: 

https://forums.stardock.com/515658/page/1/#3870601

and here:

https://forums.stardock.com/515658/page/1/#3870602

Do what Jan showed, and I bet you find your SKS11.

Happens to be a comment from a helpful guy named JanOscar, for yours truly. What a surprise!

Jan, kudos on your community spirit and knowledge. People like you are the backbone of WC. 

5*  
End of DrJBHL's quote

And here's an example of my peers responding without any grasp of what the actual point is... I see no reason that should invite anyone to grow/show respect.

Yes, DrJBHL, I'm also quite positive I'll find my SKS11 if I do what Jan showed. My point is that it's well bonkers that I need to: I paid for software, not for the excitement of digging through forum-posts.

[Added]: If that doesn't clarify: try to picture the possibility there's a segment of the consumer-market that, not unlike yourself, quite likes to enjoy the possibilities Stardock-software claims to provide - BUT with the added difference they don't give a single rat's flying baby about any of Stardock's 1423 forums. Now imagine they believe what the product page tells them, they purchase the software, and it turns out half of it is vague mumbo-jumbo with no documentation/clarification provided. Another part of it is paid for, but isn't delivered, doesn't come with the 'manager-software' and it doesn't mention in anything you've received where the hell it actually is... Imagine you've paid the whole of last year for software that doesn't actually work on your Operating System, and when it finally gets there, it's a bucket of buggy garbage still being debugged on some forum.
Can you imagine you may find that somewhat unreasonable...?

Honestly; humour me: go to any other random self-respecting software developer's portal, that does not in fact have their entire software-line debugged by the community they're selling to, and gaze in wonder... -- If this is your 'normal', a whole world of accessibility, user-friendliness and software descriptions that are actually accurate is waiting for you out there. Why settle for this?