ObjectBar Release Candidates

2.0 is just about here

http://www.objectdesktop.com
from WinCustomize Forums

If you have Object Desktop, you can now download ObjectBar 1.99d. This is sort of a release candidate. ObjectBar 2 is a complete re-design of the popular Windows bar creation program. The idea behind ObjectBar is that every operating system has some sort of "bar" or "wharf" or "dock" or "finder". ObjectBar lets you create your own. And there's nothing else out there quite as configurable and yet powerful as ObjectBar via a fairly straight forward GUI.

In order to be able to be a super-set of all the various bar interfaces found out there, ObjectBar is full of features. Here's a sampling:

  • Powerful taskbar support. Users can create taskbars that group tasks like Windows or have their own custom groups and filtering. So you could, for instance, have a bar with two taskbars right next to one another. The first one would filter out all but the programs you are really interested in keeping track of and the other could be "the rest". Even dissimilar programs can be put into a task group.
  • System Tray support. ObjectBar supports having its own system tray. For those of you with Object Desktop and ObjectDock Plus, all those updates to the system tray support that have benefited DesktopX and ObjectDock Plus were actually done for the benefit of ObjectBar 2.
  • MFU support. ObjectBar can track your most frequently used programs (similar to what's in Windows XP) but let you put them wherever you want.
  • Super-Easy Menu support. Some people create DesktopX themes that have menus and such but they're not very configurable or flexible. ObjectBar's menus are incredibly easy to set up. It also supports tear off menus.
  • Skinnable. ObjectBar can inherit your WindowBlinds(TM) skin or you can build your own. ObjectBar 2 comes with a .NET skin editor that makes it easy for peopleto create their own skins.
  • Virtual Desktops. ObjectBar includes support for the Stardock Virtual Desktops which can be embedded in a bar.
  • Hot Keys. Any short-cut or menu can be assigned a hot-key to launch it. Imagine creating a host of specialized pop up docks/menus that come up upon a hot-key selection.
  • Widget support. One of the big new features in ObjectBar 2 is support for DesktopX 3 widgets. This is not intended such that users will just stuff off the shelf DesktopX widgets in their bars (though they can). Instead, it's designed to enable ObjectBar theme makers to have much more control over the look & feel of their bars. Rather than spending hours trying to create a skin that can support CPU meters or RSS feeds, a DesktopX widget, which is much easier to create, can be used.
  • EXE exporting. Another hot new feature in ObjectBar 2 is that bars can be exported as executables (basically identical to exporting widgets in DesktopX). A simplified configuration menu is provided when users of the EXE use it. In effect, companies and power users can create their own alternatives (or enhancements) to the Windows start bar and export them for others to use. This feature should be bulleted several times as it's impossible to communicate the significance of this feature: YOU CAN DESIGN YOUR OWN BARS FOR END USERS TO USE AND CONFIGURE.

Stardock is hoping that ObjectBar 2 will help push skinning up a notch. The ability to incorporate widgets into bars means that the task of skinning is simplified while at the same time the promise of creating truly remarkable looking creations is ever greater.

If you don't have Object Desktop you can get it (or renew access to it) at www.objectdesktop.com

16,742 views 21 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
extremely cool ...
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I hope you guys are planning to revamp the icon.

It really sticks out from all of the other new icons in the list and menus.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It looks like a revved up RightClick to me. And I think, although I haven't tried this version, I like RightClick better.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hippie, it's opposite that.

RightClick has quite a few holes, such as for the save changes? dialog is titled 'ObjectBar - Save Changes?'
And, the 'ripped up' icons on RightClick titlebars have the objectbar icon on them.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Very nice.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, I'm kind of disappointed that the skin editor is going to require .NET. I loathe .NET with a passion, and sorry, will not install even for a nice skin editor.

Just curious, but why did Stardock decide to base this on .NET, seeing as how you guys certainly haven't used .NET in the past?
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Woah. What's your problem with .NET? At its base it's pretty much like Java, only it tends to work even better on Windows, and has what I consider to be a far better development environment, so it's easier to make applications in it. .NET makes it a lot easier to develop applications fast, and removes a whole class of crashing errors from the picture related to memory allocation. Less crashes + more features quicker generally means better apps for customers, faster and cheaper.

I would expect to see more of it in Stardock products the future, especially for such ancilliary applications that do not have tight performance bounds. You are unlikely to see a .NET version of WindowBlinds in the near future, but I wouldn't be surprised to see other things using it. For example, it's easy to see how a future version of DesktopX might offer .NET as a scripting option - there are already some programs out there that do exactly that. The main problem is the lack of a pre-installed runtime; should any Longhorn-specific applications be developed, I'm sure .NET would be considered, as it will come installed with that.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Why is it made in .NET 2 which is beta? I have .NET Framework 1.1, but I'm not that keen on installing a beta version of .NET Framework.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
OMG guys. The framework isnt required.

I never install the .NET Framework. Right now it is not installed, and I'm right in the Skin Editor right now.

Its not that hard.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
We used .NET because it made it much easier and quicker to make the skin editor.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thank you, Frogboy.

My problem with .NET is largely due to the fact that it uses JIT-compiling. This basically leads to slower in-application performance.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
That's not really relevant on a skin editor.
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The framework isnt required.

If I try to run it it says I need .NET version 2. Are you sure it haven't been installed on your system along something else?
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
*tries to resist* *gives in*

does this mean we might actually see some bug fixes for object bar? it would be nice to actually have the outstanding problems fixed, along side the new features.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Not to be a stick-in-the-mud, but I find the new interface for Objectbar to be absolutely dreadful when compared to the old one. For example, I can't get the right-click menu in my old theme to work properly; do I have to also download the separate right-click program?

It also took me forever to find the hot key button--shouldn't that be in the properties for the bar, not for an individual object?

It also seems a lot easier to have all of the controls in one window, as it is with Object Bar I, than to split everything up into individual windows.

I just wish I could have the new features, like widget support and EXE exporting and the new System Tray code, without having to so drastically change the UI.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The framework isnt required.

If I try to run it it says I need .NET version 2. Are you sure it haven't been installed on your system along something else?



Well, I am positive I dont hav it installed.
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
azdruid, the main JIT cost occurs once, when you call the function concerned - after that, it's turned into native code and runs that way for the rest of execution. And even this can be avoided if you ngen (precompile) your applications on installation. I think 2.0 has better support for this; I hope people use it as it can indeed help percieved performance on startup.

My performance experience with writing .NET code has been positive - heck, I wrote a raytracer in it (if you have IE and .NET, that link will just run straight off, another advantage) - the sort of thing you might expect to require native code - and it was a) easy to do and b) worked just fine, performance-wise.
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Meowy: just by curiosity, can you open this url http://www.ericgiguere.com/tools/http-header-viewer.html;jsessionid=33956D34FCC53E725763F450307DA630 with IE and return what the "user-agent" string says?
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.8) Gecko/20050511 Firefox/1.0.4

Oh, whith IE?

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)

It isnt in my Add or Remove Programs list either.
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i miss a option to make the exported bar.EXE load on windows startup without have to load ObjectBar too, just a option to load the EXE on startup like we do with DX widgets.
Other than this it's excellent.