ObjectBar lives! ObjectBar 1.99G is now available for Object Desktop users.  One of Stardock's most ambitious long-term projects of all time is nearly complete. It's been close for a long while but it has had to evolve with the marketplace. 

So what is ObjectBar?  ObjectBar is truly a one-of-a-kind program that lets people create their own sidebar/wharfs/finders/docks/bars/whatever.  There are plenty of "side bars" out there as well as other programs that lets you have some sort of dock, but what makes ObjectBar special is that it lets you create any kind of bar you want.  Want to make a Finder-like bar ala MacOS? ObjectBar can do it.  Want something that resembles something from OS/2? BeOS? Gnome? KDE? ObjectBar can do it.  ObjectBar can even do the kinds of things that Microsoft is hoping to do with its Windows Sidebar in Vista.  ObjectBar even supports putting widgets and gadgets onto it as a native part of the bar.

ObjectBar 2 has been in beta  long time.  A lot of that has been due to having to increase its feature set as programs from Google, Microsoft, and elsewhere have come onto the scene.  Development has continued even if beta releases were less frequent.  A lot of underlying technology had to be developed in order to make this sort of thing work.  For example, with ObjectBar 2, you can actually develop your own custom bars and then export them as programs for others to use! An actual .EXE!

ObjectBar 2 is also the basis of ControlCenter 2.  If you have Object Desktop, ControlCenter 2 beta should be available to try out.  ControlCenter 2 is a particular ObjectBar creation that was exported. The difference between an exported bar and ObjectBar itself is the simplicity of configuration. 

As you might expect, ObjectBar is a lot more complex than a "specialized" program would be.  This was a problem that has existed since ObjectBar 1 -- power users loved ObjectBar but casual users were intimidated.  But with the ability to export your creations as programs that have their own simplified configuration UI, that problem seems to be solved.  Power Users can continue to use ObjectBar and casual users can use ControlCenter or some other exported creation.  They all use the same skins.

ObjectBar 2 can be set to automatically make use of whatever WindowBlinds skin you are using.  It also has its own skin library.

Here's a summary of what's in in 1.99G:

• Lots of cosmetic fixes. Example: Arrow bitmaps will show up on skins that don't have them (such as on submenus).
• Can drag and drop URLs from web pages onto bars to create short-cuts.
• Can drag and drop nearly anything onto a bar and have it create an object.
• Enhanced plugin support for RSS readers, CPU meters, memory meters, drive meters, etc.
• Bunch of new skinning options
• TONS of other things which can be found here.

As the change log indicates, development on ObjectBar hasn't slowed down. It's just been a matter of getting the pieces together to make something public.

If all goes well on this version, it'll become a release candidate and then a final 2.0. Let us know what you think.  We're way beyond the "wishlist" stage though.  As many reading this probably agree, it's time for 2.0 to be released. So wishlist stuff can go into 2.x. Stability, bugs, etc. are things we're looking to resolve at this stage.