Seems like it was only yesterday that we were discussing Longhorn/Windows Vista. And now here we are talking about Windows 7. There's been some great coverage about Windows 7 on our partner site, Neowin.net which you can get to here:
I personally wish Microsoft would make Windows 7 64-bit only. It would make everyone's lives better. Oh well, another N years of dealing with two different versions of Windows it appears.
One thing I am excited about is the "Super taskbar" in Windows 7:
First, be aware it's super configurable. But what's a big deal about this is the skinning possibilities for this are substantial. With the extra space, a lot of cool stuff becomes possible to do that we couldn't really do with the existing taskbar.
Object Desktop News
Meanwhile, things are going very well with the upcoming Object Desktop 2009. Hard to believe it's only 16 days away (November 19).
Check out these screenshots:
The completely rewritten Theme Manager 3.0 should bring a smile to people's faces. The .suite format gets revitalized and MyColors support is integrated in as well.
One of the reasons Theme Manager 3.0 is so important is that it will allow Stardock to release a .suite version of MyColors themes that don't use licensed IP so that skinners can more easily make use of them. Right now, it's extremely difficult for us to do that which has caused some consternation in the skinning community.
Of course, the other big updates to Object Desktop 2009 include a Vista version of BootSkin and an XP version of DeskScapes.
Mega Games Week
This week there will be a ton of big announcements on the game front. First, Demigod is heading towards Beta 2 which will introduce a bunch of new elements to the game (the details will show up on Gamespot, IGN, GameSpy, XPlay, GamesRadar, 1Up, and beyond).
The second big announcement happens tomorrow with the much anticipated announcement of Stardock's next major PC title after Demigod, the fantasy strategy game that has been described as a spiritual successor to Master of Magic.
GUI Champs
The GUI Championships have continued in earnest. There's been some great entries already. This year we've gotten a ton of prizes for the contest (over $15k). If you're an artist or skinner, you should definitely check it out.
The current deadline to get stuff is still weeks away so there's time to create some cool stuff. It'll be interesting to see how much gets made. It's always exciting to see skinners from around the world create this stuff.
Sinning...
I don't know about you but I'm waiting on pins and needles for Sins of a Solar Empire v1.1 and the micro-expansion pack, Entrenchment. I hope to have some news on that shortly.
