Like most of us, I started with WB and subscribed to OD for all the other neat stuff like IconPackager, WindowsFX, WebBlinds etc. The eyecandy stuff. A standard box looks weird without it now.

The most important part is OB. I created a vertical bar that has all the stuff I use regularly where I want to see it.

Well, I'm predominately interested in: WindowBlinds, ObjectBar, DesktopX, IconPackager, WinStyles and in that order. While Object Desktop has other applications, those seem to one extent or another to be the "anchor" apps for Object Desktop.

I first came across OD when, after messing around with Linux and the various KDE themes, I poked around the net to see if something similar existed for Windows (beyond just color schemes). I bought WindowBlinds first since it seemed a pretty good deal. After that you held out the OD carrot in the form of IconPackager and DesktopX At that point I said, what the heck, might as well go hog wild, though I was a bit leery at first until I became more familiar with Stardock.

I was initially intrigued by the other apps included in OD, but once I purchased it, I found that I didn't need all the other apps that initially seemed interesting. At this stage of the game, I look at what I use from OD as primarily eye candy. I'll occasionally play with DesktopX. I use ObjectBar alot more, but not as much as I use WinStep. Sorry but the menuing in Objectbar to be not as flexible for my own purposes. I pretty much use it to get the XP task bar and start menu, but I find this to be not a must-have. That said, I've been using ObjectBar alot more than I have in the past.

While I could easily get by with WB, I look at an OD subscription as sort of having a stake in Stardock. Just because I don't use all the apps, or only occasionally, doesn't mean I don't enjoy playing with them. And eventually I may use them more and more as more features are added, or I find new ways to use them that weren't initially obvious to me.

The server is irc.stardock.com, the main channel is #stardock

While on the subject............of IRC. When is the new browser coming out? I uninstalled my mIRC................

1Renegade...Soonish Working out some of the bugs.

One of things that always draws me to a product is an approachable company and the community that is built around their products.

Saw WindowsFX thought it was cool, download the shareware, and then I started seeing people posting screenshot with Windowsblinds. I was like Wow then I saw all the cool things that came with OD...and I just got some credit cards... .

~25 ish days untill my first year runs out. Time to blow the cobwebs off my wallet.

I initially subscribed for Windowblinds. I love checking each day for updates...its like Xmas over and over again.

I like WindowBlinds!

*g*

Well, I can't really comment on the "compelling enough to pay" bit, but for me it's the control WB (and OD) gives over my environment. I live on my computer, and I think it's fair to say a lot of those here (though not all) do so to. I want to live somewhere comfortable. Stardock products let me do that.

I was a Litestep user and themer, and stumbled across DesktopX. I soon realised I could escape from the nightmare of the .steprc! I purchased it soon after. DX gives me an awful lot of pleasure, although I am no expert. I am striving to achieve the perfect desktop, one that I won't want to change, ever!

BoXXi goes to change his theme.......again

I wrote a nice long one, but I can't account for its whereabouts after I pushed send. In a nutshell I said... first because it was pretty, then because it was functional, then finally because all the people here are so dang nice and talented!

I don't know where these messages go when they poof like that, but maybe someone, somewhere is reading a lot of nice stuff that came unexpectedly their way.
gm

first i found the shareware WB 1.1, and loved it.

after a few weeks i finally decided to register WB, and i was happy, for now i had skinned scroll bars

however, then i discovered that WB2 was going to come out, and that i wouldnt get it with my WB1 registration.

i spent weeks considering what to do about this. it was either get WB2, get OD, or be left out.

i had very little spare money then, and only a 1 year subscription sounded suspicious. and of course this was before DX and OB came onto the scene.

i read up on all the components, and it was OE and TLP that helped to sway me in the end. i wanted more than notepad, and TLP sounded like it *might* be useful.

strange how things turn out. i never use OE these days. for small jobs notepad is faster, and for big jobs i want the power of vim.

i am beloved of TLP, so that was nice.

since then, WB and now OB are the major parts that keep be coming back. IP is nice, but i use it very rarely, since i dont change icons much.