I've been using WB since the beginning (I think it was the beginning anyway) --when I was using XP (and loving it).
I would agree that with each new OS Version launch (and even often Service Packs as well as other updates) there is that window of time in which everyone is still getting to know their way around the nuances of the features that are often SO new that even Microsoft is not quite sure about the inner workings it would seem, hence the frequent updates and bug fixes one sees through the first year or more.
If Windowblinds continues to be a viable product in terms of revenues, I'm sure Stardock will keep on releasing new versions, but as much as I hate seeing good things end, I'm not very optimistic about the outlook for WB (at least not without Microsoft having a major shift in their way of thinking when it comes to themes and customizations).
There is--and has been for years--a very noticeable decline in the numbers of new skins you see here or other places and fact of the matter is, once you weed out those that aren't done well enough to meet the quality standards of people like me, then there aren't hardly any that remain...then you weed out the ones that don't make the grade for subjective reasons (we all have different tastes), well, then I don't see how it's any long justified to spend the money on new versions of the WB software.
In fact, so many of the applications in the Object Desktop suite are outdated and either incompatible or just plain redundant to current OS features that I for one see these as my own "last days" as a user of WindowBlinds.
Kinda sad, really, but like I said--it's a trend that Stardock is keenly aware of that's not at all a new snag in their business model. Regardless of how many "amateur skinners" that are working their collective butts off creating the skins we all love and have no problem paying 5 or 6 bucks to download, this is most undeniably a Stardock problem in that if they are going to make and then SELL a product like Windowblinds then they should have a creative staff of 2-20 artists working NONSTOP on new skins to be launched REGULARLY throughout the life-cycle of a version and those skins, those Stardock skins, should be freely available to all licensed users. Maybe then they would see what kinds of good customer bases one builds with strong product support.
