Maybe it's BECAUSE I am not an IT Professional/programmer/whatever....and maybe because I have 7 years of experience with 'radical' system modification and skinning that I never have problems with lost WB skins, etc.....simply because I take the hands-on approach of common sense....manually backing up anything that might just potentially go gaga in an update/modification.  It's probably why I'll often have 6 or 7 full alternate shells to hop into...when one or another goes belly-up during 'tweaking', though these days Task Manager is a lot easier.

I don't use all that many of Stardocks various softwares....but those I do have been known to have developmental bugs....they ARE works in progress, not static Apps. as such, so they are expected.

Generally I have always classified GUI modding software as non mission-critical for Office productivity and will be far more piqued when actual officeware goes all wobbly....and there's a litany of those...I still have a few proggies I actually NEED that are decidedly iffy at times....but the SD progs I use are not amongst them.

Needless to say, my system is not exactly bare-bones or clean-install... there are five alternate file managers, for example, currently 4 shells, 6 media players, and 59 games/demos.

SD's stuff isn't having issues with those.....so are they 'ill'?  Not from this medical chart....

There is a lot of lost power there, there is a lot of undeveloped power.  OD+ sits unused on my computer while I have a patched together version of OB that is in constant use.  Going to market with one great program shouldn't have to mean the demise of another.

I'll keep waiting and hoping.

I'm not even sure where to start.

Stardock Central on uinstall does not delete skins. When you choose to uninstall WindowBlinds, it asks you if you want to remove your existing skins or not (by default it doesn't).

I have no idea what you're talking about with regards to WindowBlinds and notepad.  I'm not aware of any problems with WindowBlinds and notepad.

Keyboard LaunchPad works very well as far as we know.  I rely on it extensively on my work machine. 

It's not like Object Desktop doesn't get updated regularly.  In the past 30 days these programs have been updated:

IconPackager, ObjectEdit, The virtual desktops beta, SKinStudio Pro, Theme Manager. 

And if we add 5 more days to that you get WindowBilnds 4.6, RightClick, the enhance ddialog beta and IconX. 

I agree that ObjectBar has taken a long time to get out. It's a frustration here too. I've been waiting for Longhorn for years too. Software sometimes runs late.  And no software product is perfect. This is especially true on desktop customization software.  Based on the system, software, and hardware configuration there's always going to be something someone runs into in all likelyhood. 

And other issues are simply a matter of having to choose between two bad options.  TrayServer, for instance, was replaced by MCP because too many programs these days that use the system tray add themselves in a way that TrayServer wasn't designed to handle (MCP resolves this) and TrayServer has all kinds of other problems. So we got rid of it from SDC.  But ObjectBar 1.6 still uses it for those users who use that particular feature of it (ObjectBar 2 beta, which IMO is better than 1.6 uses MCP).  That does'nt stop someone from having TrayServer running somewhere else though.

But if you're running into WindowBlinds problems with Notepad, then I don't know what to tell you.  Similarly, if updating WindowBlinds is wiping out your skins then you have some serious problems going on too that I'm not aware of.  I update WB several times a week on internal builds without problem.  If WB was wiping people's skins out on an update the forums would be a riot.

Let me tell you something Feline, as the CEO of Stardock, I don't want you to buy any more of our software -- ever.  People like you are the kind of people that make me not want to go to the office. Not because I think you're a bad guy or that you're mean or something.  But simply because I think your threshold of support is beyond what can be realistically provided for a $50 product. And hence users like you are far more likely to go around killing sales by making our software, which DOES work fine for most people (PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award two years running) appear as if it's buggy and unsupported.  Some users simply have support requirements that are too expensive to handle. 

We don't fix bugs? Let's take the DesktopX 3.1 change log as one example:

- Added Object.CommandParams property.
- The Script editor can now Save & Apply and stay opened. Great for testing and debugging.
- Added Object.Group property.
- Widget preferences are available for design purpose in Builder mode now.
- Added Forms. Forms are input boxes whose elements work like Preferences items.
Example:
Set frm = DesktopX.CreateForm
frm.AddPreference "Text1"
frm.Preference("Text1").Type = "Text"
frm.Preference("Text1").DefaultValue = "Sample text pref"
frm.Preference("Text1").Caption = "Default text"
frm.Preference("Text1").Description = "This is a sample description, bla bla bla"
frm.Prompt
msgbox frm.Preference("Text1").value
- Higher decoupling between DesktopX and IconX.
- Added preference type "Hotkey".
- Hotkey registration support.
Usage:
Object.RegisterHotkey hotkeyID, frm.Preference("hotkey").Value
...
Object_OnHotkey(id)
...
Object.UnregisterHotkey hotkeyID
- Fixed crash problem with Widget Controller scripts.
- Pro EXEs can maintain their status (position etc) across reloads.
- Safer SD ActiveX controls registration across DesktopX and gadgets deployment.
- Added OnKeyDown and OnKeyUp to all SD ActiveX controls. This should make tabbing navigation and
other things possible,

- Added Client to Builder and viceversa tray menu shortcut.
- Added Widget.StandardPreferencesOptions to disable the standard preference options. Sets to a combination of:
Const STDPREF_NOOPACITY = &H00000001
Const STDPREF_NOSHADOW = &H00000002
Const STDPREF_NOZORDER = &H00000004
Const STDPREF_NOHUE = &H00000008
Const STDPREF_NOACCESSIBILITY = &H00000010
Const STDPREF_NOAUTORUN = &H00000020
- Vector text objects can now have a limited size.
- Widget.OnTop to put the whole widget on top of the system zorder.
- Added Object and States().SetFont fontname, fontsize, bold, italic, underline, strikeout, charset
- Added Object.Comments.
- Added "Color" preference type.
- Added readonly Object and States().FontName, .FontSize, .FontBold, .FontItalic, .FontUnderline and .FontStrikeout. For setting them use States.SetFont.
- Fixed a screen repositioning problem.
- Fixed auto security enable after shutdown on Secured desktops.
- Added "font" preference type.
- Added DesktopX.GarbageCollection.

- Added Preference("name").ResetList to clear all values added with .AddValue
- Fixed crashing on non english languages.
- Fixed some widget bugs.
- Improved IconX/DX interoperability.
- Minor changes in systray menu.
- Update DesktopX Helper.
- Added DesktopX Builder Palette.

It's not like we're sitting around here.  Take ObjectBar 2 as an example, we have to deal with a TON of different components that are very complex that most software simply doesn't have to deal with since we're desktop enhancements.  The virtual desktop component gets delayed because MS's anti-spyware program uses some hack that screws up our VDM technology. This requires a lot of time and energy to sift through. The VDMs in turn affect ObjectBar which in turn delays it.  But at the same time, it's not like we don't have a working ObjectBar out there.  ObjectBar 1.6 is already out there and works pretty well.  And the change log between it and ObjectBar 2 is immense.  We're not just making a few cosmetic changes and slapping a new version on it.

I think you have unreasonable expectations or at the very least, don't know how to reasonably convey your expectations.  I will be the first to admit that there are certainly problems out there that exist on some user's specific machine that we can't reproduce.  But to extrapolate that out as to meaning we aren't somehow responsive to customer input, problems, and feedback is offensive.  

I mean I'm sorry but if you find Keyboard LaunchPad inadequate then I don't know what to say, I rely so heavily on that program that I can't imagine how someone could possibly complain about it.

It bears repeating -- in a given month we put out an immense number of updates, fixes, and enhancements.  We do it month after month.  And we do it all for $50.  Meanwhile, my favorite $600 paint package still crashes regularly on me on multiple machines if I have too many layers on it.  It's a well known problem that has been in their last two major versions that their forums are full of.  EVERY piece of software has some problems for someone.  If you can show me a developer that's cranking out more fixes, updates, and enhancements than we are for $50, please feel free to share it with us.

in summary i have two basic core complaints about my Stardock experience, plus a 3rd "special case" one. i would be interested in how other people view these, in case they feel i am being unreasonable in my expectations: a) the software should come with support, specifically bug reports should be acknowledged in some meaningful way, and bugs should be fixed the company should not promise things that do not appear, since if i make a financial decision based on a promise, and then end up out of pocket i am going to be very unhappy c) the "special case", DO NOT delete things i am using! i have confirmed by reading the upgrade logs that Stardock Central likes to delete both my WB skins and also "trayserver.exe". call me over protective if you will, but i REALLY do not like this! actually, hands up anyone who DOES like this? i would like to do a quick head count, to see if i am in the minority here.

a) Our software comes with a vast array of support, particularly compared to other companies.  We have email, we have phone, we have forums, we even have a chat room where devs hang out in.  Bugs are reported, they are prioritized and they are fixed.  Our change logs are proof of this in that they regularly acknowledge bugs and show how they were fixed.

Stardock can only do its best at estimating when software will come out.  But software often runs late. It's a fact of life.  Arguably, the last beta of ObjectBar could have been slapped with a 2.0 and put out there. It's pretty stable. But we aren't quite yet satisfied with it.  We aren't going to put out software that we don't feel is ready to meet an arbitrary deadline.  Users should make their purchases based on what's available, not based on what they hope will be available.

c) We don't delete things you are using (certainly not in any general sense).  In case you havne't noticed, no one else is running into this problem you describe.  That doesn't make it not happening for you of course but it's obviously not a common problem.

And let me add a D:

Customers have a responsibility to clearly outline what problems they are having, what hardware they are using, what software they are using, and what version they are using. I've looked at your news group posts and IMO, they are very vague and more ranting and full of assumptions.

Customers also have a responsibility to try to help themselves -- read the documentation for instance.

Example, you wrote in a news group post:

Where did you look? DesktopX has always had an immense amount of documentation, tutorials, etc.

https://www.stardock.com/products/desktopx/documentation/index.html

Another example you wrote:

There's a hot key in RightClick that brings up the menu at any time. 

The point being, IMO you have a pattern of not really trying to look very deeply to see if what you consider a problem is really a problem at all but rather a lack of trying to see if a solution is already built in.

Companies, as businesses, have to draw the line somewhere.  At some point, some users are too expensive to support.  You hav ea long list of problems, many of which are either specific to you or due to not choosing to look to resolve the issue yourself. 

That doesn't make your problems and complaints illegitimate. It just means that you and Stardock would be better off if you didn't purchase its software.

I think that many of feline's bug reports were not merely support related.  I think that many times he found bugs, reproduced them, documented them, tested them, then submitted them because he loved the product and the community and felt that he was doing his bit to help improve and develop the product in the way that he could.  I think that is a big part of why he continues to care.  Anyone can walk away from a 'thing' they own.  It is hard to walk away from something and someone (the community here) that you have come to care deeply for.  It is probably even harder to realize that what you see as honest attempts to provide useful feedback that might eventually benefit the product and the community has come to be seen as mere annoyance.  The passion that feline presents his case with is a reflection of his care and concern for the product and for people here. 

I thought I would make a little aside, here, because I think it helps to understand where feline is coming from. 

I know how detailed his bug reports are.  I participated in some of his research to see if the bug would replicate on different machines.  Some others of us did too and we did get a good feel from doing something that seemed like it would help in development.  I know from talking with him that he believed that what he was doing was as much as a contribution as it was for support (because he surely could do some of these fixes on his own).  That was not what it was about.  He was working with a beta product and he was making detailed bug reports with complete documentation because he believed that that is what you do with beta products.  You test them, you break them, you report them, this develops them.

He does this for other programs too.  And you know what?  Out of the blue one day he got an email from one of them.  They told him that they valued his contributions and they wanted to pay him for working with them.  And now he does work for them part time.   But he would still have been there giving reports on the program even if that never happened because he believed that the program was a good one and that the people who provided the program were good people and because that is what some people do when they are using beta.  They provide feedback.

Thats fine, Emily.  I am not even pretending I have vast any kind of powers.  I do know the people involved and some of the history.  I don't think that he meant to be instulting and I don't think many of the people here did take it as an insult.  This is and has been consistent with his style of writing since very near the beginning of the community. 

And it has kind of been my style to interject my interpretation every now and then.  I try not to be offensive.  Brad strikes me as the kind of individual that appreciates knowing what people think and feel.  He also seems pretty strong.  I've always thought that he appreciated a good discussion.

edited to include the correct quote.

feline,

I must have taken a wrong turn here somewhere, because I did not think we were talking about beta versions.

In the case of beta versions, customers would not be "entitled" to support in any form. Reporting bugs would be the norm for users who are interested in taking a look at the software and helping in it's development.

I would in no way expect a verification communication of a bug I had reported in a beta version, and would instead think that my report may or may not have been helpful in the development of said product.

Sorry if I have misunderstood the premise of this discussion.