Ditto that!

Probably gets tired of explaining why he has the right to sell his products amongst the $hitstorm of entitlement.

Undoubtedly, but...ahh the heck with it.

No, you just have unreasonable expectations.

We have released a lot of new stuff for Object Desktop this past year.

DeskScapes is currently tied to Windows DreamScene which is available only for Windows Vista Ultimate. Getting mad at us for Microsoft's decision seems misplaced.

I have a ol' Compaq sitting around somewhere from the early 90s. Can't even run Windows 95. Is it Microsoft's fault for making new software? My computer right now probably can't run Vista very well, but I'm not holding it against Microsoft or Stardock. It's what happens when technology progresses. Yeah, it's a huge pain in the ass, but whatcha gonna do?

New tech becomes obsolete in as little as a month. Go to the local electronics store, and every computer on the shelf is obsolete. It'd be nice if we could get new stuff when it comes out, but it's not practical for consumers, nor is it practical for developers and manufacturers to slow down developing and manufacturing.

And I think based on the rates of inflation, Vista doesn't cost any more in real dollars than XP, 2000 or any versions of Windows. Price of progress.

It is also possible for DeskScapes on other versions of Vista to not be free. y'know.. Just a thought.     

I think people are under the impression that Deskscapes is a program that can run all by itself. They may not understand that it is an extension of Microsoft's Dreamscene and can't run without it.

Can I ask a question about DreamMaker (I'm just asking 'cause I wouldn't want to interfere with all that flaming action... )?

(I don't have Vista so I haven't had a chance to try it) How hard is it to program the real-time 3D stuff (like the earth's shadow)? I figured the language there is some sort of script language, not full blown programming one. However, explaining to a program how to draw a shadow isn't something that traditional scripting languages can do, unless it's some sort of a predefined function(ality), in which case what you can do is limited by what's predefined, which is usually pretty limited. So Brad, could you "paint a picture" of how something like this (earth's shadow) is done?

Also, while we're on subject, how complex can these dreams be in terms of both 3D graphics and interactivity? You mentioned getting weather information from the net, what about mouse and/or keyboard events, or actually any local events, could they detect and use that information? Any plans to include some sort of import function for simple 3d primitives and animations?

Drop125, I bought my Ultimate from Newegg for $199. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116215 Follow that link and you'll see exactly what I purchased. And I did not buy any hardware when I bought Ultimate! I have no doubts you have to buy hardware at Fry's in order to qualify to buy the OEM of Vista there but that is not the case with Newegg.

Newegg Rocks.. I'll keep saying that. I love you Newegg. **Hugs Newegg**

Newegg

I was about to post much the same thing...

Drop125 ...you really NEED to be on Microsoft's website....complaining to them directly about their decision to only allow Dreams to function on Vista Ultimate....since that was/is something entirely outside of Stardock's control...

No...Im iritated that my money went to develop an software that is barely usable by the larger majority of this community......you should have realesed the software compatable with vista and XP...but instead you choose to make it a major premium well beyond the normal 20 or so dollars you usally charge for stuff..like Object Dock and Windowblinds.
To run your new software has major requirments that not many have...Why put so much effort into this when you have proir obligations to the majority of your users...it may be a free download now, but I will gaurentee just like every other program you have there will be benifits to paying you to unlock a better version(see Object dock and tab features.)...But at this point most cannot even make use of the freeware version...and it will be sometime before everyone has a Ultimate version of Vista...But like I said..Im not money falling out my butt rich so Why bother supporting your community now...Especially if what little bit I give to you is going to develop stuff I cant even run....

Which part of "it was Microsofts decision to make Dreamscene (and therefore Deskscapes which currently can't run without Dreamscene) for Vista Ultimate only" don't you understand?

Do we need to tatoo that on you forehead?

Your money did not go into the development of Deskscapes, as you never paid for Deskscapes. You paid for Object Dock and that's what you got.

OK enough of this war, you all are rite everyone wins here, Vista sucks, I have Vista Ultimate and i tell you for a fact you cant run crap on it as far as games are concerned, no video drivers work, Nvidia or ATI i have both neither one are working, i get no FPS at all compared to XP. Also i would like to comment on a few things here like all this fuss about DeskScapes, and all the other programs in the past 2 years, Every time i see a new game or program come out I have to upgrade my system mostly Video cards, getting a little tired of buying a video card every 4 months at 3 and 4 hundred bucks a pop, any way im glad i got that off my chest, gotta go now, there is a couple new apps and games comming out, so I have to update my Video card, more Ram and some other stuff, thank goodness my wife makes good money lol,   
PS almost forgot DeskScapes Runs great thanks StarDock Keep up the good work!

What part of I am iritated at the time stardock spent on another app dont you have tattoed in your not reading correctly forehead.....You people only read what you want to read..just like a kid......Like I said why are you wasting time on a progy that only limited numbers can use....Geez morons...(logs out and takes credit card with him)...Guess Ill pay you guys money when something comes around that I dont already have or can use....

So you are saying that Stardock should not be developing any applications that do not benefit you?
Make sure to use that arguement with all the other vendors you deal with.  Please copy me on your note to Mr. Gates. 

You mean that you can't use. I paid good money for Ultimate, why shouldn't I have all the benefits which come with that?

Sounds like you are saying everyone should be dragged down to your level just because you have to be there. That's a pretty selfish viewpoint. Wouldn't it be sad if we all started complaining about others having better pc than us. My pc is over a year old and I don't wish to deny benefits to people with newer, more capable pcs. I got what I paid for, so did you.

Be grateful for what you have, others have a lot less.

Yeah...like me. My cpu is over 3 years old.

Just because it's an app you can't/don't use, doesn't mean the time spent developing it was wasted.  I personally only use a fraction of the tools packaged together with Object Desktop.  Well over half the apps in my Stardock Central list never get installed.  I'm not saying they're not great programs, they're just not of immediate use/interest to me.  It's like not every product in Microsoft Office is relevant to me.  I need Word and Excel.  Things like PowerPoint, Access, even Outlook, are just more than I really need.  Do I feel development time on those other applications is wasted?  Nope.  I recognize that other users have other needs.

You did recognize that we have far from neglected our XP user base, so in a sense I'm not sure what the issue really is outside of maybe envy that something this cool didn't come out for XP too.  Well, I'm not one of the app devs, but I do absorb enough knowledge through conversations around to office to know that DeskScapes wasn't something that could be done in XP.  Look into any description of how the desktop is almost a DirectX application now in Vista.  There are a few articles around here by Brad talking about the technical details.  This opens up doors.

Like it or not, Vista represents the "new" and "cool" and it opens up a lot of new possibilities in the world of desktop customization that simply are feasable under XP.  We're always going to be pushing forward, always trying to be on the leading edge of the tech curve.  It makes no sense to sit and wait for us to wait for Vista (and even Vista Ultimate) to reach critical mass.  As people move to Vista, we want to be there with them.  Right now it's a small number, but it will grow.  As more people come to Vista, we want to be here, ready to greet them.  Ready with some really amazing stuff to show them.

We have said many times we have every intention of keeping up with our XP users.  But in parallel we have to be moving forward in Vista.  It's not a one-or-the-other thing.

Spending time developing a program that no one else has, does things no one else does and looks wicked cool is far from a waste.  So the potential audience at this moment is smaller than it will be a year from now.  In a year when the audience is bigger, we'll already be in place, with a better product in fact as we add to it and improve.  To me, that's a pretty smart expenditure of time and resources, especially when it doesn't detract from everything else we're doing.

Can you still afford to be our customer?  Absolutely.  Your value has not decreased because we added an application you don't use.  You still have all sorts of cool apps that tweak out your OS.  Apps that are still being maintained and improved even as we work on Vista in parallel.