I wasn't questioning the value of Impulse. I was questioning the resources that they wasted developing a new program when one wasn't needed, when they should have been fixing the existing software that had issues.

what definition of recent is used when speaking the sentence "recent purchasers will get their update for free"?

One area Stardock have been putting resources in is developing a Dock App for Dell.

Called the Dell Dock, its been installed as standard on selected new Dell systems for the last 6 months or so. The Dell Dock has at least one of the enhancements that some have asked about here on this forum; that of drag and drop population of it's 'Flyout Menus', called 'Application Catagories' in the Dell Dock. It also keeps the flyout menus in a horizontal line (or vertical depending on the position of the Dock, top or right side etc.), rather than is the arc that OD+ gives. It has several limitations as compared to OD+, in that you can only have 1 dock, and there's no way to customize the icons in the Flyout menus, also it does take an age for dragged apps/files to appear in the Flyout Menus. So I suspect that the devs here are going to be busy ironing some of the bugs out of this project as well as out of OD+.

So I don't think the Stardock Devs are just sitting around twiddling their thumbs!!

I do hope though that they will focus some extra resources in the new year to developing further, what I personally think is their most useful product, namely OD+. I would happily pay for a 2.0 Upgrade, whether it only contained some bug fixes or had extra functionality. The usefulness of the product is well worth it in my opinion.

Jonathan.

Technical Director,

PQSA Services.

'Assisting NGO's with IT Services.'

They care more about Dell then fixing products they sell to everyone? Micheal Dell runs your company so when is Dell buying you all?

Well, Stardock has been commenting for years that ObjectDock 2.0 is coming out. If you've purchased ObjectDock before January 2010, you're probably out of luck.

I still see bugs in OD that have been there for years. They will NEVER be fixed because Stardock is busy making new junk and can't be bothered to fix the stuff that they've already collected their money for.

...kinda like a car dealership telling you, "We'll do the warranty work on your car just as soon as we've sold all the cars on the lot."

I think 2.0 will be released in January 1, 2022 the rate they are going.. Come on, I am having so many issues, especially with the Always Up function on TabDocks. StarDock, get to work and fix these problems!

Just a question...

Would it be unreasonable to request a refund after using the program for six or more months? Many users have been patiently waiting for bugs to be fixed and decided to wait instead of instantly requesting a refund.

I wouldn't think the wait will be *too* much longer.

Do you know something we dont???

I would think so, yes.

"Dear shop owner....I have worn these jeans for 6 months...but I don't want/like them any more.  Please can I have my money back?"

that statement is inherently incorrect. Since i have using stardock products most issues have been fixed promptly and permanently. Maybe the reason OD 2 is taking so long is because stardock are making damn sure that it will be perfect. Also they cannot predict every type of machine/hardware that these products will be asked to run on.

I would hazard a guess to say that most of the time the reason programs don't run properly on someones machine is because it is either poorly maintained, Not updated or a flaky install of windows. Admittedly this is not the case all the time and some people do have genuine problems and from what i have experienced with stardock support (even if they take a few days, but hey they are busy you know) will always try and rectify the issue.

It would be nice if there was someone at Stardock who actually trolled these posts and could throw us a bone about a theoretical timeline for projected releases. True, there is a workaround to get OD+ working on Vista x64, but are they trying to get it (OD2) ready for Win7? Maybe they think Vista support is a waste of effort.............

Maybe they don't care about Vista because most people will be upgrading to Win7 (IMO), since Vista sucked from all betas until SP1 release. I think it's ok now with new hardware. Win7 seems to run smoothly on hardware that is painfully slow with Vista. This could mean that when it is released (win7), it will run nicely on most hardware out there, something MS nor apple have been able to do. (Apple locks old hardware from upgrading to new OSX releases as they deem appropriate; granted, one can get around that).  But still, MS doesn't lock anyone out, the new OS (you name it: 98, XP,Vista) is generally painfully slow when released because of bloat. 

Sorry about the tangent.......BACK TO TOPIC.........Is OD going to be around with Apple getting a patent for their dock? Or are all others besides OSX going bye-bye? Does anyone have any idea? Or is OD dead with the possiblilty of a sh*%^y Apple lawsuit?

Like I said, it would be nice if a SD troll would help us out a bit. Some other good software manufacturers have good Forum Support (most don't), I can't yet say that forum support is good at SD.

A good, compatible, & stable x64 OD2 release would be good for us all (IMO).

Reporting dates is almost always risky for any software delevoper.  Especially one that wants to put out the best product possible.  There is always the chance that if a date is missed then you'll have more people upset.

As to not caring about OD . . that's just not the case.  The fact is that there are only so many resources available and sometimes you have to pick where to spend them.  And remember, just because you are not seeing action does not mean things are not being done.  I would expect that OD2 will work on both Vista and Win7.

I wouldn't be too worried about Apple lawsuits either. 

I know sw development is incredibly difficult to estimate completion dates, especially with the load that SD is under; with so many nice products having been released lately. But if a release date is "missed", the customer is aware that something is around the corner, since it has been noted that work is being completed on a new project, thus the projected release date.

It just 'seems' to alot of people think that OD is left for dead, since there hasn't been an updates for an awefully long time. Granted, long time(s) between releases will always fuel this debate, whether it is warranted or not. Also, It would be nice if they fixed Impulse to allow the viewing and installation of the beta releases (or have they?), so we can get  simpler way to get x64 support for OD (as opposed to installing the old SDC to get the OD+ beta).

Still, an estimate of Q1 2009, or something like that would give a nice 3 month window. Or why not a Q1-Q2 2009 setimate, a six month window? Most every company has to put estimated completion dates for the sake of striving to reach the goal. If a project has not reached the standard of quality where it needs to be, then the release date of course must slip. Again, the customer is aware something NEW is on the horizon, since the 'projected' release date was given many months before.

I know, I know; it is impossible to put an exact timeline on a good quality product, but a 3-6 month estimate is "usually" a good window for a projection. And I know this is all a moot point, since OD will do what they want to do, regardless of what (we in the forums) want. But aren't we, the supposed 'fanboys' of SD, deserving of some appeasing? Just a thought. Back to work for now.

See reply #49. 

Zubaz, Thanks for the help and the information (#49). You know, I went and installed OB2 from my ultimate account, and it appears that is a very powerful program; and I haven't really played with it yet. OD / OB are different, yet very similar. I really like OB2, but would like to make it a little more like the Win7 Taskbar, where mousing over icons gives a preview of the open windows. Right now OB only gives the address of the open item. Maybe OD2 will give the customization that many want.

Anyway, I always look forward to a SD releases. That is why I have Ultimate, and have started to dabble in their other software titles.

Closer to this...

"Dear shop owner... I bought these jeans yesterday and they have a blotch on them. Can I get a good pair please?"

"Customer, I am sorry, but we don't have any in stock at the moment. I can give you a refund now, or you can wait until we get them back in stock."

"I can wait, shop owner. Thanks for listening."

...wait...wait...wait...

"Are the jeans in yet, shop owner?"

"No. Soon though."

...wait...wait...wait...

"Are the jeans in yet, shop owner?"

"No. Soon though."

...wait...wait...wait...

"Are the jeans in yet, shop owner?"

"No. Soon though."

"Well, I've been waiting for them to come in for a while now. Since it  seems like you won't be getting them in anytime soon, could I have a refund please?"

apple may be able to get a patent for their dock, but they didn't invent the dock so i can't see how they can possibly institute a lawsuit against stardock. Docks have been around for a lot longer than most people realise.

Well, if you asked support back then and they gave you the choice between waiting or a refund, you can send a copy of that email to the sales deparment and surely they should honor their word.

That's what happened, right? You contacted them and they proposed to give you a refund?