The reason is that your credit card is not charged until the product is released and Paypal doesn't allow that.

Call me stupid, but I fail to understand this whole pre-order-thing here. Why pre-order ? Will it be out of stock after 1000 buys ? Are there any special functions when You 'pre-order' that are not in if You just order when the beta is out ? As much I understand that it will cost something, I am completely lost with this campaign.

Well missoctavia, Stardock should not have offered it as a payment option for the preorder it they

were not willing to accept it.

When I attempted to purchase OD2 with PayPal I was not buying an option for OD2 I was actually

trying to purchase it with a delayed delivery as was made quite clear in the email when it was

stated that beta testing is scheduled to begin this month.

I'll post my thoughts regarding this in a dedicated thread that has been created already.

I suspect the plan is to ensure there is a reasonable number of people in the beta on day one vs putting up the beta and then doing the marketing of it.

Pre-order is giving you early access to the application.  Pretty much the same as with WindowBlinds and any other app that has early "beta" releases for people who are either current subscribers or who preordered.

Offering to sell it before the beta is even out is a first for us though (for desktop apps)

Considering that existing OD+ customers get access to in-cycle betas anyway, what is in the way of providing time-limited access to 2.0 beta as well? You get the feedback and bug reports and people get a trial of an improved product. It's a win-win.

Essentially, people are being asked to invest in something that they don't know when they will get it, how it will be and whether it will work on their PCs. That's a lot of going out on a limb, especially considering that Object Dock's recent track record has not been exemplary (for one reason or another). Cynically speaking, it appears that Stardock is in a great rush to get a return on its investment without taking into account said track record, falling interest in OD and conventions of early access to software.

all i know, the second i saw the email i preordered it.

That is my concern about the whole thing...

I do not use credit cards so sorry, I will not get this product until released as a full gold product. I also refuse to be pay to be a Beta tester, not even Mincrosoft does that.

Stardock's products have always been in betas and customers beta testers

Naw they do not even hold a candle to Symantec in that department

Sure, but a perk of being a beta tester was a bonus to purchasing a product license. Now there's a turnaround: you pay to get into the beta with a perk of getting the official release when it's all done and dusted. Seems the same, but it really isn't. When I pay to see a stand up comedian, I don't pay to see the supporting guy while the main act nips off for a quick snack/toilet break

OK inc0gnito, I understand what you are trying to say, but regardless, if you don't want to participate then it's purely optional.

And I should note again, creating duplicate accounts to circumvent previous actions are a no-no.  

Yes they do....eg via TechNet Subscription ...

Yes you do...it's included in the ticket price.

• Brand New and Improved UI
• New Reflections feature
• Now supports Blur-behind animation
• Supports Windows 7 <------Does this include x64 (including x64 support on Vista)
  
• Easy to use shortcut organizer
• Simple drag & drop operation
• Convenient autohide and "keep in background" modes
• Fully customizable - tons of backgrounds and images freely available
• Low system resource usage
• Smooth animations
• Designed to run smoothly even on older computers
• Weather flyout showing your current conditions & 5-day forecast
• The universal standard for Docklet extensions
• Running programs show up on dock, can minimize to it
• Super-smooth minimize animations in Vista
• Many languages supported, unicode compliant

It's pretty much the same as every online game release since World of Warcraft... *shrug*

Yup. There are quite a few MMO's that have done the "Pre-purcahse and get your slot in the beta" thing. I havnt done it myself. How ever, for Object dock, and the upgrade being 10 bucks i went for it. I like object dock. Its been very handy for me. So Im excited to play around with 2.0.

P.S. Good question on the x64 stuff. Im really hoping I can finally add a start menu to these things, and use other features that x64 were not supported before.

pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease 64bit support!!