Stardock Central Officially Released
Monday, June 2, 2003 by Stardock Central | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Stardock Corporation17292 Farmington Rd.
Livonia MI 48152
June 2, 2003
Stardock Central Released!
New program combines software updates, chat, message boards and more into a single program!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canton MI – Stardock released a new program that combines software distribution, internet chat, discussion groups, and documentation updates today. The new program, called “Stardock Central” has been designed to allow its customers to instantly update their software, access the latest documentation, chat with users on-line, and interact with Stardock’s various virtual communities.
When a user creates an account, the company’s .NET backend (Stardock.NET) can automatically determine what programs and features that user has access to and make them available. In addition, it displays Stardock’s other programs so that users can try out demo versions of the software they don’t have.
Stardock’s premiere product, Object Desktop, is sold as both a traditional stand alone product as well as a subscription. Stardock Central allows users to keep tabs on the status of their subscription. In addition, it can backup and archive any of the software so that if their subscription expires, they can continue to use the software.
Stardock Central is available for free download at:
https://www.stardock.com/products/sdcentral/
Companies interested in licensing Stardock Central’s technology to distribute their software and decrease support costs can contact [email protected].
# # #
About Stardock:
Stardock Corporation is a Midwestern software developer that makes desktop extension solutions such as Object Desktop and its components WindowBlinds, DesktopX, IconPackager, etc. It also develops consumer entertainment products such as Galactic Civilizations. Its home page is https://www.stardock.com. Contact [email protected] for more information.
seanm75
Reply #2 Monday, June 2, 2003 9:42 PM
Reply #2 Monday, June 2, 2003 9:42 PM
So is it safe to assume that this replaces the "Component Manager"?
michael havard
Reply #3 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 12:37 AM
Reply #3 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 12:37 AM
Is it just me or are the percentages just a weee bit off when downloading/installing an app?
Rutabaga64
Reply #4 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 12:48 AM
Reply #4 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 12:48 AM
What really gets me is the bloody awful slow download speeds, sometimes less than 1kb/sec, and I'm on a DSL connection. I'd hate to see how slow the downloads are on 56k dial-up. 
George Rogers Jr
Reply #5 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 3:19 AM
Reply #5 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 3:19 AM
Just wondering if anyone has experienced any real problems with this SDC 1.0 other than Jinn Fizz's comments about slow DL speeds? I'm still with CM until all these fixes are worked out. Feedback from anyone would be appreciated! 
Mirical Bernd
Reply #6 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 5:03 AM
Reply #6 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 5:03 AM
I do have a real problem: I cannot login with Stardock Central. I have disabled my firewall, I have relaunched my system (Windows 2000). Nothing works. When I click on Submit even my browser doesn't want to continue loading. The same on my Windows XP Home-Laptop. I am connected to DSL through a router and switch. But that cannot be the problem. Other programs are working too. Or is Stardock Central using something else than TCP/IP to connect itself? At this point, the new program is no alternative to the old component manager. Please get back to work and develop a program that actually works.
mrbiotech
Reply #7 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 9:41 AM
Reply #7 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 9:41 AM
I'm having major problems with Stardock Central... It appears that everything that updates via SDCentral becomes unusable. Windowblinds, after upgrading to the 3.51 release (because I'm a W2KPro user) now ceases to work, other than changing the system colors. WinStyles, DesktopX, and ObjectBar all perform likewise (they won't load, or begin to load and give an error related to ODZip.dll). DesktopX now gives an Application Error - "The Application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005). Click on OK to terminate the application." It appears that the only OD programs I have that now work are BandVWM, and ObjectEdit. Is anyone else experiencing this? Very disappointing...
c242
Reply #8 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 9:56 AM
Reply #8 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 9:56 AM
mrbiotech : Watch closely, where the programs are installed. Maybe You have 2 different versions of the programs in 2 different folders (c:\program files\stardock and c:\program files\object desktop). You can set in SDC, where it should install the apps. Also make sure You have the SDC temp folder empty before update something. That's another parameter You can set. I would recomment to save all skins and themes to another location, uninstall all apps und re-install them again via SDC.
T-Man
Reply #9 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 10:16 AM
Reply #9 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 10:16 AM
If you are experiencing technical difficulties with Stardock Central please email Stardock Support at [email protected].
mrbiotech
Reply #10 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 11:03 AM
Reply #10 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 11:03 AM
c242- That's exactly what the problem was! I cleared out the duplicate folder, reinstalled v1.00 of SDC, and uninstalled all apps, reinstalling afterwards. Worked like a charm! Apt advice 
(Thanks to Stardock, too!)
(Thanks to Stardock, too!)
Norphy
Reply #13 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 4:20 PM
Reply #13 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 4:20 PM
"When a user creates an account, the company?s .NET backend (Stardock.NET) can automatically determine what programs and features that user has access to and make them available. In addition, it displays Stardock?s other programs so that users can try out demo versions of the software they don?t have."
Does this mean you need the .NET framework installed to run this thing or is this Stardock using a confuzzling name?
Does this mean you need the .NET framework installed to run this thing or is this Stardock using a confuzzling name?
joetheblow
Reply #14 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 7:00 PM
Reply #14 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 7:00 PM
can't we call it Central.NET instead of Stardock.NET?
[email protected]
Reply #15 Wednesday, June 4, 2003 11:23 AM
Reply #15 Wednesday, June 4, 2003 11:23 AM
We were using .NET as a moniker on stuff years ago. It's a reference to things being done as a network.
You don't need the MS .NET framework to run any Stardock software.
Jafo
Reply #16 Friday, June 6, 2003 3:23 AM
Reply #16 Friday, June 6, 2003 3:23 AM
George....in its infancy there were some odd problems with applying updates of itself but for quite a while now SDC has been totally 'painless' in operation...
George Rogers Jr
Reply #17 Saturday, June 7, 2003 4:14 AM
Reply #17 Saturday, June 7, 2003 4:14 AM
Thanks Paul - appreciate your input & clarification on SDC! 
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Reply #1 Monday, June 2, 2003 8:19 PM