the ides of march
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 by skillip | Discussion: OS Customization
object desktop has been the flagship of stardock now for a good few years.
in my humble opinion enjoying it's heyday from 2006 to 2012.
but much to my dismay, as windows has advanced, object desktop is becoming
more and more obsolete. several of it's primary programs are now dinosaurs with no
plans to bring them up to date. in short, they are finished.
among these is icon packager, sound packager, cursor fx and object dock.
these, along with window blinds, dreamscapes, and window fx formed a suite
which had no peers to be found anywhere on the net.
with sadness I think we are seeing the end of stardock as a serious desktop
customisation option. the more recent programs, start8, decor8, tiles, modern mix
and launch8 do little, if anything to customise the windows desktop as the old suite
did.
start8 is certainly a grand idea, seeing Microsoft in their wisdom, which seems to defy
all logic, did away with the start button and start menu.
the others, really, I myself personally can take or leave. they serve little purpose in
customising except for decor8, and seem to be more gimmicky than anything.
tiles being the only program intended out of these for the old desktop, the others
being used for metro, and I am yet to talk to anyone running windows 8 or 8.1 who
prefer metro over the old desktop.
the core of the suite, which in my opinion works and did work so well, is being
abandoned by stardock.
to me desktop customisation is just that, being able to change the task bar and the icons
and the sounds and the cursors.
I feel now that stardock, as a force for desktop customisation, is waning.
I was in two minds whether to renew my object desktop subs for another year
mainly because the programs I use most are now obsolete, with the exception of window
blinds, and sound packager does not even work on windows 8 which I run.
I did renew it however, simply for the sake of start8 updates.
but this will be the last time I do renew.
windows 8 start button replacements and menus are now made by several companies and most
are free. they therefore make a good alternative to start8.
the skinning community also seems finished.
window blinds is pretty active here however, but looking at icon packager and cursor fx
and even good old sound packager, no one it seems is interested anymore.
like most good things in life I suppose, the novelty in the end wore off.
maybe in the future a new and fresh company will arise with new fresh ideas and a whole
new approach to skinning the windows interfaces and desktop tools, who knows.
r.i.p stardock.
deeply mourned by family and friends.
the ashes will be cremated and buried in england
Reply #2 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 1:36 PM
abandoned by stardock.
In my world, the core of ObjectDesktop is WindowBlinds, and it has not been abandoned, not by a long shot.
no one it seems is interested anymore.
Well, this is becoming more and more obvious. I'm not sure if it's Windows 8 or just plain burnout, but there doesn't seem to be near as much interest in skinning/customization as there was when I got here.
Man, I miss those days.
Reply #3 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 2:19 PM
I agree redneck that window blinds is an important component but it is not
the mainstay. I don't think any one program is the mainstay. my own feelings
were window blinds, icon packager, sound packager, object dock, and good old
right click. ( I was fond of right click. why they buried that is beyond me)
made up the core of desktop customising. and who can forget icon x?
now all but window blinds is deceased, stardock seems to be focusing on
windows metro. I don't see what you can do with metro apart from what
decor8 and launch8 do. namely, change the background and add a poor man's
version of object dock to the metro screen.
I am pretty confident that when windows 9 comes along, and certainly by windows 10
that even window blinds will die the death, and probably start8 too.
some may not agree with me, but the evidence is out there that proves it.
even winstep xtreme has been abandoned, not seeing a minor or major update since
march 2012. I therefore take no notice about reminders to renew my subs to it.
object desktop and others have given me a lot of pleasure, but those days are no over
and I don't think they are coming back.
if stardock are still interested in desktop customising, then why has right click, icon x
icon packager and sound packager all died? the simple answer is they have no desire to
keep those programs going, not even for loyal users.
shame really. 3planesoft, the kings of screensavers, have also waned. seems to me there
is an apathy now and that is not going to change.
if I could work my will, all the good old programs from yesteryears object desktop would
be made compatible with 8 and all future windows releases unless, perish the thought,
Microsoft finally go ga-ga and do away fully with the desktop.
I wish there was another way, but I wont be renewing anymore. maybe the first
commentator will be right, I hope he is, that good things are coming.
I hope he is right.
Reply #4 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 2:25 PM
maybe the fault is I am far too sentimental.
but I loved stardocks stuff that was available in 2008 when I joined.
Reply #5 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 4:13 PM
Things I have seen before (paraphrased):
"Vista looks so cool it will surely be the death of Stardock."
"Win7 looks so cool it will surely be the death of Stardock."
"Win8 is such a mess it will surely be the death of Stardock."
Well they just keep on going. 
They evolve, just like any survivor does. Ya there are a lot of software pieces that have fallen off that many of us would have liked to have seen kept up. Problem is, I'm sure, that to keep those pieces going as any sort of a "product", they have to be maintained and have resources poured into them. What was once an asset becomes something of a liability, kind of like that old car that keeps needing work. Recently Windowblinds has had to be patched once (or was it twice?) because of MS Win8 patches. There is only so much baggage that can be carried around.
Stardock does what it does, I've learned not to second-guess them or try to make predictions.
Reply #6 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 4:22 PM
I ought to point out that ObjectDock is not part of ObjectDesktop.
Reply #7 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 5:15 PM
Yup. I'm paid up till 12/2016. I have faith.
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Reply #1 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 1:33 PM
As is often commented when folks talk about the end of a popular era, the only thing in life that is constant is change.
So often we as individuals look at something like desktop customization and tend to put more significance to it because we like it. I think if the community replies they will talk about desktop customizing more as a niche type activity then one for the total computer base. Lets face it, most folks look for results versus style.
Through the years Microsoft has not made Stardock's job easier with the changes and yes improvements to the Windows Operating System, there have been lots with Windows 8 being the most current.
The list of SD desktop software that has come and gone is chock full of community favorites like DesktopX, Right Click, Object Bar and others. There are still several left that make desktop customization an enjoyable activity with community members making skins for them.
In my opinion, looking for a cemetery plot is just a little premature at the moment. Something tells me the sun can just be seen coming up on the horizon on a new day, and for my self, I want to hang around and see what it brings.