Suites - which apps to support
Friday, July 18, 2003 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
For a suite to be useful, it needs to support the applications people use.
But this also has to be carefully balanced -- every application that is skinned adds time and effort to the project. So what do you think would be the list of core apps that need to be skinned for something to be complete for the mainstream user?
Here's what I would pick:
IconPackager for the icons
CursorXP for the cursors.
WindowBlinds for the GUI
DesktopX for the desktop
ObjectBar for the bars and menus
Windows Media Player for the MP3 player (or Winamp)
Maybe Trillian but probably not (I use MSN now).
And WinStyles to put it all together.
What apps do you think really need to be skinned for a complete suite?
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Michael Ficarra
Reply #22 Friday, July 18, 2003 6:53 PM
Me, personally, hmmmm...
Necessary:
Windowblinds
Cursor XP
Icons
Wall
Logon
Very good to have:
Trillian
Windows Media Player
Sysmetrix
Reply #22 Friday, July 18, 2003 6:53 PM
Me, personally, hmmmm...
Necessary:
Windowblinds
Cursor XP
Icons
Wall
Logon
Very good to have:
Trillian
Windows Media Player
Sysmetrix
eieio
Reply #23 Friday, July 18, 2003 8:16 PM
Reply #23 Friday, July 18, 2003 8:16 PM
In order of my preference:
Windowblinds
IconPackager
Cursor XP
Wall
Logon
Winamp
WMP
Windowblinds
IconPackager
Cursor XP
Wall
Logon
Winamp
WMP
lalfonsob
Reply #24 Friday, July 18, 2003 9:59 PM
Reply #24 Friday, July 18, 2003 9:59 PM
WindowBlinds (Important)
IconPackager (Important)
CursorXP (Important)
Wallpaper (Important)
DesktopX (I can do it myself, but if it comes with the suite, Welcome aboard)
SysMetrix (Important)
Rainlendar (Important)
WinAmp or WMP(Important)
Trillian (Important!!!!!!!!!>
)
WinStyles. (I can do it myself)
ObjectDock (I think you can use some WindowBlinds graphics to do the background. And the icons; unpack some from the Iconpackager theme and that's it! But it would be nice to have a original theme, like Pix OS or Abracadabra.)
IconPackager (Important)
CursorXP (Important)
Wallpaper (Important)
DesktopX (I can do it myself, but if it comes with the suite, Welcome aboard)
SysMetrix (Important)
Rainlendar (Important)
WinAmp or WMP(Important)
Trillian (Important!!!!!!!!!>
)WinStyles. (I can do it myself)
ObjectDock (I think you can use some WindowBlinds graphics to do the background. And the icons; unpack some from the Iconpackager theme and that's it! But it would be nice to have a original theme, like Pix OS or Abracadabra.)
SuperheroCanadian
Reply #25 Friday, July 18, 2003 10:13 PM
Reply #25 Friday, July 18, 2003 10:13 PM
hmmm lets think here, im very far from mainstream
Windowblinds
Litestep ( starts laughing at the thought of someone including LS ina suite)
Trillian
Winamp
Wallpaper
thats all i need
Windowblinds
Litestep ( starts laughing at the thought of someone including LS ina suite)
Trillian
Winamp
Wallpaper
thats all i need
lalfonsob
Reply #26 Friday, July 18, 2003 10:19 PM
Reply #26 Friday, July 18, 2003 10:19 PM
WindowBlinds (Important)
IconPackager (Important)
CursorXP (Important)
Logon (Important)
Wallpaper (Important)
DesktopX (I can do it myself, but if it comes with the suite, Welcome aboard)
SysMetrix (Important)
Rainlendar (Important)
WinAmp or WMP(Important)
Trillian (Important!!!!!!!!! )
WinStyles. (I can do it myself)
ObjectDock (I think you can use some WindowBlinds graphics to do the background. And the icons; unpack some from the Iconpackager theme and that's it! But it would be nice to have a original theme, like Pix OS or Abracadabra.)
Sorry, I couldn't edit my post, I had to post again! I added the logon. I use it a lot!
[Message Edited]
IconPackager (Important)
CursorXP (Important)
Logon (Important)
Wallpaper (Important)
DesktopX (I can do it myself, but if it comes with the suite, Welcome aboard)
SysMetrix (Important)
Rainlendar (Important)
WinAmp or WMP(Important)
Trillian (Important!!!!!!!!! )
WinStyles. (I can do it myself)
ObjectDock (I think you can use some WindowBlinds graphics to do the background. And the icons; unpack some from the Iconpackager theme and that's it! But it would be nice to have a original theme, like Pix OS or Abracadabra.)
Sorry, I couldn't edit my post, I had to post again! I added the logon. I use it a lot!
[Message Edited]
Old_Crab
Reply #27 Saturday, July 19, 2003 12:53 AM
Reply #27 Saturday, July 19, 2003 12:53 AM
Iconpackager. Old Crab still uses the "Old Classic" interface. *Raspberries to all the new-fangled stuff*. > 
Shakey (the Original)
Reply #28 Saturday, July 19, 2003 1:13 AM
Reply #28 Saturday, July 19, 2003 1:13 AM
Windowblinds
IconPackager
Wallpaper
Winamp
IconPackager
Wallpaper
Winamp
rmiles7721
Reply #29 Saturday, July 19, 2003 2:10 AM
Reply #29 Saturday, July 19, 2003 2:10 AM
Windowblinds
CursorXP
DesktopX
Logon
WMP
Winamp
Iconpackager
Objectdock
Trillian
Sysmetrix (occasionally)
Rainlendar (occasionally)
and of course, Winstyles
CursorXP
DesktopX
Logon
WMP
Winamp
Iconpackager
Objectdock
Trillian
Sysmetrix (occasionally)
Rainlendar (occasionally)
and of course, Winstyles
RockinMike
Reply #30 Saturday, July 19, 2003 4:05 AM
Reply #30 Saturday, July 19, 2003 4:05 AM
Windowblinds
CursorXP
Logon
Icon packager
Wallpaper
CursorXP
Logon
Icon packager
Wallpaper
grayhaze
Reply #31 Saturday, July 19, 2003 5:26 AM
Reply #31 Saturday, July 19, 2003 5:26 AM
From the results so far, I'd say the minimum people expect is WindowBlinds, CursorXP, IconPackager and Wallpaper. This makes a lot of sense to me. All the extras would be better placed as free downloads or very cheap optional extras when purchasing. It's all very well spending a couple of weeks extra making a Trillian skin, for example, but if only 1 in 4 of the people who buy the suite are ever going use it there's little point in making it a part of the suite.
KW88
Reply #32 Saturday, July 19, 2003 6:00 AM
Reply #32 Saturday, July 19, 2003 6:00 AM
I like a suite to have.....
Windowblinds
IconPackager
Cursor XP
Wall
Winamp
Raindlander
Sysmetrix
Windowblinds
IconPackager
Cursor XP
Wall
Winamp
Raindlander
Sysmetrix
Anthony R
Reply #33 Saturday, July 19, 2003 6:03 AM
With all due respect, if you are going into business and you think one in four of your customers are always wrong you are in for a rude awakening.
It would seem you have forgotten or disregarded the holy grail of business… the customer is always right. This statement is mathematically unsound as well ....look at that number, would you throw away 2,500 out of 10,000?
I would consider one in four ….a make or break condition.
Reply #33 Saturday, July 19, 2003 6:03 AM
| #31 by JourneyMan grayhaze - 7/19/2003 5:26:55 AM It's all very well spending a couple of weeks extra making a Trillian skin, for example, but if only 1 in 4 of the people who buy the suite are ever going use it there's little point in making it a part of the suite. |
With all due respect, if you are going into business and you think one in four of your customers are always wrong you are in for a rude awakening.
It would seem you have forgotten or disregarded the holy grail of business… the customer is always right. This statement is mathematically unsound as well ....look at that number, would you throw away 2,500 out of 10,000?
I would consider one in four ….a make or break condition.
grayhaze
Reply #34 Saturday, July 19, 2003 7:51 AM
Reply #34 Saturday, July 19, 2003 7:51 AM
With all due respect anthony, don't take someone's comments out of context and then criticize.
I was therefore saying that it makes more sense to make that skin a free download to accompany the paid-for suite containing the basic requirements for a desktop facelift. I don't think that would cause you to lose 2500 sales out of 10000, as the majority of people have already said that they would pay for the WindowBlinds skin, IconPackager theme, etc.
Also, the '1 in 4' was really just for illustrative purposes. The actual number of people with a particular third-party application that has a skin for it in a suite is hard to guess. I don't think anyone would disagree that the central skin of the suite, and arguably the most important to the end-user, is the WindowBlinds skin.
| All the extras would be better placed as free downloads or very cheap optional extras when purchasing. It's all very well spending a couple of weeks extra making a Trillian skin, for example, but if only 1 in 4 of the people who buy the suite are ever going use it there's little point in making it a part of the suite. |
I was therefore saying that it makes more sense to make that skin a free download to accompany the paid-for suite containing the basic requirements for a desktop facelift. I don't think that would cause you to lose 2500 sales out of 10000, as the majority of people have already said that they would pay for the WindowBlinds skin, IconPackager theme, etc.
Also, the '1 in 4' was really just for illustrative purposes. The actual number of people with a particular third-party application that has a skin for it in a suite is hard to guess. I don't think anyone would disagree that the central skin of the suite, and arguably the most important to the end-user, is the WindowBlinds skin.
grayhaze
Reply #35 Saturday, July 19, 2003 7:57 AM
Reply #35 Saturday, July 19, 2003 7:57 AM
I guess my real point is that it makes sense to only include those applications which the majority of users will have in common. You're then not creating extra unnessesary work for the initial release of the suite, as those extra skins can be produced at a later date as demand calls for them, and can put a little more focus into producing those skins which 'everyone' who buys the suite are likely to be using.
It would also cut down on extra 'bloat' for the release, and those users who are on slow internet connections wouldn't have to spend time downloading skins for applications they have no intention of using.
It would also cut down on extra 'bloat' for the release, and those users who are on slow internet connections wouldn't have to spend time downloading skins for applications they have no intention of using.
werewolf
Reply #36 Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:33 AM
Reply #36 Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:33 AM
I add my vote for winamp/WMP, Rainlendar and sysmetrix for sure. I would also add NS/WS, ColorPad, Beatnik, Quicknotes.
Woodbridge
Reply #37 Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:48 AM
Reply #37 Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:48 AM
Windowblinds 4
IconPackager
CursorXP
LoginStudio
Wallpappers, while nice, I rarely use the supllied wall, I prefer to find my own.
Trillian, I'll use it if it is there, else I'll use MirandaIM and have WB do the skinning.
Mp3 player...I don't care - I use Foobar
.
All other app I'd consider a bonus but only use them if I plan on showing off (or they happen to be particularly usable.
IconPackager
CursorXP
LoginStudio
Wallpappers, while nice, I rarely use the supllied wall, I prefer to find my own.
Trillian, I'll use it if it is there, else I'll use MirandaIM and have WB do the skinning.
Mp3 player...I don't care - I use Foobar
.All other app I'd consider a bonus but only use them if I plan on showing off (or they happen to be particularly usable.
Alexandrie
Reply #38 Saturday, July 19, 2003 11:00 AM
Reply #38 Saturday, July 19, 2003 11:00 AM
Here is the result from all answers we've got so far
| IconPackager | 25 |
| CursorXP | 21 |
| WindowBlinds | 28 |
| DesktopX | 9 |
| ObjectBar | 6 |
| Windows Media Player | 14 |
| Trillian | 10 |
| Logon | 14 |
| Wallpaper | 21 |
| Winamp | 13 |
| sysmetrix | 14 |
| rainlendar | 8 |
| Yahoo | 1 |
| MMjukebox | 1 |
| Icq | 3 |
| Winstep | 3 |
| ObjectDock | 3 |
| WinStyles | 5 |
| LiteStep | 2 |
| ColorPad | 1 |
| Beatnik | 1 |
| Quicknotes | 1 |
manni
Reply #39 Sunday, July 20, 2003 8:17 AM
Reply #39 Sunday, July 20, 2003 8:17 AM
WindowBlinds, Hoverdesk and IconPackager is all i need.
In Hoverdesk i have my sysmeter, my clock, my notes and my amp
included and i can have zooming icons.
In Hoverdesk i have my sysmeter, my clock, my notes and my amp
included and i can have zooming icons.
Weaksid
Reply #40 Sunday, July 20, 2003 8:23 AM
Reply #40 Sunday, July 20, 2003 8:23 AM
It's a tough choice. I'll have to get back to you on that.
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Reply #21 Friday, July 18, 2003 6:16 PM
Here is the result until now