Absolutely, as MS can be counted on to change its OS.

Good morning.

I'm posting here because I don't know where to go.

Today, I was doing my mail (Outlook 2021) and some blockages appeared while consulting this mail and after a certain time, I had this window which appeared:

I would like to point out: I have been looking for the origin of the unexpected closure and blockages of my games: ATS and ETS for quite some time.

I thought for a while that Deskscape was at fault, but that's not true. It is Fences who is at fault.

THANKS.

See you.

philumax

reply 122

Good morning.

I'm posting here because I don't know where to go.

Today, I was doing my mail (Outlook 2021) and some blockages appeared while consulting this mail and after a certain time, I had this window which appeared:



I would like to point out: I have been looking for the origin of the unexpected closure and blockages of my games: ATS and ETS for quite some time.

I thought for a while that Deskscape was at fault, but that's not true. It is Fences who is at fault.

THANKS.

See you.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. But, would appreciate if you could translate that popup said.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Thank for your response, but that don't explain what is "permanant licence" and how "steam licences" work...

They should publish an OFFICIAL response that explain clearly what are difference of each licences flavor.

I still won't understand why they won't give me clear answer about that.

No worries, here it is:

Stardock Fences

(D

Fences@ detected that Explorer was not closed correctly.

As a precaution, Fences@ has been deactivated

temporarily.

To re-enable Fences@, right-click

on

your desktop and choose “Activate Fences@”.

OK

I upgraded Fences from 3 to 4 a little while back for Windows 11 support, though I don't feel I got anything out of the deal other than bugs.

...and now they want £20/year or £50 for a one-off payment, just so I can have my desktop slightly tidier and stuff in a little box.

That's literally all Fences is for.  And 4 wasn't that great an experience; I'd update and then get constant update notifications despite already having the update installed.  The background of the fences would be solid black on occasions, or keep moving/resizing.  Grid alignment would be a bit janky and off.

Fences 3 was fine but now it seems to be some kind of weird cash grab.  How on Earth did a simple utility come to this?  It's essentially the same application, with the same functionality.  It organises my mess of a desktop.  One job, that it does really well for the most part.  Why on Earth would I want to pay repeatedly for it?

This gets even more buggy.  I updated yesterday.  Today I get an update popup again - I ALREADY INSTALLED 4.22

And the pricing for 5... £7.99 per year, £29.99 Lifetime, but I only upgraded this last time a year ago.  If they're doing a new version every 3 years, then £29.99 isn't the best price if they're going to want you to upgrade to the next version.  It's very confusing to be repeatedly expected to pay so much for what is a basic, simple utility...

Please explain me the difference between all your licences options ... and answer to my questions.
I'm really serious, if you are capable to give me good reasons tu upgrade I will consider it... But please, make an effort.

Permanent license for 29.99 won't ever expire but you won't get access to subsequent new releases, eg Fences 6.

Subscription method. 9.99 or discounted per year. Must pay every year or software locks you out. A subscriber does get access Fences 5 then 6 and so on until the sun explodes I am told.

Object Desktop: you get all stardocks software with a renewal every year.

It's up to you if you want to upgrade or not. Usually I do trials of all Stardocks software and give them 30 days to sell me on their products based on the performance of the software versus the cost. I would still rate Fences 4 as a pretty good product myself.

A permanent [lifetime] license to Fences 5 gives you exactly that...a permanent license to Fences 5.

It does not expire...not until you do.

A Subscription license to Fences 5 gives you Fences 5 ...and if you keep subscribing it will give you Fences 6....Fences 7 ad nauseum ....until you cease subscribing.

A subscription is regarded as a LIVE purchase...you keep paying...you keep getting.  If or when you cease the subscription the product ceases to function...in the same way other Subscription software is reliant on an active subscription.

If you choose purchase...it's a one-time thing...and you receive 1 item [with minor point updates/bug fixes].

If you choose subscription you are always up-to-date - no matter what Microsoft might do to interfere with shell enhancements or what new OS versions may come your way....

Object Desktop has always been a Subscription for a large group of Stardock Software...so all are kept current...and with the added feature of early access to Beta versions etc...

Just google fences alternatives.  Im not rewarding this behaviour. Ive bought from Stardock since they open. Im done.

I'm a fences 4 owner, just took a look today at fences 5 - very hard to even see where the value is that justifies both the subscription model and increased lifetime cost. I will be staying on F4 and never see any need to move off it. If I do I'll most likely look for other options as this now appears to have priced itself out of the market.

The announced features for Fences 5 aren't enough for me to upgrade, but was there by chance some minor changes to the functionality? Sometimes a minor functional change is enough to sway me. I saw that support for multiple monitors/resolutions is being done, but I don't really need that either. Any interesting tweaks from 4 to 5?

Glad to see I am not the only one who is upset with the new licence methods. 

I dont want yet another subscription based product just so I can have my desktop icons tidy - Like others have said - the old way of licences worked fine and were a good price. 

This new subscription IMO is just a money grab from the dev's 

I have some old versions - guess I will be sticking with these for as long as they work - and if they should ever stop find a new product that does what I need. 

Shame - as the software is good - as for the new licence model. just greed. 

-------

Update - I have a new work device and was going to now install Fences 4 - which is the last version I have a licence for - but I did what one of the posts above said - search for alternatives and found [removed by moderator]. 

Amazed to find yes it needs a licence - but they allow you to pay what you think is a fair price for the software. Given I am new - I have just removed Fences off my home PC, my personal laptop and now my work device and installed [removed by moderator]. 

I will see how I get on with it over the next month - and then make a payment I feel is fit for the product. 

Wonder how many others have done this and moved away from Stardock? 

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Promoting competitor software is against forum rules. You have more than stated your opinion in the first section of your post. 

Moderator Jan Oscar