Konfabulator for Windows arrives..
Monday, November 8, 2004 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
FINALLY after being subjected to a year of emails and comments on how Konfabulator was going to blow DesktopX away we can finally see Konfabulator for itself and compare apples and apples.
Here's one apples and apples comparison: Memory use.
(click to enlarge).
Frogboy
Reply #2 Monday, November 8, 2004 2:27 PM
Reply #2 Monday, November 8, 2004 2:27 PM
Of course, when you're running it like that, you are running EXEs.
Konfabulator widgets are .widget files. Which means they can't show up in the taskbar, they don't have their own icons, etc.
So when you run DesktopX widgets in EXE form, you get all the benefits of an EXE and they STILL use a fraction of the memory that Konfabulator uses.
Essencay
Reply #3 Monday, November 8, 2004 2:37 PM
That's what I was trying to show, because someone will say the example isn't running widgets against widgets. Hands down DX has got'em coming and going
Also I don't see where Konfabulator is going to make great leaps and bounds over DX on "Eye-Candy" appeal either. The objects and widgets shown all appear to be the same caliber quality.
Reply #3 Monday, November 8, 2004 2:37 PM
| they STILL use a fraction of the memory that Konfabulator uses. |
That's what I was trying to show, because someone will say the example isn't running widgets against widgets. Hands down DX has got'em coming and going
Also I don't see where Konfabulator is going to make great leaps and bounds over DX on "Eye-Candy" appeal either. The objects and widgets shown all appear to be the same caliber quality.
JanOscar
Reply #4 Monday, November 8, 2004 5:15 PM
Reply #4 Monday, November 8, 2004 5:15 PM
Same thing here, and then the whole thing closed/crashed, so I uninstalled. Well, well, maybe I should have tried it a little more, but I didn't find a good enough reason to... 
Suriken
Reply #5 Monday, November 8, 2004 5:23 PM
Reply #5 Monday, November 8, 2004 5:23 PM
after downloading konfabulator (gasp!)
i would have to say that the eye candy is a slight bit more polished for some things - the cpu portal looks quite cool imo (might make a dx version of that one!)- and i like the fact that the widgets are quite hard to mess around with - for the casual end-user who has no intention of developing their own widgets - i have not yet delved into the development part - but im not too savvy on javascript so maybe ill leave that for another time
the first install of konfabulator gives a nicer, friendlier impression on the user - as it focuses on using the widgets rather than developing them.
i on one hand like then dont like the right click thing for preferences and close etc - it beats holding the mouse button down for a certain amount of time or tiny little buttons scattered all over the place, although it sortof stunts the useability of the widget. but again i havent seen the developer side of it
desktopx imo is much more of a friendlier developer enviroment. the switch between edit (this should be renamed developer) and user modes. the user mode is still a bit iffy though, the fact that i can still hold ctrl and move an object around and also the little right-click 'delete item' menu (i have resorted to scripting these all out on my object because they are so annoying) the start theme doesnt give the user enough of an intro to dx
widgets are good but the current range is somewhat lacking
themes for desktopx kick konfabulator
(how many konfabulator longhorn appbars have you seen?)
yes i agree with the memory problem - desktopx creates a hell of alot less overhead which definitley pleases me
overall konfabulator is slightly better for the end-user in the simplicity of all of it, no way to accidently do something wrong and destroy your precious widget.
desktopx though, definitely appeals more to the aspiring developer or tinkerer. to get a better footing on the market in the 'ease of use' respect desktopx needs a more userfriendly user mode and introduction to desktopx. a standard, and much more friendly than vbscript msgbox's way to change options needs to be addressed (tiggz had a good thing going with his ktek drives) desktopx has much more potential here, and needs to show some of it! (all of this is my opinion, do not be offended)
i would have to say that the eye candy is a slight bit more polished for some things - the cpu portal looks quite cool imo (might make a dx version of that one!)- and i like the fact that the widgets are quite hard to mess around with - for the casual end-user who has no intention of developing their own widgets - i have not yet delved into the development part - but im not too savvy on javascript so maybe ill leave that for another time
the first install of konfabulator gives a nicer, friendlier impression on the user - as it focuses on using the widgets rather than developing them.
i on one hand like then dont like the right click thing for preferences and close etc - it beats holding the mouse button down for a certain amount of time or tiny little buttons scattered all over the place, although it sortof stunts the useability of the widget. but again i havent seen the developer side of it
desktopx imo is much more of a friendlier developer enviroment. the switch between edit (this should be renamed developer) and user modes. the user mode is still a bit iffy though, the fact that i can still hold ctrl and move an object around and also the little right-click 'delete item' menu (i have resorted to scripting these all out on my object because they are so annoying) the start theme doesnt give the user enough of an intro to dx
widgets are good but the current range is somewhat lacking
themes for desktopx kick konfabulator
(how many konfabulator longhorn appbars have you seen?)
yes i agree with the memory problem - desktopx creates a hell of alot less overhead which definitley pleases me
overall konfabulator is slightly better for the end-user in the simplicity of all of it, no way to accidently do something wrong and destroy your precious widget.
desktopx though, definitely appeals more to the aspiring developer or tinkerer. to get a better footing on the market in the 'ease of use' respect desktopx needs a more userfriendly user mode and introduction to desktopx. a standard, and much more friendly than vbscript msgbox's way to change options needs to be addressed (tiggz had a good thing going with his ktek drives) desktopx has much more potential here, and needs to show some of it! (all of this is my opinion, do not be offended)
Hus
Reply #6 Monday, November 8, 2004 8:22 PM
Reply #6 Monday, November 8, 2004 8:22 PM
I wrote a quick review of Konfabulator...you can read it here. http://www2.wincustomize.com/Forums.aspx?AID=34318
Diafragma
Reply #8 Tuesday, November 9, 2004 2:22 AM
Reply #8 Tuesday, November 9, 2004 2:22 AM
Does anyone know how long it the trial period..?
Essencay
Reply #9 Tuesday, November 9, 2004 2:59 AM
Reply #9 Tuesday, November 9, 2004 2:59 AM
Diafragma....I found no mention of how long the trial period lasts.....I didn't even get an impression from the install that it was a trial. The only things that let me know I needed to register were the ToDo list widget and the right-click context menu on the systray icon.
Diafragma
Reply #10 Tuesday, November 9, 2004 7:34 PM
Reply #10 Tuesday, November 9, 2004 7:34 PM
It doesn't expire, but it will put up a window after one week that you can close (but it will pop up again in 2 days). After 2 weeks the window is permanent and cannot be moved off screen.
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Reply #1 Monday, November 8, 2004 2:25 PM
Running the same/similar DX widgets on my PC (I don't have Konfabulator to compare with)....
DXWidget.exe 3,684K
DXWidget.exe 10,088K
DXWidget.exe 6,676K
DXWidget.exe 3,808K
Still far far less resources than Konfabulator