ThinkDesk Beta begins!
It's almost here!
Friday, September 9, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Stardock has put out the first public beta of ThinkDesk. ThinkDesk is Stardock's new suite of utilities that has been in development for over two years. It is quite unlike other utility suites out there. ThinkDesk was designed as a set of utilities to deal with the problems users have today. The four primary components of ThinkDesk include:
Multiplicity. Multiplicity lets users take their computers and put them together and use them as a single computer. Lots of people over in the "show us your setup" thread have desks filled with keyboards and mice. They should be using Multiplicity. Only one computer needs to have a keyboard and mouse and a universal clipboard is set up between computers. This news post was created with the help of Multiplicity ("test" box with all the beta software for getting screenshots and the production machine for doing the post, print-screen on the test box and pasting into the editor here). Anyone with a laptop and a desktop PC should have this.
KeepSafe. Nobody does backups it seems not matter how easy you make it. Stardock developed it in response to its own issues. It automatically creates a backup revision of any file type you choose to protect with it. Users can go back to any revision of any file they've protected simply by right clicking on the file in question. Stardock uses it heavily in development and with .dxpacks and WindowBlinds skins since often...mistakes are made and the need arises to go back to a previous revision. Users can set where file backups are placed (such as on a server or a removable drive).
SecureProcess. Virus scanners and spyware scanners are great but they really are only useful after you've suffered from a problem. SecureProcess is designed to prevent you from running into problems in the first place. The way it works is that a user "trains" their system over a period of a week or two. SecureProcess learns what programs you normally run and builds an "approved" process list. Once training mode is turned off, other processes are prevented from running (unless you're an admin at which point you can add them to the approved list). It's an ideal program for people trying to keep things from getting onto their systems, people who used shared computers (such as if you have kids using your PC) or for network administrators who want to keep their machines stable.
ThinkSync. Folder synchronizing programs are nothing new. But ThinkSync takes it to the next level. For users who have files on multiple machines, even over the Internet, ThinkSync uses your Stardock.net account to keep different folders containing the same things. Anyone who has files at home and work that they wish were in both places will definitely want to be part of the ThinkSync beta. If you're using USB keychains to take files back and forth, ThinkSync is for you. It is also very good for local synchornization for those who want to complement KeepSafe's backup features into protecting (synchronizing) entire directories with remote backup servers or USB hard drives.
ThinkDesk is still in beta and will be in beta for the rest of this year as we listen to your feedback and suggestions on additional features, interface options and of course bug reports. Some of the programs are already done (Multiplicity). Others are nearly done (KeepSafe). By joining getting it now, you get to shape the future of the suite and you receive updates from now until it's official launch plus a full year's worth of updates after it's released.
The ThinkDesk home page is http://www.thinkdesk.net. If you have Object Desktop, you can get ThinkDesk for $25 less!
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Reply #2 Saturday, September 10, 2005 1:16 AM
Reply #3 Saturday, September 10, 2005 1:35 AM
Reply #4 Saturday, September 10, 2005 2:38 AM
I was part of the original betas for Object Desktop. At that time, it was also a paid entry, EXCEPT that the charge also included a one-year charter subscription to ODNT that lasted from the day you entered the beta program to one year after ODNT went gold. Also, the charter rate was about 10-15 dollars less than the final ODNT charge. I'm sure Brad will clear this up, but I can't imagine that the same situation won't apply here.
Reply #5 Saturday, September 10, 2005 5:26 AM
Reply #6 Saturday, September 10, 2005 7:15 AM
It's $25 off. I thought it was $25 for the suite.
Reply #7 Saturday, September 10, 2005 7:28 AM
| I thought it was $25 for the suite. |
Me too.
Reply #8 Saturday, September 10, 2005 8:44 AM
Reply #9 Saturday, September 10, 2005 9:10 AM
| I completely agree Jahman, while I won't use that language to describe it, it definitely does not seem well thought out on stardock's side. I am hesitant to try beta products, but I am just outright _not_ going to pay for a product to evaluate it. While I like most of stardock's releases being shareware/trial. I absolutely refuse to pay a fair amount of $ to _beta_ a release of something that quite possibly could hose my system and force me to reimage it. Sorry, but thanks for the great software, not for me though. |
Open, paid betas have been part of Stardock's product development cycle since the beginning. WindowBlinds, Object Desktop, Galactic Civilizations, all the same thing. What you are effectively doing is pre-ordering the product and getting to try out the beta.
Reply #10 Saturday, September 10, 2005 9:12 AM
Reply #11 Saturday, September 10, 2005 9:15 AM
"There was an error accessing ThinkSync shared memory, please try again."
Reply #12 Saturday, September 10, 2005 10:58 AM
First of all, while there may be some issues with some or all of the apps in the suite they have improved the way I work.
I have a tablet PC and a desktop at work. Multiplicity has made mutlitasking so much better. I can use the TPC for light processing tasks and "mobile" tasks while I use the desktop for heavy lifting. It's like having extended my monitors without any CPU cost.
ThinkSync makes keeping current projects much easier to manage. The bi-directional sync is not there over a network and that is a must have going forward. I had to create a bunch of mini-syncs to keep the desktops and "My Documents" on the two PCs the same . . . but I have faith it will get there.
KeepSafe just rocks. I've restored over and over again. And I don't have to think about it. It's like Visual SourceSafe for files. I dig that.
SecureProcess still seems REALLY rough around the edges. I dig the concept but the execution . . . leaves something to be desired. Maybe the marketing just needs to be clearer; I don't know. After I installed it and turned on the training . . . I wasn't sure it was training or not. And then after the seven days of training I didn't notice anything else happening. I consider myself a power user and I STILL found the interface overly complex.
My point is that even as a alpna or beta I get value from these apps along with having input on design. Stardock has been great about responding to my feedback. I dig that.
If the apps appeal to you, sign up for the beta. Save some money, get some value, help out a great company. What's to lose?
{Dang that post was longer than I meant. Oh well.
}Reply #13 Saturday, September 10, 2005 11:49 AM
Stardock/WinCustomize need to rethink how they name their products and start funding their research department and hire competent employee's. What I see here is the lack of creativity.
Reply #14 Saturday, September 10, 2005 1:57 PM
Go onto google and type these names. I agree that they may have to rebrand them before release but that's pretty normal. Theme Manager was once called "Convergence" for instance.
Reply #15 Saturday, September 10, 2005 2:00 PM
I'd be quite leery of buying anything from these people.
A year or so ago, I ended up acquiring a used computer. The owner of the computer had passed away, and the family sold the computer and software (already loaded) as a complete package (quite legal to do). I knew nothing of Stardock prior to this...but in exploring the computer I found the the previous owner had purchased nearly every program Stardock sold. After playing with the software a bit(I'm a programmer), I decided to purchase a subscription to Wincustomize, and got further into it.
A few months after signing up, I saw that there was a new version of one of the programs available, and decided to try to update. So...I sent the company an e-mail with the information about my products and explaining how I came to own it. I offered to pay any upgrade fee and/or any fee involved with re-registering the products(as I was now their owner).
The e-mail from the woman who handled this for Stardock surprised me. The first one
was basically..."how do we know you're not someone who hacked our software?".
I responded again, explaining how I had come to own the software, and offered to provide the registration numbers, etc.
Her response to this? She moved the goal posts: "How do we know that the original owner isn't still using the programs, and that you have them too?"
I responded again, offering to provide my documentation (bill of sale, numbers, etc) while noting that being a programmer myself, I quite understood her position as to hackers, but that I had never heard of a hacker who "wanted to pay".
Her response? She moved the goal posts again: "The software agreement doesn't allow the user to transfer ownership"
My response: "Can you show me where it says that? None of what I had says that."
Her response just ignored my question: "I won't do it."
My last e-mail to her: "I pity your employer. Here I am, trying to do the right thing...offering to pay, and you you behave like this. Since I already have most of your company's software, I'll just continue to use it as is"
Reply #16 Saturday, September 10, 2005 2:09 PM
Nearly every person here could, if they wanted, find a pirated copy of Stardock's various programs. Should we all start demanding special prices in exchange for not pirating it?
Reply #17 Saturday, September 10, 2005 2:16 PM
This is quite legal to do, unless the EULA states that you cannot.
At no time did Stardock every respond with "You must delete all copies of the software etc"
When I asked to see the documentation that stated this...my request was ignored.
I'd also note...I own my own software company. My correspondence to Stardock all came from the support@ address of my company.
As noted, I've never heard of a "Hacker" who wished to "pay".
Reply #18 Saturday, September 10, 2005 2:17 PM
as for the naming, i have never heard of any ibm products called thinkdesk. the only ibm thing i know of that uses think in its name is thinkpad which is a laptop.
Reply #19 Saturday, September 10, 2005 3:34 PM
It is very simple, if you want to wait for the full release, go ahead, no one would ever blame you. But if you want to try it out now go ahead and sign up. I have been a member of the alpha (which I had to pay for) and I have not regretted it one bit.
Reply #20 Sunday, September 11, 2005 5:45 AM
| Open, paid betas have been part of Stardock's product development cycle since the beginning. WindowBlinds, Object Desktop, Galactic Civilizations, all the same thing. What you are effectively doing is pre-ordering the product and getting to try out the beta. |
In plain english, what you're getting to do is skip the trial period, and find out after spending 40 dollars? That things don't work as well as promised, or something is broken, and you will have to wait 11 months till it's fixed, by that time, it's time to renew your license, etc etc. I have _always_ downloaded the public versions of ALL stardock products and used those to base my decision on. That's what I was saying.
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Reply #1 Friday, September 9, 2005 6:30 PM