I'm really getting tired of people putting down StarDock products.

Doc...step back from the keyboard and take a few deep breaths before you wear out your smiting key.

MKANET...you can choose to update through Stardock Central instead. Since your a customer and a Wincustomize member for a while, you should know this.

Thats the first thing I tried.  Only Windowsblinds is available that way and the paid skins.  For Skinstudio 6 Professional it says the following:

SkinStudio 6 Professional:
DL 1: http://www.impulsedriven.com/about.asp (Please install Impulse to download.)

Anyway, still looking for a real URL to download it.  I'm sure there's gotta be an installer executable.  Maybe via FTP?  Originally, when I bought Skin Studio, i was pointed to a download URL; now, it seems the only way to upgrade is to be forced to install a downloader/installer; which I dont need help with doing.

Yes, it probably does always seem 'extreme' to dl/install one program [Impulse] just to dl/install one other [SKS Pro] but if you step back and look at it logically Stardock has quite a large number of programs/games/etc accessible via that one [simple] installer/updater.

The more diverse your usage/involvement the more you'll see there's actually real sense to a centralized Installer/updater.

Afterall it's simply the modern [read - better] replacement to SDC [which stands for 'Stardock Central' [and that's self-explanatory]...

I'll try asking sales support.  If I buy Skin Studio Pro now, I will get a real/direct URL to download it.  I guess if I had dozens of apps that I downloaded regularly from Stardock, it would make more sense to have a dedicated downloader/installer.  But having a dedicated downloader/installer doesnt seem to make sense for only 1 app that I need to download.  Just imagine if every software publisher decided to make their own proprietary downloader/installer... it would really make a mess of Windows.  Installing/Uninstalling impulse will most likely leave remanants behind in the registry/file system.. not a 100% clean solution.  I already tried looking in the Windows %temp% folder during the impulse download, but I didnt find where the installler gets placed.  Anyway, Happy Holidays.. needless to say, I didnt mean to offend anyone.  I'm just looking for a common practice/direct solution to downloading a product I'm registered for.

I should point out that while most apps are being moved over to being Impulse only downloads, I believe WindowBlinds and Multiplicity will be downloadable in standalone installer form for the foreseeable future.  In fact it is highly unlikely Multiplicity will ever become Impulse only.

Moving over to a single installer vs two (Impulse and standalone) will naturally save testing and development time.

mkanet: As you must naturally have WindowBlinds as well, it is probably a good idea to use Impulse as that way you can install your WB and SKS updates from a single place and I believe Impulse users also get access to the betas that are not released in standalone installer form.

We do not post any FTP or exe downloads, you can always access the Support page to get your download links (if there are any) resent to your SD account registered e-mail.

https://www.stardock.com/support/ and use the 'Retrieve Serial Number / Latest Build'.

Impulse is our prefered method of installing, and you can simply uninstall it after your done. But I suggest keeping it, as you then use Impulse to obtain the free updates to your products.

You like it and that's fine but the program is bloated. I dread having to have to start the thing.

I realized this past month or so that Stardock Central is no longer usable (it no longer shows or updates anything

and even tells me my subscription has expired nevermind that it's good 'til 2010). SDC was my preferred

way of updating.

Impulse, on my machine is fat, a bit sluggish, and requires IE7 for some things. Had IE7 but got rid of it

as it (trident) consumed too much memory.

Since I only use a few core OD packages I think Impulse is too much. The leaner SDC should still be kept

around. What Stardock should do is come out with a small utility who's sole purpose is to just update

software. Or like most software out there just put the upgrade mechanism in the software itself

(i.e. the gold old "Check for updates" menu option).

Having to start Impulse and wait for it to do its thing and settle down just to see if there are

any updates to IconPackager or WB just doesn't work for me.

Bah!

Marc

That was going to be my suggestion.  We are, after all, the masters of our computers.

Jafo,

Actually I have half-a-dozen OD apps but what bothers me is the eye candy interface that

can't be toned down. One thing I always do on any machine is turn off animation but lately

more and more programs have buttons and menus that slide and animate and whatnot.

I'd like Impulse to have options to turn that sort of thing off.

There was one setting that helped a tad but not enough.

And the mandatory IE7 thing bites (impulsedriven.net). I couldn't even check out the link

Zubaz provided.

Maybe once I dust off my more capable desktop (got stored away for awhile) I might enjoy

Impulse. I gotta quit playing with old machines. 

I see from this past week that SDC wasn't as dead as I thought when it finally offered up

SoundPackager and the latest WB6.

Anyhind, happy hearts and flowers day all.

Hmmm, people are complaining about having to download and install Impulse, but they don't mind downloading and installing SDC...

One D/L and install is ok, one isn't - not logical.