Ok, here we go. I've been using fences since it first came out. I found it totally by accident, having never heard of Stardock before.
I was well aware that it was beta, free, and would be expiring at the end of August. I also took note that there would be a pro version
coming, and I was very much anticipating buying it. As time wore on, fences became seamlessy integrated into my daily computing.
Both at home, and at work. I became very fond of fences. Nearing the end of August, I had decided that not only would I buy myself
a copy, but I would also buy a copy for all of my employees, all 112 of them. When fences expired, I quickly downloaded the next version.
I was surprised to see the expiration bug come up, but that was understandable. Anyone who plays with enough beta software will see things
like this often enough. The solution is usually to sit tight, report bugs, and wait until the developers have a chance to sort it out.
I was elated when later that day I found another update for it, squashing the expiration bug. I did notice however that the program had
pretty much doubled in size. Upon trying to install it, i recieved an error telling me that this program now requires IE7 or better. Ive had
other software make similar demands, and although you couldnt pay me money to use any version of IE, I very much wanted to continue to
use fences. I bit the bullet and installed IE7. Then i noticed that I am now required to install something called Impulse. I dont want it, and very obviously dont need it, since fences ran just fine without it previously. Thanks for forcing crapware on me. I was forced to install it just to post this. Not only will I not be buying fences for myself or my employees, I will never again even look in the direction of Stardock. Nice work guys, you have found the perfect way to eliminate customers.
No one forced you to do anything.
You can uninstall Impulse after installing fences. You can even uninstall IE7. If you want to uninstall fences, you will need Impulse again for that.
I'm glad you like Fences. I think it's a great app too (even if I tease the dev that he only recreated Win 3.1 Program Manager. )
You're quite correct. You seemed to have missed the point though. By making this a requirement, for no technical reason, alot of otherwise paying customers, won't be. Enjoy your fanboyism.
First thing I did was try uninstalling IE7. It immediately informed me that doing so would cause fences to stop working. Uninstalling Impulse automatically led to uninstalling fences. My solution was to uninstall both. Problem solved. Thank you for your reply though, it was appreciated.
Uninstalling IE7 should not have affected Fences. I'll look into it. thanks for the feedback.
Someone please help me to understand. Now I have vista and win7 on my computer. Yes I use Impulse and yes IE is on both Vista and 7. What I don't understand is I never use IE and use Opera all the time. I also had the stand alone Fences downloaded and saved to a folder and installed it, everything worked fine till I got the same message as everyone else the other day. Guess with all I said my question is just because IE is installed even though I never open it is that the reason I never have a problem?
Thank you.
At work I am unable to upgrade my version of IE to 7 due to incompatibilities with software we use, so I guess I no longer will be using Fences.
It seems odd that so many people are upset over the requirements for SD software. However,the Impulse Driven page for Fences carries the requirements as do all other Stardock apps. After the beta expires,they will still have to be met to update Fences to the release version. You'll miss out on some great software and updates for same without Impulse. (and no,Impulse does NOT need to be running all the time,only to check for and install updates.
As for corporate users,maybe SD can/will come up with a solution as it doesn't seem practical to install IE7,NET 2.0 and Impulse on every machine in your company.
I believe youblewit misspelled his name. It should have been feeblewit.
But seriously, calling a staff member of Stardock is foolish at best, and definately clueless. Fences does have quite a few bugs and compatibility issues to work out, but requiring Impulse is not one of them. Every Steam game requires Steam. Every game requires an Xbox Live account. This is hardly earthshaking.
I assume that the expiration bug he or she is referring to is the one that greeted me this morning, claiming today was November 1st?
Steam was not a requirement in the beginning. If you were there, you would know that. We were used as the guinea pigs for a content distribution system that really had nothing to do with gaming. It was most definately not a "requirement". They lost thousands of people to Steam.
Calling something a requirement, when clearly the software can, and does, work without said "requirement", well, its obvious to me,
its simply an attempt to push software that isnt really necessary.
"But seriously, calling a staff member of Stardock is foolish at best, and definately clueless."
What ? I called nobody anything. Foolish ? Is this a threat ?
"It should have been feeblewit"
Pot, meet Kettle...
A few things to keep in mind:
-You already have Internet Explorer. It comes with Windows. We're not asking you to use it, just update it. If you use Firefox for your Internet browsing, the only difference will be that several IE6 security holes will be patched.
-Impulse is only required to install, uninstall, and update Fences, not to run it. Impulse does not need to be running in the background, or at all (unlike Steam), to use Fences.
-Stardock has chosen to require Impulse as the installation method. If you don't agree with that decision, that's fine, but it's not your decision.
-Fences is currently in beta. This means it's not done yet. Newer versions bring change, and sometimes those changes involve system requirements.
And let's try to keep the name calling to a minimum, shall we?
And since we are calling out spelling errors....
It is spelled "definitely"
Look it up.
Hmm - I am running Impulse with only IE 6 installed - and it works fine for me. Am I just imagining things? Is my IE 6 really just IE 7 in disguise? Where is the requirement in Impulse to use IE 7?
That said - does anyone know what changes were in the last update of Fences? The lastest from the history is still 3/10/2009.
When will Fences play nice with Wallpaper changer apps? Is there already a thread for that?
You miss the point Snowman, prerequisites above the OS are FORCING the user to install CRAP. When really trying to create a user base for Impulse is what this is all about - grow up - don't act so dumb!
you dont need impulse to post here at all, its just an alternative place to post. you can logg in here at this site and do the same thing........
Problem I have with my work PC is I'm unable to install IE7. Since IE7 will cause mission critical software of my company to stop functioning, I can't install Impulse to update Fences on that PC.
What the heck...the old one still works for what I use it for, so it's no big deal.
There IS no 'force'. If you will not accept the requirements for proper use and function of a software you are entirely free NOT to do so.
Fences is a very good and quite useful product. It's your choice to use it, or not.
As for name calling and recriminations....please avoid as they are contrary to site policy.
Think of THOSE [policies] as "forced requirements"....of site interaction as they are enforced.....
Pict_nose, are you really just Jafo in disguise?
Nope, i'm not Jafo, just me.
I understand the need to require/update to IE7, since Fences uses the GUI hooks for Windows Desktop.
The requirement for Impulse makes no sense, when there are so many other non-advertising and non self-promoting installers out there.
Stardock has to realize that they are ultimately limiting their market share for this desktop manager if they require an intrusive crapware shell around it's installation and removal.
In a free beta sitation, I will tolerate this.
If I were paying for it, no way.
No corporate IT managers will tolerate it either.
If I could make a request about the product in that case. Once the full paid version goes live, can you include an option so that I could take the exe and install it without needing Impulse. The computer I use at work needs IE6 and for whatever reason we do not have the ability to go from IE7 to 6. If, after purchasing the product, I could then be able to install it wherever without having to worry about impulse that would be great!
I understand if you guys can't do this, but it would be a great perk for some of us. And you would still be expanding your userbase of impulse and selling your products. The only downside would be passing out exe files for the actual program and opening yourself up for piracy problems, which is a completely understandable concern given the product and how easy it would be to pass around.
What part of "I'm running IE6 and Fences at work" is falling on deaf ears?
I don't think that I'm stupid - try it - it works with IE6!
And I'm posting this from FireFox - so Impuse is not needed for the forums either.
So, again - where is the issue?
Is it possible that you could install Fence on a "dummy machine" and just copy the program files over your computer and that way running Fence without the need to install?
Im exploring that possibility myself, but my "junk vmware machine" needs ie7 and .net so its still in the progress of updating required components
what can i say... it sure works! after installation on the dummy machine i was able to copy the program folder to my workstation, run regsvr32 on DesktopDock.dll and FencesMenu.dll and it all works like a charm.
sss
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