Enough said. It's been how long now? 2 years? Either refund us money, or start working, because that's why you get paid!
All I know is that Frogboy was ready to retire DesktopX if the bitching and whining didn't stop. This thread looks like a repeat. How about we give some good data and input for helping solve the problems rather that just complaining and finger pointing. That stuff don't help a thing. And it really make us, the community, look bad.
I hate that DX is currently crap. I do, those of you who know me know I do. But I can't help fix it, so I shut up and let the ones who can help speak. I can do no good whatsoever by constantly posting that DX is a POS and how the systray don't work and the plugins suck, and I am entitled to everything I want it to do because I paid for it.
When the highway dept. is turning a 2 lane street into a 4 lane highway, travel sucks for a while, don't it? Well, Brad is now in charge of software again and things will change, if we don't screw it up first.
Remember this, Stardock don't need us, gaming is where the money is.
If someone feels a need to complain,that is their right to do so. In that regard OD+ has been a real bargain for some. For only a 20 dollar investment it has paid off with over two years worth of complaining about the same old bugs. That's about 83 cents a month. Such a deal! Not everyone takes advantage of this bargain,while for others it may be the main reason they still use the software. That's my 1 cent's worth,the thread isn't worth 2.
@ Doc. I'm not showing up unless they have donuts too.
Happy New Year guys and gals.
(crawls back under damp rock)
I wouldn't consider wanting to know whether progress is being made on promised updates to be bitching and whining. About every 4 months, Brad posts teaser threads with awe-inspiring progress that is to be made, and it's just human nature for customers to want to know whether those things will happen soon or whether those things will take years to materialize...or not even materialize at all.If Stardock doesn't want anyone to ask questions about updates, (and not risk the chance somebody might bitch and whine) then it's CEO and employees shouldn't post threads about possible things to come. Unrelieved frustration leads to aggression -- in all living things.That being said, I'm a pretty happy camper with what I've purchased so far. And thank you, Neil Banfield, for letting me know that IE8 skinning is being looked into. I grant you karma for your information.
I was quoting Brad.
Whoops, you're right Ma'am, I left out the IMO part. I fixed it for you...Ma'am.
(read sarcasm, being facetious/tongue-in-cheek here)
I've given up waiting for OD 2.0... and why not??? With OD 2.0 having taken so long, OD 3.0 can only be just around the corner, right?
Besides, OD 1.0 works perfectly well for what I need/use if for, anyhow.... tho I'll happily use OD 2.0 if it's released in the meantime.
Seriously, though, asking for a refund on an app that was largely written for (and still works well) on XP, just because it has issues on a more recent OS, is not warranted. It'd be like sliding off the road in wet weather, then suing the tyre company becase you chose to put on dry-weather slicks.
The text boxed in red translates into your analogy rather well. Stardock claims that it's constantly developing tyre technologies and swears to ensure that what's on the wheels of my car is the best there is. This means that I don't have to worry, because Stardock are providing the tyres. I change to another car and Stardock gnomes come hurrying along with the best set of tyres available for that vehicle. That is Stardock's claim. So yes, if I crash due to bad tyres I have full reason to sue Stardock, because those tyres did not do their job as they were supposed to.
I just finished reading the "Stardock Customer Report 2009" that came in the email from dear old Brad W and I am afraid ObjectDock only gets the briefest of mentions regarding usage -
ï‚· 18% have ObjectDock (last year 22%)
Duh! I wonder why usage has dropped 4% in the last 12 months? No mystery there.
Sorry troops, no mention of any present or proposed development of Version 2. Seems to me they are going to let it suffer a prolonged death.
Sorry guys, while I totally understand your frustration, as a software developer myself I have to side with Stardock on this one.
When you purchase an application, you should only do it for what it does for you *now*, not for whatever expectations you have about it in the future (unless, of course, the developer stated that x or y features will be coming soon).
No software company has the obligation to support an Operating System that hasn't been released yet, as Windows 7 was not a couple of years ago when ObjectDock was last updated. ObjectDock, after all, was performing its function well at the time you purchased it, otherwise you would not have bought it at all! It has performed good service to you during this time (otherwise you would not be here complaining either) and it's not Stardock's fault that you decided to upgrade to a non-supported (and even non-existing, at the time of your purchase) Windows version.
All I can say is be patient - or look around for alternatives. You just can't seriously expect Stardock to drop everything else it's doing, or change its current direction, just to release a new ObjectDock version in a time frame you find acceptable. Resources are limited, after all. And you definitely can't expect a refund because ObjectDock doesn't work properly on a Windows version that wasn't even released at the time you purchased it, sorry.
I'm pretty sure ObjectDock's developer, Jeff, is doing the very best he can, that he loves his creation and that all this backlash is painful to him - but he cannot split himself in two. None of us can - so just try to be a bit more patient, your complaints have been heard by now.
Thanks, Jorge....but I am sure it'll fall on 'a few' deaf ears.
Inc0gnito...put tersely your 'text box in red' says nothing about on-going OS releases from Microsoft.
Stardock still has the best tyres for the car you used to have.
Now give it a rest. When the story changes I'm sure you will be told....
Forgot that. Right bloody on. Who do they think they are? No coffee? No donuts?
Next thing you'll tell me is that I have to wait patiently. Not a chance. I'm the doc, not the patiently.
OK!
Free tires! Yippeee!
I'm likin' this!!!!
Hey, how about Brad's Porsche too. And Jeff Bargmann's car too! And the parking spots. E-mail them to me, please.
And the ducks from the pond.
The OS is relevant.. in that Win 7 was not released at the time, and therefore was NOT catered for. Furthermore, 64 bit versions were not developed/particularly catered for as demand, prior to Win 7, was low at best... most people were still running 32 bit systems and Stardock saw/felt no need to develop a verson which had little or no customer base.
Also, the ObjectDock page states that it is Vista ready... NOT Win 7 Ready! Nor is 64 bit support mentioned, for that matter, so your moving to a completely unsupported OS does not negate the fact that it works perfectly for those running it on the OSes is was advertised to support. More to the point, if you purchased OD 1.0 for an OS prior to Win 7, and you obviously did, and it worked well for you on that OS, you are NOT entitled to a refund... period. A refund may have been applicable if you had found it dod not work on the advertised OSes, but that clearly is not the situation here.
Yeah, ok, the "under constant development" thing is unfortunate, and it may have raised the expectations of people like yourself, but there are other circumstances here to consider....
1: Win 7 has only been available to the public for a couple of months, and Stardock, from a business point of view, had to assess the market/its customer base to determine its prorities; demand for OD; for which version (32 or 64 bit) it would prioritise development. It's still only early days.
2: The birth of Fences! The developer of ObjectDock, Jeff Bargman, is also the developer of Fences, and much of his time at Stardock of late has been devoted to sorting out issues for Fences users; filling users feature requests and updating Fences to comply with users needs andd expectations. Fences, after all, is the new toy on the block... everybody wants it; everybody wants it working properly ona multidude of configurations; everybody wants it updated with new features, and everybody is talking about the latest and greatest toy from Stardock... Fences, NOT ObjectDock.
So, incOgnito, put yourself in Jeff's shoes. You are the lead developer for two popular applications, and one has taken off like wildfire while the other has almost gone into hibernation, sales and customer-wise... what do you do?? Do you throw all your energies into the app with huge customer support/large customer base, or do you throw them entirely into the app which has almost fallen off the radar, so to speak??? Do you appease the majority of your customers, or do you let down/annoy the heck out of them by tending to the app with a handful of customers complaining that it needs an update?
In business, something your livelihood depends on, you would go with the former and appease the majority of your customers. However, incOgnito, the more important/relevant question here is, can you be in two places at the same time and devote your entire concentration to two completely different tasks?? Now, maybe, you will understand the difficulties Jeff has been facing... why ObjectDock was on the backburner for a while. Right????
It has been officially announced that work on ObjectDock has recommenced, that it should be released some time in the 1st Q of 2010, so be patient and give it time...Jeff/Stardock deserves that.
I don't.
I like ObjectDock + and it works just Fine on my Win7 Ultimate 32bit
OK, that's you, but Fences became extremely popular and 1000's want/wanted it.... hence the delays to OD 2.0, Jeff was made quite busy dealing with all that.
As for ObjectDock + working fine on you x86 version of Win 7, I have the x64 version of Win 7 Home Premium, and the current version works well enough for me, also. I mostly use OD in conjuntion with my taskbar, so I don't necessarily need the systray and start menu applets for it to fully function for me... it efficiently handles all my shortcuts and other needs, so that's all that matters to me at this time.
Having said that, however, I will wecome x64 support when it arrives... for those times when I want to do it differently.
Yes, when I purchased OD+ I did so because of how good the free version was working for me (while still on Win XP). However, I also bought a license because Stardock claimed that OD+ is in constant development. No specific features are mentioned, but that is not necessary, because simply stating that a product is in constant development is already making a committment to customers.
There's a problem with your words that I've quoted. The vast majority of bugs that I've reported in the approriate thread and over e-mail to Stardock are present on Windows Vista. Vista is supported, yet the bugs remain unfixed.
People have been patient, it's not good enough any more. OD also happens to be the market leader of dock software, so there's little worthy competition. Besides, why should I abandon a program that I paid for and pay (or not, if it's freeware) for another piece of software. Most of the time, transformation is easier than replacement. While I don't expect Stardock to drop everything, I do expect every self-respecting company to value its existing customers, which is not being done. Yes, resources are limited, but bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush. Therefore, if they can't manage to give equal simultaneous attention to all projects then they shouldn't branch out so much.
As to whether Jeff is doing the best he can, I really don't know about that. Nobody from Stardock that has direct influence in relation to OD has spoken to us (the community) to let us know what is holding things up, what progress is being made, timelines of development, etc. I'd like to hope that Jeff is doing his best, but I can't offer any sympathy because OD hasn't seen any love in a very long time.
Once again, most of the bugs that I encounter on Win 7 are the same bugs that I encountered on Vista. The OS is not at fault here, OD is.
Now let's be fair. Windows 7 has been available to public for almost 5 months now. Yes, I am counting from when it was released on TechNet, but if general public can buy software from Stardock over the Internet, they can certainly buy a TechNet subscription to download Windows 7. There's definitely a demand for OD (and for bugs to be fixed), how else will it be 5th in the list of Stardock's most popular software? Further, Stardock claims: "Stardock is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner". So if they're so chummy with MS, why can't they get their hands on an early version of Win 7 and iron out the creases in their software in time for release of the OS?
Fences is not as popular as ObjectDock. Besides, I didn't buy Fences, I bought ObjectDock. I don't see why whatever is going on with Fences should affect me, an OD+ user. Besides, this "one at a time" thing that is going on is unlikely to persuade me to want to buy another piece of Stardock software again. Fight is happening on multiple fronts, Stardock seem to struggle with that.
I don't want to put myself in Jeff's shoes. I am not paid to be in Jeff's shoes. It's also laughable that Fences has taken off like a wildfire. The free version maybe, but not the $20 one. After all, it's has only been a couple of weeks since the Pro has been released. Therefore, the majority of Fences' users aren't paying for it, yet a lot of users of another software who have paid are suffering and are being left out. Doesn't seem fair, does it?
I know that a new version of OD is in the works, but I haven't any official Stardock source state that it should be released in 1st Q of 2010. Would you be so kind as to post a link to where it says so? I know that a Stardock representative under a nick Zargon0225 said in June 2009 that "Object Dock Plus 2.0 BETA will be available later this year." Obviously, this has not happened. So not only there's a lack of information, but some information that is being given isn't reliable. If Jeff/Stardock deserve our patience then OD+ users deserve more reliable information. The former won't be forthcoming if the latter isn't on the table.
Then jump in there and help fix it, instead of complaining.
As for reply #36,
I agree whole heartedly Jorge. You said a mouthful! Thanks!
I am patiently waiting as well, i did install it on my windows 7 64 bit quite a while back, almost a year actually, and what a disaster, absolutely nothing worked right, i actually ended up reinstalling windows 7 (no big deal) cause problems lingered here and there, so i patiently wait until its release
Unfortunately my employment contract with my current company precludes me from being employed by any other company for the duration of the contract. Besides, Stardock got itself into this mess, it's up to them to dig themselves out of it.
I didn't intend for you to be employed by Stardock, just be a good community member and share your skills to help the community, like littleboy and people like him. You have the skill, this should be about the betterment of the community, if you are a member, rather than being about you, or you having a gripe with Stardock. I would gladly help if I had the skill. Believe me, DesktopX is in much worse shape than OD.
Nos sure what the discussion is all about.
When I run into something I try and then don't like, if its food, I don't eat it, if it's a person I move on, if ist's a product, I don't use it.
Life is so much more less stressful in my world.
And yes, I know someone is going to come along and tell me the error of my ways.
I would help gladly, but in order to help with ObjectDock I need its source code. I won't reverse engineer OD as that would be a violation of its license agreement. I am deeply saddened that DesktopX is in much worse shape. Putting OD on hiatus is one product too many, but two is despicable. It is such a shame that more and more users are becoming disappointed with Stardock's products and their service. I hope that they will be able to suck it up and bounce back, but "once burnt, twice shy".
not me, bro....if you want some munchies, tho, better not be pizza 'coz a certain Mod hijacks that before the box is opened!
Let's just face it. The OP was an ass in the rude way he approached his inquiry. I also know that the Stardock staff are working on a multitude of projects and they will get done when they are done. No amount of beating the dead horse here will change things. Maybe more support and encouragement instead of negativity would serve us better all the way around. IMHO threads like this should be ignored from the start, but what do I know?
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