Greetings!
February is nearly over and so we are getting ready to release the ObjectDock 2 BETA.
Here's a quick status report on where things stand:
General Objectives of the ObjectDock 2 BETA
A lot of our development effort for ObjectDock 2 has gone into revamping the plumbing of ObjectDock to support 64-bit and Windows 7/Vista more natively.
The current ObjectDock works on Windows 7 and Windows Vista but some of the functionality either gets disabled or is flaky (the system tray and start menu features for example). Needless to say, the updated more secure architecture of Windows 7 and Vista made some of these features more difficult.
So one of the first things we're going to be looking for is how well this works.
Secondly, there are a "ton" of new features rolling into ObjectDock 2. Some of these features will be available in 2.0 and others will roll out over subsequent months as we nail down getting said features to function identically on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and then 64-bit versions of the latter two.
This next week I plan to put up a guided tour of the ObjectDock 2 beta and outline what is expected to be in by v2.0 and what we plan to put in in subsequent updates.
User Feedback Effects
The feature set of ObjectDock 2.0 is already set. In addition, the feature set of v2.1 and v2.2 has already been outlined internally. What we will be looking for from beta testers are what kinds of things they would like to see added during the v2.x generation of ObjectDock.
Scheduling
Originally our plan was to release the first beta of ObjectDock 2 this past Thursday. Unfortunately, a number of elements have not come together yet that we need to release the beta.
These elements are:
1. Assets. We are replacing the backgrounds, icons and other visuals for the v2.0 launch. I've made it clear to Stardock Design that I expect these assets soon but their schedule has been very tight with new projects from HP and Dell. That said, at some point in the next couple weeks if we don't have them, we'll put out the beta with the art assets we already have.
2. The new configuration. The lead developer of ObjectDock (and the same person for the past several years, Jeff Bargmann) has developed a pretty amazing configuration system for ObjectDock 2. This new system was necessary in order for us to realistically continue to add features withou the UI looking like a complete hack (i.e. like ObjectDock 1).
The delay in finishing the configuration has been due to me asking for Jeff's help on updating the architecture for ImpulseReactor that we are debuting at GDC in the first week of March. Once he's finished that, he'll be able to return fully to ObjectDock 2 to finish this part.
Once item #2 is complete, we will put out the beta regardless of whether item 1 is complete or not. However, we won't release the final v2 without the assets because frankly, the icons and dock backgrounds need to be updated imo.
So that's where things stand. Thank you for your patience and we look forward to hearing your feedback and ideas!
The CEO should send out another email telling people making OD 2 is bankrupting Stardock so this is why we keep delaying and that why people keep getting pulled off so we can make something else to pay the bill.
This is bascally what Shirley is saying if I understand this statement: Unfortunately tough business decisions have to be made. If we don't stay in business, we can't make ANY applications.
So maybe it time to killl OD since it may cause Stardock to go under
I am not buying any of this BS by the way. Unless Apple is sueing you over making a dock. I really don't see how this app is bankruptting the company. If you can make fences and Dell Dock surely you can make OD.
I do not believe that is what Shirley was saying at all. But, I do understand that when you are doing work for large companies that are paying good money for your services you tend to get their work done before your own. At least that is the way it is where I work we constantly set aside our own work to do jobs for larger companies who pay premiums to get their work ahead of yours.
This is just my opinion of course no negativity intented!
That is a very strange interpretation of what Shirley said.
Basically, there are finite resources. Stardock Design has a host of different projects bu we are getting the new dock backgrounds. We already have the new dock icons. Code-wise, our lead developer has been working on a project for GDC that has been going a bit long.
But it is coming together.
My ten cents worth ... if all other Stardock applications disappeared except ObjectDock Plus, I'd be a pretty happy customer. No disrespect to the other desktop customisation apps, but OD+ is the only app I still feel I can't do without. I'd gladly pay an extra $10 on the upgrade price if the new version did not reply on Impulse (never a more inappropriate name). There's no doubt Vista and now Windows 7 have cut into the "need" for the eye-candy apps, but OD+ is only slightly less useful now. I worry about some of the statements posted here that imply Stardock is stretched to release the beta, and that it won't be as complete as they'd like. But Stardock is no longer the company I've dealt with for so long. The email promotions and Impulse pop-ups are testament to that. To be honest OD+ 1.9x is working pretty well for me, so I'll be happier if Stardock delays the beta even longer to ensure it is solid and not too far from shipping.
shrieeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!
Don't even say that, are you tryin' to kill me?
I got the email for the upgrade and the promes of the beta access and nothing still. this is my fav program and it is very disapointing to have to wait so long for a decent update. if it is making your company broke sell it to some one who will work on it like it is ment. Or better yet make it open source and release it. there are alot of developers that can take this to the next level and make apples own look like a kid school project.
That isn't going to happen....
i love lamp
Looks like we see another fences update before OD just saying. I do hope you are really working on OD+ 2 and not just jacking us around with a photo shop image. I agree with lanco that your other apps are really not needed in my eyes.
I am not one for eye candy any way just a nice looking background is all I need so no need for windowsblinds. I hate icons on the desktop so Fences is of no use.
However Objectdock does serve a useful purpose as I can put icons on it and it hides on the top of the screen. instead of having icons cover my desktop and hide my background which sucks. The wrost thing is having a nice background just to have icons ruin it.
I went to fix a PC last month and this guy had like 50 icons on the desktop it was like OMG. I doubt this will be in OD+2 but would be nice to have 2 or more tab docks at the same time. If you fix the Tabs on top issues that youu all keep ignoreing it would be awesome.
I be willing to pay $100 for Objectject dock that's how important it is to me. I wouldn't pay that price for Windows!!
You can already have many tabbed docks at once in the existing ObjectDock Plus.
Quoting Randall30, reply 59I am not one for eye candy any way just a nice looking background is all I need so no need for windowsblinds. I hate icons on the desktop so Fences is of no use.
You can hide all your icons that are inside a "fence" by double-clicking on an empty part of your desktop, and make them reappear the same way.
I have 85.
35 are games.
All but 26 can be hidden with a double-click of my Fences.
I run 12 gig of DDR3 on a Win 7 64bit i7/920.
The number of icons is immaterial....
I have 7 tabs on a dock and in just one of them I have about 70 icons!
I wonder if Nexus with sub-docks might not handle that better...maybe not.
And we have finally learned the reason why WG doesn't upgrade his OS!
Brian....WG loves XP. It never malfunctions on him and has no UAC. Hey...if it ain't busted, why "upgrade"? He's way into his comfort zone...and hey, that's cool too.
Any update on when the beta will be available? Will it be a public beta?
We're trying to ship the beta this month, but that's just an estimate. The beta will be made available to those who preorder ObjectDock v2.0. You can find more information here:
https://www.stardock.com/coming_soon/?product=ObjectDock
Thanks. Pre-ordered!
It's quotes like those that are frustrating people. The email pushing the pre-order clearly said that the beta would begin by the end of Feb, now we're being told sometime this month... maybe. It was because of that email that I made certain my pre-order was placed ASAP.
And of course, the "Coming Soon" page for OD2.0 is practically a masterpiece of avoiding puting anything in writing, simply stating that the beta will begin in a couple weeks with no date attached for the beta or even for when the "Coming Soon" notice was posted.
While they don't need to be douchebags about it the way some have, it's more than understandable that people would be upset, seeing as how this has been the story with OD in general (updates and the release of 2.0).
No one can deny that you guys turn out great products, it's nice to see software that isn't bounced from developer to developer to get it done, and we get that the whole "imminent release" vibe is good for marketing. However, when a company shuffles its developers around causing otherwise avoidable delays and says something will be ready by "x" only to have "x" roll around and telling us that it will be ready by "y" instead (slide "y" back over to "x" as many times as needed), some people are bound to get pissed off.
I juist want to say sorry If OD 2 doesn't come by end of the year I will be looking at winstep because so many features are broken in vista and win 7 that the tab dock is the only thing that still works.
Randall,
I don't think anyone here is going to discourage you from using WinStep apps. The creator of WinStep is a friend of the site and many of the users use his stuff in conjunction with Stardock apps. Depending on how urgent your needs are, though, you may want to wait for a sale--Jorge usually has a 50% sale a couple of times a year.
I tried Winstep and forgot how busy it looked. I will wait Objectdock does what I really want.
I would LOVE to pre-order but some jackass decided that you can`t use Paypal to pay for
the pre-order.
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