Plymouth, MI - September 1, 2015 - Today, Stardock announced the release of Object Desktop 2016, a popular suite of over a dozen different software applications that give PC users the tools they need to make Windows® work they way they want it to.
Object Desktop 2016 includes popular software applications such as Start8 /Start10, Fences, DeskScapes, WindowBlinds, Tiles, and more. Additionally, this suite now also features two new software applications, Multiplicity and SpaceMonger, as well as the beta version of Fences 3, a popular desktop organization app. The suite has also seen Windows 10 compatibility and feature upgrades for WindowFX, Launch, and other products with more on the way.
The applications in Object Desktop 2016 offer many customization options, enabling PC users to customize the Windowsuser interface to look and behave how they want it to. Popular customizations include bringing back the Windows 7 style Start menu, organizing desktop shortcuts, adding virtual desktops, applying animated wallpapers, and creating many other stunning visual effects.
Object Desktop 2016 also provides essential applications to improve a user’s personal productivity such as the ability to organize, control multiple PCs with a single keyboard and mouse with Multiplicity, and manage PC, network, and cloud storage with SpaceMonger.
Owners of the the Object Desktop Suite receive product updates and new product additions at no charge during their license period.
Object Desktop is available for $49.99 and can be downloaded at www.objectdesktop.com.
About Stardock
Stardock is a developer and publisher of PC games and desktop software founded in 1991 by nationally recognized technology expert Brad Wardell. Located in Plymouth, Michigan, Stardock is a powerful leader in the video gaming and software development world. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, the critically acclaimed Galactic Civilizations series, and the highly anticipated upcoming Ashes of the Singularity. Stardock puts the user experience first through software that enriches the Windows experience for everyone from casual computer users to highly technical professionals. Products offered by Stardock include Start8, Start10, Fences, WindowBlinds, Multiplicity, and more. www.stardock.com
Object Dock has never been included in the Object Desktop suite, it's always been separate for whatever reason. Its being separate now doesn't really mean anything one way or the other.
This is true. I recently bought both ODNT and Objectdock. Two separate programs, two separate prices. Well worth the investment. IMO
Thanks for that, The_Gear. I am confident Stardock devs can kick Win10 UI into shape if they set themselves to do so. Keep up the good work, much appreciated!
Yeah, I guess I was just confused since the names ObjectDock and Object Desktop are so similar, and since the latter is a suite filled with a bunch of Stardock UI modifications that can also be purchased separately, I just assumed it would include the Dock element as well.
I sincerely hope that includes Iconpackager... my renewing my subscription may well depend on it.
Only that ObjectDock has unsolved problems too. Speak: 64bit apps.
You'll see "In Development" for any being worked on.
https://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/download.asp, even though it can still be found here https://www.stardock.com/products/ I guess we need some sort of official word on IP.
Oddly enough, ThemeMangler is still included although it hasn't worked right in years. BTW, if you click on TM or the Learn More link here https://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/index.asp , it takes you to WFX. Even the announcement for TM is broken, lol.
Launch is listed in my downloads, but not included in IslandDog's list of Windows 10 apps. Odd....
And has Windows 10 support: https://www.stardock.com/products/launch/
Actually one of the big questions is about "IconPackager" It doesn't say "In Development" So guess since nothing has been done with it for a while again the question. Will it be "In Development? People for the most part are being patient however a direct answer to at least some of the direct questions would be very helpful Thank you,
Icon Packager has been half assed for YEARS now. Oh it worked fine and served the purpose while installed, but once you uninstalled it your system was borked unless you manually performed some corrections ( i believe by changing some registry keys ). The issue was brought up years ago and ignored, and ignored, and ignored.
All that seems important anymore is trying to make your system look like a Windows version that is now 3 versions old instead of expanding on the native OS trend and allowing IT to be customized. Yeah... that's REAL genuine customization for you. (choke).
Skinning is pretty well dead now unless you want to hang on to yesteryear and even then you can't get 100% there.
Honestly, I have to assume that this is due to MS restrictions. If it weren't, then someone else would have picked up the dropped ball and ran with it by now.
Get real. SD is primarily a GAME and Windows app/utility company anymore.
Pretty right re ms restrictions...life gets hard on the cutting ed ge of modding windows..since 7 and beyond.
With 10 being life according to ms for the next forever thing it's reasonable to expect there will be a window of opportunity left open long enough for people to take advantage and develop something half-decent....
If only.......
I was afraid of that! thing is, I can run Iconpackager on Win 8.1, albeit in a reduced capacity: re; live folders, so how hard can it be to update to be fully compatible with Win 8.1 and 10? Last I heard, system icons weren't hard coded or anything. And if IP can offer the option for users to choose the path/directory to where the packages are stored, then it shouldn't be too difficult to include paths/directories to swap desktop shortcut icons that are not included in the system exchange.
Of late, we have seen many updates for the newer apps such as Start8 [now Start10], and I'm grateful for that, being an 8.1 user, but many of the core OD apps have either been neglected or developmentally dropped entirely, and I believe that has had an adverse effect on the long-term/core users who have been there since the early days. For mine, these users are the backbone of Stardock's customer base, and to leave them wanting is not a good idea.
Okay, so there are those who say skinning is dead, but why is that. Could it be that core apps have been neglected or discontinued? Could it be that it has become too time intensive and difficult to use SkinStudio? If one goes over to devart and looks in the MSStyles section, it can be seen to be thriving with daily submissions, and those skins/themes can change system icons, so skinning is not dead. Not at all!
Now I much prefer to use Stardock apps to customise my desktop, but with so many apps discontinued or far behind the times in terms of updating/development, I am questioning whether I will continue to do so. Win 10's system icons are butt ugly at best, so without Iconpackager to complete the UI transformation, it is most unlikely I will ever upgrade to it as a primary OS.... unless MSSTyles can transform the entire desktop to my liking. For me, the entire desktop needs to be skinned to be aesthetically pleasing/complete, and I'm sure most long-term users feel the same... that IP needs some TLC and updating.
Sorry, Stardock, I don't often complain, but you have dropped the bundle on a number of core skinning apps. Since 2004 I have mostly been happy with the apps and service, but over the last couple of years or so I have had to question whether I would continue my OD subscription because, honestly, updates and development of core apps has been far and few between.
If it were only me, I suppose I could easily be dismissed, but the complaints are coming from numerous users right across the forums, so I'm not an isolated whinger who isn't happy,
I have been there for years Starkers. Even was demoted for speaking up. Problem is: We are not Stardock's target audience anymore, so we have no voice.
Sadly, I'm beginning to feel that's true. Gaming appears to be the primary focus these days, along with a couple of nick knacks that made Win 8 more user friendly, while many of the core apps that made Stardock a great place to shop for customisation tools have been left to die prematurely. Now more than ever, with the butt ugliest UI and icons MS has ever produced, Iconpackager and even DesktopX are in great need of serious updating if Win 10 has a hope of surviving on any discerning user's desktop.
Sure, Windowblinds does a great job transforming the UI, but it hardly seems worth it if the fugliest ever icons are not within keeping of the overall theme. Win 10 has enough off-putting issues, but there's no way on Earth I'm upgrading to it to be confronted with fugly icons that look like they fell out of a Fisher Price discard bin.
You were demoted? Stardock punishes OD subscribers for complaining about long-neglected products? Way to go, Stardock! More than ever I am pissed that I paid for an OD sub just since moving to Win10 -- Stardock is laughing, no doubt. "Look! We got another dumbass who still thinks we care about skinning! Or new customers!"
Based on the page I was advised to keep track of, NONE of these Object Desktop programs are being developed to work with Win10 at all:
Theme Manager IconPackager SkinStudio SoundPackagerIconDeveloperDecor"10"
Others are not quite ready for Win10 but are evidently being worked on. But the above applications, I guess, are gone for Win10 users. Which is weird because Win10 has so few ways to customize its appearance. Doesn't that seem like a great opening for a company like Stardock? Win10's UI is the blankest slate MS has offered since XP -- I cannot understand why Stardock wouldn't jump at the opportunity to get skinning up and running again now that Win10 is here. Win7 was pretty nice-looking for a lot of folks, so it didn't need as much help as Win10, even though it got a lot more love from Stardock.
You were demoted? Stardock punishes OD subscribers for complaining about long-neglected products? Way to go, Stardock!
It's all about approach/attitude.
I too have complained about things (most recently yesterday and in the flesh face to face). The world of skinning as we knew it from a decade and a half ago is long gone. For all sorts of reasons.
The last 3 permutations of the MS OS required FIXING, not fancying up. And yes..Start8 or 10 are still GUI mods, just as Windowblinds is and more significant than an icon changer.
That's not to say that a particular app is dead in the water, only that others have stolen focus/direction.
In those good old days there was a plethora of alternate shells, skinnable media players et al. Where are they now?
Spent an entertaining day yesterday at Stardock ..caught up with lots of people, some for the first time. .. namely Angie and a character known as Neil - all the way from the UK.
Between us we'd travelled about 17000 miles....
..but it was worth it.
Wish I could have been there. There are several WC/SD staff I'd love to meet.
Yes, you're on the list, Paul.
But which list? Muahahahaha
Hi,
I do assume that MS does force users to accept the windows 10 icons. sooner or later
Its hard to say at the moment if windows 10 itself is better than the versions before.
Just a small expirement i made with linux themes some tim ago : combine a light flat theme with an neutral color very flat borderless icon theme.Looks horrible. Don`t do that ! Use either a non flat theme or one that constrasts with the rest of ui. flat icons can be nice too, b tu not in the way ms does it.Its a pain to the eyes and its more or less what is done in windows 10.Why can`t they add an 1 px dark grey bordered icon theme with a classical stable design in their huge installation image ( yes all my recent installations were directly from images -/ not from any installation media)?
Win 10 icons don`t even have the wonderful design of win 95 ( these icons were very usable and looked nice on 16 colors-/ Not that i want them back but they were an wonderful genious invention compared to windows 10 icons).
Well i do really think think that Stardocks gets window blinds and Skinstudio working on win 10 (despite the fact skinning might seem outdated with the win 10 design) in 8 months at least but without working iconpackager most skins won`t fit with the icons.
will get perhaps some paid work to theme something in gtk2/3 soon -/ Have to think very much to be able to theme even a single button, so
i hope skinstudio will be still there on wiondows 10 to make theming easier on windows.
Great that development of windowblinds/skinstudio seems to be anounced. Thats always the first step.!
regards bluedxca92
Nobody was punished for speaking out. Their demeanor, attitude, and the words some choose cause them problems.
Two of the top products for Object Desktop, WindowBlinds and DeskScapes, are in active development. We have a beta out for Fences 3, and working on a few more things.
So no, nobody is laughing at any customers. We read the feedback even though we can't always respond to everything.
I don't have a status about IconPackager at this time. When I learn something I will share, but as I said, WB/DS are two that are being worked on right now, and we'll go from there.
Makes me wonder how popular Deskscapes might be. I for myself never found any use in an animated wallpaper, but that is maybe just me, therefore the question.
Regarding my demotion: I was very, very angry at that time as I saw my favorite company and skinning apps go down the drain for me. If there wouldn't have been real passion for that matter I would have been much calmer. And there where so many complains, questions and bug reports really ignored at that time, not given the fact that attitude is a 2 sided perception. Also bear in mind that I am not a native english speaker/writer, so some tones nay have been not as they read.
But that is over now, shouldn't have mentioned that. I guess a piece of that pasion when it comes to Stardock and their products is still left and flashes up from time to time like when I have to let go another app I really loved. And there are plenty yet.
The most popular "customizing" is the simple desktop wallpaper .... always was ... always will be.
Deskscapes is a wallpaper with bling. Needless to say it's also popular.
Windowblinds needs no description. It's essentially THE Windows customizer...
play with Google Trends to find out what people search for on Google:
https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Windowblinds%2C%20DeskScapes%2C%20IconPackager%2C%20%2Fm%2F0b6k34t%2C%20ObjectDock&date=today%2012-m&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT-2
there's roughly the same interest in WindowBlinds, Deskscapes or IconPackager in the last twelve months. so maybe it's just not possible to change certain icons without resource hacking, or maybe the IconPackager developer (if such a person exists) has not found out how to do it yet.
ObjectDock seems to be the most popular of StarDock's skinnable apps (RocketDock gets way more searches though). add Rainmeter to the query to see what's really popular.
Stardock's cash-cows seem to be Fences and Start8 nowadays.
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