Hi everyone,
Let me preface my remarks by saying I'm not a programmer. But for the short time I used ObjectDock I thought it was very cool indeed. I made my XP laptop desktop look like a Mac, and when I gave presentations in our HQ it frightened the bejeezus out of the IT guys!
It occurs to me that the people who write ObjectDock have missed the fact that a good chunk of the PC-using world has rejected Vista. However, we've been stuck with a boring XP desktop for more years than I care to remember. I've tried Window Blinds and it just seems to be a gimmick. Not worth the instabilities it introduces. The whole point of XP vs Vista is that you get performance and decent stability on your existing hardware. Window Blinds tends to kill the performance without actually introducing anything useful (just like Vista).
If ObjectDock were made more friendly, and more stable (I de-installed mine because I was getting the dreaded "application helper" error which appears a lot in this forum and seems to have no solution) then it could have a huge market for XP owners who want to spruce up their desktops.
The point is that you (the developers) have done a great job, but you made it too programmable. For us dweebs who don't know C# or Java, the whole Stardock experience is a mass of confusion. You might be used to combining bits and pieces of applications from here and there, but we don't know which bit is supposed to go where, or what's updated or not. What's the differrence between Window Blinds, ObjectDock, DeskTop X, etc. All too confusing. By all means keep the programmability, but hide it from the novice user.
Even installing skins is an adventure. I never could work out if I was actually using the stuff I'd paid for!
Why not create a small set of "themes" (or whatever) for OD that a newbie like me can install quickly, and not have to fool around customizing the whole interface?
Why not take a few minutes and create Camtasia "How To" videos that show people what to do to create a particular look?
Another big trend today is the set of cheap sub-notebook PCs that are coming on the market. Why not do a deal to "skin" one or more of these laptops so that they use XP, but still look cool? You'd certainly generate some volume sales for OD then.
Cheers,
Geoff
