No, it is not something we should have to do.  While it may not affect Canadian users, we here in Australia face other issues if we change our locale to the US... ie: Australian zoned DVD's no longer play in Windows Media player, etc... and given do not get US/Casnada region DVD's here at all (retail or rentals), it is too great an inconvenience to change locale. 

I watch a lot of DVD's on my second monitor while I'm doing other stuff, so changing is not a viable option for me to get Bootskin Pro working again.

It did work briefly with one of the earlier versions, but an update prior to the latest broke it.  The most recent update has failed to address this issue.

Thanks Zubaz!  I had a feeling it was more likely have been a MS coding thing rather than a Stardock coding thing, but could you please give us a little more detail with regard to the nature of the problem for non-US Bootskin Pro users... and whether or not there are negotiations with MS in relation to a compromise/workaround for those of us outside the US.

Thanks, mate. 

It's a RC now ,not a beta,and it works fine on my system WITH SP2 installed.

I agree high-heartedly with comments made above by "Starkers," but I'm not as generous in blaming MS for the change.

As I have stated previously, the "Boot" procedure was changed by MS with the release of SP1 on the 26th. March 2008....herwe are now nearly 12 months later and this program will still not work on various overseas systems.

One just has to look at the forums and see the comments regarding many of "Stardock" applications, and the "bugs" that have been detected in them.

I have used "Stardock" programs since their inception, and sadly the quality of all programs have declined markedly.

I believe poor programming and lack of adequate testing, prior to releasing the products, is the main reason for most of the problems.

I know that when my subscription comes up for renewal, I will have to think long and hard before I renew same.

It is hoped that these problems will be addressed in the near future.

Oh..I forgot, Bootskin Pro still does not work on any of my "Vista Systems."

The issue *is* with the way MS implemented the boot process and we will continue to work on a resolution.

We're working for you baby!

seeing as bootskin is free, demanding mney back is a moot point

I did not do anything except the automatic update!!! No uninstall or clearing out the registry.

EDIT:

I surrender. I just tried changing a skin and it goes back to the Windows theme. I changed the lacale back to US and it still does not work. This has now got beyond a joke. The program has got a mind of it's own.

--- Start rant ---

It's consistent with the previous troublesome (minor) apps from Stardock. If there's too much issues with it, make it free...

It's a win/win situation really... People won't be charged for flaky software, Stardock gets publicity for being cool guys who give out software for free (and it DOES work for most people), and devs can prioritize commercial software over the less important free stuff. It's free... You can ask for fixes, but you can't demand them. They'll sort it when they have time.

I see this as a *GOOD* thing. Windows is overly complicated when it comes to the bootstuff, and it tends to get more and more troublesome over time... While bootskins and logons are nice, they're definetely non essential, and I don't really give a d**n about if they don't work for me. Better they work on getting things like cursorfx, objectdock, right click and whatever else in order first. Simply because I use (and in some cases, want to use) them on a regular basis on my 64bit OS.

And as for asking for refunds... Even if you DID pay for an OD subscription, there's no way you bought it only for getting a bootskin on your computer, even if you got it while it was required for having access to the app. It's not in any way a killer feature, and there are other free ways to change the bootskins. (Oh, and if bootskin pro won't work for you... good luck on making it work in some other way, you'll definetely need it).

--- End rant ---

i have the same issues with the free version...im on Vista Ultimate/32-bit...not to be a stick in the mud but i own tune up utilities and they have a section to apply bootskins and start up animations and they do it so easily...work everytime no issues...still i love stardock and hope these issues can be fixed

Assuming you got the free version using a stand-alone installer, that will be repackaged shortly and made available.  Otherwise, you should be able to download a patch from Impulse.

Just Updated to Version 1.02.051.

I have loaded and successfully applied 3 bootskins.

My locale is Australia.

I just hope I have not spoken to soon.

ZubaZ keeps his fingers crossed and promises to buy kaftw a drink (or some Thai) if this pattern continues

Another release, and yes you guessed it still does NOT work.

Have purchased "Vista BootScreen" from "Intelegsoft." This program WORKS and I would suggest that "Stardock" investigates how they managed to get thier program to work and make the necessary ajustments to "Bootskin Pro," to get it to work.