Stardock & Vista Compatibility

A quick look at the next few months

Published on January 31, 2007 By Zoomba In OS Customization

NOTICE: THIS POST IS NO LONGER CURRENT.

With the launch of Windows Vista this week, questions are coming up regarding our plans to update our software to support the new operating system. You've already seen Brad's article on our product roadmap where he discusses programs such as LogonStudio Vista and the new versions of IconPackager, WindowBlinds and DesktopX. The article is a great look at what we've got cooking for the next few months.

However, people have been looking for some sort of compatibility list for our applications, to know what they can use right now with Vista, and when they can expect the rest of their favorite applications to reach a "Vista Ready" state. To help everyone out, I've put together the following chart for what we have in the pipe right now. This is a sort of sneak-peak into our release schedule up through the first half of 2007. If you don't see a product on this list, it means it's either not on our first half 2007 calendar, or we are still investigating what will need to be done to update the program for Vista. Do not take an omission from this list to mean that a given program is being abandoned.

	Vista Status	Vista Version	Testing Phase	Targeted Release
DeskScapes	Ready	1.0		February 2007
BootSkin Vista	In Development	1.0		Spring 2007
LogonStudio Vista	In Testing	2.0	Beta	Spring 2007
CursorVista	In Development	1.0		Spring 2007
TweakVista	In Development	1.0		Spring 2007

WindowBlinds	Ready	5.5		February 2007
IconPackager	In Testing	3.5	Beta	February 2007
DesktopX	In Testing	3.5	Alpha	Spring 2007
ObjectDock	Ready	1.5		Currently Available
IconDeveloper	Ready	1.5		Currently Available
SkinStudio	In Testing	5.5	Alpha	Spring 2007
Theme Manager	In Development	3.0		Spring 2007

KeepSafe	In Testing		Alpha	Unknown
Multiplicity	Ready	1.1

We will periodically post updates to this chart to keep everyone as up-to-date as we can on our progress towards Vista compatibility. As you can see from the chart, we already have our flagship product, WindowBlinds, ready for Vista, and other core customization applications such as IconPackager and DesktopX are very close to being released. On top of that you can see some of the brand new products we're developing just for Vista such as TweakVista.

With the launch of Vista, it's a very exciting time for GUI customization and we're working as fast as we can to deliver the next generation of customization software.

EDIT: Fixed bad info on Multiplicity. Version 1.1 works fine with Vista.

Comments (Page 2)

butch123

on Feb 04, 2007

Great stuff

Lotherius

on Feb 05, 2007

I don't see ObjectBar on the list at all - what's the status?

GreenReaper

on Feb 05, 2007

Speaking unofficially here . . . ObjectBar itself seems to work for the most part, but the version of DesktopX that is packaged with it does not work. Therefore, themes that make use of the DesktopX plugin embedding feature will not work. I would imagine that this would be fixed in a later release for Vista.

Zoomba

on Feb 05, 2007

I don't see ObjectBar on the list at all - what's the status?

The list is only our schedule for the next few months. Products not listed are not abandoned, merely beyond the spring time frame. The further out into the future you look, the less firm things become. We can speak with some confidence about the near future, but beyond that we don't want to state a date or month and then miss it.

jantara

on Feb 05, 2007

Since I have installed Vista, I have had a problem with downloading new skins....

I get this message that there was an error, Please try again. And that is with everyone of them. I don't know if I am doing something wrong, or Stardock doesn't have anything to download for Vista yet.

MichaelG04_NEW

on Feb 06, 2007

what about x64 vista support for windowblinds?

Wh00079

on Feb 06, 2007

what about x64 vista support for windowblinds?

I second that question! I am, running an eval copy of Vista Ultimate that I got from the launch event @ the convention center in San Francisco. They were only handing out 32 bit versions but when I do buy the upgrade, I need the 64 too. I would hate to think that I am going to have to wait for months and months before I can use my Object Dock subscription again. Especially since I just bought it a month ago.

Zoomba

on Feb 06, 2007

At this moment, WindowBlinds for Vista is 32-bit only. We are currently looking into 64bit to see what sorts of technical challenges things like PatchGuard may present.

Excalpius

on Feb 07, 2007

That little colored spreadsheet/table is nifty. We can come back and check this at our leisure. Nicely done. Thanks.

Grapes1

on Feb 09, 2007

I would just like to say "BRAVO and CONGRATULATIONS" to all the Tech's that are working on the Vista issues!!! I worked on the XP merger and vowed that I'd never do anything like that again, and I didn't. But, I really admire and definately give you props for taking on Vista and having it be compatible with Stardock et al. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I certainly do appreciate ALL that you guys do and I know from experience Microsoft doesn't help much with 3rd party softwares. They suck for that, but hey that which makes us stronger in the computer game, makes us more money....right? LOL, anyway, A huge thanks from this lil' 'ol user. Keep up the great work you're doing, I know it is real hard!!!

Jay

MarcRoyce

on Feb 09, 2007

I too get classic windows on windowblinds with Vista

kaihilgers

on Mar 03, 2007

Is there a special section where I can find some more Vista-Themes here? only the Themes wich comes with the WB5.5 are workin, all other skins on the site doesnt. any suggestions where to find other themes especially for Vista? Thanks!

PurrBall

on Mar 03, 2007

I too get classic windows on windowblinds with Vista

Make sure the "Stardock WindowBlinds" service is started and set to automatic.

Also, I'm not seeing ID 1.5 in SDC.

cavalierex

on Mar 03, 2007

ObjectDock 1.5 Plus bugs in Vista:

Non-tabbed dock:
- Occasionally, icons will disappear; but then reappear with mouse-over. Don't know what caused this... It is rare (only happened three times), so I can't figure out the etiology.
- Trash bin does not update image after trash is emptied.

Tabbed dock:
- Even though I keep the dock with normal z-ordering and 'on-top' is unchecked, the dock will periodically stay on-top of other windows. Clickin on the desired/focused window does NOT bring the window to the top -- that is, the dock still claims top z-order. The only way to push it back down is to manually check 'on-top' and then uncheck it again.

thomassen

on Mar 03, 2007

Tabbed dock:
- Even though I keep the dock with normal z-ordering and 'on-top' is unchecked, the dock will periodically stay on-top of other windows. Clickin on the desired/focused window does NOT bring the window to the top -- that is, the dock still claims top z-order. The only way to push it back down is to manually check 'on-top' and then uncheck it again.

I experience that my self. I think it might be a Windows bug actually if I remember correctly. Think it was planned to be fixed in a service pack. At least I hope so.
But it's be nice if they could implement a temp workaround that would set the ontop and unset it at OD startup.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!