From technology to politics to video games; these are the random thoughts of a geek with too much time on his hands
Published on July 14, 2008 By Zoomba In WinCustomize News

Ok, so we left the Impulse poll up for a full month (as opposed to our normal weekly schedule) to give people as much time as possible to think about switching, make the switch and then cast their vote.  The poll originally went up several days before the full launch of Impulse and has been up for the first month of it's public life.  So now, a month later we feel we have a pretty good sampling of our userbase.  Turns out that a huge number of you have already made the switch with only a small handful holding out until the very end.  Here's the full breakdown:

A month on now, what are your general feelings on Impulse?


Comments
on Jul 14, 2008
What is Impulse?
on Jul 14, 2008
Impulse (http://www.impulsedriven.com) is the next generation of our digital distribution platform.  It is replacing Stardock Central (which replaced Component Manager before it).
on Jul 14, 2008
I Have both installed and even though I use Impulse way more than SDC, for some reason I can't let go of SDC just yet. Hmmm...maybe I am just weird like that.
on Jul 14, 2008
I'm betting that the number of active Impulse installations divided by (the number of Active Object Desktop subscriptions + Active Game Network installations) or something like that would give a completely different "now using Impulse" percentage. Seems like the sample population of the survey is pretty skewed ... Anyway I guess it shows that somebody is using it, doesn't it?  
on Jul 14, 2008
I'm betting that the number of active Impulse installations divided by (the number of Active Object Desktop subscriptions + Active Game Network installations) or something like that would give a completely different "now using Impulse" percentage. Seems like the sample population of the survey is pretty skewed ... Anyway I guess it shows that somebody is using it, doesn't it?


What?  
on Jul 14, 2008
I like the look of impulse better, but It is easier to be able to sort what programs are already installed in Stardock Central. I also find that Impulse does not have all the programs like ThinkSync. So for now, I use both.
on Jul 14, 2008
I hardly use Impulse. For me I liked using SDC to update programs but also to view skin updates and since Impulse can't do skin updates, I'm using SDC pretty much exclusively. I just can't get used to viewing the skins via the web interface and tried using the dedicated skin browser but it didn't work as well as the one in SDC. I'm not a gamer so that part is out. I do visit Impulsedriven and the forums but find those better in my web browser, mainly due to using Firefox and Impulse uses IE. Eventually if my utilities, etc make it to Impulse I might use it more, but right now it its a dust magnet so to speak.
on Jul 14, 2008
Eventually if my utilities, etc make it to Impulse I might use it more,


I used my "tools" tab and put 12 of my "utilities" shortcuts into Impulse,where they can be launched from the dock.They just won't indicate available updates.The dock freed up space on my OD

I've been using it almost since day one,early betas and all. I have yet to have any problems at all with Impulse.Since I never really used SDC all that much,I won't argue which is better but Impulse is a plus in my book.
on Jul 14, 2008
I have also Used Impulse since basically day 1, and to me personally SDC has not got a look-in on Impulse, it is much easier to use, I know this for a fact cos my Dad didn't have a clue when it came to using SDC, now he is a whiz kid, plus it has a much better looking interface(if that is the right terminology for looks better)
on Jul 14, 2008
Impulse is good, but I still hear about bugs in the program all over the internet...
on Jul 14, 2008
I tried Impluse , was very excited about it. But it was busy.. Caused a lot of problems and uninstalled it and cleaned out my computer with cCleaner and then tried it again.. same thing.. I will wait a while. I am sure it will get better. RoseNell
on Jul 15, 2008
Philly-
What?
   Ya that was pretty nerdy wasn't it? When I looked at the graph one of my past lives kicked in and took over my fingers. Rephrased: I think the 68% "Already switched" number is so big because of where the question was asked and who would have bothered to take the poll. I'm not wanting to beat the idea to death, I just looked at the graph and kind of went "Eh? Not so sure about that."   
on Jul 15, 2008
DaveRI I knew you knew what you meant, I just had to do that. Glad you took it as humor, that was how it was meant.   

You are correct, the question will always seem simple enough when asked, then when you look at who you asked it to it no longer is simple.   

There is even a difference in opinion on this site between Gamers and Non-Gamers when it comes to Impulse.
on Jul 15, 2008
Impulse rocks.
on Jul 16, 2008
After 2 months frustration, I got the link for those whose servers were causing problems. It also has the alternate download mechanism and now it's working! When it works, it's great...