Stardock



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Take Windows to the next level

Personalize, Create, Extend

Specifications 

Title: Object Desktop 2007

Publisher: Stardock Corp.

Price: $49.95

Website:

Requirements: Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista

Hardware: 1 GHz Processor or faster with at least 128MB of total system memory.

[pic] Executive Summary of Object Desktop 2007

Object Desktop is a suite of desktop enhancement utilities designed to upgrade Microsoft Windows to support a host of new features. These features allow users to customize the look, feel, and function of the OS to suit their particular needs. Some have described Object Desktop as a third party upgrade to Windows.

Object Desktop 2007 comes at a critical time – the transition point between Windows XP and Windows Vista.

For Windows XP users, Object Desktop transforms Windows to look, feel, and function however the user wants. But Object Desktop users also get free updates for an entire year after purchase. That means they get upgrades and new features specific to Windows Vista.

Stardock is working closely with Microsoft to deliver new features to Windows Vista that take advantage of Microsoft’s new graphics engine called Milcore (which is what powers Windows Presentation Foundation).

As a result, Object Desktop 2007 users can turbo-charge Windows XP and be amongst the first to see the real potential of Windows Vista.

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[pic] Object Desktop in Detail

As a suite, Object Desktop is made up of many different components. Each component takes care of a specific part of the OS.

The programs that make up Object Desktop are broken into three parts: Programs that enable users to personalize their Windows experience, programs that allow users to create their own enhancements to Windows, and programs that extend the base feature set of Windows.

Personalize

|[pic] |WindowBlinds – WindowBlinds applies new visual styles to Windows. A visual style can change the title bar, title bar |

| |buttons, push buttons, radio buttons, scrollbars, the Start bar, and much more. New controls can be added to the user |

| |interface of Windows such as roll-up buttons, always on top buttons, media player controls, and more. |

|[pic] |Desktops – Apply desktops that can change the Windows Explorer environment to look and function completely different or |

| |simply look better. |

|[pic] |IconPackager – IconPackager can apply “packages” of icons. A user who wants to change all their icons in one click would|

| |simply download a package of icons and apply them. |

|[pic] |Gadgets – The Object Desktop Gadgets are a series of “mini-programs” that you can run on your desktop that provide |

| |additional functionality to your desktop. Examples include Radio tuner, Calendar, To-Do list, Weather forecast, Stock |

| |ticker, and World News report. |

|[pic] |Suites – Suites include all of the above into a single file called a .suite file. When a suite is applied your GUI can |

| |be changed, your desktop changed, your icons changed and gadgets added to your desktop to give your Windows experience a|

| |complete makeover both visually and functionally. |

Create

|[pic] |IconDeveloper – IconDeveloper is a program that lets you easily create Windows icons. |

|[pic] |SkinStudio – SkinStudio makes it relatively easy to create your own user interfaces to be used by programs such as |

| |WindowBlinds and Windows Media Player. |

|[pic] |DesktopX – Build your own desktops or create widgets to be added to your desktop. |

|[pic] |Theme Manager – Use Theme Manager to create your own suites and manage all your skins, themes, icons, and suites. |

Extend

|[pic] |Virtual Desktops – Add the world’s fastest, most powerful virtual desktops to your Windows taskbar or to any program |

| |that supports ActiveX. |

|[pic] |Keyboard Launchpad – Keyboard Launchpad allows users to assign hot keys to nearly every action possible on a Windows |

| |computer. Launch programs, paste saved clipboards, control individual programs and more. |

|[pic] |RightClick – RightClick enables users to replace their Windows right-click desktop menu with one of their own design. |

| |This can greatly improve productivity and provide access to their programs and data conveniently. |

|[pic] |IconX – IconX is a program that enhances your Windows desktop icons so that they can be any size, zoom on mouse over, |

| |have shadows underneath them and generally make them more attractive and usable. |

|[pic] |WindowFX – WindowFX adds special effects to Windows such as shadows, transition animations, tiled windows, scaleable |

| |windows and more. |

 

Other Components of Object Desktop

Here are some of the other components that make up Object Desktop that are available for download via Stardock Central.

ObjectBar – ObjectBar is a program that allows users to customize their Windows Start bar or create entirely new bars, wharfs, finders, and other desktop level interfaces to manage their programs, running tasks, and system tray.

TweakShell – TweakShell lets users tune their Windows settings to control which programs launch on start-up, what default settings the shell starts with and more.

ObjectEdit – ObjectEdit is a simple but powerful text editor. It is designed to be substantially more powerful than Notepad but keep the same small size and speed of notepad.

Enhanced File Dialog – Extend your Windows file/save dialog to support new features that make it convenient to get back to directories you often go to and access a host of handy features and utilities right from the file dialog.

Much More! - There are many other components that are part of Object Desktop that allow you to tweak some aspect of the OS previously thought impossible to do.

[pic] Why use Object Desktop?

Now that we’ve established basically what Object Desktop does, the next question is, why would you want to use Object Desktop?

The answer depends on what you use your computer for. Ultimately, Object Desktop gives users the power to transform Windows into whatever they want.

For example, perhaps they want Windows to function more like an alternative OS. Perhaps they want to brand Windows to match their company’s general style. Maybe they want to sell a custom made computer that isn’t obviously running Windows. Perhaps they’re a power user interested in increasing their productivity. Or maybe they just want to make Windows look and feel “cooler.”

What we do know is that Object Desktop has become quite popular with consumers, power users, and corporate IT managers for very different reasons. At the end of the day, Object Desktop simply lets users turn Windows into a piece of clay to be molded by them into whatever they desire.

[pic] What would you change about Windows?

Take a new look at Windows, its interfaces, and the way it works. How might these things be altered?

Parts of Windows:

• The Graphical User Interface (The title bars, push buttons, scrollbars, radio buttons, check boxes, the Start bar, the Start menu, and the toolbars).

• The icons on your system.

• Your Windows desktop (normally a wallpaper).

• The way you access your programs.

• The way you access the programs that are already running.

• The way you manage items in the Windows system tray.

Object Desktop lets you customize these six things. It provides a set of utilities, each focusing on one or more of these tasks. Object Desktop’s job is to let you decide how Windows looks, feels, functions.

Now to describe what the various programs do with more detail.

 

[pic] Theme Manager

Theme Manager allows users to change the look and feel of their Windows PC from a single user interface. 

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Figure 1: Create suites, manage your skins and themes, and apply it all from a single interface.

If we think of the parts of Object Desktop as focusing on a key aspect of the Windows environment, then Theme Manager lets you change your entire Windows environment at once by applying Suites of themes/skins/icons together at the same time.

For example, a Suite might use WindowBlinds to change the GUI, DesktopX to change the desktop itself, a wallpaper to change the desktop wallpaper, and an icon package to change the icons.

Theme Manager is designed to let you control all your skins, themes, icons, wallpapers, etc. from a single consistent user interface.

Theme Manager is licensed by a host of companies to provide branded desktops (nVidia, ATI, Nintendo among others).

[pic] WindowBlinds

WindowBlinds is the part of Object Desktop that can change the look and feel of the Windows graphical user interface.

WindowBlinds changes the title bars, borders, push buttons, radio buttons, check boxes, start bar and other elements of the Windows interface. It does this by loading “Visual Styles.” Windows XP, by default, comes with a single visual style “Windows XP style” with 3 flavors – blue, silver, and olive. WindowBlinds enables users to add more visual styles to their system.

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Figure 2: WindowBlinds is powerful enough to make Windows XP look and feel very similar to Windows Vista – and run just as fast while doing it.

When WindowBlinds is run, a system tray icon (which can be hidden) is added that provides a link to the WindowBlinds “skin” manager. From here, the individual settings can be changed.

Highlights of WindowBlinds

• Enables users to add visual styles to Windows.

• WindowBlinds visual styles can radically change the Windows GUI.

• Can change the color or brightness of a visual style on the fly.

• Allows additional title bar buttons to be added (roll-up, always on top, MP3 player controls, etc.).

• Allows users to change their Internet Explorer and Explorer toolbar icons.

• Allows users to change their Windows progress animations.

• Supports hardware acceleration in nVidia and ATI cards to improve system performance.

• Right mouse click on title bar can be used to minimize applications.

• Supports different visual styles for different programs.

• Can skin non-theme aware applications.

• Can skin the Windows command prompt.

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Figure 2: WindowBlinds can move buttons, add buttons, add new functionality to the Windows GUI.

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Figure 3: The Start menu can be fully skinned as well.

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Figure 4: You can change the color of your skins on the fly to any color you want.

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Figure 5: Changing skins in WindowBlinds is a snap.

 Windows XP Without WindowBlinds:

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Figure 6: Even today, many programs are not "theme aware" meaning that they get a hodge-podge of Windows 95 and Windows XP/Vista controls.

 

Windows XP With WindowBlinds:

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Figure 7: With WindowBlinds, even non-theme aware programs get fully skinned to have a consistent, polished look and feel whether it's Windows XP or Windows Vista.

[pic] DesktopX 

DesktopX is the part of Object Desktop designed to allow users to extend their Windows desktop to have a host of new functionality both from a visual point of view and from a utilitarian point of view.

When run, DesktopX has an optional system tray icon that lets users enable/disable the features of DesktopX. It can load themes (entire desktops) or individual objects. And as long as DesktopX is installed, users can download and run widgets without DesktopX even running (widgets just use DesktopX DLLs for their run-time). 

Highlights of DesktopX

DesktopX focuses on providing 3 main benefits:

1) Building custom desktops. Users can use DesktopX to build custom desktops which can then be saved and distributed.

2) Add “Widgets” to your desktop. Widgets are mini-programs that provide additional functionality to the computer.

3) Add objects that behave essentially as “super icons.”

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Figure 8: DesktopX was the first program for any personal computer that made it easy for users to create mini-apps on the desktop.

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Figure 9: DesktopX lets you also create entire desktops which people can use for kiosks, secure desktops, or just for an alternative to what Microsoft and Apple have thought of.

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Figure 10: DesktopX supports the creation of desktop objects. Think of these objects as sort of "super icons". Easier to make than icons, animation and mouse states supported, and independently sized.

 DesktopX makes it easy for all types of users to customize their Windows desktop environment to suit their needs and desires.

 

[pic] IconPackager 

IconPackager allows users to change all their Windows icons at once by applying different sets of icons called “icon packages.” It also lets users create their own icon packages to save for later or distribute to others. 

In addition, IconPackager integrates into the Windows shell so that users can change the icons of individual files, programs, or file types. It is so seamless that many users don’t even realize that this functionality is being provided by IconPackager and not Windows itself. 

Highlights of IconPackager 

• Can change nearly all of the Windows icons at once by applying icon “packages.”

• Can change the file type icons.

• Includes Icon Explorer, designed to make it easy to navigate through libraries of icons and view them easily.

• Shell integration allows users browsing through their system to right-click on any file and go to the added “Icon” tab and change the icon.

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Figure 11: IconPackager makes it easy to change all your Windows icons. “All” as in hundreds of icons on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. It also makes it easy to create your own icon packages.

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Figure 12: Users can easily change the icons on individual programs and file types.

 [pic] IconDeveloper

IconDeveloper lets users create icons. While there are many icon editing products on the market already, what makes IconDeveloper stand out is its focus on making it easy for end users to create their own icons.

IconDeveloper is perfect for those creative individuals who either currently have cool images they want to turn into an icon, or they prefer to make new images using a program like Photoshop or Illustrator or some other graphics package instead of some proprietary icon bitmap editor. 

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Figure 13: Create your own icons very very easily for Windows 2000, XP, and Windows Vista.

Highlights of IconDeveloper 

• Can turn PNG, JPG, BMP, and other common graphics files into Windows .ICO (icon) files.

• Can easily change the color of individual or entire sets of icons at once.

• Includes a host of scaling options to ensure that images look nice as minimum 16x16 icons or higher.

• Seamless support for all formats of Windows icons including the new alpha blended Windows XP icon format.

• Shell integration.

• Integrates with Stardock IconPackager.

[pic] SkinStudio

SkinStudio is a powerful program designed to let graphics designers create their own visual styles or Windows Media Player skins. It is, without a doubt, the most powerful “skin” creation utility available anywhere for use in OS customization.

There are so many features in SkinStudio that it is impossible to cover even a significant fraction of them here.

Highlights of SkinStudio

• Provides a wealth of features to facilitate the creation of skins (both visual styles and Windows Media Player skins).

• Enables users to make use of third party .msstyles files via WindowBlinds without having to patch any system files or violate the Windows EULA.

• Includes utilities for colorizing skins and themes quickly and intelligently.

• Can import pieces from other skins.

• Supports the new Universal Skin Format (USF). A single format that can then be exported into skins for specific programs.

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Figure 14: With SkinStudio it is easy to create simple skins but has the power and complexity to also create very sophisticated looking user interfaces.

[pic] IconX 

IconX is a program that enhances your existing desktop icons.

With IconX you can give your desktop icons shadows, make them any size, have them zoom up on mouse-over and other effects that can make your desktop icons easier to see or react in a “cool” way. IconX allows you to change your icon labels to make them easier to read and better looking. In short, IconX makes good icons look great and great icons look awesome, thanks to special effects like shadows, anti-aliasing and dynamic resizing!

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Figure 15: Enhance your desktop icons.

• WindowFX

WindowFX adds special effects to your Windows experience.

WindowFX is a special effects program for Windows that allows users to add a variety of opening and closing, transition and other visual effects to the user interface.

WindowFX has been designed to be a great way to spice up your system while still adding some productivity benefits (such as maximizing windows to a specific size). Unlike many programs that fall into the "eye candy" category, WindowFX strives to not get in the way of doing real work on the computer.

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Figure 16: WindowFX provides a simple interface to access a wealth of new effects you can add to Windows XP and soon Windows Vista.

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Figure 17: Users can tile/scale their windows rather than simply resize or minimize them.

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Figure 18: Get taskbar previews and shadows under your windows.

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Figure 19: Choose from a bunch of different minimize, maximize, open and close animations to give your desktop more spice.

[pic] Keyboard Launchpad

Keyboard Launchpad (KLP) is a program that allows you to quickly and easily assign hot keys to launch programs, visit URLs, paste saved clipboards, control individual programs, perform system commands, and more.

What makes KLP special is that it works system wide. No matter what program you're in, no matter what you're doing, you can always access the hotkeys of KLP. It also has an open plugin format so that if there is a specialized program you wish to add your own hot key support to, you can do so.

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Figure 20: Assign hot keys for virtually any function on Windows.

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Figure 21: Assign saved clipboards to hot keys as well.

[pic] RightClick

RightClick is a simple-to-use program that enables users to customize their Windows desktop context menu.

By default, right-clicking on the Windows desktop offers only a handful of options to choose from.  Moreover, in order to access it, you have to be able to reach the Windows desktop which is often covered with windows.

RightClick can be set up to open upon hitting a hot-key (such as the Windows key) to always be accessible.  Virtually any command imaginable can be added to the RightClick menu.

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Figure 22: Quickly add new functionality to your desktop right-click menu.

RightClick is also fully skinnable using either its own skinning format or inheriting the WindowBlinds visual style and incorporating it.  Users also have a host of display options to control the appearance of the menu to ensure maximum readability and visual elegance.

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Figure 23: Example of RightClick in action.

RightClick can even be configured to completely replace the Windows Start bar.  It supports all the functionality of the Windows Start bar including the System Tray (no other program can come close to being able to do that).  

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Figure 24: Add widgets and gadgets to your RightClick menu.

[pic] Desktop Gadgets

Gadgets are a new category of mini-application designed to provide information, useful lookup, or enhance an application or service on your Windows PC or the Web.

Examples might include a media player, a Google search, a to-do list, stock ticker and much more. They provide a convenient way to access a variety of information without having to launch a web browser or whole new program.

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Figure 25: Object Desktop includes a host of gadgets that run on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

 [pic]Getting content for Object Desktop

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WinCustomize is the world’s most popular Windows customization site. With thousands of skins, themes, icons, suites, wallpapers and more, it supports a vast community of users and artists.

[pic] Using Stardock Central

Stardock Central is a next generation software distribution program. From it, users can easily update any of their Stardock software or content.  

Stardock Central allows users to make use of its software without having to keep track of CDs. In fact, once the user has installed it the first time, the system will associate their serial # with their email address so that if users lose their Object Desktop CD and serial #, they will still be able to install the entire Object Desktop package from Stardock Central.

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Figure 26: The real power of Object Desktop is that it is constantly evolving; improving with new features, components, and updates being made.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are questions we receive from reviewers and end users on a regular basis.

Q: Will Object Desktop slow down my system?

A: It depends on your computer and which components you use. Some parts of Object Desktop are applications that create content or only use resources when they are actually applying their change to your system (SkinStudio, IconDeveloper, and IconPackager).

Some use very little resources (Keyboard Launchpad).

Some use very little or a lot depending on what theme you have loaded (WindowBlinds, DesktopX).

And some do use quite a bit of horse power and are targeting systems with higher specifications (WindowFX).

But the main thing to remember is that these programs are evolving and have evolved. For example, in the early days WindowBlinds did slow down people’s systems because:

1) They were running much slower systems. 

2) WindowBlinds had to make a lot of compromises to run on Windows 95, 98, and ME (now there’s a separate versions for Win98/ME versus Windows 2000 versus Windows XP with each optimized for each OS).

3) The tools for creating skins used to be much more primitive with no built in ways to optimize skins.

Now WindowBlinds, for example, runs faster than the bundled Windows XP visual style engine and does it using less memory. But for those who have reviewed WindowBlinds or DesktopX or some other component of Object Desktop in the past, it is important to remember that these programs have evolved a great deal to reach their present form.

Q: What about Windows Vista?

A: Windows Vista is the most significant update to Microsoft Windows since Windows 95. In many ways, Windows Vista is a whole new OS that is made to look like previous versions of Windows. This is particularly true on the desktop.

Stardock has been working with Windows Vista since the earliest betas and is a Microsoft partner on developing content and technology for it. Users of Object Desktop automatically get free updates to Object Desktop for an entire year after purchase, which means they’ll also receive the new Windows Vista content Stardock is working on.

Q: What are the hardware requirements for Object Desktop?

A: Stardock recommends running Object Desktop on PCs that run at least 1 GHz with at least 128MB of total system memory. ATI Radeon and nVidia GeForce 2 or later video cards have special enhancements that make Object Desktop components such as WindowBlinds, WindowFX, and DesktopX run even faster.

Q: What operating systems are supported?

A: Object Desktop components do run on Windows 98 and ME but Stardock only officially supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Q: What do I get when I purchase Object Desktop?

A: Object Desktop includes all of its components, plus a full year of updates, along with any new programs added to Object Desktop during that year. At the end of the year, users can renew their access to new updates and new components at a discounted price of $34.95.

Q: Are there tutorials on how to create skins, themes, and icons?

A: Yes. Most of the home pages for the individual components include links to tutorials on how to create content for them.

Q: Will Object Desktop work on Vista?

A: Yes! Vista will include several key new technologies that will greatly enhance the functionality of Object Desktop (such as a new compositing engine, XAML, vector based themes, and more).

Q: How much memory does Object Desktop use?

A: This will vary depending on how much of it you are using at once.  However, it has been designed to use relatively little memory. Unlike many utility suites, Object Desktop DOES NOT replace any system files. Instead, it inherits from what is already built into Windows and extends it.  As a result, memory and file size use is much less.  WindowBlinds, for example, uses around 500K of memory.  Most Object Desktop components use less than 5 megabytes of memory each (about that same as Windows notepad).

Q: Where can I get more help for Object Desktop?

A: Users can get peer help at . In addition, Stardock provides email support at support@ and phone support at 734-927-0677.

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