Um...there is....it's the time of their subscription....;)

remind self that Jafo is now on the LIST!!!

He is correct though.  The point of Object Desktop vs buying the apps individually is that it works as a subscription.  You have access to download and update the latest versions of the applications while the subscription is active.  When it expires, you even get to keep using the applications, you simply lose the ability to download new installs or updates.  If you keep your subscription active by resubscribing (at a discount from the original price mind you) you continue to be able to do this.  We even allow you to make your own backup archives to save your software so you can restore from them later.  The service we offered as a courtesy (it was never an advertised benefit of the subscription) was the ability to write to us if you did not make your own backups and use the ones we had on hand.  Unfortunately this puts an administrative burden on us to make these archives on a regular basis and to make them available, not to mention the costs to support older versions of the applications.  Because of these drawbacks, we have decided to no longer offer this to users with expired subscriptions.  All of the other above mentions options are still available, and archives made on your own will still be able to be restored (we have even added a reminder to the about to expire warnings to make archives).

I've ALWAYS been on a 'list'....

....somewhere....;)

Hmm, was just going to post a query about not seeming to be able to get minor updates to the versions of software I have installed from my now expired Object Desktop subscription.

Shocked to find that you can't even get patches without a sub - can understand not being allowed the next major version but minor versions or bug fix releases... really?

Now even more shocked to learn you cannot download the software after your subscription is up, even the versions you were entitled to when your subscription was active.

Are you guys meant to be competing with Steam or what - don't see any update or download problems there?

Needless to say I will not be updating my subscription, or buying more software through Impulse. Shame cause your desktop software is well polished...

Cheers,

Krusty

This is how Object Desktop has worked for the past 11 years.

Huh?  So if you buy World of Warcraft and your subscription runs out are you going to angry with Blizzard too?

When you buy Object Desktop you get Object Desktop plus a subscription to Object Desktop Network.  When the year runs out, you can renew your subscription or choose not to.  If you choose not to, you can keep using the software indefinitely but you no longer get free updates to it.

I'm not sure what this has to do with Steam (or Impulse for that matter).  If you buy a product like say WindowBlinds from Impulse you can redownload it forever.  But if you SUBSCRIBE to something via Impulse, you get access to it during your subscription.  In the case of Object Desktop, all your software continues to work after your subscription but you don't get updates or re-downloads of it.

What I can do is ask IT to have a DVD image of the most recent yearly image of Object Desktop available for people to download.

No one was looking for free updates outside the subscription period.  I don't think WoW comparisons are valid though.  Their model differs.  For example, I cancelled my WoW sub, but I can download updates to the client no problem.  Here, we're not looking to download updates outside the sub period.  What was lost was key feature of good DD services: Ability to obtain your software indefinitely.

It doesn't look like Stardock is setup to handle that, for subscription software.  But what are the technical hurdles needed to overcome this?  It doesn't appear insurmountable to me, so why reject the notion that version information be tracked on an individual customer and license basis?  So that, for example, Impulse "knows" that whatever version was available when my ODNT sub expires is the version to download when I reinstall.

I thought this was what was done anyway, since between renewels I lapsed for a period of months.... and Impulse client displayed version info at the bottom.  Has this become a storage issue?  Too many versions to store online and keep available?

You still have this feature for purchase, but not with the subscription.  Most DD services don't offer subscriptions in the same sense.  If you buy WindowBlinds today you can download it forever, but if you have a subscription and let it lapse you won't have download access anymore.  Previously we offered our own archives as a courtesy for those who had system crashes or what not and needed to redownload.  This is what is no longer being offered.  Otherwise, the service is as it has been for the last 11 years as Frogboy said.

Thanks for your replies.

Still think it's odd how re-downloading and minor updates to versions are not allowed but nevermind.

Also, the WoW argument is flawed, since without a subscription you cannot use the software. Desktop software is not an MMO, and long may it stay that way!

I suppose the obvious question is this:

The software I downloaded and installed with my subscription was handled by the Impulse desktop client. I do not have the installers, that I can see. Please correct me if I'm wrong...

So, if/when I come to reinstall my Windows installation, as we all know needs to be done every 18 months or so (at least if you want to inject some new life into your system), how do I reinstall the software Impulse downloaded and installed for me? From what I can see I can't.

Cheers,

Krusty

Ahh, Archive application?

Trying it now...

Edit: Ok, where does it put them?

Open impulse then see that white thing below the orb in top left (contains settings & options for impulse),well click on it already,you'll have to find the archive location on your own,that said here's a couple of hints look for words "folders" &  "backup" (backup is archive)

Open the impulse preferences (button on uppper left) > preferences > folders > archive file location. I have mine set to backup to my external. Set it to wherever works for you.

glad I renewed last year Stardock gave me a free year on top of that so Thanks Stardock.

O.K. This is just ridiculous. SD forces you to use their client to dl and install instead of just providing setup files if you have ODNT but then cuts you off? Way to go guys! This of course makes ODNT a horrible value: value = getting all those programs for the price of $49.99. value != renting software for that price.

A few things that need to be done if this fiasco is to be saved:

1. This has to be clearly spelled out before someone buys "a subscription". I.e. that you are renting software, yes you can use it forever after your subscription if you archived everything and don't loose your archive and the dl files are not corrupt, but nonetheless we don't give you physical media because we want you to keep paying yearly.

2. Clearly explain how archives work: do I need to have impulse re-installed every time I wan to install my archives? Are they standalone installs?

3. Whatever happened to the DVD image idea? Something that should have been offered from the get-go. If you want to do it right (I am guessing it won't be since the idea is to produce more subscription renewals not serve the customer) Impulse should warn you that your subscription is running out: you can then press a button and impulse will dl ALL of your subscribed items at their latest version at that time (e.g. the day your subscription is going to expire) and then setup an ISO image with all the files plus whatever installer necessary for them. Later on you just pop in the DVD, put in your (now expired) license info and you get nice menu to install the applications off the DVD. No need for the clunky impulse client and its ads. But that is just a pipe dream!

Just went looking thorugh the preference settings on impulse: o.k. can anyone explain to me why there isn't an option for autoarchive? I mean after all if you have the customer's interest in mind you, at the very least, include an autoarchive option along side the other options. That way when ever I dl, install or update an itemit is automatically archived! There is already mechanisms there for updating and auto erasing of older versions! So why not take it a step further in the best interest of the consumer!

Also the status column could e a bit more helpful e.g.: available, available and archived, installed, installed and archived.

TheRealFEI: This is how Object Desktop has worked for ELEVEN YEARS.

And what that makes it right? So for 11 years things have not worked as it should form a customer's point of view are you telling me that you have no interest in making it better?

I think in this case you go with the percentages, in eleven years it has work pretty well for just about everyone else.  No, you can not please everyone all the time, you just try to do the best you can.

But that option is there.

And yes I think we can all agree there should be a prompt built into Impulse to remind users to archive their software and also explain how to do it. In another thread I think a Stardockian mentioned that they were going to do something exactly like that.

I think because most people don't know about it. The SD customer group breaks into a couple of stereotypical categories:

1. Rabid Fans: renew subscriptions "just because" even though they don't use the programs anymore, worship the ground the developers walk on. Theses guys don't care one way or another. They will have a subscription until the end of time so who cares what happens. This is a significant minority.

2. Average customer: These guys bought the software for a while used it. It runs and they don't care about it anymore. If it stops running they just stop using it. They are not power users but casual users who never get everything working because they don't care. They are also the group who bought the programs but noticed that there was no real content (lets face it 10K skins? Who has time to go through all of them to find a gem that is not surprise a "Master skin" req. more money) and is now probably not using them anymore. This is the majority of the customers -> This was the cash cow that allowed them to grow in the so called third age of skinning and is now disappearing ushering in the so called fourth age where the milking of group 1 continues.

3. Power users who are not fans: This is where I sit. I don't think everything SD does is good or right. I think they screw up royally on a regular basis. I also think they make some good/inter sting programs and that they are the only game in town. So I am willing to pay down cash for the goods. We are the insignificant minority. We expect quality for our hard earned cash. But because we are probably <=1% of the customer base we get flippant remarks like this is how we have done it for eleven years.

I was not even asking for much, a simple autoarchive option would have been enough in the next impulse (how much coding do you have to do to have a check box whihc when is checked will simply copy an already dled file to another location). But that would be customer service that does not generate revenue so why do it?

As mentioned above...it's already there.

And if you are such a "power user" as you claim to be...you should have found it already. The preferences in Impulse are *very* simple and straightforward.

No its not: The archive application before updating is a backup mechanism. I.E. in case a new version does not work for you you can then have the old version because it was backed up automatically. Although, it makes no sense to allow you to check both boxes as they serve different functions (i.e. you can't make a backup at the same time as you are erasing the backup). If you install a new application (which I just did) with those options checked it will not be put into backup folder UNLESS you manually archive it. Go ahead check it for yourself.

Ideally you should get two folders an archive and a backup folder:

Archive: anytime you dl or install application a copy of the latest version is put in there (so when your sub runs out you have the latest versions of the SW at the time of your sub all in that folder). Since there is a daily auto update function, when combined w/ auto archive,  you could be pretty much assured that the latest versions will be in this folder.

Backup: Here you can keep as many different versions of the programs as you want so you can go to an earlier version in case of problem.

This is not the PERFECT solution but it is the easiest and cheapest method for SD to provide CS. You could probably do it all in less then 200 lines of new code.

EDIT: Look most of the stuff is in place. Hell even the archive option is good in that it save the program with the ProgramNameVersionBuild format. SD just didn't bother to put it all together with a couple of more hours of programming. The ISO image would be perfect and that is where digital downloads need to go. Just because SD goes bankrupt and I don't have access to impulse or impulse servers should not be an excuse for me not to have access to what I paid for. This is the part the majority of people are missing with digital downloads and DRM. No matter how good it is now once the compnay is gone so is your investment: no more accessing your music, games, programs, wahtever.

Makes sense if it is overwriting the previous archive file, not deleting it and then creating a new one. It's just like saving a document and overwriting the previous revision.

And since you are informed as to how the process works, why can't you just archive the software after you install it and save yourself the trouble? Somehow I don't see them reprogramming Impulse to do *everything* for the user because some people don't want to actually do anything for themselves. But who knows, maybe they will.

A daily auto archive would be totally unnecessary. The software doesn't change from day to day, only from update to update, and that's where the auto archive option already in Impulse comes into play.

1. No it doesn't because if you just overwrote your backup you no longer have a backup. Its a classic palm-face-slap moment when you realize the new version doesn't work and you just overwrote the old version taht did work with the new version.

2. Ahh because my life doesn't revolve around imppulse no matter how much SD wants it too. I haven't marked my subscription expiration date on my calendar so I can rush home ot archive everything before they cut me off. Good CS would have them do it automatically. Now, if they simply let you dl your version anytime you wanted after your subscription ended then this wouldnot be necessary. This all stems from not having any real media.

3. Hmmm.. So let me see if you had autoarchive why would you be daily archiving things? Autoarchive would kick in on the first install then from then on you would only auto archive eachtime a new update was released.

The good CS there is that they (automatically) send out an email notifying you that your subscription is about to run out, thus giving you time to archive your apps. This email should include step by step instructions on how to archive though, at this point I don't think it does (been a while since my sub was about to run out).