I use to subscribe to OD years ago when I was in I.T. and I just loved it - the unique styling; unlimited themes; DesktopX; ObjectDock; WindowBlinds; CursorFX; Gadgets...

Thought I would re-visit now I'm working from home again, and it seems only a shadow of what it was:

DesktopX scrapped; many of the Gadgets just old and buggy; WindowBlinds Styles individually costly... I could go on

Compared with the versatility of what it used to be, I think Stardock should - at least - include ObjectDock & CursorFX in with the overall Object Desktop package because - as it is - it just really sucks compared to what it used to be.

A real shame as, I for one will nor be renewing my subscription when the time arrives 

The change/loss of applications is due to Microsoft screwing them up, not Stardock. Also, you just joined the site to bitch about it and the software and skins availability and the fact that a few people make Master Skins? There are only a few people even doing Master Skins now, maybe 4 total, and you just made one of them quit, a person that definitely needed a little extra income. Yes, I sell Master Skins too, but as many people know I give away a lot of my income to help the less fortunate, the poor. Hell, I just gave away $1,000 yesterday, about $3,500 this month! A poor friend in Florida, a poor family of 5 in a town about 14 miles from me that I have been helping for years, my disabled friend up in Michigan too! So do me a big favor, either stop making posts like this! You want free Windowblinds skins, make your own, there are less than 10 people making them here on the site.

Oh, and just so you know, Stardock keeps about 43% of all Master Skin sales, so Master Skinners really don't make crap in the long run.

I really feel bad about having to make this post to you Cybrnite, but people really need to stop making posts like this. You should be ashamed of yourself for just joining the site to complain. You have made an excellent Master Skinner quit, and if people keep making posts like this, there will probably be no new Windowblinds skins at all being made, free or Master. I make a free one every now and then, and so did my friend don5318, but you've made him quit. I hope you don't feel good about that!

You do know if your a Wincustomize subscriber you get 20% off of Master skins.

The master skinners here are very good at their craft, but can't they read? This post isn't about you or your master skins. Instead of taking everything personal, try to be constructive for once, and not behave like children or gumpy old men. It's about the status quo of Wincustomize, Stardock's apps and the skinning community - or what's left of it. Noone in this post is telling you master skinners what to do or blaming you for the current situation.

Yeah, and that discount is taken from the Master Skinner, not Stardock.

Seriously,guys,just have some fun and enjoying the skinning. People can keep bitching whatever they want,and master skinners can do whatever they want as long as Stardock said otherwise.   

WB skinning was easier back in the day. (As was ObjectDock, ObjectBar, and DesktopX.)  You almost ahve to be a professional to knock out even the simpliset of skins.  Has there been any thought to simplifying the creation process by changing the skinning engine?  Does SkinStudio need a rewrite?

(MS locked things down too.  That makes it much harder to do anything.  [I will always miss you DesktopX.])

DEFINITELY!

SkinStudio's complexity, and bugs, is the only thing keeping me away from WB skinning.  I have at least 4 skins I began, only to give up due to the complexity of SKS.

As for the ratio of master skins versus free skins, as a WB tester for Don, Lightstar, and IceBabee,  I know that almost every second skin is a free one. (Excluding the updates to older skins, of course.)

DesktopX....ah, my love.  It is gone. But why?  I state again, I still make the occaisional DX theme, and they are made on Windows 10, and they function on Windows 10, regardless of what Stardock may say.  Yes, UAC needs to be off. So what?  If you want DesktopX then you turn off UAC.  Simple.

That said, I will still create DesktopX themes and or gadgets if there is a demand.  I don't much anymore because Stardock kinda took the wind out of my sails with the demise of DesktopX.  I am a master (who knows how that happened)  and I haven't sold much.  I need the extra income badly, but I am greeted to complaints because I wanted 4.99 for a dream. One person commented on the video preview link at Youtube that asking 4.99 for the dream, "You must need the money to pay for your drugs."...      I sold a total of 16 DesktopX skins a few years back, no one was buying then.  So, I test and try to help in the forums now and then because since 2004, WinCustomize has been my home, and I like/love most of the people here that I have developed relationships with over the years.  Beats the hell out of Facebook any day.

But the "oldies" are gone, and threads like this one may be why.  And unless something changes here, I may be gone too, soon.

Thanks for reading.....

Actually, it's taken off the Gross before any % is calculated, so the % is based on the actual sale, not the "list" price. So, it's a shared discount.  However, if you have thoughts on how we can do things so that Master skins can be cheaper and the Master Skinners don't get screwed, I'd be interested to hear that in a private message.

My original questions were more about product lines.  DesktopX didn't get sunsetted because we didn't like it, it got sunsetted because MS changed the OS to the point that revenue didn't justify the development costs on keeping it up.  If I had $1 for every time FrogBoy brings up DesktopX, I'd be very rich by now.  It was a favorite of ours, too. But, we are a business, after all, so we can't keep developing products that don't pay for themselves.  Some of the other products have been updated to keep up with OS changes if it is possible, and we are working on bringing back SoundPackager to work on Win10, since, well, Win10 is a pain to change sounds on.

Also, skinning is NOT a trivial thing.  The OS is very complex now, and isn't simple to skin as it was 'back in the day', which is probably why we aren't seeing a bunch of new skinners.  Anyone who thinks there should be more skins per day for free should try skinning themselves to see how many hours are involved.  All the Master Skinners also put out free skins.  They also had to earn the ability to be a Master by producing consistent high quality free skins.  Unfortunately, most of those skinners are aging and we haven't seen new skinners start, and that has been for quite some time.  So, as the older skinners stop skinning, or worse yet, pass away, you see less and less skins.  Stardock used to develop our own skins and sell them, but the Master Skinners got so good at it, that we opened it up to having them take that over and share in the profits.  If it makes sense to move them into a different category, then we can look into that, but if Master Skins don't get exposure and get sales, then why will the Master Skinners stick around and also create free skins?  Seems like that could turn into a death spiral.  But,  would people be happy with simpler skins that only change bits of the UI versus all of it?  Are there ways that we can "lighten" the load for new skinners?  

Somebody mentioned IconX no longer being in ObjectDesktop- IconX is, and has been for quite some time, IconPackager.  It is alive and well, and also in Object Desktop.  

For GUI Championships, we can thank international Gambling laws for making that too overbearing to run.  Contests like that, which require skill and judgement are considered gambling in most countries.  Trying to apply for international gambling permits would cost just too much.  

So, unfortunately, we can't go back to the past.  We can't change what MS has done to Windows, either.  But, if people have ideas for solutions to the lack of "fun" then I'd be interested in hearing that.

RightClick was awesome as well. I no longer have access to it, wish I did.

"Does SkinStudio need a rewrite?"

Yes please. How about an easy skin studio where you can apply a start menu as one picture instead of 5 or 6 individual pictures. A base skin to start with where it has all the aspects of Windows 10 instead of Diamond. Over the years I've tried to make a skin and things don't line up right or I tend wasting time searching for things I want to change. It's a confusing program, there's too much spread out all over the place.

That's why there are only a handful skinners no one can navigate the program.

Al, there are also places in SKS where the layout in the program is exactly opposite of reality.  One such is the 5 states of a button (don't remember which) is totally in opposite order than SKS has you think it is.

I know, both me and SKS......clear as mud...lol.

I am a bit confused by that one KarmaGirl. The "list" price is the same as a Gross sale, then the discount is taken off, so the entire discount is taken from the seller. At least that is what my Master Skin sales report shows.   

Well, I am really disappointed with some of the comments, some of you have a victim mentality and are very defensive over something that is not even being suggested let alone said. Several times now it has been stated that master skinners should sell their skins, I for one don't expect everything for free and I disagree with you Jim about the ratio but it does not matter, at this point I am so fed up that I think they should just do away with the master title and give everyone the same privilege of being able to sell their skins, maybe that would encourage more skinners to make skins, who cares if some that are submitted are not what some would consider master level, people will either buy them or they won't and there is a pretty good chance they will only get better anyway because of suggestions and practice.   
I know that I am not popular after writing some of my comments and no doubt have been lumped in with the bitching crew but my main intention and desire have always been to see this place become better, instead people like me are just viewed as complainers and bitchers and I really had enough of it. Call me childish say that my actions are not and will not solve anything, say whatever you want but I am done with this nonsense, I really have better things to do with my time, I don't even know why I am writing this except to get it off my chest.

It was fun while it lasted, time to move on which I am sure will be music to some of your ears.  

Example....

Exactly what I mean Jim, thanks.

Well, I guess I should say that IconPackager took over what it could of IconX.  Some of the features just don't exist anymore due to OS limitations or lack of development resources (like the original Developer not programming anymore), so it doesn't have the effects that IconX did.  But, IconX was also originally part of DesktopX (it was split out of it) and its development died when DesktopX did.  So, IconPackager does what we can with it.  So, there isn't a true IconX, and can't be without resurrecting DesktopX from the dead.  

Fun fact: the original IconPackager author is now a goat herder, lol.

So, the math is $14.97 (Gross) - $1.00 (20% off used on 1 unit) - $1.62 (COB) = $12.35.  70% of $12.35= $8.65

If it was all off the skinner, it would be: $14.97 - $1.62= $13.35.  70% of $13.35= $9.35 - $1.00 (discount) = $8.35

Same answer I got, you beat me to it.  "Objective 3rd Party Verification"   

Quoting Chasbo, reply 18

Quoting don5318,

reply 16

Quoting Nimbin,

reply 12

have to agree. Even though the quality of work being uploaded here is the usual high standard, its a bummer when logging in you are presented with mostly dreams and masterskin windowblind themes. I have absolutely no objection to skinners earning money for their work, they deserve it, but we also pay to access this site without the ad's only to have nothing to see. Yes the occasional update to a theme. The occasional wallpaper but other than that, not much else on offer. I for one wont be renewing my WC or OD subs once they expire as i cant justify the cost anymore.

Well Nimbin, I'll make you happy, as a Master Skinner I was subsidizing my Social Security with my Master Skins sales, but at this point, I'm tired of getting beat up for selling my skins, so, I'm calling it quits, I was working on a new Master Skin, but I'm not sure if I'll upload it now, it's really disheartening, to me, I can't help it there are not enough people who are interested in skinning, so that there'd be more free ones for all to choose from. With that said, I'll just find something else to subsidize my Social Security, it just isn't worth it, or fun anymore, so, this is me saying goodbye, and I'll decide what to do with my Master skins, more than likely, I'll just have them deleted, but I'll decide at a later time, I wish I could say it was fun, but I can't.   

Sorry to hear this Don.   

Wow! Sorry you feel that way Don. I usualy go for yours skins. Just like your style. Don't give up because a few are not happy.  

That is a wonderful idea Tom, I think people would be receptive to something along those lines.  

Come on Really?   Free huh? Their talent you desire, but is it worth money along with their time?

Evidently not.....      Kinda sad you ask me.

Well, let me give you an example on my Master Skin report for a single sale then, 1 sale at $6.95 (Gross) - Discount of 20% = $1.39 and the COB charge is $0.64, Net = $4.34. The full 20% Discount and COB are being taken off of the Gross sale. My sale is covering the entire Discount.

$6.95 - 1.39 = $5.56, $5.56 - $0.64 (COB) = $4.92 (Net) . The full 20% is being taken from me, nothing absorbed by Stardock. Have a look at my sales report if you would like.