If you current ObjectDesktop under Classics Subs model it should still work for you even though your subscription expired. As mention here: https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1496285185/What+is+an+Object+Desktop+%26+Subscription+Software

If my Object Desktop subscription should lapse, will the products included in it continue to function?

For the ‘Classic’ Object Desktop product, if the subscription lapses, the included software will continue to function at the versions that were available when the subscription lapsed. Any NEW Object Desktop Subscription purchased after May 2023 will see the software cease to function if the subscription is allowed to lapse. ‘New’ in this example means it has never been on the account prior, that it is a brand NEW license, not a ‘Renewed’ Classic license.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please raise support ticket using the link below, use "Account Closer/Removal" option. Include all information details. Remember to record down the ticket number for future reference if needed. Do not raise multiple ticket, that will make your ticket back to the end of the line. Send once and wait. Ticket will be answer by the order they send in.

https://stardock.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/4/group/14

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Fences2.0 November 13, 2013
Fences3.0 May 19, 2016
Fences4.0 November 26, 2021
Fences5.0 - At current prices - never

Bye Stardock, there are many alternative equivalents of Fences, both free and paid....... 

Exactly what I'm saying!

PS:
Just checked. Permanent license still: 33,99€
xD

Sorry to hear that, vdr.

Can we ask what alternative you ultimately decided to go with?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Just too name a few.  https://alternativeto.net/software/fences/

And then there is the uptake of cracked stardock software.  I'd provide the links but youre gonna delete it.

Regardless of the price of a Fences upgrade and your feelings on that, it would never be acceptable to use cracked versions of the software.

Well, if you go with pirated software, don't be surprised at what your computer ends up with. It's easy enough to look up its dangers on the net. Caveat emptor.

Out of curiosity, Fyew-jit-tiv, which choice did you make?

Thanks,
Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Too kill you cat as curiosity always does..... NONE.  I decided to work with windows and windows only.  No more third party stuff for me.  You guy taught me a tuff lesson....

FTR, i pay for ALL my software LICENSES...  I run my own company which pays for my software but having that privilige doest mean i should allow myself to get ripped off.   I was only giving you a headsup but in future ill keep my keyboard thoughts to myself. 

All the best!

Hello Sean,

Ultimately I did go with an OD subscription myself. But for me it was a very hard choice and if it weren't for the OD value I would have probably gone with the alternative.

I tested a lot of altenatives, and in truth most of them do not actually pose a threat to Stardock because their development is slowing down or halted altogether. I believe there is but one that will become honest competition that I would like to inform stardock about.

I was very close to purchasing coodesker. I think the developer over there is very ambitious and is really pushing out updates fast. This is not a free product so it requires a purchase off of steam. What really stands out on this product is that they have tabs built into their box's (fences) and the tabs are very hard to leave behind once they have been experienced.

Fences still has a few things of its own that draws me back over to stardock. The ability to create pages on a desktop really is one of Stardocks staples and the ability to hide fences is way better with Stardock.

I think mostly I am just trying to draw Stardocks attention to this alternative and truthfully I would love to see tabs integrated into Fences in some way. I am satisfied enough with my OD subscription

It amazes me that all you are concerned with is WHO we alternatively chose INSTEAD of Fences. 

Why not be more concerned with all the customers you are losing/have lost because of your NEW pricing. 

I too have purchased Fences since v2, but have since uninstalled it (v4) and gone with someone else ONLY because of the HUGE price increase and lack of customer loyalty/appreciation.

All we are concerned about...?

As this thread has demonstrated, Lindy, we have openly solicited and welcomed all constructive feedback.  Knowing what people have migrated to, and how they contrast the product, features, and pricing, is a worthwhile effort, yes?

Fair and a wise choice as OD offers the most value (a fantastic value if I am honest) for the money spent.  What I am enjoying internally, but I cant say anything about (yet), is how it (OD) is going to be enhanced in the near future - becoming an even greater value. 

Again, thanks for the feedback.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

I personally have also uninstalled Fences and have instead installed Portals Desktop Organization

You can get a license for free to try it out for as long as you like, and make a voluntary donation of what you feel it's worth to you. (They make a humble suggestion of $4)

Sure, it may not have all the bells and whistles of Fences, but it is doing a very decent job and is in continuing development.

Best thing is, it doesn't slow down my machine as much as Fences did, not at all. 

/Martin 

Yes, I have looked at it before... 

If I remember correctly, everything is a 'Portal' and has to have an existing folder that it points back to - you can't just draw a 'Fence' on the desktop and have it be independent.  

Looking at it again, it seems most all settings and styling require a license. Did you opt for getting one, a license, martinjohansen?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Thanks for the tip. I actually bought Coodesker because of it, here is a short list of the pros/cons:

Pros

- perpetual license for about 8 USD for three machines. You can buy it either on Steam or their website
- tabs in "boxes" (-> fences)
- most of the more prominent features Fences has are actually there in one form or another
- "recent files"-box and smart-box (basically, an enhanced folder portal where you quite comfortably can do basic file managment operations without opening a file manager)
- slicker, more snappier settings menu and customization
- smaller footprint on resources, much faster start
- there seems to be some kind of caching for "map boxes" (-> folder portals) - unlike Fences it can show me the content of folders on network shares right when I boot up my system. Fences always struggled with that.

 Cons

- well, unlike you speak Chinese, you probably won't get much support... for the tool itself, but also for the purchasing process (if you don't buy on Steam). For 8 bucks I personally can live with that, but keep that in mind. The software itself is translated to English (besides Chinese, simplified Chinese and Japanese). We also don't know about the long-term support here.
- no column headers or details-view in "map boxes" and therefor much less sorting options and basically no optionally displayable file information besides the name of the file itself
- only roll-down "boxes" for the upper part of the desktop, but no roll-up "boxes" for the lower part above the taskbar
- auto-sorting is much more limited (basically: name and file-extension) - sadly no sorting by path or shortcut-target or anything like that (well, honestly, that one hurts). And even in the options which are there, wildcards don't seem to work (at least not when sorting by name) (this actually works after a reboot)
- no desktop pages or anything similar to that
- customization of the appearance for "boxes" is a bit more basic
- hiding all "boxes" only through non-customizable double-click (the only customizable hotkeys are the peek-key, the smart-box key and... well, the reorganize-key, but you probably want to set the reorganize-setting to auto anyway)

Conclusion: it does what it needs to do. If you switch from Fences, you gain some, but you also lose some. I also tried Portals: Desktop Organization and quite liked it, however, its approach with its own folders is a bit different, there are no sorting rules at all and I had a few issues with portals (->fences) not showing up until I manually opened the app from the systray after a reboot.

Yes, I have bought a license for $10. As you say, many functions depends on a license, whether free or paid.

I don't mind paying for a product I enjoy, I just don't want to be taken overly advantage of.

And if Fences in one shape or the other should reach a more reasonable price level, I will probably look at it again. 

Hello,
I am just curious, why have you stop using Fences 4? It should still work on current Windows 10 and 11 environment.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

This isn't a bad alternative. if all you are after is the ability to organise a desktop workflow then this does the job.  Very similar to Portals which is also a very good alternative.

I personally decided to run a flat windows system, shortcuts to folders on my DT, cant beat the old skool way of working . makes me feel like a Neanderthal using modern day tech..... thx stardock !

There is one/two benefits.... windows feels snappy without these third party hacks. Antivirus doesn't sniff about as much. Not got to wait Half hour (10-15 secs) when changing "make text bigger".  explorer.exe doesn't sit on 1%.... Less likely to get corrupted icons Like the dreaded windows bug that places a black box around your folders which is often trigger by these such apps.

@Stardock..... Ever thought of putting a worm on the end of your fishing rod?  Like offering long-time supporters to buy back licenses in exchange for 1-2 yrs <-------Example, of OD membership? 

Personally i would not go for this because i only use 3 stardock apps of which only one was a must for me and that wouldn't justify the yearly price.

Anyways.... As always.

All the best Folks.   

And *poof* once again, the cat lives!

Can't wait to find out, Sean!  

Unless the "upgrade" price for Fences 5 is greatly reduced, like a 1/3rd of the current full price, I'll stop using Fences when it's no longer compatible with the version of Windows I'm using at the time.

Humble Bundle still sells Fences 3 for $9.99 which supports up to 5 devices. I use Windows 10 which is compatible with Fences 3. Compatibility hasn't officially been tested for Windows 11 but some users stated Fences 3 has worked for them in these forums. Microsoft will end support of Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Microsoft usually supports a version of Windows for 10 years so Windows 11 will likely be supported by Microsoft until October 2031.

Fences 3 doesn't have the "Peek" feature. As a workaround I use Windows Virtual Desktop by pressing Windows Key + Ctrl + D. That creates a new blank desktop where Fences is visible. If I open an application from Fences and need it on the main desktop I can press Windows Key + Tab and drag the application to the main desktop. Alternatively, I can close the current virtual desktop I'm on by pressing Windows Key + Ctrl + F4 which will put any opened applications on the prior virtual desktop. I can move between virtual desktops by pressing Windows Key + Ctrl + right or left arrow key. Alternatively, a specific desktop can be selected by pressing Windows Key + Tab.

At 12-10-23 I've purchased an upgrade from Fences 3 to Fences 4 because of the promise to be able to upgrade to Fences 5 for free.

Now I've installed Fences 5, but it doesn't accept my Fences 4 key, nor do I have a Fences 5 key nor a subscription.

Purchased through email:

Quoting UberRookie, reply 173

At 12-10-23 I've purchased an upgrade from Fences 3 to Fences 4 because of the promise to be able to upgrade to Fences 5 for free.

Now I've installed Fences 5, but it doesn't accept my Fences 4 key, nor do I have a Fences 5 key nor a subscription.

Purchased through email:

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please raise support ticket using the link below, use the product not receive option. Include all information details. Remember to record down the ticket number for future reference if needed. Do not raise multiple ticket, that will make your ticket back to the end of the line. Send once and wait. Ticket will be answer by the order they send in.

https://stardock.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/4/group/13

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant