Congrats on getting some of the community pages back up. However...

Congrats on getting some of the community pages and other parts of the site back up. However, I'm still hoping to see the rest up or to understand what is definitely not coming back up. Access to downloads, betas etc.
I'm interested in trialling fences but I don't need it, and I'm just holding until Stardock is fully business as usual.

 

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Reply #1 Top

At this point, it's been so long for this stuff to get fixed that I'm uninstalling all they're software. It's just too uncertain what's happening and what will happen and there is zero communication from these guys. Hopefully they'll get their stuff figured out and if that happends, I'll revisit. At this point, there is no way I could recommend their software because who knows what's going to happen. It's hard to believe Stardock has been around since the early 90's as they don't seem to know what to do.

Reply #2 Top

I think we would all like it up yesterday :)

Unfortunately Stardock are a smallish company and thus have a smaller IT department than say your Microsofts of this world :)

Things are slowly coming back up as they work on each one, but there are many systems and they all interact with each other.  Things like the integrated skin browsers went back up last week along with these forums.  Activation was back very quickly as that impacts customers and the main website was back up shortly afterwards I believe.

I am personally not aware of anything thats not coming back up.

There have been posts on the Stardock Reddit group including one from the CEO with information.

I am unsure why you would uninstall the software though?  It works just fine, should activate just fine and in fact an update for one of the apps is coming out later today.  Just because IT are busy doesn't mean the rest of the company have been sitting around doing nothing.

Reply #3 Top

Quoting Neil, reply 2

...

Unfortunately Stardock are a smallish company and thus have a smaller IT department than say your Microsofts of this world :)
...

I wouldn't worry there. It's quite clear that Microsoft aren't up to the job anymore either.

But hey... https://unlocked.microsoft.com/50th/ 'Knowledge needs sharers' There is Teams... you've got to give them credit for that! I guess? ... :)

 

(Just keep an eye on that subscription vs perpetual license business. Don't let that get out of hand. Perhaps I should say what I mean by that. I expect to get 2 years of bug fixes against any all latest windows FRs, out of a product. I don't expect to get new features to the product though. I think task bar improvements against the perpetual license cost was surprisingly good value. At the same time I'm not yet sure about the cost of for example Fences at perpetual. As a home user, subscription doesn't provide the needed reassurance and sense of 'ownership'. It would be good if Start 11 server-signature-activated features according to purchase date, allowing you to access bug fixes to purchased features forever. Just make sure to 'market-publicise-sell' the amazing value that bug fixes forever would be, or people will just be salty they aren't also getting the new features.)

Reply #4 Top

Congrats on getting what appears to be the rest of the site up.
I've installed Fences demo and so far it looks 'amazing'.

I hope Stardock understand what it is that is fostering such a successful community of creatives there.

Its like the software you actually get if users could design the features they want, to the problems they have. (Rather than the features most software houses provide which often appear to be driven by what an IT illiterate marketing department thinks they can sell based on what they can easily envisage would sound good on a Powerpoint and the opinion of their Aunt Chichi and her friends apparently, who loves their iPads - mostly used to facetime their nephews.) 

If Microsoft had any sense they would license these feature designs off Stardock in a way that sustains both sides. (but avoid buying Stardock in an attempt to preserve that creativity and what's obviously working for Stardock but which they can't make work themselves.)
Given the rubbish I see being patented in the software world generally, I hope for those of the Stardock features that are genuinely original that they are being patented where they can be. I just want to see Stardock continue. I need you to. It's like using evolving PCs used to be 15 years ago. Like linux is now (only the pieces fit-together and they just work, and you can just get on with using it).