Eh, they'd just have to make do 
Like switcher, the expose clone, doesn't even bother attempting XP compatibiltiy, because there's other stuff out there. Same with the DockWM. (Feel free to take the name, anyone who makes it, just send me a copy ;>)
I honestly can't see why MS won't release the APIs. If anything, the ability to add compiz-style effects for free, and stable-y would be a huge selling point to graphics junkies.
Stardock aren't hurrying up with windowFX vista, either...
Hi guys!
Bringing back this thread to say that Winstep Xtreme 8.9 has just been released.
The NeXuS component of Winstep Xtreme is still the only dock for Windows that features live icon reflections - and they've just gotten better!
You can watch a demo video and learn more about all the new exciting features such as the animated fluid reflection effect and new mouseover effects, etc, by clicking HERE.
Better still, you can now purchase the Basic version of Winstep Xtreme for only $28.45 (full version costs $39.90, but look how many applications you get for that price: NextSTART, WorkShelf, NeXuS, Desktop Modules, the new Winstep Start Menu Organizer Pro and Fontbrowser).
Winstep Xtreme is shareware and has a 30 day trial period, so go get it now!
Wow, way to **** everyone over by making it payware. Thanks for that one.
It always amazes me how some people expect others to work for free when they themselves do not (or their parents are still supporting them).
Winstep Xtreme is what puts food in my table. Should I and my family starve to death because you think the world owes you something, KAWSquared? :slant:
Yes, yes they should.
JcRabbit, don't bother.
This application looks good enough for me to get on Windows just to test it, though. Congrats on getting the reflections down and thanks again for listening to people's feedback.
And KAWS, you don't have to buy it if you don't want to. Or can't. Whichever.
lmao kaws
plus, what with this new MacXDock, your dock is no longer the only one with reflections <_<
Hehe Phoshi, that really caught me by surprise as I had never heard of MacXDock. Had to Google for it only to find it mentioned in a single page right here in the Aqua-Soft Forums. It's still a baby!
On the other hand, Winstep Xtreme is a fully matured product with many thousands of man hours behind it; with NeXuS being but a single component of the whole Winstep Xtreme suite of applications.
But that still doesn't make you wrong, so guess from now own I will have to say that NeXuS is still the only dock with icon reflections among the established docks out there (RocketDock, ObjectDock, RkLauncher, etc...). 
wow KAWSquared, your posts are always as constructive as possible. Negative comments like yours just give aqua-soft such an unfriendly air, sad...
anyways, i wanted to ask why couldnt you sell the applications alone?
I dont need the whole bunch of apps you offer in your bundle. Why not you put a price to the essentials and put some others free, just to catch others attention. I bet people will be willing to pay afair amount if they really need the app.
Before Winstep Xtreme, the components were indeed being sold individually. The issue is that Winstep Xtreme is much more than the individual sum of the parts, as all its components were made from the ground up to work together.
For instance, change a theme in NextSTART (the menu and task manager component) and the theme in WorkShelf and NeXuS changes as well. There are many examples like that where the different applications communicate with each other to achieve a consistent user interface and behavior.
The thing is, you are NOT forced to use ALL the components in Winstep Xtreme. If you don't like NextSTART, don't run it. Same for WorkShelf and all the other components.
As for selling the applications individually, well, do the math:
NextSTART was being sold for $24.95
WorkShelf (plus NeXuS) was being sold for $29.95
The new Winstep Start Menu Organizer Pro version sells for $19.95
That's a total of $74.85 worth of applications that are being sold for ONLY $28.45 (i.e. you save MORE than $45) if you buy Winstep Xtreme Basic (which does not include the Pro version of the Organizer) or $39.90 if you buy the full Winstep Xtreme version. That is GREAT value for money.
I mean, the price of Xtreme Basic alone is LESS than what WorkShelf used to cost stand alone.
So, if you were going to buy a single component, for THOSE prices you might as well buy the whole thing. And, as it usually happens, the rest of the applications will end up growing on you!
I know of users who bought Winstep Xtreme for WorkShelf alone and ended up finding that NextSTART is now their favorite component.
Yeah, it's a new little app, but it's coming along well :3
I've actually been trying out shell replacements over the last few days, and while the best I found (litestep) was nice, winstep did seem nicer 
The silly little dock icon that won't go away is really a bit of a dealbreaker, though (plus I'm kinda broke 
You can change the silly little dock icon by placing a 'nxcontrol.png' image in the dock's theme folder. 
For now it's a skinner's choice, but it seems that, due to popular request, I will have to make that a user choice for the next version as well (i.e. give the user a way to quickly change the control icon for all docks regardless of the theme).
As for you being broke, well, there's nothing I can do about that, but... send me an email to the Winstep support address and I'm sure we can come up with some kind of a deal.
Hehe
I don't see why you can't hide it, though? Admittedly skinning is a good second best, but when I'm going through my minimalist phases (which happen often enough I have minimalist themes for almost everything right now <_<), an extra dock icon is a source of great and completely irrational pain
Well, for several reasons:
1 - That's the control icon, the icon you right click to get an extensive context menu controling all the aspects of that dock.
2 - For those who do not like auto-hidding docks, double clicking the control icon is a way to manually hide a dock into a screen edge.
3 - Another feature unique to NeXuS is that you can collapse floating docks (i.e. docks not attached to a screen edge) by double clicking the control icon. When you do that, the dock collapses so only the control icon is visible. Double click it again and the dock expands to normal size.
4 - Branding issues, i.e.; anybody seeing a screenshot of Winstep Xtreme immediately knows what he is seeing because of that 'NeXuS' icon. This is made more important due to the skinnable nature of Winstep Xtreme.
Donationware would get you more money in the long run. Think about that.
I might actually bother to offer a constructive reply if you had even the slightest idea of what you are talking about, KAWSquared, but I think you already made it pretty obvious to everyone here that you don't.
Trying to reason with such a negative and unreasonable person as you would simply be a total waste of energy. So I won't.
Someone's bitter... Why are you even here, Matt?
Oh and A2Z, blow me.
LOL that made me realize how long it's been since I said "ew" out loud.
20 posts to 1,000...
Donationware would get you more money in the long run. Think about that.
No it wouldn't - and I can back that up with hard evidence.
It would be nice if this were true, though. It would mean people respected and rewarded other people's work more than they do in reality.
Unfortunately, unless you provide some incentive for people to register (be it negative or positive) most won't even bother.
I think that's what I was aiming for, amirite? Welcome to life. Btw, Christian Rock is the best evar.I just think it's quite douchebag-ish to go ahead and ask 40$ for a dock (with a serious face). I mean like, is your family that desperate for food? I'm guessing you're an american, amirite?
Oh and A2Z, blow me.
What the heck is up your ass... think you need a short break.
Silly kawsie, he might not be selling it for the bare minimum of what he needs to survive, but it's his primary income (I assume), and so he kinda needs to charge for it <_<
Well, for several reasons:
1 - That's the control icon, the icon you right click to get an extensive context menu controling all the aspects of that dock.
2 - For those who do not like auto-hidding docks, double clicking the control icon is a way to manually hide a dock into a screen edge.
3 - Another feature unique to NeXuS is that you can collapse floating docks (i.e. docks not attached to a screen edge) by double clicking the control icon. When you do that, the dock collapses so only the control icon is visible. Double click it again and the dock expands to normal size.
4 - Branding issues, i.e.; anybody seeing a screenshot of Winstep Xtreme immediately knows what he is seeing because of that 'NeXuS' icon. This is made more important due to the skinnable nature of Winstep Xtreme.
I see what you mean, yeah.
Autohide stuff is nice, for sure.
Objectdock, my current dock, has a little menu in the context menu of any right click on an icon, that could work?
Collapsing floating docks is a great idea, and I think that could really be useful, so keeping it for floating docks is ok.
As for branding... seems to be a much weaker reason to me. Why do people have to know it's from WS straight away? Plus, the person who is looking at the dock the most already knows what it is
Donationware is nice, but like you say - it relies entirely on human kindness, and... Yeah, let's not go there.
Hey Rabbit, i do think its a great package, and one i would have bought before, when i was more "active" in this customization, modding area. But i am not anymore, no time for it so i just change a couple of things that dont appeal to me in vista (windowblinds and rklauncher do it for me), so im afraid im not a potential customer... sorry
But nevertheless i would like to encourage this. We dont see good developers be active and actualy listen to what users wants. Keep it up!
But nevertheless i would like to encourage this. We dont see good developers be active and actualy listen to what users wants. Keep it up!
Thanks, Church Punk!
As a user of customization products for many many years I have known (of) Jorge 'jcRabbit' for a long time. I remember when Winstep was in it's infancy. I remember when he decided to make the serious decision to work on Winstep full time. And by the way he is not from the United States...
I used to be much more involved in the customization/skinning scene circa NextStart version 1 or less, WindowBlinds at around verison 1 as well. I helped the original developer of SkinStudio (BuilderBlinds back then...) in the early versions of that program.
As far as the 'donationware' scene goes... forget it. Point of fact: the original developer of Stardock's CursorFX had a cool little program. He asked a mere $10 for it. When he was 'brought in' to the Stardock family they very generously gave an ObjectDesktop years subscription to all those that had actually registered that program....
That was ME and ONE OTHER PERSON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!! Thousands of downloads and users... TWO people bothered to register and acknowledge the many, many hours of work put into developing the program.
I don't believe in people's good nature.
Jorge has spent 10 years developing WinStep.... he is fully entitled to every bit of profit he can manifest from his creations. When I work, be it playing professionally as a musician, or building some custom cabinetry, or mowing someone's lawn.... I expect to be paid for it. I'm not financially independent where I can work for nothing. And I dare say that no one reading this is either. Reality is a *****, but without funds, how can you even have a computer to play with and be online to complain anyway ???
2 cents.
I just wanted to give my little point of view:
I work in a private company to pay myself food, university and a single ambient department.
I do free software in my free time because it is what I love to do.
But others, such as JcRabbit, choose to have their income come from their developments, instead of having a job and working for someone else (or live with their parents).
I think no one should discourage shareware or paying for software. I choose to use free software because I don't have money to pay for it 
but I think most of people who visit this forum is not in such situation.
I respect JcRabbit decision, and I hope some time in the future I can make a profit from my own developments (though I'll also continue to develop freeware stuff).
Also take this into account: what happens when you ask for a new feature for Stacks Docklet, WinExposé, and such stuff of my own? Yes, you guess it: I may or may not implement it. What happens when you find a bug? I may or may not fix it. I do what I want, and I don't do what I don't want to do. Is up to me.
By paying for software, you're at the very least on your very own right to demand for the bugs being fixed (*), and better yet ask for new features (you wouldn't pay for an upgrade which includes none of the features you requested, would you?).
So, please, the next time, think about it.
@KAWsquared:
Answer whatever you want, I know you're not angry. Indeed, I know you're not serious., Indeed, I know you're kidding. Hahaha, no, the whole answer was not for you, just this tiny sentence
(*) BTW this is the main reason I don't publish shareware/paidware yet.
Jorge has spent 10 years developing WinStep.... he is fully entitled to every bit of profit he can manifest from his creations.
Thanks, snuffleupagus!
You made a very important point. 10 years is a very long time, and I personally know of NO free software that was first released 10 years ago, is still freeware AND actively developed (much less by the very same person who originally made it).
The real problem is that people these days are so used to downloading and using free software that some have started regarding it as their God given right. By doing so, they are spitting in the face of the very same people who gave them that free software, out of the love in their hearts for what they do. Instead of being appreciative, they have become demanding. They start despising any type of software they have to pay for, although they themselves would never work for free.
It's this type of mindset that led KAWSquared to say that he would rather see someone starve (in this case me and my family) than entertain the thought he might actually have to pay a measly $28.45 for something HE wants, although he probably wouldn't even blink to pay that much or even more for a meal and a movie.
The fact of the matter is that I would not have been able to actively develop Winstep software for 10 years UNLESS I charged for it. Make no mistake, I absolutely love what I do and I would give it away if I could, but I also have to eat. For me it is a privilege to be able to make a living doing what I love the most.
Also take this into account: what happens when you ask for a new feature for Stacks Docklet, WinExposé, and such stuff of my own? Yes, you guess it: I may or may not implement it. What happens when you find a bug? I may or may not fix it. I do what I want, and I don't do what I don't want to do. Is up to me..
Matonga made another very important point.
Some of you may still remember Sysmetrix, which was a free, extremely functional and very popular, skinnable system meter application. The author, Nick Decker, is someone I can call a friend (although I never met him personally) so I was able to follow Sysmetrix's story from the beginning.
Nick has a full time job, which is one of the reasons why he chose to release Sysmetrix for free. As Matonga very well pointed out, as soon as you decide to sell your creation, you immediately have an obligation to your customers. If you do not follow through on that obligation, pretty soon your software will develop a bad reputation and your business will suffer a miserable and well deserved death.
Nick made Sysmetrix for the same reason most software authors release free software: because they love what they do and want to share their creations with other people. But he considered his bread winner job more important, and therefore did not want to commit to Sysmetrix. For him Sysmetrix was an hobby - he didn't want it to become a full time job.
And this is exactly what happens when you start selling your software, even if you start doing it as a secondary source of income - it becomes ever more demanding of your time and resources until it truly becomes a full time job. If you are not able to keep up, your customers start complaining and your business suffers.
What happens to most authors of free software who do not at some point make a decision to start charging for it is that eventually their free software starts interfering with their true source of income and/or personal time, their attention is diverted elsewhere, or they lose interest, whichever comes first. Since they have no obligation to their users, the software starts getting updated less and less often until it eventually becomes stagnant and naturally dies.
I have seen this happen countless of times, and all you have to do to acknowledge this simple truth is look around you... You don't have to go much further than the very reason this forum exists, RK-Launcher.
An author who charges customers for his software and makes a living out of it, on the other hand, MUST keep going at it. Without frequent updates and bug fixes and new features soon someone else will catch up with him (competition is fierce and ruthless in the PC business!) and he will lose his source of income.
Since he cannot let that happen, everybody wins! The shareware author wins because he is able to support himself and his family doing what he loves the most, and the customer wins because the software he uses is always in constant development and will probably remain so for many, many years.
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