WinCustomize the program nears beta...

Bring it on! I'll be a subscriber!
Greg

And how does one become a "premium subscriber" of WinCustomize, Brad? As a registered Object Desktop user - let alone being a Stardock neighbor here in Ann Arbor *lol* - will the subscription be part of the OD registration package?

I agree with Citizen docster. do we pay our OD Yearly subscription to use some of the components to download skins into and then use. And also become a "premium Subscriber" to use the new wincustomise.exe to download skins?

I could be missing the point or don't understand the new system

High Neighbor. 'fraid WC subscriptions won't be part of OD subscriptions. At $50, Object Desktop's already probably the best software deal on the planet. The subscirptions are designed to help pay for this site.

That said, ODNT users WILL get some benefits such as unlimited downloads and such.

skins used to be at stardock. now moved here and have to pay. thanks to all you skinners for lining the pockets of these ripoffs. make your own site and charge for your creativity.

Is something wrong? I wanted to start downloading skins from Stardock since I'm a registered user of OD but I'm always sent to right back WC. Is WC the Stardock library or not? Shinanagins or collusion. Right out - how much?

. You don't have to pay to downloads skins. Sheesh. The subscription to WC is optional and provides additional benefits.

I think it's a good idea and it looks good!

Count me in as a customer!

Greets,

Chris
(OD user)

quote from an earlier news item:

The skinbrowser will be available to users who subscribe to WinCustomize. Subscriptions will become available in the next few weeks - $19.95. Not only will users get the skin browser but unlimited downloads, exclusive skin packs, and some surprises we're working on that won't be available until later.

Obviously, non subscribers will be limited.

I can't belive skinners are not pi**ed!!!

and oh yeah, most of the suprisees they don't even know about yet. What a bunch of scammers.

SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!

Some more quotes:

Ahh, So this is like a program that connects to some server where all the skins are and lets you view and download skins, without going to a website.

Sounds cool, but $19.95 is a bit pricey for something I would use so little.


and response.....

The skinbrowser isn't $19.95. The subscription to WC will cost $19.95 per year and this is just one of the benefits of a subscription.


by Scribe Frogboy - 4/28/2002 2:37:41 PM

I'll try again. If i become a premium subscriber I get the wincustomise.exe browser to download skins direct to my computer. (The best of the skins of course). Why do i neet WB3.3i. and other components. I did not know Stardock and wincustomise were one and the same. double dipping?

I haven't made up my mind yet ... having already purchased O.D., this almost seems to me like paying the cable company for premium service like HBO, but still having to pay extra for each movie or show you watch.

I'm not a skinner, but just a user. If I WAS a skinner, though, I'd be rather upset by this. But I'lll wait to make a final decision until after I have more info.

Ande, re: your statement, "I agree with docster" : I'd only asked Brad a couple of questions & thus didn't write anything that someone could possibly "agree" with. *shrugs*

As for me, I'm interested in what Brad has planned for the WinCustomize subscription package, and will probably subscribe to the site. Hell, I figure I owe Brad alot for his unflagging support, over the years, of OS/2, a REAL operating system.

Brad, I'm particularly interested in what you mean by a WinCustomize subscription permitting "unlimited downloads." I haven't seen that my downloads are in any way restricted NOW...

hrm... all i have to say about this debate is that the charge would probably have to do with trying to pay for the operation cost of WinCustomize, as it's certainly losing money every second the site is open. Bandwidth ain't cheap. Seems fairly reasonable to me though as it's more of a convenience charge - if you don't subscribe you could still download skins from WC.com with no charge, but its just you can't use the nice program to download skins and make the process easier, or something like that. (I don't know though could be wrong - sounds about right though...)

Ande, regarding your statement about "Why do i neet WB3.3i and other components"...

You need them because Wincustomize.exe will only download skins to your PC. You still need the Object Desktop software to do the customizing. Without them, you get a great archive of skins that you cannot use.

Wincustomize.exe is meant to a) support Wincustomize.com and give you direct access to the database of saved skins. It does not replace WindowBlinds or any other OD component.

Thanks Dagwud, We are almost there. Lord Frogboy said, "etc etc Wincustomise skin browser, a Windows Program that hooks directly into the database. From that program you'll be able to APPLY skins directly as if this site and all its contents were local to your hard drive." Does this statement mean that the subject browser will download into Window Blinds. Thats all I wont to know.

To Citizen docster,
Your right you did not make any comment i could agree with. I just made an assumpition you were talking about a second subscription. One should never assume, Sorry.
ande

To developer JMB 1984,

The small subscription cost is not a problem if the product is somthing I like I'll subscribe.

Man, some people just want everything for free. This is not a matter of charging for skins, it is a matter of subscribing to avoid advertisments. Every skin site does it, and it is completely optional. Futhermore, WinCustomize doesn't plan to have pop-up ads at all. They are hoping enough people will subscribe that non-subscribers won't need to have pop-up ads thrown at them.

DeviantArt, for example, is $30 per year. As far as I know, that gets you access to some members only skins and the luxury of not seeing ads.

So, Stardock wants to offer all that and more for $20 per year and people start crying about it. Jeesh, if you don't want it, don't get it. But everytime you come here and don't have ads thrown in your face, just remember: it's those of us who chose to sign up for this expanded service that are paying to keep pop-up ads off your screen.

I plan to subscribe. There are a limited number of sites on the Internet worth paying for, and since I use this one a LOT, and hence chew up their bandwidth, it's worth it. Plus I get another piece of software designed to make skinning my computer easier than it already is?

Sure. No problem. Just point me to the signup page.

MikeB314, I agree with your stance on subscriptions, but, before this thread devolves into a verbal charbroiler, ask that we all tone down exaggerative, inflammatory statements like, "Man, some people just want everything for free."

Thanks....

Docster, sorry if you took offense to that comment. I really had specific posters in mind when I wrote that and you were not one of them.

I actually read this thread last night and decided to sleep on it before I posted anything. So, trust me, that was a toned down version of what I was thinking originally.

I just can't sit by and listen to people call Stardock a bunch of scammers and tell me that, as a skinner, I should be pissed off. Well, I guess I am, but not at Stardock or WC's administrators.

Hey I'm all for it, for most in general nothing in life is free. As a child in my teens years i have come to realize this. My only questions is i hope wincustomize excepts money orders.

Absolutely no offense taken here, Mike. I know your comment wasn't directed at me personally. If I =HAD= been offended, I'd've certainly appreciated your apology. *winks* I commend you for delaying your response to one of the above comments till today. Shows respectable anger management skills. *smiles*

I was merely addressing how generalizations like "some people just want everything for free" tend to alienate folks. I've known a lot of freeloaders in my life, but don't recall ANYone wanting "everything for free."

Like you, I don't want to see Stardock accused of a "scam," but believe me, I've seen Brad ridiculously branded a "traitor" (among other things) when he began shifting Stardock's focus from OS/2 to Windows.

Like stark, I'm just waitin' for Brad to give me the high-sign from the subscription page.

Is there going to be an early signon bonus like at mywebattack.com when then went to the subscription model. The first people to sign on within a timeframe got a lower price per year for the first three years, in that case $9.95 per year. It might have paid to illuminate some on what a subscription model is as well. Were/When do I sign up as they say.

Right now the plan is for the initial subscription price to be $19.95 and it may go up later on to either $24.95 or $29.95.

Regarding unlimited downloads:

Object Desktop users and WinCustomize subscribers both get unlimited downloads.

So what does that mean for non-subscribers/non-ODNT users? It means that at a certain point that after a user downloads X megabytes of skins the site will begin requiring those users go into a single queue and wait for their download to be served.

For example
Let''s say 20 people want to download skins from this site and those 20 people aren''t ODNT users and aren''t subscribers, those 20 people will be put into a single download queue. This will decrease the bandwidth used by non-subscribers.

That said, we plan to have those with Apprentice access and higher also gain priviledges too so that people who can''t afford the subscription cost and gain benefits by contributing in other ways (creating skins, being active on the message boards, providing constructive comments, etc.).

When cna we sign up - I''ll gladly pay to keep a site of this quality up and running ...

Wednesday.