Brad Wardell's Blog


GameSpy: Stardock's GalCiv II: Dark Avatar is best PC expansion pack of 2007

Published on Monday, December 17, 2007 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News

 

GameSpy has awarded Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar with its coveted expansion pack of the yeard award and rated it as the 4th top overall PC game of 2007 (just behind BioShock).

Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar was worked on by myself, Mormegil (the icon master), Boogiebac (gadget maker), and others!

Go here to read more about it.

More White Christmas praise

Published on Sunday, December 16, 2007 By Brad Wardell In OS Customization

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Click on this thumbnail and take a very close look at the title bar and borders.

See how they alpha blend into the desktop so nicely? And the snow doesn't seem like it repeats. Did I mention I love this skin?

Plus, look at the IE controls.

Object Desktop 2008 Preliminaries

Published on Sunday, December 16, 2007 By Brad Wardell In OS Customization

It's almost time to start talking about what's happening with Object Desktop in 2008.  2008 will be the single biggest change to the product since its release.

Here are some highlights:

Two versions

In 2008 there will be two editions of Object Desktop:

Object Desktop normal which will remain $49.95 and it will include:

  • Object Desktop LaunchPad
  • WindowBlinds
  • IconPackager
  • DeskScapes
  • DesktopX
  • SoundPackager
  • Theme Manager
  • MyColors with 3 premium themes included

And there will then be:

Object Desktop Ultimate Edition which will be $69.95 and add:

  • TweakVista
  • WindowFX
  • SkinStudio
  • IconDeveloper
  • StyleVista (new program in development)
  • LogonStudio Vista
  • ObjectBar
  • RightClick
  • Keyboard LaunchPad

ALL current users of Object Desktop at the time that 2008 edition is launched will be upgraded to Ultimate Edition.

Another big change is that the user experience of Object Desktop is going to dramatically improve. Gone will be the days of a new user simply getting a serial # and being expected to download Stardock Central to get started.  Instead, a user will download a complete Object Desktop package which will allow them to easily upgrade to updates versions.

The inclusion of MyColors is a pretty big deal as well in that now users will be able to much more easily add new premium themes.  What we'll be doing is that every so often we'll add an additional premium MyColors theme to every active Object Desktop account. So the longer someone is an Object Desktop user, the more stuff they get.

Stay tuned.

Screenshots of Winter Wonderland in action

Published on Sunday, December 16, 2007 By Brad Wardell In Blogging

I'm out of touch. I didn't get my hands on Winter Wonderland until very recently and I'm in love.

What a fantastic theme that is so complete.

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My desktop

 

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Look closely at how the toolbar is skinned. See how it's irregularly shaped and blends in?


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Internet Explorer 7 skinning.

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This snow man is animated and so are the snow flakes and the lights shine. It's really a cool yet surprisingly subtle effect.

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The icons are exquisite.

And it comes free for anyone who purchase a MyColors theme this month.

Do you have Winter Wonderland?

Published on Sunday, December 16, 2007 By Brad Wardell In WinCustomize News
 

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If you don't have the Winter Wonderland premium suite, now is the time to get it! You get it FREE with the purchase of any MyColors theme.

Visit http://mycolors.stardock.com.  You can also get it by buying a premium suite as well which you can look for here at http://themes.stardock.com.

Seriously, this is one of the best suites I've ever seen period. It's very fast, light, looks great, great icons, great skin and you get it free with any premium MyColors theme or premium suite purchase.

Screenshots:

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My desktop

 

image 
Look closely at how the toolbar is skinned. See how it's irregularly shaped and blends in?


image
Internet Explorer 7 skinning.

img2
This snow man is animated and so are the snow flakes and the lights shine. It's really a cool yet surprisingly subtle effect.

image 
The icons are exquisite.