ObjectBar is one of the final key pieces to Stardock's overall Object Desktop design.

The Windows user interface can be broken into 3 principle parts:

1) The GUI
2) The desktop
3) The program/task manager

WindowBlinds takes care of the GUI. DesktopX takes care of the desktop, and now ObjectBar will take care of the program/task management part.

Every OS has some sort of bar, wharf, finder, dock, center, whatever that allows users to quickly and easily manage their programs, running tasks, and system settings. On Windows it's called the Start bar, on MacOS it's called the Finder. On OS/2 it's called WarpCenter, on Linux it's often called a Wharf.

ObjectBar is designed to combine all the best features of all the OSes, add many unique features never before seen so that users can create the ultimate desktop environment.

ObjectBar is designed with productivity first in mind. It is designed first and foremost for corporate use. The fact that it is has what may be the most flexible skinnable interface seen in such a program is more of a bonus feature. Stardock does not want users to use it because it's skinnable but because it works better than what comes with the OS.

The new version of ObjectBar can even use WindowBlinds XP start bar skins. This means that users of Windows 98/ME/2000 can download those WB skins and when they apply the skin, ObjectBar will automatically use those skins on itself.

Give it a try!

https://www.stardock.com/products/objectbar/objectbar.jpg

Whatcha think?

We're received a considerable amount of email from skin authors asking when they can start submitting. Originally we weren't going to allow submissions until February 1. But given the interest we're getting, we are going to allow submissions to begin now.

We won't publicly display your skins until Febuary 1. However, starting this week we will begin displaying how many skins each website's team has submitted so that you can keep score of how the different websites are doing.

I found this site that has pictures of many of the regulars in the skin community:

http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/mttraulsen/Pictureland.html

What a cool idea (whoever's it was). Putting a name to a face is really cool.

Here's a recent (yesterday) picture of me in case someone's curious what I look like.

https://www.stardock.com/temp/brw.jpg

Windows isn't the only place that lots of cool things are happening. Linux users have been skinning for years. Read on for a basic primer on what's happening over there.

Why must toddlers constantly open up and put..things...into the CD ROM drives of computers?

For those of you really into user interface design, here are a couple of temporary links to IBM's famed Common User Access (CUA) interface guidelines. These guidelines were developed to create computer software interfaces that are more accessible.

These are pretty technical and in PDF format. The links are:

https://www.stardock.com/temp/cua-1.pdf
https://www.stardock.com/temp/cua-2.pdf

After 2 months of development, Stardock has released the first public update to WindowBlinds 3.

Version 3.1 supports a new skin language dubbed Extended Visual Styles (UIS1) that are literally twice as vast as XP's visual styles, work on every version of Windows, and are more compatible (downside is that they aren't nearly as powerful as UIS2 skins which is what most skins are done in).

Here is an article that talks about the new features and how skin authors can make the most of them:

http://www.windowblinds.net/wb3/wb31.html

If you want to represent one of the websites in the community list, visit their sites to receive special branded versions of WindowBlinds and SkinStudio.

However, if you would like to cut to the chase and just get started making your WindowBlinds contest submission, here is the link to it. You must have an account here first to get it and you must agree to submit at LEAST ONE SKIN to the contest. You may submit your skins elsewhere as well.

My dual life combines once in awhile. Much of my time is spent in an alternative universe known as the PC game industry.

One of the things I do is write articles for the various game mags. We've been discussing on the Stardock news servers how few people really understand how the US legal system actually works as opposed to how the law is designed.

If you're interested, I've written an article that talks about intellectual property laws and how they tend to function in the real world along with some of my personal experience involved in lawsuits over the years (lots of pain).

http://www.avault.com/developer/getarticle.asp?name=bwardell8