Is Plus worth buying over freeware version?

Yes!
Checklist at the bottom

Comparison

The tabs alone were worth the purchase for me.

Tabs!
Also multiple docks and additional settings
It's very inexpensive

Easter eggs!   

On a more normal note, after using this application my whole methoed of working changed. Everything you might need is a tab away, and organized anyway you might want. And mixed and matched. And color coded!

you bet .. worth the FEW $$$$$ !!! IMO

Heck yeah its worth it! How else are you going to use all my docks?   

But seriously...best money I ever spent!   

I am too new to say yet wether it is worth it or not, but I am leaning towards yes. However, I would like to say that the free version is not a trial. IMO, they are totally different. I think this is a bad practice of stardock. Using the free version and reading the comparison page, it seems like OD plus can be a real taskbar replacement. I am dissapointed to discover that the reality is that it really can't unless you are willing to sacrifice basic functionality. Let me give you a couple of examples:

1) I cannot autohide specific icons based on the settings in my taskbar properties (or any settings anywhere). For me who has a ton of systemtray icons (including the many that objectdesktop added), this means that I have to dedicate an entire length of my screen to my systemtray icons if I want them always accessable as they are on my taskbar. Even at 16px size. Also, I haver to hunt through the 50 or so icons I have to find the ones I use often. With taskbar's autohide the 10 or so I need constant access to are always visible and easy to find. So this kind of defeats the purpose of removing my taskbar, no?

2) I can't right click active process in objectdock's taskmanager to perform operations on them or even to close them. This is a problem as I like to run alot of open windows. Also the taskmanager feature in OD plus is hit and miss. To get the neat feature of a screen shot you have to minimize by clicking the icon in OD. The normal minimize buttons will not always activate this feature (in fact it happens only once in a great while). If you have alot of windows open (like over 20) OD crashes sometimes. I had it up for 2 days and it crashed multiple times. Not a single crash since I have removed the taskmanager dock.

In short, I have to say that I think its a bit of a rip that 1) this wasn't included in my objectdesk purchase and 2) that stardock doesn't give you a trial. Without these taskbar replacing features working right, OD plus is basically a fancy (and useable) version of the tabbed launcher that comes with obejectdesk. Why charge someone who bought the whole desktop more for it? I think this is not good. Also, its not good that they advertise these taskbar replacing features but don't let you see if they work (well you get to use the task manager feature in the free version) before you buy it. Yet they also do not have a 30-day satisfaction gaurantee. There is a 25% charge if you buy it, hate it, and want your money back. The idea of buying something you don't get to see ahead of time, and being stuck with it, seems to be anti-consumer.

That being said, what makes me lean towards saying it is worth it, even with these serious flaws in plus features, is what the great community puts into it. People like webgizmo who have made amazing backgrounds which really make my desktop beautiful. If OD worked as a true taskbar replacemnt, I would say that would justify it not being included in objectdesktop. As it is, its iffy since the thing I love most about it is the community artwork. I hope Stardock gives back to the people who actually make their products work. If part of the price I pay (and am stuck with) goes back to the artists then I am completely satisfied.

Edit: I just can't stop tweaking my desktop! I found (or I should say I got around to looking into) a program today called avedesk. Its free and they apparently offer a free tabbed dock plugin/widget for it. Of course, they don't have the beautiful community art that OD has so there's the (pretty serious IMO) downside.

As far as #1, what you can do is use the zoom effect on the tray icons, and make the unzoomed icons very small. I too have a lot of stuff running, but it works well (also helps to have high resolution on the laptop monitor).

#2, what can't you do? I right click, and I get the same menu picks as on the Windows Taskbar, plus "Dock Entry Properties" and "Add this application to the Dock"...

I used OD (free) for 2 or 3 weeks, and was pretty content (except with the Taskbar Icon docklet that kept crashing), until the coworker who showed me it in the first place, showed me the OD+ he had just bought & installed. Here's what I loved about OD+:

1. Multiple docks - I don't have to have one big dock

2. Flyouts - I can have a flyout submenu, again helps organize

3. Tabbed docks - yes, cool

4. The biggie! A stable dock that shows Windows tray icons, and not just in one docklet, but separately.

Finally, I could hide EVERY icon in Windows, and have a totally clean desktop for working. I now get the full screen.

Plus, I have been writing software for a long (long, long!) time, and I really appreciate well-done software, and advocate paying the shareware fee. The developer of a good software deserves the money.

Yes. Well worth it. #8 says it all. For me, also, the ability to specify where in fact I want my docks to be, on the edge or away from it and how far. The ability to have scripted docklets/icons that "shut down", "restart", "run...(anything that's coded into them)".

Finally, I could hide EVERY icon in Windows, and have a totally clean desktop for working. I now get the full screen.

The developer of a good software deserves the money.

Yes.