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WinCustomize Subscriptions Now Your Portal To Free Stardock Design Skins!

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WinCustomize Subscriptions Now Your Portal To Free Stardock Design Skins!

Skins Skins Skins!

https://www.wincustomize.com/store/
from WinCustomize Forums

For years now, a WinCustomize subscription primarily allowed you to browse the site completely ad-free, gave you fully access to the Skin Browser, and every now and then a free skin from Stardock.  In recent months, we've been talking about how to change the site subscription model to make it a better value to users, with the goal obviously to encourage more people to subscribe and support the site. 

So today I'm happy to announce a transformation in the WinCustomize Subscription plan.  With Object Desktop, you get a year of software updates to some great skinning applications, but what about content?  To answer that, from today forward, a WinCustomize subscription will give you access to twelve free Stardock Design skins a year!*

Our first free skin to subscribers comes from one of the most respected and talented skinners in the community: adni18.  Stardust is a killer WindowBlinds skin that gives your desktop a modern & flashy look without being distracting or annoying.  Glassy edges, cool colors and attention to detail make this a skin every WindowBlinds user needs to run.

Subscribers can grab the skin from the Subscriber Resources page (must be logged in).

Pricing

Because we are now offering $60 in free skins a year, the pricing of the WinCustomize Subscription is changing.  Effective immediately, a WinCustomize subscription costs $29.95 per year and you'll renew on a year-to-year basis (i.e. no more 2 year renewals).  You will receive all the old benefits of a WC Subscription, only now for $10 extra you're getting $60 in skins.

Bundles

Don't have a subscription yet period?  Well, we're working on some bundle packs for new users. 

WindowBlinds Extreme

Currently, if you buy WindowBlinds Extreme, you can get WindowBlinds plus a WinCustomize Subscription for $39.95 (a $10 discount on the first year of a WC subscription).

We are working on a similar bundle for Object Desktop.  Expect more info on that when it's ready.

Q&A

Now, I'm sure everyone has questions about what this change means for them.  Let me quickly cover the high points...

  1. I already have an existing subscription, do I get these skins too?
    Yes, you'll have access to all skins released while your subscription is active.
  2. How often will skins be released?
    We'll release 12 over a calendar year(Jan - Dec).  Sometimes it'll be one a month, sometimes more, and sometimes we may miss a month altogether.
  3. It won't be one per month?
    We're not guaranteeing one per month.  Sometimes schedules get hectic and projects get in the way.
  4. What if I don't like the skins, can I get a substitute?
    Nope.  Think of this as a book of the month club or something similar.  Sometimes you get a great skin you love, sometimes it's something you wouldn't be caught dead running.  We'll be trying to release skins that appeal to a wide audience, so some months you'll love it, some you won't.
  5. No more 2 year renewals?  What if we've recently purchased renewals?
    The change does not affect users who have purchased renewals prior to the change-over.  From this point forward you will not be able to purchase additional 2 year renewal.
  6. Why get rid of the 2-year renewal?
    Well, now you're getting essentially $60 in free skins every year for your $30 subscription.  That should be sufficient value and not require a discount for future years.
  7. What if I subscribe two years from now, will I get the last two years of subscriber skins?
    No.  Subscriber Skins will become Master Skins a year after they're posted.  At which point you can purchase them at a 20% discount.
  8. What is the release schedule for the skins?
    We're going to release skins when they're finished and through QA testing.  I'll post teasers for upcoming skins as they near completion.  But there is no set release schedule
  9. So some of these skins will be from MyColors Themes huh?  Will I get a discount on buying the full theme if I already have the skin?
    Yes.  We'll be offering MyColors Theme discounts similar to how we offer discounts to Object Desktop users.  Full details on the discount will be posted when the first MyColors Theme using a WC Skin goes up.

If there are any other questions about the new subscription plan, let me know either in a comment or via PM.

*a year is a calendar year, January 1st to December 31st.  Because this plan is launching in May of 2008, the 2008 skin set may fall short of the 12 target by December

292,783 views 155 replies
Reply #101 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Zubaz:

Don't know where you get rudeness from. I am simply stating the facts. Where's the rudeness????  ;p 
Reply #102 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Bebi Bulma:

Just saying they ARE different doesn't make it so. And if that's what you consider an insult, you are very thin skinnned. What is insulting is the what I found out about OD Ultimate 2008. It's insulting to my inteligence.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #103 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Zakai,I don't care for your response It is you who are the ASS. Do me a favor and don't respond to any of my posts. I DON'T LIKE YOU!!!  

I believe Zubaz and myself we referring to that comment about the "insulting" and "rudeness." We were just trying to answer your questions and then you jump all over us when you don't like the repsonses. "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen" seems appopriate.

And in any case, I had already explained the difference between the two subscriptions in reply #78.

Also, I don't think calling it ODNT Ultimate has anything at all to do with Vista. It simply means the package has more components than the original one.

Right here you can see the different between the regular ODNT and the Ultimate version, as well as OS version compatibility.
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Reply #104 from WinCustomize Forums Top
maybe I just wanted to hear somebody from Stardock say what I know to be true


Whatever it is you think you know of - it is such a sad thing to have seen you are here for a year now and this all comes to light.
This community has stuck with a lot of ups and downs to get where we are today. I do not see where it will do you much good with such a way of thinking as you have. I would like to know more about you and why you are this way. Could you explain yourself completely?

Before you consider joining . . think about what you have to give as much as what there is to take. And you can keep your rudeness one way or the other.


Plus I will agree with Zubaz about you being rude to other members [my friends here]. No matter if you are a subscriber or not... this forum does have rules for everyone. Please consider following them.

We are not here to try and talk you into something you do not want to do. So be it and I hope you will see things better in the near future.

Reply #105 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The comment that you post and drag Zubaz in with you, OMITS Zakai's previous comment to me, calling me an ass!!!! The fact that you failed to take into account what I was responding to as well as not seeing any correllation between Vista Ultimate and ODNT Ultimate 2008 clearly shows your BIAS and there is no way that you would possibly agree with anything. I'm not the one crying about being insulted!!!! "IF YOU CAN'T TAKE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM" AND YOU CAN'T IT IS YOU WHO SHOULD STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN.
Reply #106 from WinCustomize Forums Top
you will all be glad to know that i'm through with the forums, quite frankly i think, there is a stardock bias that precludes honest and straightforward talk. goodbye.
Reply #107 from WinCustomize Forums Top
-sigh-

Can't win them all. 

 :NOTSURE:
Reply #108 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Are you aware that you are yelling at people who have been very helpful and polite to you?

Step back, breathe deeply, and then come back after a while and reread this thread from the moment you asked your initial question.

If you do that you might be able to see that Zakai's first response had nothing to do with Stardock at all (a WC-subscription does give back to the community as it provides a platform for young skinners to make a name for themselves), and that you started to lash out at him long before he asked you "not to be an ass about your responses". Never did he state that you are one.

None of the answers here are "Stardock bias". Most of the people who replied here are long standing members of this community and we really do see WC as a site which is here for the artists and the community mainly. The fact that Stardock foots part of the bill does not change that, as almost all big sites on the web are financed/sponsored by a commercial company.

You started out really well here and just throwing all away even though everybody has been fair and honest with you (and unlike you, nobody here called you names) seems to be such a waste. :NOTSURE:
Reply #110 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I think you're all a little bit nuts. nothing like a good piling on. Well, I haven't been at the wincustomize site since 2003 and it will be a cold day in hell when I return. I am a free thinker and not a zombie like all of you seem to be. I think you all need to get a life beyond this silly website.
Reply #111 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So now we're zombies because we say what we think and we happen to like Stardock? Oooookay...

Just can't win. We answer questions, give our opinions, and then we get judged as "fanboys" because of it. Enough of this nonsense.
Reply #112 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Just can't win... right...... how about some more piling on. What you have done for Stardock is chased away a customer for good. You operate like a cult, "we happen to like Stardock" to the point where you have lost your objectivity and common sense. Get a life!!
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Reply #113 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Bressler just won 2 karma's  :LOL: 


(but i must admit WC is not a silly website at all, it's just ssssssssooooooooooooooooo ssssssssslllllllllllooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww  (:( )
Reply #114 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Bressler . . we're not going to bust our asses trying to chang e you mind about Stardock, Wincustomize or anything.  We all tried to help.   Are you likely to get a positive opinion about the Stardock and WC from "the regulars" on their site?  Most likely.

If you want another opinion, goto another site.
Reply #115 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Get a life


As you are now finding out there is plenty of Life in general here. Not everyone here works and is paid by Stardock or Wincustomize. Here is a really good one for you... try joining the MSDN with Microsoft. They are one in the same and by the way there is a much larger fee involved doing this with MS. Fact is there are fees for just about everything we do there to keep the boat afloat.
People work hard to give others new technology and they have a life. A life that includes being in places to provide the help and research needed to design new technology. Plus that of a home life with families.
We do not want to run you off or try to insult you Bressler. But try to make you aware of the community here and what we do for just about anyone. But as you are finding out - it is what you put in as to what you get back. We are generally a very happy bunch here. Just that some get a bit frustrated time to time.
We would love for you to join us and find what we all really have here. Be it a clan or cult as you may think of it for now. But if you give it a chance - you could find a very good place for helping with your problems and such.
Come on and give us a try - we really don't bit!

Reply #116 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Have a prob with the "WC Select" Theme. DL'd and the file was automatically imported into ThemeManager. But when I select it in the 'preview' window there is a small box with a red x in front of the 'click to apply'. A little nervous to apply something that doesn't preview correctly. Suggestions?
Reply #117 from WinCustomize Forums Top

WC Select has not yet been updated for WindowBlinds 6.  There may be issues.

Bressler,
I'm sorry you felt driven away, but no one on this thread has been rude.  You've made statements about your opinion on the site, the software etc and people came in with their own opinions.  Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean they're being rude.  There is one thing I want to clarify one point for your however, and that's the whole "no difference between OD and WC" bit.

Object Desktop is a suite of software that allows you to skin your PC.  There is some content included to get you going quickly.  WinCustomize is a community site for users to share and download content for said skinning apps.  This is the content channel, OD is the toolset.

Think of OD as a television and WC as a cable subscription.

Despite whatever you think about how WC and OD subscriptions relate, I can tell you for a 100% fact that they are two very distinct things, even from an internal budget perspective.  Sure the two support each other in that software sales increase skins made, and skins made increase software sales, but that's it.  Each has to be financially successful on its own terms, regardless of how the other one does.

Reply #118 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Have a prob with the "WC Select" Theme. DL'd and the file was automatically imported into ThemeManager. But when I select it in the 'preview' window there is a small box with a red x in front of the 'click to apply'. A little nervous to apply something that doesn't preview correctly. Suggestions?


I've had a few suites in ThemeManager that have that same preview (or lack thereof) but they have always applied just fine for me. On XP here using WB6. ;)
Reply #119 from WinCustomize Forums Top
And I'd have to agree (regardless of your defense of my statement) that that was very well put aufisch :D



As for Bressler. I give up. Some people you just can't talk any sense to. Like a few others I've noticed around here (luckily not nearly as many here as you see on a lot of internet sites)they'll ask for opinions on things and then, no matter what kind of replies they get, if they aren't aligned with the opinion they have already formed then they just aren't happy. :NOTSURE:


Reply #120 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yeah some people you just can't talk any sense to....... and on and on and on ad nauseum.
Reply #121 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i'm on my way now Zubaz, so you can stop busting your lame ass. You need to post something on both stardock and wincustomize sites, you're freaks!!!!
Reply #122 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Bressler,

Please refrain from personal attacks.  If you have a complaint, that's fine, but please remain civil about it.

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Reply #123 from WinCustomize Forums Top
is this dude related to ivan?
Reply #125 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The real question here is can Wincustomize skin the command prompt?  ;)
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