Published on May 18, 2010 By Murex In DesktopX
Now that I have your attention!!
 
I would like to discuss DX in general.  With the arrival of windows 7 some parts of DX are really not necessary as a lot of programs that is used often can be pined to the task bar.  So I am wondering what parts of DX are really used by the average user.  Myself and Jim would like to see more skinners making DX themes.  I know a lot of people are saying that DX is broke and to hard to use to make a theme. Well Jim and I both use DX Pro  version 3.5 on windows 7 and for the most part it is pretty stable.  I'm sure standard DX 3.5 will work just a good. At this point V 4 isn't worth installing.
 
Thanks to wonderful people like sViz and RomanDA there are now quite a few really good scripts to work with.  If any one would like to either get back into DX skinning or would like to start skinning I would be happy to help any way that I can and I'm sure Jim would help out also.
 
As a user what  objects do you find most usable?
 
DX Player
Weather
Clock
Calendar
Menus
Meters and Gauges
Do you like animations in the themes?
 
We would like to have your thoughts and comments. Please keep on topic and refrain from telling us how bad or borked  or what a piece of crap DX is. WE already Know what does and does not work in DX. 

Comments (Page 1)
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on May 18, 2010

Me personally....I don't use DX except for the widgets. And once we had the problem with the weather feeds a while back and the bugs here and there I don't even use them as much. As for the objects mentioned above I hardly ever use any of those things. The weather/clock/calender I get from OD...I never used the DX player...Meters and Gauges I get from Winstep...and animations are cute but distracting most of the time. So nothing really bad or good to say about DX...I just don't use it. Pretty much when I have software seem to stop getting support...I stop using it.

on May 18, 2010

I would actually re-purchase Natural Desktop if I could have a Windows 7 version.

on May 18, 2010

They'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!!!

That said, I do wish it was higher on the priority list with Frogboy. It has so much potential and power. I use all the above things all the time.

Here is my deal in a nutshell....

I make all these DX themes for all to use, but after I upload, I make my copy my own by adding all the things I use all the time, (shortcuts, etc.).

I add the weather widget to the desktop, then I export the entire desktop as a widget. Have it run at startup, since DX won't, and I no longer have need for the following items.

WINDOWS...lol.

These items are all negated by my DX theme:

Start Panel

Object Dock

desktop icons

WMP,etc.

Sysmetrix

you get the idea. All I need is a Windowblind, a DesktopX theme, and a cursor.

DesktopX, in it's current form (4.0) is unusable for me. So I stick with 3.5. I hope when 4.0 is finished, released, whatever, that the developers see fit to leave the existing plugins in it for backwards compatability.

As Merle stated above, anyone wishing to get into DXing, contact one of us, we will be glad to offer any help needed.

I also wish to thank littleboy for his DX efforts. David, where are you? Eve, you know I love ya!

Merle, thanks for this post, and for all your help with DX. I cut my skinning teeth on some of your ancient skins...lol...a long time ago.

Really tho, thanks for the help.

on May 19, 2010

Thanks to you and Jim for your efforts.

I use the weather widgets all the time. I like having calendars, clocks, meters and gauges. I use Vad_M's media player, which I guess is not the DX media player. Animations are a neat trick, but I'm not nuts about them--I can easily live without them if they don't have a specific purpose except to make you say wow.  Some people like having RSS feeds, so I suppose that there are a few other things that could be included in a theme.

 

on May 19, 2010

Just my opinion :

DX Player - When compared with Xion it is very poor. Not changed much since day one.

Weather - Since the issuue we had I just use a Firefox add-on.

Clock and calendar - Already on the Windows 7 taskbar. Just click it to expand to a fully featured object.

Menus - Just add the programs to the Taskbar and folders to the expanding explorer feature.

Meters and gauges - Never use them.

Animations - Limited use.

This said, what other objects are there ?

 

 

 

on May 19, 2010

Well for me at the moment it comes to a very sad conclusion : It helps nothing how much we discuss, do a gazillion themes or objects (even ones that push the limits) if we don't have any support from the development for ages. So this thread will be wasted energy also I fear...

on May 19, 2010

Well for me at the moment it comes to a very sad conclusion : It helps nothing how much we discuss, do a gazillion themes or objects (even ones that push the limits) if we don't have any support from the development for ages. So this thread will be wasted energy also I fear...

 

Yes it's true support for DX in the last couple of years has been almost nonexistence. But to be fair I try to see stardocks side to. Why should they spend time and money when there are only a few skinners making themes. Really there are only two skinners making themes at this point. 
 
I know that there are problems with Dx right now but DX can be use to make themes. And as I said before there are a lot of good scripts at our disposal. And we have some very talented people like sViz RomanDA and littleboy that have/are making scripts and templates for skinners to use. But again why should they keep making scripts if no one is going to use them.
 
One of the biggest complaints I have seen besides (no support) is that there are no good scripts. well we do have some very good scripts so what is your excuse now.  Maybe just maybe if more skinners start skinning DX again there will be support and updates to DX.
 
All I can say is if more skinners don't start making DX themes what little interest there is now will be gone.     Then What?
 
on May 19, 2010

I never found a legitimate use for DX on my machine.  As such, I don't use it.  Maybe something better will come along...

on May 19, 2010

I migrated over to Winstep, still use Windowblinds & OD tho.

on May 19, 2010

Murex : I am not interested in themes, as they start to all look the same besides some color or form aspects. I think the real strength of DX is objects and gadgets, not full blown themes.

As a side note, I have also registered WinStep but only using NextStep (yet) as a substitute for my beloved RightClick on Win7 64bit.

Very surprised what only one single developer can achieve.

on May 19, 2010

DX Player

Weather

Clock

Calendar

Menus

Meters and Gauges

All the above,not so much the calendar though.

Do you like animations in the themes?

It depends on the theme but yes if it's not too distracting.

they start to all look the same besides some color or form aspects. I think the real strength of DX is objects and gadgets, not full blown themes.
 [quote]

I'm the opposite,I prefer everything integrated into a theme. If I want a standalone gadget, the sidebar/windows gadgets work just as well or better. If you have a quad core 64 bit system with over 2gb of ram you know how badly the DX performance meter plugins need to be updated.

they start to all look the same besides some color or form aspects.
No flaming me here please but can't the same be said for WB,OD or most other skinning apps?

Long Live DX!

on May 19, 2010

As Merle stated above, anyone wishing to get into DXing, contact one of us, we will be glad to offer any help needed.

If any one would like to either get back into DX skinning or would like to start skinning I would be happy to help any way that I can and I'm sure Jim would help out also.

See, that's what I love about this community.


I don't like too much stuff on my desktop. I like it clean and minimalist, so I can think and get stuff done. Therefore, I don't use most of what you've listed, Murex.

For months, I've been using a zero-graphics, text-only theme comprised of menus and a calendar. I also have a weather widget running.

I love controlling the functionality, more than the look, of my desktop, and I love creating gadgets which I can use to perform various tasks. DesktopX accomplishes this, so I will keep using it until it's no longer supported and it kills my computer.

on May 19, 2010

Murex : I am not interested in themes, as they start to all look the same besides some color or form aspects. I think the real strength of DX is objects and gadgets, not full blown themes.

As Wizard said it doesn't really matter if it's and object, Widget, Gadget or even a Windowblinds theme after a while they are all going to look the same.  And look at WB or winstep or any other programs like windowblinds  you are restricted to certain boundaries. The beauty of DX is you can do any thing you want. You can place the taskbar, start menu, clock any where you want.
 
If any one doesn't like to use DX that's fine. I know it's not for every one. My aim here is to try and revive interest in DX to both skinners and users. I just  think that DX is a great program and i would like to see more people skinning and using DX.
 
I will agree we need more variety and diversity in our themes that's why we need more people interested in DX . It keeps it more interesting when you have a lot of skinners trying to make better themes than the other skinners.     
on May 19, 2010

I am not interested in themes, as they start to all look the same besides some color or form aspects.

How does this differ from WindowBlinds, or Object Dock? Those are all the same, just different graphics.

Someone once said to me that a lot of my themes are the same theme with graphics swapped out, well, isn't that exactly what WindowBlinds is? Yes.

 

I'm thinking that DX is coming to be mainly just used by the people who skin it. Fans are dying out due to the lack of "newness" that requires new scripts and plugins to bring DX back to it's full power. There is a multitude of windows gadgets and sidebar gadgets, why can't DX do the same? It could, if Stardock would only back it's development, and that requires interest, which doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Call me a fanboy, or whatever. Yes, there are other apps to do what DX does. But most aren't Stardock products, and I, for one, have a home here, therefore, I am loyal to Stardock products when possible and most definitely loyal to DesktopX and to the WC Community.

I feel the WC/Stardock community is best served if we use Stardock products whenever possible. I realize this isn't how most of you feel.

on May 19, 2010

You are a fanboy!  Well you said to call you one.

I feel the WC/Stardock community is best served if we use Stardock products whenever possible. I realize this isn't how most of you feel.

You are not alone with that feeling Jim.

 

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