Impulse is coming!

Monday, February 4, 2008 by Draginol | Discussion: Personal Computing

Since 1999, Stardock has been a pioneer in digital distribution.  The original Galactic Civilizations was the first PC game to be released at retail and digitally at the same time.  Its flag-ship product, Object Desktop, made the transition from being a retail product to being digitally distributed with a subscription in 1999.

For the past few years, Stardock has distributed its content with Stardock Central:

2008-02-01_1522
Stardock Central

And while Stardock Central was very cutting edge when it was launched back in 2003, it's getting a bit long in the tooth.  For the past year, Stardock has been working on a  new platform that will finally combine Stardock's various technological assets into a single place. This new platform is called Impulse.

 

2008-02-01_1523
Impulse

Impulse isn't just a cosmetic make-over of Stardock Central. It greatly expands the capabilities of Stardock's digital distribution offerings. 

Here are 5 key differentiators of Impulse:

  1. Users do not have to load Impulse to use the software or games.
  2. Impulse will support third-parties submitting their software or game, name their price, and then after review having it available -- all done nearly automatically. Stardock already has this system in place on WinCustomize.com with "Master" themes.
  3. Impulse will integrate its next-generation social networking features in the Community tab that will let users have friends, chat about games, have blogs, and more.
  4. Impulse includes built in support for backing up your purchase to CD/DVD.
  5. Impulse allows users who buy software or games at retail to still manage their updates and re-download the entire product on Impulse (for products that support this feature).

 

2008-02-01_1524
Impulse provides a cleaner UI than Stardock Central.

 

2008-02-01_1526
Managing your software on Impulse is a snap. If you bought a game or software program at retail or even from another digital distributor, you may be able to still manage updates and such on Impulse.

Impulse is still in internal beta at Stardock but it expects to release it in mid February with additional features for it being added through the course of the year.

First Previous Page 2 of 3 Next Last
ZubaZ
Reply #21 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 10:23 AM
Is it skinnable?
Uvah
Reply #22 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 12:32 PM
Well...is it?  
scorpNZ
Reply #23 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 1:41 PM
Not that it matters to me, will the archives made with SDC, be compatible with impulse so that can be used to apply them instead & SDC deleted
Kevin_C
Reply #24 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 2:59 PM
Maybe there's already a way to do this but will Impulse support a way to import ALL of your registrations into the app in one shot? I re-install windows alot and I really get tired of having to click through all of the different options to enter all of my registration codes.


Looking good, can't wait to try it out!
Draginol
Reply #25 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 3:44 PM
Yes.
Sraf
Reply #26 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 4:20 PM
Yes.

Yes to what?

I can't wait for this, it looks awesome
Aquamonkey
Reply #27 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 4:28 PM
Looking forward to trying it out   
LightStar
Reply #28 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 4:43 PM
Bring it on!
Xenobond
Reply #29 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 7:01 PM
Muy Caliente!
Quicksilver007
Reply #30 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 7:18 PM
Looking forward to checking it out!
sleepydawg
Reply #31 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 7:24 PM
Don't know what all this talk is about a missing winky. One look look at the new "Impulse" and winky popped right up.
ZubaZ
Reply #32 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 8:06 PM
One look look at the new "Impulse" and winky popped right up
TMI Please and thank you.
ZubaZ waits for Bichur's throbber to make an appearnce
PuterDudeJim
Reply #33 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:20 PM
When! When?
Philly0381
Reply #34 Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:15 AM
Geesh, when it ready for release, that's when!  
pjdark
Reply #35 Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:28 AM
wow that looks amazing. i'm stoked!!!!!!    
JJ930
Reply #36 Sunday, February 17, 2008 8:31 PM
It looks great!!! I do hope that this version will recognize the registrations on a couple of things that the old Stardock Central ( doesn't recognize!
Keymac
Reply #37 Monday, February 18, 2008 4:05 AM
Looks like the future is finally arriving and was worth waiting for! And I echo Kevin_C, I do a lot of beta testing and re-formats are a way of life and so is time spent in wading thru all those licences etc... can't wait for the beta release!
Burntcrispy
Reply #38 Thursday, February 21, 2008 9:51 AM
[in my best sarcastic voice]

So, is a beta going to be available on Stardock Central for object desktop subscribers?

  
Yarlen
Reply #39 Thursday, February 21, 2008 10:22 AM
  
ZubaZ
Reply #40 Thursday, February 21, 2008 10:38 AM
So, is a beta going to be available on Stardock Central for object desktop subscribers?
Too funny.  As long as it's not pushed to Component Manager 2k8 I'm cool with it.    

Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

  • Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
  • Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
  • Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
  • It's simple, and FREE!



web-wc01