Today we are happy to announce an update to the WindowBlinds 7 Beta.  The WindowBlinds 7 beta is currently available for active subscribers to Object Desktop , and can be downloaded via Stardock’s Impulse. 

New in this update:

1. XP toolbar & animations settings are back in the UI. They are under Settings now
2. On Vista the sidebar skin settings are back in the UI. Also under Settings.
3. Explorer backgrounds tab has been added to the UI. This will show on XP, Vista AND Windows 7.
4. New Textures tab added to the UI.
5. Support for enlarged menus on Vista / 7
6. Some additional skin sections added for Vista / 7 including new shadow sections.
7. The fixes for the start button clipping on multiple monitor Win7 boxes are in this build.
8. The old WB UI has a bigger button for the new UI and says Beta 2 rather than Beta 1.
9. You can drag wallpapers to the large preview area and it will copy them into the wallpapers folder off WB skins as it used to in WB6. Note that its the large preview area and NOT the list itself.

Today is a busy day, so lets get right into this weeks featured theme picks.

	EcoGlass by B2R This CursorFX theme is unique in its design, and that’s why I like it.
	The Captain’s Gadget by theAVMAN This is just slick.  No need for more words, just download it.
	Win7Rayz by Ausvet This is a very cool animated wallpaper.  Bright colors and smooth animation.
	Four cubes by IdetSneg It’s hard to see some of the details in the preview, but this is a very cool wallpaper set.
	First Winter by kenwas The details here are amazing.  Still not sure whether I’m looking at a 3D render or a painted picture.
	Test by Xiandi This is the WindowBlinds theme for the Test series.  Great job!
	Magnetek XP by 2of3 I can always expect a fantastic WB theme from 2of3, and once again I’m not disappointed.

It’s time once again to wrap up this week, and as is customary we will kick the weekend off with another round of Impulse Weekend Buys!  Aside from these specific deals, I would also recommend checking out the newly released on Impulse, Civilization IV series.  Don’t forget to check out Majesty 2 which was just released this week.

Now for the Impulse Weekend Buys!

	Pre-order Tropico 3 for just $32.50 – 10% off
	Scavenger is 50% off - $4.99
	Droplitz is 50% off - $4.99
	Aztaka on sale for $14.95

This is a video I created for the Object Desktop website.  It’s showing how you can take a “normal” Windows desktop and transform it into something much more using the included desktop enhancement components.

Summer is starting to wrap up, although the heat down here isn’t letting up anytime soon it seems.  This summer was a great one for skinning, as it didn’t slow down too much which is usual during this time of year.  I’m also seeing more and more new faces around, so welcome to any new skinners we have!

Now for this weeks picks!

	Santa – Rear View by Mark Snyder I think we have our first Christmas skin for the year!
	Custom Clocks by Richard Mohler The details are just superb, and make a great DX gadget.
	Dark World by CarGuy1 This is just a sweet .dream.  Put it with a dark WindowBlinds theme and it’s perfect.
	Ozone V@ by Snowman Snowman is bringing us some great themes for RightClick, and this is one of my favorites.
	Ming’s Backyard by Gammeldansk I just really like the scene in this wallpaper.  Great job.

A year ago if someone would have told me that Impulse would have become nearly as popular as it has I wouldn’t have believed it.  The growth of digital distribution has been explosive across the board.

Impulse Phase IV, launched today, is a major overhaul for the popular digital distribution platform in more ways than one.

First, there is the client itself.  While some users have requested more visual options (like darker backgrounds and such which are in the works), the big change with the Impulse client is performance.

A year ago, developer Stardock had to have a “fast load” option in order for the pokey client to load at a reasonable level. It did this by having part of itself launch on start-up which was objected to (rightly so) by many users.  Fast-forward a year and Impulse loads quickly and uses very little memory.  Even when web controls are used, the amount of memory used is still far less than many commonly used programs as the screenshot above makes apparent.

In addition, a year ago Impulse’s content included basically Stardock’s plus a handful of indies.  Now, a year later pretty much every major player in the PC game market is on Impulse.  This week EA’s flagship titles go up and most new games arrive on Impulse at the same time as anywhere else with its prices being typically lower and its download speeds being higher than elsewhere.

A year after launch, Impulse now boasts most of the top games at launch day and supports applications and utilities as well.

The original Impulse store was…painful.  The new one allows per category featuring.

The new store catalog is quick to browse

Now, that isn’t to say that Impulse represents perfection.  There are still several things that need to be added in my view to Impulse:

1. For Gamers. Ready to Play needs to get out there as soon as possible.  Users who go to http://readytoplay.stardock.com and sign on for the beta which will start getting out there in the next few days.  However, Stardock does not intend to bundle Ready to Play with the Impulse client at this time in order to keep the base download size of the package as small as possible.

2. Community Features. These remain an area Stardock will need to focus more on if it hopes to see it be more competitive with entrenched players like Steam.  That is, groups, clans, developer support features, third-party support for Achievements, rankings, and match making are all things Impulse needs to improve on.  Still, Phase IV of Impulse sets up a good foundation to get there.

 
Impulse’s Common Virtual Platform (CVP) supports achievements, rankings, and match-making but it isn’t expected to be made available to third-party developers until this Winter. Since it’s .NET based, developers can support it with virtually no code changes to their games. But it’s not out yet for third parties so it’s academic.

3. Catalog. Catalog. Catalog. While Impulse has done a good job in catching up to other players in this space in terms of getting new third-party content, there’s a huge back catalog that Stardock needs to get onto Impulse to make it compelling.

Right now, Impulse’s biggest advantages remain very “bread and butter” (i.e. boring): Stuff on it tends to be cheaper, its download speeds higher, and  you don’t have to have it running to play your game. 

The last part above is going to be a defining feature.  While Impulse tries to componentized itself (with a separate tray application and Ready to Play) other players are increasingly putting more and more into a single ubiquitous client. Both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages and it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Of course, the real winner in all this have been the gamers. Anyone who has purchased a game in one of the “weekend sales” online can attest to the importance of competition.

Stardock is excited to announce the release of the fourth phase of its popular digital download platform, Impulse .

Impulse enables users to quickly purchase, download, install and update any of thousands of available games, applications, and utilities to their machine. Once purchased, the program becomes associated with their account. If a user purchases a new PC or reformats an existing PC, a user can install Impulse, log in with their account and instantly re-download all their programs.

In the year since its initial release, Impulse has garnered widespread support from major game and application publishers. Most new PC games, for example, are now released on Impulse and a growing number of application developers are releasing their titles on Impulse as well.

“The objective of Impulse is to make it so that your software truly belongs to you,” said Brad Wardell, president & CEO of Stardock . “Anyone who has ever dug through boxes of CDs or looked through old emails to find a serial number can recognize the advantages of Impulse.”

In addition, PC gamers will soon be able to make use of a new Impulse feature called “Ready to Play”, a revolutionary new free program that allows users to create instant virtual communities based on profiles in order to quickly get multiplayer games going with like-minded people.

“Imagine Match.com or eHarmony for PC gamers where users enter in their gaming preferences and some profile data and with that data, Ready to Play can recommend other gamers with similar gaming preferences. My idea of what is ‘fun’ in an online game is probably different from that of say a teenager,” said Wardell. “With Ready to Play, now you can quickly get games going with ‘recommended’ friends.”

Ready to Play will go into wide beta as part of the Impulse Phase IV roll-out this week. To learn more about Impulse visit www.impulsedriven.com .

The big and long weekend for Labor Day is coming up in the U.S., and to kick it off we have a huge sale on Impulse.  Grab some games off Impulse, and use this long weekend to get your game on!

Impulse Labor Day Weekend Sale

	Cities XL Limited Edition pre-order - $39.99
	Dawn of Discovery 50% off - $24.99
	Demigod for just $20
	Hearts of Iron Mega Bundle - $59.99
	World of Goo just $9.95
	Sins of a Solar Empire Bundle - $20
	Sword of the Stars: Complete - $24.99
	Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - $19.99
	Flatspace II - $18.95
	Evochron Legends - $18.95
	Aaaaa! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity – 25% off pre-order
	Time of Shadows – 10% off pre-order

You can go directly to the Impulse store and see all the current sales!

Stardock and NVIDIA have announced a special Impulse ‘NVIDIA Edition” which will be specially branded for NVIDIA users.  Gamers will be able to be informed of video card driver updates and install them via Stardock’s Impulse.  Users will also use Impulse to see the latest gaming news and purchase and download PC games straight from Impulse.

"The single biggest issue preventing PC gamers today from having an optimal experience is a failure to update their video card drivers," said Brad Wardell, CEO and president of Stardock. "For many users, updating video drivers has been a complicated and sometimes confusing experience. As PC game developers ourselves, we recognized those concerns and, in partnership with NVIDIA, have taken a step to make the process more accessible."

Full press release can be read here.

Download the Impulse NVIDIA Edition here - http://download.nvidia.com/downloads/nZone/impulse_setup_nvidia.exe

It’s the double-up, jam-packed edition of ILDX! An edition I just made up seeing as how I missed last month’s…

Well, it was a busy month (on and offline), but we’re back—and with some really great picks thanks to the awesome work some authors have been putting out.

Let’s get to them!

Outstanding General Info

INFINITY Ultimate DX Weather by RedneckDude

Who says weather is dead?

This slick widget matches the WB and DX theme of the same name. It features The Weather Channel current and five-day forecast information, and you’ll need to sign up with them to use it. For DX 3.2 or higher, this one has some really nice graphics that goes well with several different styles. It also contracts to reduce its footprint on your desktop.

Star Trek Original clock and date by Maraudeur

I’m not much of a trekkie, but these are some cool looking widgets I can appreciate nonetheless. The zip includes two widgets—clock and date—that are designed to look like the Star Trek navigation consoles. It’s got neat details like buttons that turn the lights on/off, and others that open up Windows calendar or date & time.

It’s something out of the ordinary and can really spruce up your command center.

Most Creative / Original

The Captains Watch by theAVMAN

The AVMAN is always coming up with creative and original DX objects and this one is no exception. I simply love this. Beautiful, you-just-have-to-see-it graphics, and smooth animation. You might not be able to stop opening and closing the thing! If you must have a clock on your desktop, I highly recommend giving this one a try.  

Mood Lighting by BuzzH58

These realistic down lights would make a wonderful addition to any desktop. They look great on most medium to darker walls, adding a warm ambience to the overall feel of your workspace. You can move them around to set them up just right, and they come with an on/off switch.

This and the Captains Watch really exemplify the variety of simple ways you can add more fun to your desktop with DesktopX.

Most Innovative / Resourceful

Weather List by Vad_M

This is mostly for builders. It’s an extensive example on how to use the TreeView, Image List, and ListView activeX controls. If I ever work up enough courage to try something this professional-looking, I know I’ll be taking this widget apart and combing the scripts.

Thanks Vad!

DX Timer by RomanDA

This is a simple application that does exactly what it says. You click the button enter a number of minutes and the timer will beep once time’s up. It shows your start time, end time, and current time. You can get the gadget version - HERE

Resourceful, practical, and useful. Another great example by RomanDA that shows how quickly and easily you can put DX to work for you.

Themes of the Month

Notable DX by Redneckdude

This is a very clever design with a nice color palette and font choices that make the whole theme a delight to use. It feels so…summery and breezy, which I normally wouldn’t associate with post-it notes, but it worked and I loved it.

All the standard goods included, except weather.

Insect Music by Vampothika

For her first DX theme, I’d say Vampothika is off to a roaring good start.  Made to match the WB of the same name (and same author,) this theme includes all the standard goods plus weather. Everything can be hidden out of the way, but really, it looks good on the desktop.

I love the unique, contrasting color scheme and the nice details on the buttons (check out the animation on the play button.) The overall design itself it has a very dark, techno, electronica feel to it.

One thing’s for sure, there ain’t another theme that looks like this one, and I hope we’ll be seeing more DX themes from this author.

Autosave to the Rescue!

Have you ever been so caught up in a DX project that you forgot to save? Not only did you spend hours working on it and forget to save, but DX suddenly crashed and you Lost. Friggin! EVERYTHING!

Hate when that happens. If you do, too, this trick might be for you.

We are going to create an autosave object to run while you’re working. You’ll have the object remember to save your theme at intervals, so you don’t have to.

First create an object.

Open its properties and go to the General tab. Click Change object type. In the drop down, choose DesktopX. In the second drop down to appear, choose Save Desktop and then click OK.

Now, whenever you click on the object it will save your desktop. But there’s nothing automatic about that, so we’ll create a script to Execute the Command on a timer.

Still in the General tab, click on New to create a new script.

Copy and paste the script below:

'Called when the script is executed

Sub Object_OnScriptEnter

            Object.SetTimer 1,600000 '10-minute timer

End Sub

Sub Object_OnTimer1

            Object.ExecuteCommand

End Sub

In the script above, I set a ten-minute timer (1000 = 1 second, 60000 = 1 minute, etc) You can adjust this to your liking.

Close the DesktopX Script Editor and apply properties.  Presto, bingo, nothing to it!

As you know, DX pops up an information box every time you’ve successfully saved your desktop, so you will have to clear that each time. I would not recommend setting the timer to a frequent interval, or leaving this object running unattended—you’d either end up with a frequently nagging info box, or a screen full of unclosed info boxes.

When you’re done, add a snazzy image and export it, so you can quickly import it into whatever project you’re working on.

Thanks for reading. Until next month, Happy DXing!