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You say that WoW is DRM free but it has just as much DRM as Spore, even more so really, because your account is authenticated every time you log in. For those of you that complain about Spores DRM; any MMO Sends much more info to the publisher than Spore ever will. Yes I know that they have to connect to the servers because of the nature of the game but never the less they are connecting. Also, people are so concerned with the "What if there activation servers go down" what do you think will happen should WoW's servers go down (not that they will any time soon.)

To answer the OP's question. Any games from Stardock are DRM free such as Sins of a Solar Empire, Or Galactic Civilizations II.

You should also check out this, it made me want to run out and buy more of there games just because of the way they do business.

Sins of a Solar Empire is also completely free of DRM.

It scored pretty much 9/10 in every review.

Sins of a Solar Empire is a science fiction real-time strategy computer game developed by Ironclad Games for Windows XP and Vista and published by Stardock Entertainment in February 2008.[1] Sins is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that incorporates some elements from 4X strategy games; promotional materials describe it as "RT4X."[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sins_of_a_Solar_Empire

Stardock Entertainment are also responsibile for the proposed "Gamers Bill of rights"

The Gamer's Bill of Rights:

Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.
Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.
Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.
Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will play adequately on that computer.
Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won't install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their consent.
Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.
Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet every time they wish to play.
Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.

http://www.stardock.com/about/newsitem.asp?id=1095

Not locking your customers into proprietary software just to update their game.

Oh wait.

Wait, where do those updates come from? Are you saying te updates themselves are not proprietary?

Because if you want proprietary updates for proprietary software, just what exactly is the problem here?

The policy in question:

Please note that most Stardock programs have demo versions available for preview prior to buying... full refunds will not be issued for functional software that doesnâ(TM)t live up to your expectations.

Makes sense, doesn't it? And it fits that bill of rights -- that's specifically about games that don't work with your computer.

We do not give refunds on beta software.

Kind of a "duh" moment there.

We do not give full or partial refunds for any subscription renewals.

Might help if they allowed it for a single renewal, but consider the asshat who subscribes for a year, then it stops working, or he wants to stop playing -- so he tries to get his entire year's subscription payments back.

If you are not willing to work with technical support on any problems you are having, or request a refund even if you are not having problems using the software, we will issue a partial refund only.

Also makes sense, given that the refund is for actual problems, not just because you didn't like it. You'll find similar conditions with just about any warranty.

And consider that there really aren't any other publishers offering any kind of return policy. You'd think Steam could afford that -- just disable the game on that account, then you know they're actually no longer playing it.

Note also that there's no limit on it. I've bought laptops with no more than a few months to a year warranty -- that's on a multi-thousand-dollar purchase. So if I can swallow a purchase of thousands of dollars that I might not be able to return, I think I can manage the same for a purchase of, oh, $50 that I might not be able to return.

But in either case, it helps to know that if it's completely DOA, I can return it.

the OS/2 community I somehow never really understood.

They're not that different from fans of BeOS, Amiga OS, or a dozen other platforms that never reached critical mass, despite their many virtues. For that matter, your see the same stubborn refusal to see economic sense from Mac and Linux fans when they complain about publishers not supporting their platforms.

Brad Wardell has this really insightful take on what it's like to be an OS/2 fanatic, and how his fellow fanatics turned on him when he started hedging his bets.

http://www.stardock.com/stardock/articles/article_sdos2.html

Not locking your customers into proprietary software just to update their game.

Oh wait.

FWIW, Democracy 2 and Rock Legend are now on impulse:
https://store.stardock.com/application/kudosrl
https://store.stardock.com/product.aspx?productid=ESD-IMP-W025

FWIW, Democracy 2 and Rock Legend are now on impulse:
https://store.stardock.com/application/kudosrl
https://store.stardock.com/product.aspx?productid=ESD-IMP-W025

Their support forums seem to suggest otherwise.

Coz Google is SOOO hard to use.. here you go

That's not what they usually do. That's not what happened with GalCiv2. So maybe the activation has not been enabled yet (they keep it for a further update of the game) or they no more plan to use it.
In a the GalCiv2 era, people who played the game on an offline laptop and who patched the game (by transferring the update with a USB thumb drive) were nagged with a "please activate to play" screen. Stardock as an automated system through email for these situations (you copy paste a bunch of code -obviously through another PC- and they reply with a licence file for your offline machine).
Here are some sources about Stardock and activation: here and here.

Erm... I hate to tell you this. The Stardock games all "have no copy protection" for the V1.0, but as soon as you install an update, it asks you for the key, and then it does product activation, much like BioShock and Mass Effect.

The Stardock product activation is much nicer than BioShock or ME; instead of a hard install limit, the install limit is rate based. In other words, you're only allowed [unspecified number] of installs per [unspecified time period]. There's also none of the "can't be running any debugging tools" nonsense that SecuROM comes with.

The "unspecified"s in there make me a bit uncomfortable, but it's a bit better than SecuROM.

Seriously. They are a company that seems to think that copy protection isn't necessary to make money. Their Impulse program is like Steam without the suck. No DRM, no encryption, etc. Mostly older titles and indy stuff they sell, but there are some real gems in there. Sins of a Solar Empire is a current retail game and is just great. Think Homeworld crossed with Master of Orion. Well worth the money. Heck, you can even buy it retail and then register the serial, and Impulse will happily install it if you lose your disk. Depths of Peril is also great. Graphics are a bit dated but the game is top notch.

At any rate if you want games without the bullshit, and what to support a publisher who believes in that, well then these are your people. I've been real happy so far (I own 8 games from their library). If you see a game you like, I encourage you to buy it through them. The more people that support the model, the more developers that'll realise it's a good idea and release games on it.

http://totalgaming.stardock.com/

I share your dislike for the Fisher-Price trend, but I am sure you can *fix* it in any Linux distro by tweaking the setup. But I am guessing it isn't as easy on Windows for most people, especially Vista. Unfortunately I am stuck with Vista, and have had to find a way, and I found a solution with LiteStep and Windowblinds (shareware, but there are alternatives). I kill DWM so it never runs, and use WindowBlinds to replace the oversized window borders with something tolerable.

LiteStep replaces the Windows shell, and I have 4 virtual desktops that I can switch using ALT+1/2/3/4. I have Win+Tab switch to the last desktop, and only applications on each desktop appear in the taskbar and ALT+Tab. Clutter is gone, apps are placed nicely in their designated area, and switching to and fro has never been faster or easier. The WIN key calls the minimalist LiteStep menu, as does clicking the desktop.

Unfortunately it took me a lot of work to get all this in place (this setup is not out-of-the-box), and LiteStep is hard to grasp if you are not used to text files (ala dot files). But the fact that I was able to turn Vista into something I feel is both "cool" and "utilitarian" is quite amazing. The best thing about LiteStep is that it is highly customizable.

If you are stuck using Windows but want to get as far away from it as possible, LiteStep is definitely worth a look :)

All of the Stardock games have had this for awhile. Galatic Civilizations II was awesome, and apparently the new Sins of a Solar Empire is awesome too. It's nice to not be treated like a criminal.

They just released IronClad's Sins of a Solar Empire. www.sinsofasolarempire.com If you don't know what this game is, I can't tell you without referencing 3 or 4 other games. It's more than a cross-over, and it's very well done. (As worthy to be on the list as Portal.)

However, if you look at Stardock as a publisher they deserve the spot even more. If you remember the big stink between StarForce and Stardock back when Galactic Civilizations was released. They continue their style of "don't screw the people who actually pay you."

Also, while there are only a few triple-A titles on Stardock Central, their scheme of 'digital download' + 'mail you a box for shipping costs' is much more palatable to me than Valve's Steam service where you are forced to make your own hardcopies from their backup files. It also get nicely out of the way once you've installed the game vs Valve's ubiquitous TSR style.

http://www.stardock.com/

(they mainly do desktop customization and other utilities, but they have an extensive selection of budget games and a few large titles.)

In the eighties it would have. Now, I'm not so sure. It's amazing how many people don't want to mess with warranty service these days

The Skin

The program.

Its a pay program though, but ya know.

It's frickin' 2007, can't we get a decent OS already?

Read my other reply where I said that most of the UAC prompts I see are for legitimate admin usage. What would you recommend? Going back to the XP and older model of always running users as admins? What do Linux and OS X do when you want to do some admin work? Oh, that's right, they prompt you. The only difference is that Vista doesn't make you put in a password, thought it can be configured to do so (see Stardock's new TweakVista tool, if you don't want to go registry diving yourself).

I dunno, http://www.stardock.com/ http://www.galciv.com/ seems to be doing all right over the decades without Digital Rectal Manacles or rootkit copy protection that the MAFIAA asstunnels insist are needed.

From microsofts own webiste.
List of know applications that service pack 2 broke
Untest updates are always bad for business.

OL Toolbar 1.13.2 AOL 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.aol.com/ The Information Bar blocks access to the tool's edit boxes.
PhotoShop CS 8.0 Adobe 64-bit (NX) http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html Program installs, but will not start.
BlackICE 3.6 crj Internet Security Systems 64-bit (NX) http://www.iss.net/ When you use this program, you may receive a Stop error that causes the program to quit.
BootSkin All Stardock 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.stardock.com/ When you restart your computer during the Windows XP SP2 Setup program, a Stop error occurs. For more information, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5Bln%5D;873159.
Command Antivirus 4.9 Authentium 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.authentium.com/ This program does not start.
Encyclopedia Britannica 2000 Deluxe 1 Encyclopedia Britannica 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.britannica.com/ Java rendering does not function after you install this program.
eTrust EZ Armor 1 Computer Associates 64-bit (NX) http://www.ca.com/ The EZ Firewall part of this program generates a Stop error during installation.
Freedom Force 1 Electronic Arts 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.ea.com/ When you start the program, a message appears that points you to the following EA Web site: http://techsupport.ea.com./
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (German) 4.5 and 5.0 Kaspersky Labs 64-bit (NX) http://www.kaspersky.com/ Real-Time scanning does not work in version 4.5 or 5.0. The vendor's Web site has available product updates that are designed to address this issue.
Live Motion 1 Adobe 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.adobe.com/ This program displays various errors that prevent typical operation.
MapSend DirectRoute 1.0 Magellan 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.magellangps.com/ When you start the program, a message appears that points you to the following Web site: http://www.magellangps.com/en/support.
MPEGcraft DVD All Canopus 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) When you try to save an MPEG file, you receive a "Failed to Edit" error, and the file cannot be saved.
NBA LIVE 2000 1 Electronic Arts 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.ea.com/ This program does not start in certain systems.
NOD32 for Microsoft Windows 2.000.11 Eset 64-bit (NX) http://www.eset.com/ When this program is started on an AMD64-based computer, all network connectivity is lost. To resolve this issue, upgrade to NOD32 version 2.12.2 or higher.
Norman Personal Firewall 1.4 Norman 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.norman.com/ Norman Personal Firewall Assistant will not start.
Norman Personal Firewall 1.4 Norman 64-bit (NX) After this program installs and restarts, the desktop does not load correctly
Norton AntiVirus 2003 Symantec 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.symantec.com/ At system startup, Scheduled Tasks in Norton AntiVir

(since back in the days when the Reality Distortion Field convinced people, myself included, that they only needed 2 colors)

Some things never change. For instance, in Tiger you can have any desktop color scheme you like, so long as it's graphite or blue. About the only thing you can customize is the background image.

I've learned that they both have their flaws and any reasonable person is perfectly capable of hating them both equally

Exactly. For this specific issue, Windows does allow much more customization of the look and feel, but even that has its limits. If you want more, both Windows and OS X require $20 third-party programs to load custom themes. In other words, they BOTH suck.

"Technical limitations of Windows ensure Safari looks shittier even than most other PC applications."

As long as they're insistent using that late-80s brushed steel effect it's going to look like arse whatever. I run Windowblinds, so if they'd just relax and use the normal widgets it would automatically look awesome for me.

I think the first update was "Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". There was also a "digitally remastered version". The latest is Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever, which looks like it has some cards thing going on in it.
I think Faery Tale Adventure was great for the huge world that streamed in seamlessly off the disk. Admittedly the world was fairly sparse but at the time there was nothing else like it. It also had some pretty good music. Getting the turtle and later the golden swan to ride was sweet!

My recommendation:

Stick with the woman you're already married to and buy her a new dress. = Buy Windowblinds (http://www.stardock.com/), and keep your XP.

Stardock's been doing this for years - and with much much much lower hardware requirements that Vista's Aero requires. http://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/

Bah... it doesn't have to be that expensive. I've plugged them before here and I'll plug them again because I think that the company is amazing: Stardock. They're a tiny, independent developer/publisher about 30 minutes from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their most notable game is Galactic Civilizations 2, which includes 3D modeling, professional music score and sound effects, an insane amount of detail, excellent replayability, challenging AI, and very balanced gameplay. When I think "independent game developer", lame little Flash-based games are what come to mind. However GalCiv2 *fully* competes with anything EA has ever put out. Stardock also has a very "pro-customer" stance on copy protection too.

There are quite a few virtual desktop programs for windows. The quickest, least buggy one I have come across comes from Stardock. I get it my Stardock subcription so I'm not sure if they charge for it separately or not. It does it's job well either way.

I had this same problem; a no-name window would appear in my task bar every few minutes and then disappear immediately. I used a tool by Stardock called SecureProcess (a part of their ThinkDesk suite) to find out what it was. The tool can be used to stop processes from starting until you give them permission.

In my case, it turns out the mystery window was software that came with my HP printer. I might be wrong, but I think it was HPCMPMGR.EXE (this was several months ago, however, so my recollection might be off.)

I guess you missed #1.
Let me reiterate: the latest patch is freely downloadable. If you haven't activated GalCiv2 before (you have no sig.bin file in your GC2 directory), you will have to do it. Once. After you do it, no further patches will require activation.
As for SDC, no reason not to trust it. All purchases are handled through the web site, the program itself is not aware of any credit card or other sensitive information.

The parent post might well be flamebait, and this one (my response) might be just as much, but I think the parent needs an answer...

Sorry if you thought I was picking a fight, but I do believe my post gave a "to each their own" message that I prefer hardware in a PC while others prefer the software that comes with Macs - and that since I dont care about the software since I would never use it, there's no reason for me to buy it...

So, get a high end workstation...

That was my point and the point of a lot of other people - you dont buy a Mac for the hardware. Which is why for anything that I would consider decent hardware I would have to pay out the ass for - if there's cheaper hardware at the same performance level and reliability, I'll go with the cheaper one. And so, since Mac hardware is more expensive and the OS meant to run on it isn't as compatible as could be with the games I want, I'll stick with PCs

I think you also completely ignored the part where I said

However, I gotta say, the only thing that has me thinking of switching to Mac is when I took a look at Vista about a month ago - theres no other way to describe it other than I hated pretty much everything about it (I'm sacrificing how much of my CPU or GPU for those half assed transparent windows??? I think not...)

You claim that Apple haters can't come up with or ignore facts

It's funny, because the Mac fanbois at least hate Windows because it sucks and they can give reasons. Apple haters just seem to hate Apple and the logic is missing.

when you yourself can't seem to show me any facts. I know the answers should be obvious (malware, viruses, shitty default UI, etc, etc) but what about the faults in Mac such as the sheer amount of software incompatible, just how open to attacks is OSX? Security through obscurity is not something I favor (wasn't there a Slashdot article a while back about how Mac succumbed to one of the oldest tricks in the book - a Unix executable with the extension .jpg added?), what if I get tired of "Brushed Metal" or the other few themes it supports? At least with Windows I can install Stardock Window Blinds and use an extensive library of user created skins (and the ones the company themselves makes - hell, theres even an OSX skin).

I should probably stop now before I say something I really shouldn't and end up with nothing but pure flamebait (that is, if I haven't already)...

>It took a considerably smaller investment to develop Galactic Civilizations II in comparison to big budget titles like Half Life 2.
>In my personal opinion, I believe the creators of GalCiv II simply did not want to spend money on copy protection.

That may seem like a very decent opinion until more research is done. The creators of GalCivII have gone on record as stating they do not believe DRM creates sales. An older game they released had the DRM added, without their knowledge, by the publisher they were using. Because of this they decided to publish themselves to prevent that from happening again. The company runs a gaming distribution at http://totalgaming.stardock.com/ with the obvious slogan "no boxes, no waiting, no DRM, your game, your way - anytime, anywhere". Not only do they purposeful not include DRM, that game I mentioned above is available without the added DRM from the other publisher. I believe there is at least one game, from another company, that has DRM if purchased in the store. It does not have it when purchased from totalgaming. The demo accidentally had DRM still in it. Stardock removed the demo, apologised, and persuaded the makers to provided a non DRM demo. As you can see, this stance isn't because they don't wish to spend money. It is because they wish to make money. They are a really decent company all around.

I have had several workspaces on both OS/2 and Windows 3.1 through the use of my Compaq Presario software while I was still using my trusty 486DX4/90Mhz. IF we're talking virtual desktops here ofcourse. So your argument isn't true; some companies innovated and introduced it on Windows where this feature never seems to have catched on.

On OS/2 I've been using Object Desktop which also provided this functionality, even to a bigger degree where I could (in the 'desktop commander') simply drag and drop programs from one desktop to another. Just look at the snapshots on the website. At this time both KDE and Gnome didn't even exist yet! Sorry but your comment is bollocks.

Unless you count the new start menu

How is this fundamental? Stardock's WindowBlinds has been offering the ability to create a custom start-menu for years.

the "everybody's a user" security model,

Microsoft had the ability to implement this in Windows XP. They've supported Limited User Accounts since Windows 2000. Its a change in default user settings, not an earthshaking new security model.

the sidebar

Does Google Desktop ring a bell? How about ObjectDock?

the bundle of included apps

Oh, you mean new skins for Minesweeper, Wordpad, and Solitaire? Or do you mean 3-d chess? Last I heard they weren't even including a basic office suite. For a 7-gig disc, I expect more.

Face it, Vista includes little that's especially new, even for Microsoft.

Steam's offerings are growing. Aside from the normal Valve software you can purchase games like Dangerous Waters, Darwinia and Space Empires IV.
Direct 2 Drive has a much larger selection of games including recent full blown titles like Hitman Blood Money and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. I'm not exactly sure why people would pay for games this way as the price is the same as a store bought one.
Stardock's Totalgaming.net offers full games for purchase, including Galactic Civilizations 2. While a number of the games are smaller, indie releases, there are some older titles from large publishers.
Direct distribution may be in it's infancy and mostly focused on smaller or independant games, but there are definately some companies on the PC side trying to make it work.

How about this for a unique concept: Value your customers as much as you value their money. Stardock is a tiny software company based out of Plymouth, MI (a small city a bit north of Ann Arbor, not really known for anything). They were recently lauded in Computer Gaming World for not adding a copy protection scheme to their latest game Galactic Civilizations 2. One of their developers took the time to explain their reasoning for doing so. They are also highly involved with their user community and are constantly asking for feedback.

On a related note, if a) you think of independent games are limited to puzzle games and side scrollers or b) dig games like Sid Meier's Civ series, you owe it to yourself to checkout the demo for Galatic Civilizations 2. To be honest, the main reason I downloaded it is because Plymouth is about 20 minutes away from where I live and wanted to check out what the local talent has to offer. I was blown away with the quality of the game. Everything from the game balance, to the graphics and even the musical score. It really makes me wonder why it takes millions of dollars to get most games on the shelves nowadays.

Sounds like you're talking about Multiplicity, although unfortunately it is Windows-only. Does everything else you want, though, and it's really well implemented.

Thanks for the reply :) A couple responses to your thoughts:

1 - I have been running my own small business for almost a year now. Granted, it is not full-time yet but it is doing very well.

2 - Well, there is "luck" and then there is "networking and research". The latter can hook you up with some nice easy jobs that have a lot of value to the right clients. Also, you do not need capital to make a game. You do need TIME and TALENT. Sometimes you need FRIENDS. But you do not particularly need capital (unless you're doing it full time without a proper cushion or business plan...)

3 - "only invest the time and capital in the title that you think you can recoup". Excellent point!

4 - As I addressed in #2, there ARE "other sources of income". Lots of companies need games now, especially the advertising and cell phone industries. There are a lot of one-man operations out there that are handling their needs in a very professional way, and in a way that leaves them time to pursue other hobbies or their own independent projects.

5 - Do YOU know how EA got big? Their first 8 or 10 games were the most original, eye-popping jaw-dropping titles to hit the game scene since frikkin Space Invaders. They invented the sports franchise. They invented pro athlete tie-in. Do any of these games ring a bell?

Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One
Pinball Construction Set
MULE
Archon: The Light and the Dark
Hard Hat Mack
Music Construction Set
Boulder Dash

All in their first TWO YEARS. THAT'S how they got big. They got enormous (and very, very crappy) by putting a sales exec in charge instead of a developer...but that's another story. EA was the king of innovation; that's how they got their name, that's how they got their sales.

6 - I never said that kids would go buy educational games. You make the same false assumption that the author does; that NOBODY wants educational games, because EB doesn't sell them. You guys need to understand that there is a market for games that does not involve hardcore PC users or teens at EB/Gamestop. Who do you think bought all those hundreds of thousands of copies of Oregon Trail? Kids? Or school boards?

Finally, there are working examples of game studios making creative, quality products by subsisting on less exciting development projects, http://www.stardock.com/ does an awesome job!

Productivity
- Dirkey - Free small utility that enables you to place invisible bookmarks on folders and go back to these bookmarked folders with shortcut key. It runs on startup and can be set to be invisible in your system tray. Works in Explorer and also Open/Save dialogue windows.
- ObjectDock - Free OSX-style dock for your PC!
- Windows Blinds - Skin your OS
- MS Alt-tab Powertoy - Alt-tab across open applications with an thumbnail preview of the open application.

Graphics
- Paint.Net - Free image editing program

Utilities (spam, anti-virus, FTP etc)
- Avast Antivirus - Free and better than AVG

ObjectDock . Gives that mac feel to new Mac to Windows users. Yes I know this may not fit in as "useful" per se but the first thing mac users will be missing by moving to Windows is the prettier look and feel which I think ObjectDock can provide. A Familiar face is usualy good. But configuring the software and looking for pretty icons can be a bitch.

If you're willing to hack around a bit, these guys can probably help you with getting a real OS on there.

http://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/
There you go

But it only takes ONE good, profitable hit without those measures to turn the industry. Where is it?

It's here

Stardock released Galactic Civilizations with no copy protection and no requirement to have a cd in the drive. It was a definite success and sold (I've heard) over 100,000 copies.

Galatic Civilizations 2 which has just been released also has no copy protection and that is used as a selling point. Updates are available via Stardocks website if you have a valid copy.

It shouldn't be a matter of how many people copy the game illegally but how many people download it instead of buying the game. It seems enough people are willing to pay for Stardock's products for them to be successful and with none of the expenditure or backlash of slapping on the latest copy protection malware.

No "Digital Rights Management" type scheme. Once you download it, it's yours to put on any computer you own.

We've been doing this over at Stardock since 1998, and 2001 for games. GalCiv II betas have been going out via digital distribution for half a year now. And we've been partnering with independant groups since . . . what, 2003? Remember Gish? Uplink? Frontline Command? We got 'em.

i was just going to say that stardock makes galactic civilizations, which is awesome. i pirated it at first, but i liked it so much that i bought it.

and i had no idea they had so many other products

yay to them.

Vista User Interface Guidelines states that...

"#2 Use the built in controls instead of designing your own"

"#3 Don't try to mess with the non-client area (the frame of the window)."

http://tgnforums.stardock.com/?ForumID=262&AID=862 57

D'OH!

Probably for the same reason WindowBlinds exists. Some people like flashy desktops with fancy borders and other cool (if not 'functional') enhancements.

It's the old argument of style over function, I personally liked WindowBlinds but not enough to take the preformance hit and some of the hastles of configuring it. Perhaps Vista, being created by microsoft, won't be quite as subject to those limitations. If it's free (or 'free-able') I'll certanly take a gander at it.

But only if I can uninstall it!!

Yeah, ok. You can already make Windows look like OS X, not need for an MS add on. Article about people with XP trying to make it like OS X. And Stardock

Do these make XP into OS X? NO! There is so much more beyond the user interface that XP or Windows can't duplicate, especiallly security. Have fun with your AERO interface, I'm talking full OS here.