Where are the good looking "dreams"

This is just a preview.....Why would they give us the best they've got before their product is even finished? I'm sure there are some creative people out there who will make some amazing dreams within a week from now, just be patient.

Good point, Evil... I'm definitely looking forward to the full release!

The reason is that we didn't want to lead with the absolute best stuff and then have the quality seem to "dip off".

We have a lot of content to send out and we want people to keep coming back to see what's new.

can't wait!...

I would like to see some aquarium dreams.
I would like also to see the ability to make all icons and gadgets on the desktop disappear as a screensaver. The dreamscene file would become the screensaver.
Dream King

Man this is SO cool! Awesome job Stardock! I like the Nebula one, but I want the sunset one they show in the walk through thingy. One question is Dream paused when you run a full screen game?

MuahMan - I'm actually not sure. I play games without noticing any difference so it's hard to say.

To MuahMan's question. Yes it does, if you have a "crappy" enough computer, you will see dreamscene actually shut off right before it hits into the fullscreen game. I only experienced this once, but I know that it will to save CPU for the program that your running.

i'm loving vista! why are apple owners so bitter? they are always calling me pointing out the new pc vs mac commercials....(60% of my coworkers own mac) but most programs they see me with they don't have for mac!!

I'm going to try that for my next project at work, "hey boss, I didn't want to lead with my absolute best stuff and then have the quality seem to "dip off"."

The best way to make sure people aren't interested is to lead off weak, it doesn't make me want to come back, it tells me to go elsewhere. However since there is only one place to get these I'm a captive audience that you know will come back.

If MS could show this off at CES with low CPU, why is it so hard to have the preview do the same? The xcuse that it's preview doesn't wash, they knew they had to release this right, half baked doesn't cut it when they could show it off working properly.

The MAC commercials work great for the 3% who own them, but it doesn't make anybody buy a MAC. Maybe if they actually did a commercial showing the Mac and it's capabilities the market share might rise, instead they choose to slam the PC, something they have become.

For years they bragged about being the fastest, they weren't, having to switch to Intel proved that. The claim nobody gets a virus on them, well damn, who is going to write a worm or virus that might affect such a small percentage of the market when they can write one that could affect a high percentage? Simple math and there is plenty of security holes in both the Mac OS and others.

Mac users slay me but hey, Steve Jobs says the Mac is better so it must be...

Realy nice job guys! Just PLEASE make a 64bit installer...

Oh, I'm sorry, you can get your money back then...

The stuff up there isn't bad stuff, it's pretty good. Sylock is pretty good I think.  But there is better stuff coming.

As for CPU use - if you have a good computer with decent video drivers then this stuff uses a trivial amount of CPU.  If you have a crappy computer or a crappy video card/drivers then it will use a lot.

 

Yeah my system scores a 5.4 ( lowest is dual core opty ) on the WEI and i find that running 'dreams' is not noticeable at all unless i sit glued to some performance graphs

Thanks for all the free stuff and long may it continue

Get my money back, you lead in with you don't want to lead off with the absolute best stuff because the quality might seem to dip off later, I call you out on that weak statement because nobody could do that at their job and you reply with get your money back? At most any job people are supposed to show their best out front for example, a person trying out for American Idol, she steps up and says, now, I'm going to sing for you, but not my absolute best because my next song might sound like it's a bit off they would laugh her off the stage.

When you have a product that nobody else has, you can lead off the way you did, I just think it's weak to do so. Now you can take offense to my opinion or take it as its meant which is constructive criticism.

I agree that the stuff is good, and I really like the new Windows Vista logo based one. However Microsoft claimed VERY LOW CPU USAGE and no discernable hit on battery life so don’t tell me what’s trivial, laptop users expect to use this so 20%+ usage is not trivial to their battery. I’m not talking about a weak laptop either, 2.16ghz Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs of memory and a 512meg GO 7800GTX video card, so if it sees cpu usage in that range I can only imagine what others are seeing, a quick look to the high CPU thread might be in order, head over and tell them all to upgrade.

I don’t worry about CPU usage being 10 to 20% on my monster machine at home, but on my laptop, you bet. So how about you AND Microsoft do the work that was promised and keep CPU lower than the current offering does so we can use this like we were told we’d be able to, with no hit on our battery life.

I found some great hd vids at http://www.ipfreaks.com

I certainly didn't find your criticism constructive. Your analogy was that you would "try that strategy with your boss."

We're giving this stuff away for free. Not just the software and the content but the TERRABYTES of bandwidth. And the quality of what is up there is good.

And no, leading off with your absolute best stuff is not generally a good idea. Certainly not in marketing. It's called "peaking too early". 

Better to lead off with good stuff and then follow-up with even better stuff.

We agree to disagree then. As for free, to me, paying as much as I did for the Ultimate version of Vista meant I paid for this part of it too.

Now, tell me Stardock is doing this free and someone isn't being paid for their work... no wait, there is a contract with Microsoft oh yeah, thats right Stardock is getting paid.

In the end, no matter what Dreamscene is cool, it may not be the low cpu usage low battery usage add on Microsoft claimed it would be but it is cool. I'm looking forward to the trigger based stuff, that looks to be cool as well

Straight from the horses mouth "The fine print: We want to repeat that the final release is still to come. In Windows Update, this pre-release version is called Windows DreamScene Preview to highlight that this is not the final release. This release may not be appropriate for all users. Certainly (as with any unfinished software!) you should install this only on computers meant for testing. Neither this website nor Microsoft will provide support for this test version; support will be provided in the future for the final version. If you are not comfortable with these conditions, we encourage you to wait for our final release of this exciting Extra. We’ll let you know when it’s ready!"

Viking, if you lost interest because they didn't release all their content at once, then leave. But stop making ignorant remarks comparing you working for your boss (which you're required to do) and the tactics of a successful company/business.

You also say "Boo hoo, I paid so much for Vista Ultimate that I should get this now!"
Quit whining like a little bitch. Ultimate owners are the ones who will get this in updates. And unless you have some useful input, stop typing and making a fool of yourself.

On another note, I'm really looking forward to the sunset dream, a waterfall & running water dream, and some planet and space dreams.

Well said Venom, some people are never happy and they seem to think the rest of the world owes them something

There's a big difference between deliverables at your job, and how you release content to the public.  When releasing content such as these Dreams, we want to maintain people's interest over the long term.  If we put out all of the absolutely killer stuff right now, people would snatch it up, then leave and likely not return.  If people don't return, chances are they'll miss other great content down the line.  It's called pacing and build-up.  We start with a taste, something to get people going and interested and as time goes we build and build.

How would you feel if your weekly TV show packed all of it's killer stuff into the first 3 or 4 episodes, and the rest just fell off?  The led off with their best stuff but didn't follow-through.  Normally they hook you with something really good at the start, but the big punch is usually saved for the season ender, which they build up to for weeks.  Also, every week they usually leave you with some reason to come back (more, better content). 

ZOOMBA- Very well said.

Actually, no. Stardock was paid to create the content that is part of Windows DreamScene - the download. That content hasn't been released and will be part of the Ultimate Extras.  But that has nothing to do with Dream.WinCustomize.com or the content Stardock has provided.

 

Sorry, but I needed to put my two cents in... And, don't get me wrong, I am pleased as punch that you are providing this product free of charge... So, let me start off with a hardy THANKS!!!

I understand what you are saying about the holding of customers interests. That makes perfect sense. But if you come out and say, "I have really cool stuff, but you can't have it until I am satisfied that you have spent enough time on our website" then that really just sounds insulting to the customer. Also by saying "We don't want to give you our best stuff yet, cause then everything else that follows will pale in comparison" then you are implying that what you have is the best that will ever come out for this product. I find that hard to believe. If you put the best stuff out there then it will motivate people to try and create some better stuff.

Again, let me reiterate, I am not complaining. Thanks for listening.

My commentary regarding leading with your weak/ or not best stuff I feel is valid, I never said they should release all of their content up front. I feel even now that you lead with something that nails it, the high cpu usage battery sucking dreams that came out initially in my view were a poor effort. This is my opinion and I'm allowed it, that doesn't mean I won't use the product when it starts to meet the goals as outlined by Microsoft and that is, low CPU usage and little or no affect on battery life.

As for my comments about working for my boss, who do you think Stardocks boss is, US so the analogy is valid but by no means to I feel you have to feel that way and I don’t feel anybody else has to, but I do so like it or don’t.

Where did I say boo hoo I paid for this so I should get this now??? I never said that, I was told this is all free, I stated that I paid for Vista Ultimate which includes Dreamscene so I did indeed pay for it since it’s only valid for people who bought Ultimate. I also stated that Microsoft contracted Stardock, nobody does anything in business for free.

I feel my input is useful, perhaps if you had some kind of capability to comprehend what people write you’d understand better and not take what I have said so far out of context. As for making a fool of oneself good job at doing such a nice job yourself.

As for your last note, I too am looking forward to trigger based dreams like the sunset and waterfall dreams.