Stardock Reviews 325

Some settings still don't work.

a great program, a little buggy with my fences program but i still like it alot

The quality and their imagination.

Their software nearly broke my whole system, so I uninstalled it. Can't believe I actually paid money for software of this standard. I am still trying to get a refund, and they are making it horribly difficult.

The program can be very buggy and the themes sometimes constrict or block any taskbar items.

Perfect, seamless backgrounds - easy to install - fun to use - light loading

The backgrounds, particularly some of the animated ones, offer a pleasant backdrop an occasional visual distraction.

Seamless animated backgrounds.
I've used Stardock software for going on ten years now. All have been very reliable UI customization, no crashes ever, & clean organization on the desktop. Deskscapes is just fun.
Oh & hardly any processor consumption.

I've been using this product for quite a while and like it. I went to refer a client to use this product with nothing but problems. From paying for it up front, (cc software wouldn't work properly) to the product losing icons to and my favorite, calling for tech support and being unable to speak to a human about the problem. How infuriating is that to have the software malfunction and not be able to speak to a human. I've stopped recommending the product to my clients.

Easy to install, good quality animations

It is a welcome improvement over the previous iteration. I have come to enjoy this particular utility and am happy that Stardock is continuing to support this app. Well done!

I've had Fences for years now and I'm only now taking the time to say... Way to make a desktop organization tool that can't remember where anything was, or what size I had it, the moment a monitor plugs in or out.

It's like you set out to solve a problem so many people have... And then you didn't. You just... didn't solve that problem. At all.

Like the stock Windows desktop - as bad as it is - is at least easier to put everything back where it started after it all gets moved around. Fences is just opting into an extra 5 minutes of work everytime the total desktop size changes. Because the team at Stardock couldn't figure out how to store [x,y,width,height], without bodging the job.

Truly miserable. Amazing level of incompetence. Couldn't have thought it possible. Oh, oh, oh! Should I buy the same product again, with a different number after it... In the hopes THAT ONE will work? We pay for bug fixes indefinitely?

Great business model guys. I will now spend 2 hours in Python and do what you couldn't. Holy hell.

They are a great technology company with focus on usability and features.

DESKSCAPES is a lovely wallpaper program, that plays videos and photos as desktop backgrounds, you can download new images or photos everyday, you can sort and play in playlists, and several other goodies. One star less because recently it is dominated with AI/fanatsy images, and I don't like these.

I've used windowblinds for years. The new products are a little bit confusing, and it seeems that in some of my machines they misbehave on windows 11.
Specially in old machines that are forced to install windows 11.
The options of showing or hiding incompatible products also fail on these machines and in M1/M2 MacBooks with windows running via Parallels.

I did not give permission for the app to popup an anxiety inducing notification. I love this app, but the notification was offensive and unacceptable asking me to rate it.

If your free trial runs out, it doesn't just stop letting you use the program- it bricks part of your PC! Attempting to purchase as they want you to do will lead you through an exhausting set of hoops, and when you open a support ticket, customer service will blame YOU and accuse you of fraudulent activity!! Reaching out on their forums results in an answer in broken English with contradictory isntructions- saying first to submit another ticket, then to NOT submit another ticket, as it will push them both to the back of the queue. When asking for further details from this "customer support," a moderator of the forum passive-aggressively attacked me. I will NOT be spending a dime on them! NO product is worth supporting such scummy practices financially!

EDIT: I should clarify, it was not the uninstall that impaired my PC- but the trial running out and the program still being installed. I cannot post links in reviews, it seems, but you can find it in the Stardock forums under Stardock Software > Accounts and Activation Help > "Start11 and WindowBlinds purchase error."
It seems it has now been locked by the person handling my support ticket, despite his lateness being the reason I posted to the forum in the first place, chiding me for posting. Why is there an activation help forum at all if we aren't supposed to post there for help? I would also like to add that despite his assertion in the post, he did NOT provide an explanation as to why this error occurred in his emails- he implied I may be committing fraud. I would be happy to forward said emails if desired.

EDIT 2: I don't know where in that thread you see respect or kindness. I see sarcasm, and a moderator backing up poor initial support!! Did you also skim over the section where your email team accused me of malicious activity??? I find it telling how you omitted that in your response!

I like using Fences, so I decided to buy the whole Stardock suite to try out the other tools. Most of the changes were for the worse, not the better. My system got all bogged down, so I shut everything but Fences off again.

Easy to install and use. I have used it for years.