Congratulations on your new release ..... seriously, I had no idea


Unlike some, sometimes thirty days is not enough, especially if you lead a hectic life and do not get a chance to fully check something out in a timely manner.



First, I never said that I personally had to hunt and peck for anything, I was simply implying that there are those that would have to.
Second, upon installation on a multi user machine Winstep DOES automatically run for all users. You can tell me it doesn't all you want, I seen it, ok. It's not like it takes a rocket scientist to install software as long as you read and follow the intructions. I installed Winstep PER the instructions, the next day my daughter logged onto her account and it was inundated with Winstep Xtreme, now tell me .... if I installed Winstep per the installation instructions during the install process how is it that it ran automatically for another user on the same machine when it's not supposed to?



Maybe in your mind giving the user that choice would be a gigantic waste of time, maybe you should pose the question to your users ... no?
You act like the idea is old school and a thing of the past, a for instance: I JUST purchased yesterday Auslogics BootSpeed 5, a brand new program, a program that will make significant changes to a system, not so much visually but a program that makes changes to a system like Winstep, during the installation process the program asked me if I would like the software installed just for me or for all users. I have come across hundreds of applications that give this option both paid and free so this is not something that is just not done anymore.


I'm not even going to diginfy that post with a comment except to say that you know what happens when you ASSume things.

jorge unless you have changed something since i last did a multiuser system once winstep is installed it does auto-load for each user account unless you go in per account and tell it not to. as for programs giving you the option of current user or all users at least 1/2 of the programs i install do ask you that, and i make sure everything i have is up to date. granted with some you have to choose custom setup to get the choice, but still....... as for being able to choose where to install the files does make sense for more than one reason.

And THERE it is ......... THANK YOU Chuckys Child

Sometimes you have to stir up a little crap to get your point across

edee i wasn't trying to stirup anything. i was just stating what i've noticed with winstep, and what i would like to see.

Wasn't implying that about you Chucky, was implying it about me, that you simply have confirmed what I have been saying all along.

In that case, that is a bug. You could've told me already that this had happened to your daughter before going into a lengthy theoretical discussion.

My guess in that case is that the problem is in the installer, and not the application itself. The application only uses the HKCU key, never HKLM.

If the installer is placing an auto-run entry in HKLM, then yes, the application will start for all users, in which case I need to fix that.

I do hope you agree, however, that fixing this makes it completely unnecessary to add a 'for all users' or 'just for me' setting to the installer.

ok now that the autorun for all users is solved there is still the matter of file location choice.



example 1:

i partition my main drive into two partitions for gaming and production. in both partitions i install winstep, and office 2010(cause even on the gaming side i'm going to want to check email from time to time). between the two programs they take up a gig of space per partition, so 2 gigs total.

example 2:

i partition my main drive into 3 partitions. one for gaming. one for production. and one containing program files, program files x86, programdata, users. now i install winstep and office to both copies of windows, but pointing the files to their appropriate folder in the third partition. now instead of having 2 gigs of disk space used up i only have 1 gig used.

then there is the fact that a lot of winstep's stuff that should be under program files or program files x86 are in users/puclic/public documents/winstep. i have a very old program called desktop architect(only good for the sound events now)that under xp and vista i used for theme'ing windows(cursors, walls, colors, sound events). da even as old as it is ask me where i want to locate the files. da on first run ask me if i want to choose a default themes folder. see under downloads - music/my downloads/desktop tweakers i have a winstep folder with all my themes. i should be able to point to it instead of eating up space on c if i don't want to.

bumping this.

I would really like the option to place the Themes in whatever folder I choose. With Windowblinds I just change a register setting.

So, what you are saying is that because of the 0.0000000001% of users who *might* want to store the Winstep themes data in another drive or folder, I should confuse the remaining 99.999999999% of users by asking them for TWO installation folders instead of one?

Come on, Chucky, it's obvious this is an absurd thing to do, and why it is absurd. Not to mention that doing something like that is asking for a LOT of trouble and support headaches.

If you really want to do that, then *you* can move the whole My Documents folder to another drive yourself. Here, read THIS tutorial on how to move the My Documents folder to another drive under Windows 7. That's similar to what I did here with the My Pictures folder so it wouldn't eat too much space from my SSD array.

Of course, you do so now at your own peril, since installed applications have probably already hard coded the paths to the expected locations of their data folder(s).

And if you want to be pissed at somebody, then be angry at Microsoft that forced the separation of programs and their data from Vista onwards. However, they had their reasons to do that too.

Ah, but you see, there is no option in the UI to do that.

You guys think this is a simple matter from a user's point of view, but you're not thinking about the implications. I, on the other hand, have to think about that - and the potential for major trouble is HUGE (for instance, the user sets the location of the Winstep User Data folder in a folder that is only accessible to that user, breaking the application for the remaining users on the computer, or puts it in a location that is read-only, etc...).

Old Windows update files take HUGE chunks of the system drive, but I don't see anybody crying for Microsoft to let them specify a different folder to put them in?

jorge i'm not in the mood today for your usual bs when YOU don't like an idea. most programs give you a choice of where to locate the install files and you damn well know it. as for pointing to another folder what i'm saying is why should i reinstall all my winstep themes when on first launch i can select the one folder on the other drive. as for your comment about confusing the rest, NOT. they will do what my roommate always does and select defaults across the board. or you could simply tell those of that are interested in having our themes folder elsewhere what key in the registry to change. if someone that really doesn't know what thy are doing in the registry messes it up that is on them, and not you. one point you failed to mention is that at least 20% of windows users do not use the documents folder that windows creates, they like myself create their own, throw it on another drive, and place a shortcut wherever they want it.

jorge wrote


those of us that would be pointing our docs and other files to another drive would be fixing this for each user on the system making your argument an invalid one.

jorge wrote


you know full well what i said. i said the end user should be able to POINT to where they want winstep to actually install to. i did NOT say make the enduser choose between two install locations.

jorge wrote


for some programs this actually makes complete sense.

You know, I don't have to justify my decisions. I chose to do so because I want users to understand why some things are done the way they are, or why I'm not implementing this or that.

I also encourage debate because I want to give users a chance to *make me change my mind*. But if I don't like an idea - and I will openly state what the reasons for not liking it are - then I will stand my ground.

Ultimately, it's me who decides what gets added and what not.

If a user manages to convince me otherwise with solid arguments, fine, it's not the first time that has happened and I have no problems with someone being able to change my mind. But he will have to fight for it, unless, obviously, it is an idea I agree with from the get go.

If you think me saying a straight 'NO' with no chance of discussion (or just no reply at all like most other developers do) is better than the above attitude, well, I disagree with you on that one too.

Everyone is entitled to having a bad day, I'm no exception and neither are you.

Since you don't want to listen to my reasons, then the short answer is no, I will not implement the option to chose another folder for the location of the Winstep themes.

I will, however, leave the door open to continuing this debate on another day when you are feeling better and with more patience.

This is Winstep. You have an option to uninstall anytime you want. This isn't about you. This is about Winstep. We're here bacause this is what we want. If you don't like it, leave.

Gregory, that type of comments doesn't help either.

Lets keep this civil, otherwise take it to Private Messaging.