The Death Of Winstep

Based upon what GregII?

EDIT:  Okay, getting a Service Is Unavailable 503 error when going to their site. 

The site is under maintenance.  Winstep is probably the most configurable and compatible customization tool in existence.  

Perhaps... perhaps not. How are you privy to that info? Jorge has been AWOL for so long that it is entirely possible the plug has been pulled.

Well if the plug has been pulled I'm sure there will be quite a few folks sadden by that news.  Just have to wait and see I guess.

I was "saddened" when it was promised that a theme creator would be forth coming along with other nifty new features and then the sole entity of Winstep left his customer base and application to dry rot with no explanation at all. That is plain shitty PR.

To ME - Winstep died a long time ago.

Not privy.  Just guessing based on error 503 but that is speculation also.  The software continues to request a license renewal and some have received responses and new licenses ... I don't know.  If a site was deleted, wouldn't it be error 401?  I don't know.  Anyway, there is no expiration or activation limits (or activation schemes) on Winstep tools that I know of.   

It's possible it's over and done.  Who knows.  Maybe a health issue.

I just opened up Winstep to the desktop and as was mentioned a renewal button is still there and in fact active.  Not really sure what's going on.  

The forums are still up at Winstep, and at least one explaination is posted. http://forums.winstep.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9028

Unknown how accurate it is........

Okay, thanks Wizard. 

So, where does one go now?  Linux?

GregII... Winstep isn't dead anymore than Windowblinds, etc. when WC goes down.

Please read the explanation in Reply #8's link.

Let's not bury anything that's still quite alive. 

The problem isn't with the website.  Jorge hasn't been active for over a year.  It is definately not quite alive.

As Mark Twain once said, reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

The site is currently down due to a technical problem Basiclink (Winstep's host) has been working around the clock to solve. Unfortunately it seems that moving the site is the best solution for now, therefore the delay.

In Basiclink's defense, in the 12 years I have been working with them I never once had a problem as serious as this, any (extremely rare) downtime was usually solved in a handful of hours.

As for me having been away from Winstep in the last year, yes, it's true. It started with me needing to get away from Winstep for a while as I was burning out due to working too hard, and ended in one of the worst years of my life (which included, among other really nasty things, an accident where I broke the tibial plateau of my left leg).

Anyway, I've been working nearly non-stop on Winstep for the last 15 years (!) and we all need to get away from time to time. Brad also took a Sabbatical year from Stardock some time ago and Stardock is still here - the major difference being that Winstep is only me, so my absence is a lot more visible.

A hiatus period similar to this happened once before and Winstep came back stronger than ever, so hold on to your pants.

i do know that a while ago when i had to renew my nexus ultimate licence i didn't get my licence key and upon requesting information i received an email explaining that the developer had been in a car accident and would get to me within a few days, which he did. Maybe he has a few continuing problems from that and is concentrating on getting himself better. Winstep will be around for a lot longer i think,

oooh ask and you shall receive lol. posted at the exact same time. Hope you are doing better JC. Yes you are very entitled to enjoy a break and i hope you enjoyed it. welcome back

Thanks for the info, and I totally understand why you've been away!

Thanks, Jorge.  My pants are being tightly held.

Thanks, Nimbin.

Ordered a new PC last week with Windows 8.1 on it (so I can optimize Winstep software for it), waiting for delivery. There's no way I'm putting Windows 8.x on my main development system. lol

OMG! Jorge has gone zombie on us!!!!

Good hearing from you, Jorge, and I am glad that you are indeed still alive and kicking.

Skinning module....I know he said 'skinning module' in there somewhere...

Glad to hear from you.

OMG! I thought the worst until JC showed up. Good to see you back and hope all is well.

This is going to take a handful of hours more, unfortunately, since the site needs to be moved to another server and we have to wait for DNS propagation etc (the server it has been on for the past year was actually supposed to be temporary, Johanne was working on a WordPress version of the site which meant going from a Windows based server to a Linux based server, but then that got on limbo).

The Winstep forums are on a different (Linux) server, which is why, unlike the main site, they're still running.

Since you are here, and alive , I'm sure most folks would be very interested in hearing about not only Win 8/8.1 compatibility but if Winstep will remain backward compatible with Win 7, Vista and XP.

         Oh, Legacy....,you are a friend of mine........................

See?

Not only is Jorge still 'here' ....he's still sane too....;)