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Aston Menu 2.0.3 Giveaway
$19.95
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — Aston Menu 2.0.3

Aston Menu is a feature-rich Windows start menu replacement with the enhanced functionality.
$19.95 EXPIRED
User rating: 340 72 comments

Aston Menu 2.0.3 was available as a giveaway on November 14, 2010!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$22.99
free today
An AI-powered object remover for videos and images.

Aston Menu is a feature-rich Windows start menu replacement with the enhanced functionality. Absolutely all Aston Menu elements are skinnable and can be animated, which makes it yet more attractive. Aston Menu supports animation and sound effects.

Aston Menu increases productivity, it is easy to use and safe to remove. It can be populated with many useful widgets like Clock, Calendar, Recycle bin, Disks, Search, Top Programs, Weather, RSS and other. Aston Menu provides fast and convenient search for files on local disks and for information in the Internet. It is resource-friendly and supports many languages, Unicode, XML and drag'n'drop operation.

System Requirements:

Windows XP/ 2003/ Vista/ 7 (x32 / x64)

Publisher:

Gladiators Software

Homepage:

http://www.astonmenu.com

File Size:

11.4 MB

Price:

$19.95

Comments on Aston Menu 2.0.3

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#72

This installed fine on my HP Windows 7 X64 system. However, occasionally, I will get an 'Out of Memory' error. I click OK and everything then works fine. So, what is up with that????

Reply   |   Comment by Demi  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#71

Nevermind, the Crystal Breeze skin comes with the program as the default (first) skin used when you start up Aston for the first time. Thanks GAOTD and Aston creators!

Reply   |   Comment by beaks  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#70

This program Killed my IBM Lenovo XP SP3
I installed it (By the way I'm using A loaner computer) & it crashed my computer & when I went to turn it back on I received error A450 see your administrator & then windows disk2 install required & then my computer closed down & now it wont boot up @ all WHY!!!
I'm an Australian User

Reply   |   Comment by Phlan  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#69

Installed fine, but heavy CPU use at times, wonder why?

Reply   |   Comment by Antonf  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#68

Ooops! in my previous comment should have said fourth from LEFT not right! Sorry.

Reply   |   Comment by Beaks  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#67

Where is the "Crystal Breeze" skin? At the Astonmenu's website it can be seen in the "screenshots" section but not in the "skins download" section.
It's the one on this page: fourth from right, top row-
http://www.astonmenu.com/screenshots.htm

Reply   |   Comment by Beaks  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#66

Not everybody's pc supports 8 Gig of RAM. My laptop is Vista, only a little over 2 years old and 2 Gig is the maximum RAM I can put in it. It also has a HDD that is only 120 Gig, and this laptop wasn't a rock bottom price cheap one either. Yet it easily is slowed down by programs using memory, even freezing frequently and "not responding", which apparently is a common problem with Vista.

I also have a 2005 xp desktop and of course the older pcs are limited in the amount of RAM you can put in them. XP so far has been the most stable and overall best Windows OS of all. Microsoft would have done better to have simply made an updated version of XP. I also have a Windows 7 pc and so far, the only thing I like about 7 more than XP is the graphics quality. XP is still faster than either Vista or 7, and XP doesn't deny you access to your own system either!

Reply   |   Comment by Reality Check  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#65

Clean (almost) install in Vista Business SP2

FireFox 3.6.12, no script. The suggest improvements does not save my suggestions? I suspect it is one of the sites blocked by noscript. Please advise which one.

Although it offered option of custom location for placing it's folder in the start menu, it did not place it there.

Right click context menu in the app does not offer "Rename" option. I had to go to "Properties" to do the rename.

For some reason it is displaying the user name of my admin account instead of my user account. I guess it is running under admin ID from the install ... Haven't had chance to restart to see if the problem goes away.

Overall, a reasonable implementation of a start menu shell. I found a skin that has features I am looking for. I'll probably keep this one.

Reply   |   Comment by ron  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#64

The current giveaway, Aston Menu only skins your start menu as well as gives the user some side panels. It does not allow the changing of themes. The previous giveaway Aston 2 is actually Aston Shell 2 which incorporates Aston Menu and more. Aston Shell 2 allows the user to change themes. Themes are packages that includes start menu, side-panels, task bar and wallpaper. Aston Menu 2.0.3 is therefore not as complete a skinning package as Aston Shell 2 as it doesn't allow the user to obtain the wallpapers of the Aston Themes on the Aston website and doesn't allow skinning of the taskbar. It took me a while to figure this out.. Hope it helps all the confused people out there...

Reply   |   Comment by Kimbe  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#63

I was skeptical. I downloaded. I installed. I opened. I'm happy! :)

Nice program (so far...)Thanks!

Reply   |   Comment by Hank  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#62

Can't seem to get this working in DOS 6.22 - do I need to downgrade my RAM to 4MB? (currently 8MB)

Reply   |   Comment by buckbyter  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#61

I snagged this program the last time it was on GAOTD, and I love it - I even am using the same "Virtual Gold" skin shown in the picture....o glorious steampunk! ;o) Last time, if I remember correctly, you had a separate installer for Win7x64 (which is the system I have). This time the installer covered both versions. Did run into a small issue in that it tripped over a .dll that did not deactivate when I exited my existing installation of Aston Menu to install, but I told it to ignore it and continue, which seems to have been OK. Thanks for the upgrade!

Reply   |   Comment by Keter  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#60

Oy. Honest, doesn't anyone read the tin?

This is only the menu, not the desktop package, it does not do wallpaper, extra menu or taskbar mods. I use the Ruby skin-

If you want the default 2.0.0 skin, go find which one it was and download it! Afaik it's one in the library.... when downloaded double-click the .a2menu file and it loads.

the menu is also the part of Aston Desktop I still use. When my hands are specially wonky it's large menus with simple operations make things easier- I can start and stop it easy.

Other times- I use the standard menu. WinXP SP3, thanks for the update.

Reply   |   Comment by goodgotd  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#59

Wow! Love it. Installs and works well on Win 7 64bit. Have some ghosting of words but that may be my setup. I love being able to have a choice and being able to get more downloads of just the ones I like. Going by other similar sorts of software on the market the price is acceptable if you have access to more free downloads and updates with discounts on this and other products.

Reply   |   Comment by Ellieblue  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#58

Awesome program.Love this giveaway. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply   |   Comment by Mike  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#57

I quite like this and will quite happily wear it for a while. At the price we're paying for it it's not going to break my heart to uninstall it when/if i get bored with it.

Reply   |   Comment by first least hope  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#56

Thank you GOTD for bringing this back. I had missed out on this the last time that it was given away here. I definately like this much better than Start Menu 7. I belive this is a keeper and will definately be looking at buying this.

Reply   |   Comment by Elric  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#55

@12: i don't know where you live, but not everyone is so lucky. Sure ram price went down, but in some places an upgrade from 4gb to more is pricey. Actually, where i live, a regular is 2gb (now we're starting for 3-4). And more, there are some hungry applications like Firefox, Adobe suite, video software that could drain the 8gb fast ( i actually have a txt bigger than 2gb, so when i open it... there goes 2gb ram in wordpad).

Great software, anyone who likes it should reseach aston shell.

Reply   |   Comment by BesT  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#54

Installed on Windows 7 worked fine and regestired ok through GAOTD downloaded some skins ok but when i restarted my laptop it askes me to register with a key provided if i cancel it works. I have reinstalled it but it still askes for registration after restart. Anyone else have this problem?

Reply   |   Comment by Mick  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#53

Responding to #44.

Not all of us like, or want to use "the latest and greatest" version of Windows. And I used OS/2 (and now eCom Workstation), I'm using Jolicoud right now as I'm responding to this. Have a Technet subscription and a legit copy of XP and Windows 7, running Aston Shell on my XP box.

The "latest and greatest" comment is complete and utter garbage. Doesn't run under OS/2.. okay, so what's the alternative? Do you *know* an alternative? Doesn't run under Windows 95, okay.. is there an alternative? The answer to that is "yes" btw.. Litestep runs under Windows 95. Windows 3.11 *will* run some stuff as well, as long as they didn't program to shut it out. Calmira did a decenct shell as well for Windows 3.11. And guess what, there's even DOS shells as well (ever heard of Windows 3.11?). Arachne and Geoworks worked on that basis.

If you can't post something constructive, don't post at all.

If it doesn't run, look at some of the Stardock products instead guys.. or even the Aston 1.x line of products, some of those ran under older versions of Windows.

And that right there is one of the major reasons why you get planned obsolescence, it's not that the older versions were any less well.. it's usually because Microsoft is pushing the upgrade cycle. Still running a W2K box here as well because XP removed the extended Unimodem support and added the draconian activation that only ramped up with Vista and 7.

Haven't downloaded and tried this yet, but should before end of day.

Reply   |   Comment by Darren  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#52

PeterM : U serious? Windows 95? Who with the right mind is using win95 now??
U must be a Troll just joking around LOL

Reply   |   Comment by Jhun F  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#51

#12: "... Why do members go on about using ‘unnecessary’ memory when RAM costs so little these days. Most modern computers can carry 8Gb of RAM (not including graphics RAM). The operating system uses only a fraction of that so there should always be loads to run these programs."

Purely FWIW, companies like Dell & HP most often see no reason to design & sell upgradeable PCs -- I mean, you don't buy a TV or stereo or microwave oven with the intent to take it apart & mod it. Yes, you can sometimes upgrade components like RAM, but you can't bank on having more than 2-3 slots, you probably won't have any empty or free slots [meaning replace rather than add to], & you can't count on the bios having the needed settings available to make new, better RAM work. And if/when you build your own [or pay someone to build it], the companies that make motherboards tend to put those features I just mentioned on more expensive boards, along with stuff the average user doesn't need, like multiple graphics card slots. XP 32 bit can only use up to ~3 GB of RAM, & ran well with 1 GB -- people only started using 2 GB when Vista came out since it preferred more. And finally, more RAM in many cases is a bit of a waste -- I run 6 GB [only because it was *REALLY* cheap a couple of years ago] & dual boot XP 32 bit & 7 64 bit... so far encoding AC3 audio in Vegas is the Only thing 7, using all 6 GB does faster.

The dollars & cents part depends of course on what you've got & what your priorities are, so I'll leave that aspect entirely alone. But adding or replacing RAM is often not justified &/or not possible, & when it is, not necessarily easy... I haven't checked recently, but the forums used to be filled with prob. posts by folks trying to get 4 to 8 GB in 4 slots working on AMD-based m/boards.

* * *

#24: "For XP or below, there’s very little reason to use this except for the eye candy (that is questionable, at best). SOME skins offer a clock & weather but there are probably better alternatives than this for those features."

For some folks just the eye candy is enough, but it's also possible to use Aston Menu to make your Start Menu more practical for the way you use Windows, &/or to use it as a supplement, for example setting Aston Menu up to reflect what you need & use when editing photos or video or whatever. Simply put, while you can customize Windows' Start Menu, you can't do it the extent you can in Aston Menu. Does everyone *need* it? Absolutely not.

* * *

#35: "Am I right to assume from reading here that this is just a skin and gadget program? It doesnt replace or tidy up the start menu itself?"

Aston Menu is a totally separate app from Windows & it's Start Menu -- if you set it to replace the Start Menu it gives you that *illusion* because clicking the Start Button brings up Aston Menu *instead*. When you 1st install & run it Aston Menu takes a look at what you have & more-or-less duplicates your existing Start Menu, but you can alter &/or customize it in many ways that would be difficult if possible using Windows Start Menu itself. To more directly answer your question, Aston Menu won't *fix* anything, but it might make it easier for you to put your (replacement) Start Menu right, with what you want/need where you want/need it.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)
#50

#43
You can only change the skin of the program and the start menu of Windows. For the themes (& the wallpapers) you need to buy Aston Desktop !

Reply   |   Comment by Jeanjean  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#49

Site Trouble: I've downloaded the zip file, unzipped it with PowerDesk, but when I go to install the software I get an error message saying the software "couldn't connect".

Any suggestions / help?

Reply   |   Comment by BearPup  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#48

I do believe some of those downloading this confuse the Aston Menu with the Aston Desktop (I think Desktop is also a previous giveaway).

What you will see on the Aston homepage will be from the Aston Desktop (and includes backgrounds etc), while Aston Menu "just" replaces your start menu.

That said, I still love this program (and the CrystalBreeze skin). This suits me just fine, (and I was never that much of a fan of the "whole desktop"-program)

Reply   |   Comment by Spredo  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#47

Aston Menu is a nice replacement or complement to Windows' Start Menu that uses easily swappable skins [there are many available, or create your own], that in tandem with customization options can give you the Start Menu you always wanted -- assuming of course you always wanted something besides the Start Menu that ships with Windows. Right-clicking the tray icon, selecting Preferences, you can set it to start with Windows, enable sound, replace Windows Start Menu -- or not... most details are fairly well explained in the included help file, though it may confuse because it also includes their desktop [product info can be found here -- http://goo.gl/yTScl ]. While a skin editor is on their To-Do list they've got many available for download, and there are a couple of skinning tutorials & a manual -- http://goo.gl/AM8zF -- http://goo.gl/5LCyR -- http://goo.gl/6cBH2

Aston Menu is an app, & like all apps it'll take some resources to run it -- Windows' std. Start Menu takes resources to run it too, albeit not as many. Some people feel this sort of app is excessive, an unnecessary use of your PC's or laptop's resources, but such is life -- I remember many folks hated the appearance enhancements in XP when it came out, feeling it was not only wasteful but childish compared to win98's sharp cornered windows. ;-) Then Vista came out & most of these same folks disliked Aero, for all the same reasons. Everyone has to decide for themselves if it's worth it or not I guess, with the caveat that since this is GOTD you have one day to decide. While Gladiators Software was very cool with their GOTD pack -- it's their regular version with an altered setup that automatically fills in the license key [not a cut down version or one with ads] -- activation does require a phone home, so I've no idea whether they'll activate using this key tomorrow or not.

Installation itself isn't bad, though I'd guess that things like their "a2inject.dll" *might* trigger some AV software. The program's folder itself weighs in at ~12 MB, with 141 files, 12 folders, plus you get folders added to User App Data & User Local Settings App Data in XP, User app Data Local & Roaming in 7. I recorded 275 registry adds in XP, 581 in 7 -- win7 simply tracks a lot more stuff, & when you add an app like today's GOTD that tracking adds registry entries.

Using Aston Menu my biggest *personal* dislike was the default skin -- if you have the same reaction don't let it scare you away, since the other skins it comes with are for the most part toned down, plus there's the selection available for download. One thing I didn't find was a way to increase the text size -- it works with enlarged display settings in 7, for the most part... some of the text is still smaller than Windows' regular Start Menu. If you run 7 you might put something together using Tweaks.com Logon Changer [http://goo.gl/SFS8 ], the recent GOTD Animated Wallpaper Maker, & now Aston Menu to have a truly unique, customized experience on your PC/laptop.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)
#46

Hello Again Folks


Comment by Juliyana @ No.43 = "i’m using xp , but i only can apply the start system.
the wallpaper and the taskbar can’t be applied on my computer.
the choice is locked and can’t be changed. is there any solution??"


Hi Juliyana – Can you explain what you’ve tried to do – what you see on the menu etc. & what your Graphics settings are please ?

For anyone who’s interested – I have plenty of SKINS & XP THEMES PLUS the Seven Upgrade for XP PLUS around 8000 Wallpapers all available to share including Start Menus etc. & also Task Bars / Task Bar Monitoring Windows etc. PLUS I have the ACTUAL Vista SideBar – for use on Windows XP – it runs MOST of the REAL Gadgets for Vista & Seven ! I’ve pulled out the Resource hungry Gadgets so it’s kinder to slower systems !!! :o)
Also Reduced system / XP Friendly Screen Savers !!!
-------------------------
Anyone interested PLUS Juliyana – please contact me on XP.Pro@NTLworld.com & I’ll be happy to help !

I have the links to sites etc. as well as content on my Laptops – ALL Legitimately FREE.

-------------------------
I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
-------------------------
Apologies for any Typos

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -

LIVE in the UK ! :o)

Reply   |   Comment by Macs-PC  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#45

I'm a huge customization geek and at first I thought I was going to give this piece of software a thumbs down. But then I sat down and actually installed some skins and what can I say? It's really grown on me.

This application isn't for all of us, but those who wants something a little bit different. It looks nice and it adds some features like weather and a clock (and others) in your start menu.

It installed nicely, no hassles. It runs relatively quickly on my 2008 Win7 laptop with 3gb ram.

Would I recommend it to everyone? Sure. Do I think everyone would like it? No.

I give this a solid 7/10.

Reply   |   Comment by Duncan  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+10)
#44

Version 2.0.0 was working great but this upgrade somehow change my skin back to the version that looks like 1.??? and I cannot change the theme on this anymore. I wish I did not installed this. Please bring back version 2.0.0 or help some of us to resolve this issue. (agreed with Allan in #22)

Reply   |   Comment by rank  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)
#43

I have this on my Dell laptop, Win 7 32-bit, from the previous giveaway and I enjoy it. There are easy ways to add shortcuts and the many different skins keep it interesting. As for RAM, I have 2GB on my Dell and it's a flying machine since I installed Win 7, so no problem for me there. My kids enjoy it too. Thumbs up for me!

Reply   |   Comment by JimBob  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)
#42

I can confirm this will not work on my Commodore 64 or OS2. Seriously people....upgrade to an operating system created in the last decade and this works fantastic. I actually bought the program (and continue to renew each year)...that's how much I like this.

Reply   |   Comment by Tommy T  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-13)
#41

hi..
i'm using xp , but i only can apply the start system.
the wallpaper and the taskbar can't be applied on my computer.
the chooice is locked and can't be changed.
is there any solution??
i really appreciate it.
thanks

Reply   |   Comment by Juliyana  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#40

I work from home and this thing is SWEET!! It makes things so easy!

Reply   |   Comment by Chris  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-10)
#39

Followup
DL'd and installed great on Win7 x64. Works great, lots of skin options. My only gripe is that they didn't have a simple dark green one to match my theme, and I like simple. For now I'm using "holomenu" as it matches, and looks cool too. I do hold to my not liking Start Menu software, but if I were to ever keep one it would be this. Well done. Very fast and responsive, very cool features, very nice software.

Reply   |   Comment by Jon  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#38

First, to those who are saying "this won't work on my 2000 or 95". It says in sysreqs Windows XP/ 2003/ Vista/ 7 (x32 / x64). Duh. What are you doing still running 2K or (ugh) 95. 95? Seriously? Even 95c was heavily flawed. Not a fan of Start Menu software, but I'll try this based on previous comments, both here and on previous giveaways. Other Start Menu software is often compared with this, "if it did what Aston did...".

Reply   |   Comment by Jon  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-13)
#37

I got this during the last giveaway also. It worked fine on my Win7 x64 system and I thought the skins looked interesting but I stopped using it because my firewall would alert me it was trying to access the Internet frequently. I can't think of a good reason why a start menu replacement would do this so I got rid of it.

Reply   |   Comment by Derek  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#36

there must be a feature to add user’s own short cuts on the main panel … has anyone tested this program in totality ?

Reply   |   Comment by ddy  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#35

only disappointment is that i can not add my own new shortcut / file / url launch on the main opening panel... yet a good program

Reply   |   Comment by ddy  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#34

To number 12 post,
It is not the memory that is used that counts, it is the time slices used from your CPU that counts the most.
This program gobbles up 8% of your CPU and therefore it is useless program and inefficient way to run something in the background forever.
All other programs will run up to 8% slower in the background, if you are using the computer for fun only, go ahead and install it, but if you are gamer, video and audio user, number cruncher and run numerous background programs, you will notice the difference.

Reply   |   Comment by Bob10  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#33

Am I right to assume from reading here that this is just a skin and gadget program? It doesnt replace or tidy up the start menu itself? I have lost explorer from the right click on start button after playing around with another program, so I need start menu replacement or figure out how to add Explorer back. If it only changes the layout with skin then this isnt for me, right?

Reply   |   Comment by cteq  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#32

I have this from the last time it was offered. I love it. It runs smoothly and has a lot of skins to add to the variety. Is this the same version as before or is this an update? As always thank you GAOTD team for your efforts to get us programs. Thank you to the publisher, Gladiators Software, for the gift.

Reply   |   Comment by gpc111  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)
#31

KBennett, I had looked into this program last week and downloaded and tried Aston Shell. I didn't want to pay for it so I uninstalled it. I seem to remember that Aston Start Menu was part of it. It appears that way on the pictures on their website. I would leave well enough alone if I were you.

Reply   |   Comment by Anita Simpson  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)
#30

Thanks so much! I mentioned on a different start menu giveaway that I hoped you would bring this back. Now if you would bring back the one that colors folders, I would be really happy.

Reply   |   Comment by Anita Simpson  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)
#29

Hi Folks


Comment by Heavy Water @ No.12 = "Why do members go on about using ‘unnecessary’ memory when RAM costs so little these days. Most modern computers can carry 8Gb of RAM (not including graphics RAM). The operating system uses only a fraction of that so there should always be loads to run these programs"

Here we go again ! - Regulars here will know from my previous posts that I've always stood up for the right of ANYONE to their opinion . . . BUT . . . come on . . . you could at least TRY to make it defendable !!!

I have to admit - the first 2 sections of the post - I was agreeing with - then I hit this little patch & found myself thinking . . . "WHAT THE F### ???" - Do you have NO clue about money restraints in A RECESSION ??? - Maybe - unlike ME & the Multi-Millions of people all over the world - YOU'RE NOT OUT OF WORK ?
I have been for several months - WITH a Mortgage as well as UK Council Tax PLUS all the usual Bills PLUS my Gas & Electric are both Pre-Pay - meaning If there's NO MONEY - there’s NO POWER !!! - last week I had my first £8 Hair-Cut IN THREE MONTHS - NOT because I liked looking like Krusty the Clown - (the Hair not face / clothes OR shoes :o) ) - BUT because I was putting EVERY POUND I HAD into the Electric & Gas meters - EVERY WEEK !

I'd truly LOVE to buy some new hardware - in fact I have a couple of reasonably fast PCs BUT I only run either of them maybe once a month - to retrieve something from the Hard Drives etc. . . . Because of how much running a PC costs - compared to the costs of running TWO lower-powered Laptops.

My Main Laptop is this one I'm on - a Sony Vaio - it's only a 1.7 Gig Pentium M processor BUT I did put a couple of Gig Ram in while I was working. The problem is - that the RAM ain't enough on it's own - many Resource-Hungry programs these days go for Processor & Ram - meaning I struggle to use the Screensavers etc. we get here. To make matters worse it's an Intel Grafix Chipset - meaning it's useless at OpenGL etc. so Many screen savers I have that can run flawlessly on an 800 MHz machine with an 32Mb ATi or nVidea GPU with only 256 PC Ram . . . Stutter & stall on this machine. - As a result I need every ounce that I can get out of the Laptop. - I'm not even sure if a laptop of it's age could even handle more than 2 Gig Ram !

I agree - Memory IS CHEAP these days - 2 Gig is about £35 in the shops - a bit cheaper on eBay - depending on Brand etc. I remember back in 1999 / 2000 I was building PCs & ordered a stick of 128 Mb SD Ram & it cost me £95 TRADE PRICE - 2 weeks later due to problems in the Middle-East that same stick was £295 TRADE - for 128 Meg - so believe me - you don't know how good you've got it now !

I have no wish to stoop to the levels of accusing you of living at home or everything paid for you etc. - I'm sure you earn every penny & spend it as you see fit BUT to make such sweeping generalisations to assume that WE SHOULD ALL JUST SHUT UP COMPLAINING about the lack of power & JUST SPEND MONEY to make the problem go away
- is naive at best. - You may as well say that all the starving millions of the world could stop being so ILL if they'd just eat properly ! - Your comment was no more ridiculous than that !

I've said it before & I'll happily say it again - OF COURSE software manufacturers have to push the boundaries of hardware capability & produce ever more AMAZING & POWERFUL programs BUT - they SHOULD NOT FORGET those of us being left behind ! We still have computers that work - all they need to do is to add a "LOW POWER" option to their software - obviously it would mean that we would be restricted in the ability of what the program may do etc. BUT - BETTER SOMETHING than NOTHING !

One of my favourite ever games is Quake & Quake II ( NOT Quake 3 - they ruined it by removing the missions etc. ) & that game was a perfect example of what I'm talking about - I could play that on a higher end machine with stunning SMOOTH & SHARP graphics OR I could play it on a 486 with a 4 Meg Video card - with Software generated SMOOTH but blocky LOW RES Graphics. - True the image wasn't even close to the Hi-Res BUT it didn't matter - it didn't spoil the game in any way because it still ran at full speed meaning you could still complete a level in reasonable time & enjoy every second of it.

These days - it's a different story - It's ALL OR NOTHING - you HAVE TO have the Hi-Res Hi Resource usage & so the screen stutters & jumps & pauses & there's absolutely no quality or enjoyment to the game play etc. Just because you can't afford the NEWER hardware ! - Where's the fairness in that ???

These Give Away softwares that everyone's Moaning about - ( With GOOD Reason ) are no different - who wants to have a program running in the memory that slows your machine to 20% of it's usual speed ? - Ask anyone out of work - with an older machine if they'd sooner re-install their windows to get the original speed back OR buy a new SUPER FAST machine instead - which do you suppose they'd choose ? - I certainly know which way I'd go !

I was lucky - about 6 months ago - I found a smashed up laptop waiting to be put out for Rubbish - keyboard & screen smashed to pieces. a few weeks later I had another find across town. Different laptop / brand etc. - dead MainBoard but reasonable condition. - I was given both for spares - I then noticed they shared the same model of battery so I started to compare them - before I knew it - they were IDENTICAL - different colour & Badge but never the less identical inside !
The chances had to be in the millions but it happened. I was able to use the best parts of both machines to make ONE GOOD ONE ! - That laptop is more powerful than this one but since it has no screen - I use it in my small back room ( office / computer work room etc. ) as a PC instead & I view it on a TFT monitor in there with USB Keyboard & Mouse OR via TeamViewer from here most of the time BOTH Laptops running 24/7 !
I'm making do with whatever I can get my hands on - so I'm in no way able to splash out on NEW Ram OR NEW anything else at the moment.

A few weeks ago - I mentioned in an e-mail to one of the girls at GAOTD - the saying "There Are No Stupid Questions, Only Stupid Answers !" . . . Trust you to find the exception to the rule ! :o)

Anyway that's my thoughts for the day.

Take Care You Guys

-------------------------
I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
-------------------------
Apologies for any Typos

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -

LIVE in the UK ! :o)

Reply   |   Comment by Macs-PC  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)
#28

I downloaded version 2 in previous giveaway. Can I just upgrade or will I have to do a clean install.

Reply   |   Comment by Evangela  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#27

Promptly crashed my start menu so it can't be opened, and now I can't figure out how to turn off my computer to restart it. The task manager doesn't show Aston as a task to quit, if I hit the power button my computer just hibernates. I highly do not recommend this software. I'm using Windows 7 64-bit with 8G of RAM.

Reply   |   Comment by Marcy  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-8)
#26

It doesn't work with Windows 3.1?

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-18)
#25

Runs well and looks nice, but the bar at the bottom of my screen didn't change, and the background does not change to the ones shown in the photos behind the skins. Are they not part of the skin package?

Reply   |   Comment by Mikado  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)
#24

OK. I was dubious about installing this but went ahead with it.
WOW.
Installed no problems on my Windows 7 64bit laptop. The Start Menu really is good, and more 'skins' are just as easy to download and apply.
You can see loads of your programs/documents/media/hard drives etc from the menu without having to click through everything to get to a specific item.

As mentioned it can be turned off also very easily.
There is no performance problems what-so-ever.

This is one to keep.

Reply   |   Comment by Daniel Filtness  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#23

Wow! This is fabulous! It installed without a hitch on Win 7 x64. I also downloaded a few skins, and they appear instantly when you simply click on them. I LOVE that I can now have weather at a glance (without using up regular screen space) too! This has to be one of the most fun and simply NEAT programs ever given away here! Thanks so much, Gladiators Software and GAOTD!

Reply   |   Comment by Moosie  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)
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