Want to try out the latest beta preview of Impulse?
You can get it here:
http://storage.stardock.com/files/Impulse_setup.exe
FAQ:
- What is Impulse? Impulse is Stardock's successor to Stardock Central. It is designed to merge all of Stardock's various digital networks into a single platform (TotalGaming.net, WinCustomize.com, and Object Desktop.net). With it, users can buy, download and update a wide variety of software.
- Will Impulse replace Stardock Central? Eventually. But we expect to keep both going for a long time so that fans of Stardock Central don't feel pushed to get Impulse.
- What will be on Impulse? Eventually, everything. Right now, it's mostly Stardock titles and a handful of indie games. With Impulse, we are opening it up to all publishers of all venues - games, utilities, applications. On the games side, we expect parity with Steam and Direct2Drive by the end of 2008. On the non-game side, we hope to have most major utilities and a number of major applications available on it.
- Does Impulse have DRM? Impulse does not use DRM as it's traditionally thought of. It uses a technology called SSD (Secure Software Delivery) which ensures that the content is transferred to the user in secure form. Users are able to install their games onto multiple machines using their accounts within reason (the system does evaluate geographic locations of multiple installs and a number of other metrics to flag possible "warez" accounts). Stardock is also working on a new technology tentatively called Secure Virtual Machines (SVM). More information on SVMs will be released later. Overall, Impulse is largely invisible to users. They do not need an Internet connection to play games, they can re-download the full retail game from it even if they purchased it elsewhere, and there is no "phoning home" during the launch of games.
This preview is designed to test out usability as well as find bugs prior to release that may have slipped past us. We have an extensive feature set prepared for Impulse that will be delivered over the coming months. We are still getting the final kinks out, however and the Impulse Store and Website are being overhauled from what is in the beta.