Fences has been in internal alpha (it took a LONG time to get this to work on Windows) for years. There are screenshots of it on our site from a couple years ago.

Works great for me!  Thanks Stardock!

I smell a red herring. KDE4 has been in development for years, too.

It still doesn't answer the (implied) question "When was Fences actually released ?" If, as it appears to be the case, KDE4's Folderview was released before Fences, calling it a clone(or inspired by) of Fences is a stretch.

It doesn't matter when it was released. As soon as the idea is made public, anything coming after can be considered a "clone". It doesn't necessarily mean that the developer has even seen the original software.

Bumptop is a good example, there are numerous clones out there, and bumptop isn't released. All similar software (such as realdesktop) are still clones.

Fences is a good addition to the desktop, however I found some features I don't like:

•  files that are put to the desktop by other ways than drag-and-drop (e.g. Firefox loads a file from the internet and places it on the desktop) ignore Fences. The result does not please me, because the new file appears often under a shortcut created by fence. Due to this the new file can not be easily accessed, unless I move the fence above it.
• I do not understand a fence named Recent Things. As I installed this program I thougt there will appear recently opened/modified files, however the files there are "recent things at the time the wizard has been run". So it is not as helpful as I thought.

Who cares who released what first and who is clone of who yaddie yadda.  Its a good Utility that works well, and doubtless will be improved upon as time goes on, as these things tend to be - its not practical to do the "ultimate" on first release, not the real world.

.....  lifes too short   -   especially when its free ......  

Regards
Zy

Karma coming your way, for showing the right spirit!

Great APP, My Desktop Looks sweet now its organised so perfectly   Keep the Killer Apps Coming

Likewise! My desktop was litteraly covered with icons now it's all neat and well packed in categories (smart how the app finds them itself )...I cnaa ctually see my backhround picture again!

Wow!  I've tried all sorts of docks and bars and alternate desktops but nothing quite so elegantly simple and useful as this.  What a fanstastic idea!

And to offer it for free as an incentive to install the Impulse client?  Well done!  Tnx!!!