Another bash thread?
Isn't "impulse now" = "impulse tray"? If yes, it isn't anything new, 'cause it was being installed with the impulse client. Now you just got a pop-up message, from one software that was already sitting there.
But I agree, it is easy to get offended when you're not included in the knowing part and the buying part of the deals. Or offended when you're not included because of regional restrictions/price restrictions/whatever.

Impulse was required since the best patch they put out for Sins of a Solar Empire. All other patches were stand alone, but they forced users to install Impulse to get the best patch. That is when I stopped using and buying Stardock programs/games.

Yup, that is the Stardock DRM model. I have been laughing about that (with regard to GalCiv, actually) since back when everyone kept saying that Stardock was DRM free. Nah, they just use the incentive approach.
Honestly, I love Impulse. Like I said, all the convenience of Steam, but not required. Shame Impulse doesn't provide anywhere near as many features as Steam (that overlay is nice).

an overlay is planned as part of the next impulse update.

Ready to Play is promising, and pre-loading is coming soon (before the next major Impulse update, according to a recent blog post).

Impulse Tray is on my system. I disabled it right away, I don't want the tray item when I'm not either playing or shopping for games. I just launched it and checked for deals (some good ones) and then quit it again. No big deal.
Slightly quicker than launching the web site in a browser, actually...

I actually already have the beta and well.. it's a good thing it's still in beta.

I love impulse, but I have it set up to not start on boot. It only turns on when I click it, and shuts of as soon as I exit it. Much better program than Steam overall, impulse is only missing the advanced friends and community functions. And the giant game list, but 90% of Steams games I don't care for.

I never interpret anything, I simply exposit. Like the horse led to water, I cannot force anyone to recieve my message. That's human nature, to trun everything into a shit-slinging content. Such is life.

I didn't say it was LIKE Steamworks, I said that Impulse had complained about forcing consumers to install unneeded software, and implied they were being hypocritical by limiting sales to a select few who agree to be advertised to.

Ready to Play *IS* promising, but I dislike Stardock's ADD/Ambition. They announce all kinds of plans, and deliver on none of them. Where is the resale ability with Goo? Where are the old Impulse skins? Why hasn't Goo been applied to more games? If Stardock concentrated more on completing each project, and improving gradually, instead of constant "innovation" and hype, they would be neck and neck with Steam IMHO.

I installed it the other day to see if I might get The Saboteur through it and was surprised when my system tray told me I should buy Window Blinds.
No thanks.
I bought it on Direct2Drive.

Some of you guys are so picky. As so many people have pointed out, this tray program is completely optional. Are you so lazy that you can't take a minute to disable it?
Personally, I think Impulse is ok, but Steam is still better. You can criticize it all you want, but Steam was a great selection of games, and really good sales to back them up. This is what is most important to me. Impulse is really lacking on both of those. Also, Impulse just looks a lot less polished and professional.
That said, I don't really find Impulse Now to be that annoying. Actually, I would really like it if they could expand it so that all the sales were shown on it. That way I wouldn't have to visit their crummy website all the time.

"And oh my dear....come on lady, walk with me, come on lady, talk to me"

Now THAT I wholeheartedly agree with. GOO was used by a whopping 3 games (not including those that use GOO only if purchased on Impulse), and they didn't even do any sort of marketing of that fact. A lot of people didn't even know that Red Faction : Guerrilla used it. If it's such a huge feature, why not market it when it gets used??? And it hasn't been touched for months that I'm aware of.
Stardock keep trying to be everything before they nail down anything when it comes to Impulse.