Stardock was originally founded as an OS/2 software developer in 1994. It developed some of the most popular OS/2 products of all time. The company has generally focused on the consumer market while making inroads into the corporate market.

Historically, it has been best at making a type of software known generally as a desktop enhancement -- software that makes the operating system more productive and more pleasant to use. Additionally, the company has produced some outstanding award winning games.

In 1997, Stardock saw that in the future, with more people having access to high bandwidth that there would be a huge opportunity in providing software as a service. Many of its customers had asked over the years if they could just subscribe to Stardock's software. in 1999, the term ASP (Application Service Provider) became widely known and Stardock became one of the first companies to begin offering software as an on-going service.

The first service has come in the form of The Object Desktop Network, a application service provided by Stardock.net that comes with Object Desktop. Unlike other content-heavy ASPs, Stardock creates its own content which allows its software to follow a single integrated vision. Moreover, The Object Desktop Network works excellently with existing bandwidth technologies because Stardock chose to do its first service in the form of desktop enhancements which tend to be smaller in size and are released in the form of components. For instance, the exceedingly popular WindowBlinds is but one component of Object Desktop.