Trombettworks software

xxx	In case there would be nonresponding windows, in most cases routing windows between desktops was impossible. Fixed.
xxx	I have detected some kind of system windows which don't react well to desktopping and avoided them (also, they were not visible to the user). So there should be noticeably less nonresponding windows now, and consequently less bother for the user.
xxx	The Autohide on load option wasn't working properly. Fixed. Thanks to Jernej for reporting this.
xx	WindowRules->Action->DeleteFrom or AddTo: should desktops 5-8 be selected without desktops 1-4, current, next or previous being selected, the settings woulndn't be saved. Fixed. Thanks to Morfic for reporting this.
xx	Should WindowsExplorer be terminated while there were nonresponding windows (possibly WE itself), in some cases Flash Desktops could take 100% of the CPU until explorer.exe was started again. Fixed.
xx	In particular conditions, tray icons 5 to 8 could appear in the system tray even if FD was set to use only 4. Fixed. Thanks to Grant for reporting this.
x	The tray icon for desktop 1 had a blank string associated to it instead of "Desk 1". This prevented WindowsXP from being able to hide it. Fixed. Thanks to Robert for reporting this bug.
x	There was a mistake in the sample rule called No focus remove from Notepad: requesting the Visible flag among the at-creation styles prevented the rule from working, because the notepad window starts as invisible for a fraction of second then becomes visible. I changed the rule now.
x	The "tray icons are hidden" state used to be remembered across FD sessions, but this behaviour was causing far more confusion than benefits. Changed so that now at FD startup the tray icons always appear (up to the number of desktops you have chosen, of course).

Version 2.52.80 released on January 17, 2002

xxx	Some of the latest versions of FD could crash frequently in systems with shell32.dll version < 4.71 . This means basically under those NT4 or Windows95 systems which had not been updated with "active desktop" (Internet Explorer >= 4 installed in shell integrated mode). Fixed. Thanks to MrSpock and Harry for reporting this and helping me with the debug.
x	Clicking Process Name or Caption sorting in All Wnds in the OS view was sorting the entries case-sensitively. Changed to case-insensitive sorting. Thanks to Robert for reporting this.

Version 2.52.65 released on December 22, 2001

xx	In versions 2.52.40 and versions 2.52.60 the "Grab active wnd and go to..." hotkeys were not keeping the focus on the foreground window so were unusable. And also the "Move active window to..." and "Toggle active window in..." hotkeys weren't exactly working as intended. Fixed.

Version 2.52.60 released on December 16, 2001

xx	When I released version 2.52.40 yesterday I forgot to fix some bugs I had detected. This is the fix. My apologies.
?	As version 2.52.40 did, this version too gives 5 evaluation days back to people who had used some or all of them while evaluating a version older than 2.52.40 (not cumulable with those granted by 2.52.40 of course).

Version 2.52.40 released on December 15, 2001

++	Window Rules - Action: it's now possible to restore the focus to the window which was owning it before the last focus change. This allows making window rules like "That application cannot grab the keyboard focus" to prevent nasty application from popping in foreground and interrupting your work.
++	New interesting sample window rules: - Desktops Slideshow: performs a timer-controlled automatic cycling of the virtual desktops. If you fill each desktop with a different thing you can make sort of demos for the public. Idea suggested by D. - No foreground for Notepad: shows how to prevent nasty applications from disturbing your work by grabbing the keyboard focus. - No focus remove from Notepad: shows how to build a rule which keeps the keyboard focus on a specific application.
xxx	Big crash - related bugfixes. Hopefully big stability improvements. If you had crash problems try upgrading to this version.
x	Other minor bugfixes.
?	5 evaluation days given back to people who had used some or all of them while evaluating a previous version (maximum is 21 days as usual). So you can try the improved reliability of this version and the many new features recently added in Flash Desktops.

Version 2.50.01 released on December 8, 2001

+++	Allows variable number of desktops, ranging from 2 to 8.
+	The implementation of FD_GET_INFO window message to get info programmatically from Flash Desktops has changed a bit to reflect the new "variable number of desktops" feature.
xxx	Recovery feature added so that in case Flash Desktops crashes the user would be able to launch another instance which would inherit all the placements of the windows within the desktops. With a single click. This means being able to continue working much like nothing has happened. No more hassle of bringing the windows back manually and rerouting them in place.

Version 2.46.94 released on November 14, 2001

xx	Windows XP was showing the FD tray icons in reversed order: 4 3 2 1 Main. Fixed. This was because MS changed the side on which new icons appear in the tray starting from XP. Traitors.
x	Minor bugfixes.

Version 2.46.90 released on June 19, 2001

+++ xxx	A stronger routine for correctly setting the foreground window under Windows2000 has been implemented back. Extensive testings show that it works now, at last! The setting of foreground window should be nearly 100% success even on Windows2000 now, notwithstanding the new Microsoft SetForegroundWindow policy. Forget about flashing buttons in the taskbar upon desktop switch. Flash Desktops seems now to be the first and only virtual desktop manager immune from this problem. If you run Windows2000 please upgrade to this version!
xx	Pervious versions would set the foreground lock timeout to zero when running. This version leaves it as it is.
x	One small bug which could occasionally (very rarely) cause crashes found and fixed.

Version 2.42.84 released on June 3, 2001

++	If there are late windows now the main FD icon will blink only if the nonresponsive windows are in a nonvalid state as far as the current desktop is concerned. In other words the blinking only notifies you if the current desktop lacks (or exceeds) of some windows. However, all the late windows will be reported in the apposite page of FD interface.
xx	On previous version sometimes a window would suddenly become sticky. Finding it in the database would reveal that FD considered it absent in every desktop but in facts the window would be visible. Fixed.

Version 2.42.80 released on May 24, 2001

+++	Added way to change process priority for Flash Desktops. I found High process priority class to be the most suited for Flash Desktops since when FD is used it should usually preempt the painting routines of other windows. Setting an higher priority class will not make FD use more CPU.
+++	Asynchrony during desktop switching has been improved. On High or Realtime priority classes Flash Desktops should allow the user to traverse all the desktops quickly almost without other windows begin to paint themselves, thing which will eventually reduce the overall computation time. Good on slow environments like under Windows2000 or on slower computers.
+	Other minor speed improvements.
xxx	I had to change the technique for setting the foreground window. Version 2.40.64 had bugs on switching desktop: the ALT key was like stuck down until hit once, and this caused particular problems with some applications. Furthermore version 2.40.64 would consistently fail setting the correct foreground window in some situations.
xx	Under Windows9x, triggering the the Cycle overlapped windows hotkey if [Ctrl] was included would often popup the start menu. Almost fixed, ok for comfortable use. (Can't do more, another Windows unreliability)
x	Sorry, I thought I had fixed the bug of explorer.exe windows being sticky already in version 2.40.64 but it was not true: on some systems it persisted. I have fixed it now.
x	On previous versions the main tray icon would sometimes fail in correctly reappearing after a desktop switch and its place would remain empty until next switch. Fixed.

Version 2.40.64 released on May 8, 2001

+++	Great improvements in hooks page: now NeverHide, subclass-subdue, hook-subdue, and moveaway windows filters are all implemented in the same way. They now immediately react to the changes, affecting also the windows which are currently present and the database flags (see below). The logic is much easier to understand now, and more effective.
+++	From the Database View it's now possible to modify the style of any window in the system instantly, change the caption, post a message or a stream of messages in one shot. Streams of messages can be loaded and saved to disk (can be easily passed to the Window Rules interface). The Database View allows now multiple selection so you can now send the same command to groups of windows together.
+++	Window Rules too can now modify the caption of the target window, modify the style, and post a whatever long stream of messages. Stream of messages can be loaded and saved to disk.
+++	A column "Flags" was added in the Database View ("All wnds in the OS"). The column shows how FD identifies every window in the system so you can more easily understand why FD is behaving in a certain way. Some flags are for example "show/hide" or "moveaway" or "NeverHide", "System" or "Normal" or "Tooltips", "Subclass-Subdued", "Hook-Subdued". These flags immediately react to che changes made in the Special/Hooks window, and also to caption changes of the windows. In this way you have immediate feedback and a clearer idea of what's going on.
+++	Users with Shell32.DLL version >= 4.72 have interesting benefits now: the MoveAway + HideTaskbarButton will now be performed without ever hiding the window. In previous versions it was required to hide the target window for one instant in order to remove the button from the taskbar: now this will be only done if Shell32.DLL version < 4.72.
++	A field "window caption" (either "exact" or "substring" at your choice) was added in all the four window filters in Special/Hooks for a more precise matching. Flags "Exact" or "Substring" for title matching added in Window Rules matching too.
++	WindowRules can now be tried On-WindowPos-Changed (VERY powerful, but pay attention if together with "Retry Forever": you risk to self-retrigger the rule) and also On-Style-Change.
++	Manual rewritten, now shorter: it contains now only the info which are really useful. It's much more hyperlinked too. I have tried to save your reading time as much as possible.
++	Groups of Window Rules can now be loaded and saved from/to files and I also provide a file with many sample rules. I hope there will be more interest on Window Rules from now on.
++	Each Window rule now has a checkbox and can be enabled and disabled singly. You can now have an unlimited number of Window Rules, though not more than 32 simultaneously enabled. The order in which they are applied can be changed with drag and drop now.
+	Cosmetic improvements in all the configuration interface.
+	Caption bar X ("Close") button now hides the application like if you double rightclicking the dialog. People seem to prefer this use of that button. You can shut down the application with the specific button or from a menu.
+	FD2 configuration files are now recursively extensible. It means that you will not lose your windowrule list or any other configuration when you will update FD2 in the future. But you will still lose part of your configuration for the last time with this update.
+	[Licensed users only] It's now possible to view many details of your license (TransactionID, Invoice and more) by doubleclicking in the Registration Information area. A new file called License.dat should be used in place of the old Registration.dat. I have already distributed the new license files to all the registered users. If you know you are registered but for any reason you haven't received it drop me an email.
+	Now Window Rules will never trigger on FlashDesktops' own windows. This allows safer __SYSTEMWIDE__ window rules.
+	If Explorer.exe crashes and is restarted, FD is now able to immediately detect the newly created taskbar and background as system windows and will not hide them on desktop switch. In previous versions this required user intervention.
+	Keep Taskbar Button Order [experimental feature] improved: now nearly usable. However it still slows down desk switching noticeably and requires Shell32.DLL version >= 4.72 .
xxx	Tray deskop icons flashing when Internet Explorer 5 popup appears is much faster now. Now it doesn't slow down your browsing anymore and still saves the hidden Windows Explorer windows from being killed by the evil IE popup.
xxx	Occasional failures in setting the correct focused window upon desktop switch bug FINALLY DEFEATED! Should be around 100% success with this version, even on Windows 2000. Flash Desktops is now, as I believe, the only virtual desktop manager which is unaffected by this bug on Windows 2000.
xx	Earlier versions dealt with some kinds of windows (e.g. java dialogs) incorrectly: FD was not able to understand if they were hidden or visible and used to mistake the switching. A workaround was to disable the visibility optimization in Special / Hooks page, but anyway it was a bug and now has been fixed.
x	Fixed bug of explorer.exe windows not actually being hidden/showed upon desktop switch. This bug only happened on some systems.
x	Occasional partial hangups at shutdown. Fixed.
+x	Countless minor improvements and bugfixes.
?	Removed all limitations on the unregistered version except the 21-days time limitation. Now unregistered users can use the WindowRule->PostMessages, the WindowRules->NotifyUserProgram and can control Flash Desktops with Windows Messages.
?	5 more evaluation days (maximum is 21 as usual) for people who had used some trial days evaluating a previous version. So you can try the improved reliability and the many new features.

Version 2.16.10 released on December 1, 2000

+++	Switching speed for moveaway windows (Internet Explorer 5) is GREATLY increased: now practically identical to show/hide ones.
+	"Keep Taskbar Button Order" option added [Still Experimental].
++	Sticky windows will now be checked on the current caption. A checkbox was added to tell if specified caption should be exact or substring
xxx	Annoying recurring problem of nonresponding window with a blank caption (usually by Explorer.exe or Iexplore.exe) finally tracked down and solved.
xx	Focused window was not properly restored sometimes. Partially fixed, now ok for normal use.
x	"Moveaway + Hide Taskbar Button" didn't work correctly if you disabled General Hooking without first manually disabling the Safe Mode. Fixed.
x	Occasional crashes found. Fixed.
x	The program couldn't start on some Windows95 or NT4 configurations. Fixed.
?	This version raises your trial day counter by 6 days (up to a maximum of 21 days as usual). This means you will have some days back in case you had used them on a previous version of Flash Desktops, so that you can try the new good features and the improved reliability of this version.

Version 2.08.01 released on October 31, 2000

xxx	Problems were found in handling minimized windows (Major Bug) - Fixed.
++	"Post Message" function in the database view added.
+	FD1 "Cycle Around" option added back
x	Sometimes hovering with the mouse on the tray icons made FD switch - Fixed.

Version 2.00.01 released on October 28, 2000
First offcial release for Flash Desktops 2

What's new ends -.

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