Again 4 months have passed since the last release. After a lot of work and many changes we are really proud to release SharpE TD6R5 - the next major step towards the final release of Version 0.8.

This time the changelog is bigger than ever and the team has worked hard to fix many problems and implement some amazing new features. So what took us so long again?

Explorer Desktop
Besides some improvements in SharpDesk regarding stability with full screen applications (such as games) it is now possible to use the explorer desktop with SharpE. The desktop config has a checkbox where you can select which desktop to use - SharpDesk or Explorer Desktop. This feature is available on all supported windows systems from XP to Windows 7. A nice side effect of this is that the windows desktop widgets will work again on Vista and Windows 7. The advanced wallpaper features of SharpE, such as different wallpapers for multi monitor setups or the wallpaper effects, are still available with the explorer desktop (when the SharpE wallpaper configuration is used).

Taskbar
Many long known bugs have finally been fixed in the taskbar and application bar modules. It's now possible to close windows with a middle mouse click even when the window is part of a multi window application (such as firefox). Besides this overall stability, compatibility with stubborn applications and multi monitor support have been further improved.

SharpCenter
A lot of work has been invested in improving the stability and speed of SharpCenter and the configs. In addition, to just making it faster and more stable, many bugs such as non working arrow keys and a messed up tab order have been fixed. Overall SharpCenter should be a lot more stable!

New Stuff (Modules,Skins,...)
One issue we still had was that the previously released Number 8 skin was too big for non high resolution or normal dpi displays. At the same time the older skins such as sunken or minimal where too small for those high resolution displays. To fix this gab a new "Simple" skin has been added to the release, which is a mixture of the minimal and Number 8 skins. This release also contains three brand new modules for the SharpBar. Those modules are an Alarm Clock, Recycle Bin Monitor and a RSS Reader module.

Everything else
The changelog is so big that it's impossible to list everything in this news post. However there are still two other improvements which I want to point out: An option has been added to the VWM to also move tool windows (gimp or instant messenger windows) between virtual monitors. Besides this the long missing auto complete feature has been added back to the miniscmd module.

Last but not least I want to personally thank both James (brum74) and Mathias (HomerSp) for their ongoing support, without them this release wouldn't have been possible.

Enjoy this release!

Please post feedback into this forum thread
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click "Read the rest... " for the complete changelog.

Changelog

[General]
* updated some icons to match the overall look of the shell better
* new modules: RSS Reader, RecycleBin, AlarmClock
* fixed a possible access violation in the IsWow64 function (check for 64bit OS)
* fixed the shutdown/logoff/hibernate confirmation dialog so that it now has initial focus
* improved position of labels/captions on high DPI displays (24" with 120 dpi fonts)
* added an option to use Explorer's Desktop instead of the default Sharpe desktop
* fixed "Open In Folder" in Chrome/IE (only in Windows 7 currently) #ticket 2876687
* fixed "Administrative Tools" being incorrectly spelled in dialogs.

[SharpCenter\Co nfigs]
* fixed countless memory and graphic handle leaks (should make Center a lot more stable)
* fixed service list config considerably slowing down the root menu of SharpCenter
* fixed tabs in the service list not properly refreshing when enabling or disabling a service
* fixed arrow and tab keys not working in configs
* fixed buttons on the delete confirmation dialog in menu editor not being in English
* fixed initial override status/visibility of checkbox controls being wrong in menu list config
* changed tab order in all configs to be a something reasonable

[SharpMenu]
* added Properties option to the right-click menu of Dynamic Items
* added the ability to open another menu by simply hovering over it after you have a menu open
* added an Auto-Hide option which hides the menu if you leave the menu window with your mouse and a specified amount of time has passed

[SharpCompile]
* added ability to compile c# solutions using MSBuild.exe.
* fixed bug removing items from the tree view would fail when you open the xml file a second time
* changed manifest to have requestedExecutionLevel be asInvoker to avoid UAC elevation prompt

[SharpBar]
* changed to save the hidden state when bar is closed and apply it the next time it's opened
* changed to not load bars with non numeric directory names (for example 898423489.temp\bar.xml)
* fixed bar hiding not working with always on top enabled (it would only hide the modules and not the bar)
* Suspend bars not on the primary monitor while connected via remote desktop.
* Automatically disable always on top for bars on monitors with an active full-screen window.

[SetShell]
* added check for not letting setshell change the shell to SharpE when run from UAC protected directories or directories without write access (#ticket 2887235)
* changed SharpAdmin to open hidden (avoid console window popping up)
* changed to only apply the IniFileMappingFix if it has not been done (avoids displaying UAC dialog unnecessarily)
* changed the "Separate Explorer Process" check box to reflect the status of the option (set/not set)

[SharpDesk]
* changed to use a space as the delimiter instead of a comma for multi line captions (Link and RecycleBin objects)
* fixed issue where the caption would not display when SharpDesk starts (Link and RecycleBin objects)
* fixed a problem when switching from full-screen (in non-native resolution) to windowed
* set the windows TileWallpaper background setting to 1 (true) to avoid showing a split background (Alt+Tab and startup) on dual monitor setups.

[Image.Object]
* Allow configuring Image object to load images from a directory.

[RecycleBin.O bject]
* the size is now displayed in Bytes, KB, MB or GB
* fixed the amount of items and size not showing up instantly

[VWM]
* added option to move tool windows with the VMW aswell

[SystemTray]
* fixed a bug which happened when a system tray item initially had the hidden flag and later changed it to show causing it to not appear (ticket #2874071)

[Notes.Module]
* changed hyperlinks to be launched with SharpExecute (http:\\somesite.com, mailto:me@me.com, \\somepath)
* fixed keyboard shortcuts being triggered when Alt or Shift are pressed in addition to Ctrl + Key
* Automatically add the file extension (.rtf or .txt) if necessary when exporting notes.
* Added a down arrow to display tabs in a popup menu and change to a tab if selected from the menu.
* Fixed Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab not bringing the tab button into view after changing.
* use icons that look like tabs for Add/Delete/Edit.
* fixed last active tab not being visible when you reopen the notes window.
* changed so that clicking the notes module will bring an open notes form to the front if it is fully or partially covered otherwise it will close it.
* fixed issue where Open/Save dialogs would appear behind Notes form on Windows XP when configured to be always on top.

[MiniScmd.Module]
* added Auto-Complete
* fixed ability to launch items such as msconfig

[TaskBar.Module ]
* added offset to task/window filter check for current monitor (fixes a problem with maximized window borders going into another monitor - #ticket 2874063)
* added a Toggle All Windows button (similar to MinAll/MaxAll)
* changed to always show ToolTip for the minimize, maximize and toggle buttons
* changed to check DwmCompositionEnabled (Aero enabled) each time when displaying a preview or menu instead of just on startup. Ticket # 2890968
* fixed close on middle click to work also on applications with multiple windows (firefox, ...)
* fixed displaying ToolTip for tasks, when DWM is disabled they'll show and won't when enabled
* fixed preview window staying open when moving mouse from a task to the toggle window button
* fixed windows not updating their VWM and Monitor position while being moved with the mouse
* fixed another rare "List index out of bounds" error
* fixed issue where KeePass window would now show when opened again after being minimized to the systray
* minimize/restore all now should be faster
* fixed preview windows appearing off left and right side of monitor.
* fixed blending to icon color not working

[ApplicationBar. Module]
* changed drag and drop to work like in the taskbar (only for a process with only one instance or window) - #ticket 2874054
* changed to check DwmCompositionEnabled (Aero enabled) each time when displaying a preview or menu instead of just on startup. Ticket # 2890968
* fixed filter for showing only windows of the current monitor or VWM not affect previews #ticket 2935727
* fixed skin specific spacing between buttons not being used
* improved color blending of app bar items based on icon color
* fixed preview windows appearing off right side of monitor.

[Cursor.Service ]
* changed the animation timer to be only enabled when needed (png animations specifically)

[Exec.Service]
* Fixed AliasList tooltip to display proper use of alias tokens.
* Fixed Exec service not properly replacing alias tokens.
* Fixed not elevating aliases if the AliasValue or Params contained _elevate.
* Any additional Params not used during token replacement will be passed as spaced delimited args.

[Startup.Service]
* fixed so it now searches the full path when enumerating through the current processes
* fixed so the processes enum now doesn't search apps with command line
* fixed a problem with short filenames in the registry