We are proud to announce the public release of the release candidate 1 for SharpE 0.8. Things went better than expected so we decided to skip another private test. So here it is, SharpE 0.8 RC1 unleashed to the public!

Please keep in mind that this is a release candidate, meaning that it's still a beta version!
The goal of the release candidate is to determine if the build is ready for a real release of SharpE 0.8 as stable version.
Please also note that due to several huge changes it is not possible to overwrite an already existing SharpE release or to use the settings of an older release! You have to do a fresh install!

The biggest difference to any previous release is that SharpE 0.8 RC1 comes with an easy to use installer and uninstaller. In addition download as .zip for advanced users is also available
Download: SharpE 0.8 RC1
Post Feedback (Bug Reports, Feature Requests) into this forum thread: Feedback Thread

The changelog is so huge again that I can't go into detail about every single change, here are some of the changes:

Icon Sets:
The icon sets have finally been reworked to a more modern structure. Besides more icons being included the sets are no longer based on .ico files. With the new icon sets being based on multiple .png files it should be a lot easier for users to create and share their own icon sets. A downside of this is that we had to say goodbye to the old CubeIX icon sets and that we currently only have 3 working icon sets in the release. However we hope that with the png changes users will put together more great icon sets quickly!

SharpCenter:
Again we have invested enormous work in fixing and improving SharpCenter. The changelog contains over 30 items just related to SharpCenter, and those are just the changes where we didn't forget adding them to the changelog. Overall SharpCenter is a lot more stable and faster now, in fact we fixed so many things that we consider SharpCenter to be fully stable now. Of course there might still be a few crashes - but those are just there so that we have something to fix until the final release of SharpE 0.8

Settings:
Regarding how the settings are saved two major changes have been made. The first is that it's now possible to store all your SharpE settings in the computers ApplicationData directory (where all other applications store their settings). The advantage of this is that you can now install SharpE in UAC protected directories (e.g. Program Files) on Windows Vista and 7 and that you can easily use the same settings between different/future releases of SharpE (any SharpE install on your computer will access the same settings in the AppData directory). But of course using it the old way where the settings are saved directly in the SharpE directory is also still possible (you can change which way you prefer it in the installer).
The second change is that we started implementing a more secure way of how all settings file are accessed, meaning that the annoying "File is already used by another process" error should be fixed now!

Besides this so many other things changed all over the shell that the Changelog is the longest we ever had.
Click "read the rest" to knock yourself out!

Changelog

[General]
* new module: Show/Toggle Desktop
* new icon sets: Tango, Crystal
* new service: Debug
* update to the latest version of the Graphics32 library (version 1.9)
* added possibility to store settings in Windows ApplicationData directory
* added more error checking to API libraries
* added "Default" Icons directory, all icons from there will be loaded and overwritten by the icons of the actual icon set. If an icon doesn't have a specific icon the icon from the default directory is used (e.g. media player icons)
* added new Windows 7 shell folders
* added sharpe folder items to target selection menu (SharpEDirectry, UserSettings and GlobalSettings)
* changed to override crHandPoint with IDC_HAND, it will now use the hand defined in the cursor set (no more ugly Delphi hand)
* changed icons of an icon set to be sorted by name
* improved how XML settings are loaded and saved
* improved loading speed of the icon selection dialog
* fixed transparency problem to allow XP run-time themes
* fixed a problem where copying the default user settings could sometimes fail
* .NET components upgraded to VS 2010, must have Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 installed to compile (c# components still target 3.5)
* moved schemes to user settings directory
* changed to use GetSharpeUserSettingsPath for tmp file instead of the exe location, doesn't play nice with UAC
* fixed IconDialog displaying old IconSet, would occur if dialog was opened then IconSet changed and dialog reopened
* changed IconDialog to use 16x16 icons
* changed IconDialog (SharpE Icons) and TargetDialog (Shell Folders) to wrap after 20 entries
* fixed IconDialog (Generic Icons) wrapping immediately causing a small empty row
* changed default Shift + Right click menu to be Desktop instead of non-existent QuickLaunch

[SharpCenter /Configs]
* fixed plugin dll's never getting released
* fixed plugin interfaces never getting released
* fixed many memory leaks
* fixed several bugs that caused configs or center to crash
* fixed issues with the xml loading class
* fixed a problem where the Add Module confirmation message (if you have too many modules) was shown behind the SharpCenter window
* fixed issue where TWeatherLocation objects were freed to early causing the Location and ID fields to not be populated correctly
* fixed several bugs in menu editor config (menus not loading, moving menus in the root menu, ...)
* fixed certain bar settings being set to default when editing a bar (all settings which can't be set by the config: AutoStart, AlwaysOnTop, ...)
* fixed appbar config screwing up button order when buttons are moved by drag and drop while the config was opened
* fixed a drawing issue of the tabs for high resolution/dpi displays
* fixed the left aligned modules separator shape in module manager being 1px to tall on high resolution/dpi displays
* fixed module manager config height being too small and cutting off items for bars with many modules on high resolution/dpi displays
* fixed possible crash(access violation) when using center or configs while an UAC window pops up
* fixed icon looking horrible in Alt+Tab window
* fixed template selection for new theme not working
* fixed theme configs causing an access violation when closing center
* fixed live preview being updated twice (speed improvement)
* fixed MenuEdit check boxes for dynamic directory not triggering the Apply button to be displayed
* fixed VWM typo (Desktops)
* fixed Name for wallpaper not being generated properly, would cause issues on systems with more than 2 monitors
* fixed "Division by zero" error when quickly switching between configs which display previews
* added display of an error message (desktop settings disabled) in case the explorer desktop is used to the theme/desktop config
* changed SkinList to not load or save preview.bmp, preview is now generated each time
* removed saving wallpaper preview.png unnecessarily
* changed text color for unselected tabs to clWindowText, same as selected tab
* changed Alias config to only set the Name if it is empty after using the Browse button for the Command
* default ButtonBar Icon to shell:icon
* added double click on a list item to open the config for that item (like clicking edit) (Toolbars, Modules and Services config)
* default Name field (if empty) to GetFileDescription (AppBar, ButtonBar)

[SharpConsole]
* changed to save log file in GetSharpeUserSettingsPath \Logs\ to avoid UAC

[SharpCore]
* changed the -NoStartup switch to be -startup, startup will no longer run when just double clicking SharpCore

[SharpBar]
* added more secure saving of settings file
* added loading of temporary/backup Bar.xml~ in case loading of Bar.xml fails
* added possibility to have bar with a fixed width (percentage of screen width)
* added Force Always On-Top option
* added displaying of an info/help tooltip if bar was hidden for the first time by clicking the screen border and if the main button of the bar was hidden for the first time by right clicking the screen border
* added launching of the designated SharpCenter config if a module is added with the quick add module menu
* fixed startup delay (Multiple bars are now started simultaneously)
* fixed a problem with auto-hiding of bars on startup
* fixed !FocusBar action not getting unregistered when closing a bar
* fixed random runtime errors on startup and exit on XP
* fixed full screen bar crashing on multiple monitor systems when resolution changes
* fixed problem where Always on-top would not work after exiting from a full-screen application
* fixed problem with disappearing modules when doing certain things on an always on-top bar
* fixed a problem with loading module dlls because of case sensitive file names
* improved redrawing of the bar (should reduce flickering)
* changed to treat foreground windows with a WS_BORDER style as non fullscreen windows
* changed to not update the whole bar (module positions, size) while closing the bar and unloading all modules
* changed to show the throbber popup-menu below/above the bar
* fixed IconDialog displaying old IconSet, would occur if dialog was opened then IconSet changed and dialog reopened

[SharpMenu]
* added Multi-Threading (for rendering and dynamic content creation)
* re-added caching (experimental)
* remove delay for opening a submenu if no other sub menu is already opened
* fixed a bug with generic icons
* fixed a bug where the custom settings would not be loaded
* fixed override for "Display file extensions" no being applied
* fixed issue where menu specific options would not be used on menu startup (i.e. enable generic icons)
* fixed a bug that would sometimes make a menu not shown when used from a bar module
* fixed iconcache file not being created for each menu, only 1 iconcache file was being created
* changed to always load the generic icons (makes it possible to use them as menu icons even when overwriting shell icons is disabled)
* changed to save the cache file in GetSharpeUserSettingsPath /Cache/.iconcache instead of GetSharpeDirectory/Cache/ {UserName}.iconcache, did not play nice with UAC
* changed SharpMenu to look for '.dll' instead of '.object' (Desktop Objects)

[Desktop.Explorer]
* fixed a problem where Explorer would crash upon exit
* fixed access violation when closing via "Shutdown SharpE"
* added check to let the Vista style loading of SSOs take precedence if the SSO GUID is listed under XP and Vista style registry sections

[Desktop.SharpE ]
* added automatic wallpaper changer
* fixed so that the desktop gains focus when you click it
* changed SharpDesk to not rename desktop objects to have a '.object' extension, doesn't play nice with UAC

[Notes.Module]
* when deleting or exporting a tab the next tab will be made active unless it's the end of the list in which case the previous tab will be activated
* updated to display the module icon from the current icon set
* fixed Notes window being brought to the front when you clicked anywhere on the bar, started occurring when we set Application.MainFormOnTas kbar to True in SharpBar.

[RecycleBin.Mo dule]
* added drag-and-drop support for files

[AlarmClock.Module ]
* changed to use images from the current icon set (icon.alarm.on/off/ active)

[MediaController.Module ]
* added support for sending commands to an executable
* added aTunes support
* added Songbird support
* added config to disable certain media players (will remove them from the player select list)
* added !MC-NextPlayer and !MC-PrevPlayer actions to change the currently controlled media player
* added OSD Text showing the current player when player is changed via actions (Usefull when using a remote control)
* added automatic detection of foobar2000 executable (if installed)
* changed to use images from the icon sets
* modified spacing of buttons to be closer together

[Taskbar.Module ]
* added multi threading for getting task informations (caption, icon, ...)
* updated CurrentMonitor filter to also include minimized windows
* changed window which don't have an icon to use the main-executable's icon instead (if available)
* changed to only set new icon for a taskitem if getting the icon actually worked
* improved which windows are shown in the taskbar
* improved how windows are minimzed (fixes a focusing issues)
* fixed flickering when clicking/activating a task item

[SystemTray]
* added Shell_TrayWnd properties to avoid a rare COM problem
* fixed a problem with the volume pop-up doesn't show in 7
* fixed Network pop-up in Vista (and some other minor things)
* fixed a problem with tooltips on Vista
* fixed issue where hiding/unhiding icons while the bar is not full screen would cause an access violation
* fixed right-click menu of Directory Opus (and possibly others) not showing.

[ApplicationBar .Module]
* added Launch and Launch Elevated right-click menu options
* added option to disable rearrangement of icons via drag and drop (icons can still always be moved by holding down shift)
* added importing of the pinned windows 7 taskbar items (on first launch)
* fixed close on middle click to work also on applications with multiple windows (firefox, ...) - as it was added to the taskbar in the last release
* fixed problem where the Taskbar would not reload after removing an item from Center (causing the appbar windows to not show in taskbar).
* fixed taskpreview settings not getting saved when module itself wrote config
* fixed module madly resizing when updating/moving buttons by the config
* fixed task previews getting screwed up by very high but narrow windows
* fixed task preview windows staying open when right click menu is shown
* fixed selection menu (XP or with disabled previous) not taking VWM and Monitor filters into account
* improved how windows are minimzed (fixes a focusing issues)
* changed to include minimized windows when Monitor Filter is enabled
* reduced check timer to 1 sec.

[ButtonBar.Module]
* added importing of the quicklaunch items (on first launch)
* added "view all items" button and a popup menu in case the bar is full (no longer all buttons will be hidden)
* removed caption of the "add" button and added tooltip

[Clock.Module]
* added right click menu

[Menu.Module]
* added highlighting of the menu button as long as the associated menu is opened

[MemoryMonitor.Mo dule]
* capitalize Free as it looked weird when lower case
* changed to note show ":" after RAM or SWP when the percentage is not shown.

[MiniScmd.Module]
* fixed right side of text box being chopped off when icon was on the left and then hidden.

[VWM]
* changed to not send WM_TASKVWMCHANGE for minimized windows, minimized windows are moved off screen which would cause the LastVWM to be updated
* updated CurrentMonitor filter to also include minimized windows
* changed so that NotifyText is displayed above the bottom bar
* fixed settings not being saved as proper xml doc (was missing root element)

[VWM.Module]
* fixes very oddly shaped windows screwing up the VWM previews

[RSSReader.Modu le]
* changed image download thread to synchronize update event calling with GUI thread

[Weather.Module]
* fixed settings not being reloaded after adding module to a bar and then defining a location in the weather service

[Exec.Service]
* added handling of sharpe:directory, sharpe:usersettings and sharpe:globalsettings
* fixed problem with spaces in the file path/name (when the .NET launcher is unavailable)
* fixed and improved how Recent Items, Most Used Items and Included Paths are saved and loaded from XML
* fixed error when loading the most used items list and language locale settings where changed

[Startup.Service ]
* fixed a bug where multiple explorer windows would show on startup

[SystemActions.S ervice]
* added !MinimizeAllMonitors and !ToggleAllMonitors
* added quiet SwitchUser/LockStation shutdown action
* added timeout for automatic shutdown to shutdown confirmation dialogs
* improved design of shutdown confirmation dialogs
* changed !MinimizeAll and !RestoreAll to work like the new ShowDesktop Module

[MultimediaInput. Service]
* added support for external IR remote controls
* added config to change which commands are assigned to AppCommand Messages (Multimedia Keys)
* added possibility to disable custom media keys if Windows Media Center is running
* fixed settings not being saved as proper xml doc (was missing root element)

[SetShell]
* improved user interface
* fixed separate being misspelled

[link]
* call RefreshFontList in FormCreate instead of FormShow so default theme font can be properly set in TSharpCenterPlugin.Load
* improved icon quality for icons not matching the standard .ico sizes (the next higher icon size will be loaded and scaled down)

[RecycleBin.Object]
* call RefreshFontList in FormCreate instead of FormShow so default theme font can be properly set in TSharpCenterPlugin.Load
* improved icon quality for icons not matching the standard .ico sizes (the next higher icon size will be loaded and scaled down)

[Image.Object]
* added support for downloading .gif images