Windows Live Photo Gallery is currently my preferred photo management software and I am loving the plugins and new sync features. I always use WLPG when importing pictures from my digital camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5A). One of the things I like to do when importing pictures is to have WLPG auto correct the orientation. You can do that by going to File->Options and then the import tab or by clicking the more options link when importing photos.

Well all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago when I went to import some photos I tried clicking on the more options link, however it didn’t do anything. So I tried to get to the settings via the File menu, but was greeted with the following:

After searching around on google I found that others had run into this problem, but nobody had a fix. First thing I tried was uninstalling and reinstalling WLPG, but that didn’t work so I decided to email Microsoft support. After running through numerous “fixes” and multiple emails back and forth, including sending them a ton of log files, I found myself no closer to solving the problem than I was before. So, I decided to poke around the registry and found the solution to my problem:

1. Make sure Windows Live Photo Gallery is closed
2. Open up regedit (On vista just type regedit from the start menu, otherwise goto Start->Run)
3. Delete the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Photo Acquisition
4. Reopen Windows Live Photo Gallery and your options tab should be fixed
   • If not, search for and delete any keys under *\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live that pertain to Windows Live Photo Gallery (where * is any of the main root keys)

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It’s been a while, but hopefully it’ll be worth the wait as this release has quite a few new features and bugfixes. As you can see by this release I am certainly open for new ideas, so if you have any feature requests feel free to submit a comment.

Changelog:

• 3.1.1
  • Changes:
    • Added a Now Playing specific section to the Display-> Settings menu with the following features:
      • Options to set the Now Playing Background Image to something other than the default Grid View.
      • Added a option to make the Now Playing Progress Bar slider scale to the window size.
      • Added a option to disable the artist imagery in the Now Playing View/Land. This will allow those with a custom background to have it always showing.
      • Moved the Custom Now Playing Font Size under this section.
    • Added Four Album Art Sliders for the following areas:
      • Now Playing View/Land
      • Now Playing Progress Bar
      • Albums View
      • Artists View
    • Increased the size of the custom color sliders
    • Changed the wording on the theme buttons so that all four buttons fit in the smallest window size possible.
    • Modified the installer so that it provides a little more guidance on what is happening and what to do if something goes wrong/isn’t working. Also now the installer will automatically close the Zune Software if it is open.
  • Bugfixes:
    • Fixed list item colors in numerous spots (Purchases/Download History, Top X Lists, etc.).
    • Fixed all color problems that I was made aware of (MarketplacePageTitle, ListItemSelectedBackground, ListItemBackground) along with a few others (ColumnDivider, ScrollBarThumb, ScrollBarBackground, ScrollPath, TransportButton, TransportButtonHoverColor, and many others).
    • Fixed it so the text under the custom color sliders updates correctly.
    • Fixed the explicit warning message so that it displays correctly for dark themes.

If you are a first time user I’d recommend going to the projects page where you can read all about the Zune Software Customizer: Zune Software Customizer Project Page.

If you aren’t a first time user you can use the following link which will always link to the latest release: Zune Software Customizer Latest Version Direct Link.

Update: If the album art sliders aren’t working for you initially (for example if the Now Playing Land View one is just moving the album art up and down after you set a size), please restart your zune software and then they should work. Let me know if they don’t after a restart.

As you might have noticed I have created a new page solely for projects. I have also gone back and edited the old posts to point to the projects page. This was done for a number of reasons:

• To prevent confusion about what link to use to download the Zune Software Customizer. I noticed from posts and visitor stats that a lot of people were still using older links.
• To prevent duplication of post content. Previously I had been pasting installation instructions, features, etc. over and over again everytime I put out a new version of the Zune Software Customizer. Now I no longer have to do that. If someone wants to see what the Zune Software Customizer is about they can visit the project page.
• I have some unreleased non-Zune projects that I plan on releasing soon and this allows me to group all my projects in one spot.

Anyways I will still be posting everytime I release a new version, but from now on it will only contain information on what changed since the last version.

Also if you take a look at the projects page at the moment you will notice that there are some features listed that aren’t currently available, that’s simply because I am almost done with the latest update and didn’t feel like waiting to update the pages. Rest assured though that all the features listed on the project page are features I have currently working locally and will make it into the next release.

Sorry for the huge delay. As some of you know I went on a long trip to Italy and have been MIA since. Well I got engaged on my trip and have been pretty busy with all the stuff that comes along with that since. Not to mention the fact that my Zune is currently out of commission, I am receiving USB Device Not Recognized errors. This led to me having less interest in putting out an update. Anyways on to the stuff you care about, a version of the Customizer that works with the new Zune Software (ie version 3.1. In case you missed the note from the last post I have adopted the Zune Software’s version numbering, so the first two #’s will correspond with the Zune Software version number):

Changelog:

• 3.1.0
  • Changes:
    • Added a option to set the Pink Color value and made the defaults for the DarkZune Theme and the ZSM Dark Theme to suit each theme.
    • Created some images to better suit the Dark Themes:
      • Brand Tag (ie the stupid box up by the top)
      • Default Profile Image
      • Slider images
      • Info Bubbles (for example see the MixView when you mouseover one of the artists)
      • Now Playing Images updated for new version
      • Dark Zune Theme Search images updated
      • Left Arrow image in the settings menu

If you are a first time user I’d recommend going to the projects page where you can read all about the Zune Software Customizer: Zune Software Customizer Project Page.

If you aren’t a first time user you can use the following link which will always link to the latest release: Zune Software Customizer Latest Version Direct Link.

UPDATE: So far three bugs have been found, none of which are critical, but I’ll probably release a updated exe sometime this weekend. The first is the text under the custom color sliders doesn’t update. The second is that the MarketplacePageTitle Custom Color doesn’t appear to be updating correctly. The last is that the installer on the first page says “This will install Zune Software Customizer 2.5″ instead of 3.1.0, oops.

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This is probably the last build until the next Zune Software update, barring any major bugs that is. I really wanted to get this one out earlier, but I just got some time to finish up the remaining things I wanted to add to it. Oh and in case you missed it 2.5.1 was to fix the problem mentioned in this comment. Anyways on to the stuff you care about:

Changelog:

• 2.5.2
  • Changes:
    • The background of the device panel now will be the same as your currently selected background. I don’t know why the Zune team decided to make it different in the first place?
    • Thanks to Fez from DarkZune I was able to get the rest of the missing images for the DarkZune theme, so now it really does match the original one. I did however make one tweak that was to make the bottom bar all black for this theme.
    • Created some images to better suit the Dark Themes:
      • Minimize, maximize, restore, close buttons on Hover.
      • Next and previous button when disabled
      • Back button when enabled.
  • Bugfixes:
    • Fixed a bug with the Next Button on Hover (thanks to Nathaniel for pointing this one out).
    • Fixed a bug that was causing the Button text to appear distorted when selecting a theme.

If you are a first time user I’d recommend going to the projects page where you can read all about the Zune Software Customizer: Zune Software Customizer Project Page.

If you aren’t a first time user you can use the following link which will always link to the latest release: Zune Software Customizer Latest Version Direct Link.

Also here is a gallery of before and after pictures showing the updates made in this version.

I know what you are thinking, “Hey, what happened to the versions in between?“. Well I decided to just change the numbering scheme to coincide with the Zune Software Releases. Just seemed to make more sense. Does that mean you will always have to wait for a Zune Software release before seeing changes to the Zune Software Customizer? No, I’ll just make them point releases. Anyways on to the good stuff.

Just a note before I start, because of the way I handled the custom colors last release, it will have remembered all your settings, so if you left it off on the Dark Zune Theme it will go back to that or if you left it off with DarkGray being red it’ll go back to that, etc.

Changelog:

• 2.5.1
  • Bugfixes:
    • Fixed bug that caused the Zune Software to crash when visiting the settings/device section
• 2.5.0
  • Changes:
    • Changed version numbering scheme to match Zune Software’s version number to prevent confusion.
    • Changed custom color display so that it shows the current set value for the selected option as requested.
    • Provided a brief explanation of what each color does when that color is selected as requested.
    • Added the ability to increase the “Now playing” Font Sizes with options for 8, 10, 12, 14 as requested.
    • Deleted unused colors:
      • VeryLightGray
      • NewWarmBrown
    • Added the following colors upon request:
      • ListItemBackground
      • ListItemHoverBackground
      • ListItemSelectedBackground
      • ListHeaderBackground
      • ColumnDivider
      • ActionButtonShadow
    • Added Missing images to DarkZune theme, so now it is much closer to the original one.
    • Added Custom Color Theme button for easier changing back and forth between themes.
  • Bugfixes:
    • Fixed it so the MarketplacePageTitle updates when it is changed (This affected the artist title in the album panel).
    • Fixed a bug where if the size of the Zune Window was too small the custom color names were being cut off. Did this by creating my own radio group that used a grid layout.

If you are a first time user I’d recommend going to the projects page where you can read all about the Zune Software Customizer: Zune Software Customizer Project Page.

If you aren’t a first time user you can use the following link which will always link to the latest release: Zune Software Customizer Latest Version Direct Link.

It’s been coming for quite some time now, but now that the XNA 3.0 CTP has been released the time is finally here… games on your zune.

GotZune has posted a list of things you will need and a list of games already available:

Software you will need:

Windows Visual C# 2008 Express

XNA 3.0

Games:

Alien Aggressor

XNATetris

Also there is a walkthrough from zuneboards describing step by step how to add the games.

Sadly the CTP doesn’t work with x64 machines (it will install, but you will receive a error when trying to add your zune), so I won’t be able to try it at home.

The Zune 2.5 Update just came out a few days ago and it is awesome. So far I love the integration of the social cards, the autoplaylist feature is quite good as well, and now I can actually sort my playlists right inside the zune software.

Heres a list of features from zune.net:

NEW FEATURES

* Friends on your Zune device. Now you can sync your friends! You’ll get their personalized Zune Cards, a look at their playlists, and—when you have a Zune Pass subscription—music from all playlists (when available), right on your Zune.
* Friends in the Zune software and Zune Marketplace. Check up on what your friends are listening to while you’re browsing your own collection. See which friends like which artists in your collection—and make new friends by checking out who’s listening to artists you’re exploring in Zune Marketplace.
* My Social. When you sign in at Zune.net, you’ll get an updated view of everything your friends have been listening to, complete with reports of who’s added who as a friend and changes in listener status.
* Videos at Zune Marketplace. Choose from thousands of TV shows and music videos.
* Autoplaylists. Autoplaylists are updated dynamically based on the criteria you set for your music, like your own personal DJ.
* Find and edit song, album, and video info. We’ve made it easy to update the metadata for your music and videos so your stuff will show up right where you expect it.
* Browse by genre. Now you can easily browse, shuffle, and even sync all music of one or more specific genres.
* Gapless playback. Whether you’ve got DJ mixes, live albums with unbroken applause between songs, or classical performances that need it, both Zune and the Zune software are capable of playing consecutive songs with no interruptions between them.
* Windows Live Messenger integration. When you listen to music on your computer (in the Zune software), Windows Live Messenger can display what you’re listening to.

IMPROVED FEATURES

* Enhanced video browse. Now you can sort your videos by category, both on your Zune and in the Zune software.
* Edit sync groups. If you’re selective about what you sync with your Zune, you now have more options to review and refine your various sync relationships.
* Video zoom. Don’t like watching low-resolution videos in full-screen mode on your computer? Now you can shrink the display within the Zune software.
* Sync progress on Zune. Especially handy for wireless sync, your Zune now shows per-item sync progress so you no longer need to be at your computer to know how far along you are.

Here are some videos walking through the features:

One feature you don’t see talked about too often, if at all, is the fact that with the Zune Software you can create “Streaming” Playlists and share them across authorized computers if you have a Zune Pass. I didn’t get to use the old software that much, but I believe they had this previously and it was assumed to have been removed in the update. But sure enough it’s still there and any song that you have downloaded with your Zune Pass from the Zune Marketplace can be placed in a playlist that can in turn be used as a streaming playlist on a different authorized computer.

I think this is a very important feature as it allows me to basically share my entire library of music without having to download anything. This comes in handy for when I’m at work and don’t want to have to redownload my music. I just create a playlist at home, make it accessible from any PC (send it to myself via email, upload it to my website, upload it to Windows Live Skydrive, put it on a usb drive, etc.), download it on my other machine, and enjoy.

Some things to note:

• Your Zune Social plays will be updated, so no worries there.
• This really should go without saying, but you can’t stream music you didn’t download from the Zune Marketplace. You will receive a error message saying it can’t find the song. The Zune Software will try to automatically remove these types of files.
  • It does this by looking for songs that don’t have a serviceId attribute in the Playlist ZPL file. If that attribute isn’t found it will remove them from the playlist.
  • However, if you happened to download the music from some other service like itunes, they might have that information populated. It’s rare that this will happen and that music won’t be readily available on the Zune Marketplace, but it does happen. In those cases you will have to either manually remove them or just ignore the error.
• Content that was actually purchased from the Zune Marketplace will also give you this error. However you can simply goto your download history (marketplace->downloads->purchased) and re-download them and they will work without error in that playlist.
• This also should go without saying, but you will need to be signed in for the playlist to stream the content. Otherwise you will get the standard 30 second clip.

What would be nice is if Microsoft would store these for you so anywhere you have the Zune Software installed you can access them (ala Rhapsody). Who knows maybe they will start doing that. If they did this and integrated the Xbox Live Marketplace I would be thrilled.

I have gotten into the habit of leaving the Zune Software open at work so that I didn’t have to load it up every single morning, however I noticed that this caused one side effect that I didn’t think about. In fact I never would have noticed it if it wasn’t for the fact that one of my friends was developing a Xbox Live notification program for the IPhone/Ipod Touch called iXboxLive, which you can find at the following link http://blog.npike.net/2008/02/01/ixboxlive-for-iphoneipod-touch/.

IXboxLive

As you can see in the image above it shows me as last online 5 minutes ago, however that was at a time when I was at work and nobody else would be on my Xbox Live account.

So there really was only two options:

1. Someone had stolen my account and was using it while I was working
2. Something else I was using was updating my xbox live status

I know my account wasn’t stolen. I also knew that signing into xbox.com/live would update your last seen status, however that also wasn’t the case as I hadn’t been there recently. This was also right around the time where both Xbox Live and the Zune Marketplace were experiencing wide spread downtimes and problems, which led me to start thinking about how the two were linked. I signed onto my Xbox 360 and went to the Account Management Settings blade and noticed that under Memberships it not only had my Xbox Live account listed, but my Zune Pass Account. This makes sense since they both are linked/using my Windows Live ID.

After further testing it turns out that the Zune Software was in fact the culprit and that it was updating my Xbox Live last seen status. This would be fine if there was a “invisible” option like there is on the Xbox 360, however there is no such option in the Zune Software so I just have been closing down the Zune Software before leaving work now. If I don’t it will update my last seen status every 10 minutes. I’m posting this because I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else and I’m hoping if anyone has the same problem this will help them out.