NTWind News

Sticky Previews v1.6 - Added Full Support for Windows 8

Alexander Avdonin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 04:59:57 -0600

New version of Sticky Previews is available for download. It adds full support for Windows 8 and contains some minor performance improvements.

Changelog for Sticky Previews v1.6:

Fixed bugs and added full support for Windows 8
Some other minor improvements

Download Sticky Previews (32-bit and 64-bit)

WinSnap v4.0.5 - Updated User Interface and Icons

Alexander Avdonin — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:39:51 -0500

New version of WinSnap was released today. It contains updated drawing tool icons and several other UI improvements.

Changelog for WinSnap v4.0.5 (June 11, 2012):

New line tool and updated tool icons/cursors
Better compatibility with Windows 8 Release Preview
Fixed issue with incorrect cursor position and Aero theme
Fixed issue with File->New command in Windows Explorer
Some other improvements and bug fixes

Download WinSnap v4.0.5 (32-bit and 64-bit)

WindowSpace v2.5.7 - Support for Windows 8 Release Preview

Alexander Avdonin — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 04:17:01 -0500

New version of WindowSpace is available for download now. It's a maintenance release which adds support for Windows 8 Release Preview:

Changelog for WindowSpace v2.5.7:

Test support for Windows 8 Release Preview
Improvements and optimization on the installer
Some minor improvements and bug fixes

Download WindowSpace (32-bit and 64-bit)

VistaSwitcher v1.1.5 – Maintenance Release

Alexander Avdonin — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:03:59 -0500

New version of VistaSwitcher has been released today:

Changelog for VistaSwitcher v1.1.5:

New language files: Persian, Arabic, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Slovenian
Unified installer for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows
Virus false positive solved by making a new exe
Fixed an issue with the main right-click menu
Some other minor improvements and bug fixes

Download VistaSwitcher v1.1.5 (32-bit and 64-bit)

WinSnap v4.0.4 - Copy with Transparency

Alexander Avdonin — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:19:46 -0500

It took too long to make this release, but it's finally available for download. Version 4.0.4 contains several improvements and stability enhancements. Here are the main changes:

Tool menu icons:

Right-click menu:

Support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

Changelog for WinSnap v4.0.4 (May 8, 2012):

Support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Added "Copy images with transparency" option
Added application and folder icons in Tools menu
Right-click on empty area opens Advanced File menu
Changed default window size for different resolutions
Fixed control and window sizes in high DPI mode
Removed "LICENSED TO" from the titlebar in the registered version
Several other minor improvements and bug fixes

Download WinSnap v4.0.4 (32-bit and 64-bit)

WinSnap v4.0.3 - Minor Improvements and Bugfixes

Alexander Avdonin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:59:18 -0600

This is mainly a bugfix release, changelog:

Keyboard shortcuts to move/resize objects (arrow keys, ctrl, shift)
Line color/thickness, drawing tool are now restored after restart
Adjusted line thickness for region selection on low screen resolutions
Auto-Copy puts screenshot to clipboard when effects are changed
Fixed issues when pressing PrintScrn in region selection mode
Fixed dwmapi.dll error on Windows XP 64-Bit Edition

Download WinSnap v4.0.3 (32-bit and 64-bit)

WinSnap 4.0 Released - The Big Update

Alexander Avdonin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:30:13 -0600

The new major version of WinSnap is officially released and available for download. This is probably the most significant update since version 1.0. There are a lot of new features and UI enhancements, but I tried to keep it simple and elegant as first version.

Changelog for WinSnap v4.0.1 (January 24, 2012):

New major version of WinSnap with reworked UI
Built-in image editor: arrows, rectangles, text annotations
Capture native Aero shadows in Window and Application modes
In-place color effects: grayscale, darken, lighten, sepia, invert
Copy/paste images with transparency to Office 2010 and other apps
Advanced file commands: open location, copy path, delete, rename
Close to tray, minimize to tray, always on top commands
Improved region selection: larger magnifier, crossing lines
No support for Windows 2000, minimum - XP, recommended - Win7
Tons of other improvements and fixes

Changelog for WinSnap v4.0.2 (January 27, 2012):

Fixed showing/restoring the main window after capture
Fixed sharpness of printed images and print resolution
Fixed restoring of auto-save and auto-copy options at startup
Fixed issue with watermark position on the bottom-left
Fixed issue with 1px outline when shadow is disabled
Fixed closing of tray menu on losing focus and ESC
Fixed background color of copied to clipboard images
Fixed non-default format selection in Save dialog
Many minor improvements and bug fixes

Download WinSnap v4.0.2 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Hidden Start v4.1 - Support For Long Commands

Alexander Avdonin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:03:09 -0600

New version of Hidden Start was released today. Now Hstart can process long command lines with more that 2,048 characters - there is no limit.

Changelog for Hidden Start v4.1:

Added support for long commands with more than 2k characters
Hstart now ignores empty command arguments like "" or " "

Download Hidden Start (32-bit and 64-bit)

WindowSpace v2.5.6 - Maintenance Release

Alexander Avdonin — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:12:38 -0600

New version of WindowSpace was released today, changelog:

Added workaround for Win + Shift + Arrow Keys on Windows 7
Fixed "Don't show this message again" in the Hotkey error dialog
Fixed a few minor issues with the settings dialogs

Download WindowSpace (32-bit and 64-bit)
WinSnap 4 updated to dev2 - forum topic

WinSnap 4 - Open Development Process

Alexander Avdonin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:09:08 -0500

I want you to get involved in an open development process of WinSnap 4. Please note it’s not the release, it’s the most active development phase when I’m mainly working on the killer features that will make WinSnap 4 stand out. I’m considering the usage scenarios, reworking the user interface, rethinking everything, and of course fixing bugs. All features I’m showing here are subjects to change!

Capture Native Aero Shadows

As promised, WinSnap 4 has an option to capture native window and menu shadows under Windows 7 and Vista. It actually works like “capture native shadows when possible”. When it’s not possible to capture native shadows, WinSnap adds its own shadow effect.

The difference is noticeable in inactive window shadows and menu shadows.

Arrows, Rectangles and Annotations

The main advantage of WinSnap 4 will be ability to quickly edit and annotate screenshots.

The look-n-feel of the drawing objects will be improved in the future releases. Currently it’s just the basic concept.

In-Place Color Effects

Color effects can be applied to the captured images: darken, lighten, grayscale and inverted colors. It’s supposed to be used in combination with rectangular and ellipse selections when you want to highlight an area on the screenshot.

Smart Image Crop

Now you can crop a part of your screenshot in WinSnap. It looks like the standard “Crop” tool that any image editor has, but WinSnap takes into account the window form and shadow. Note the difference when you crop screenshots with native Aero shadows.

Both screenshots are cropped with WinSnap, left screenshot has a native Aero shadow.

Copy/Paste Images with Transparency

It works with Office 2010 applications (PowerPoint, Word, Excel) and with WinSnap itself. When you copy a screenshot to the clipboard, WinSnap preserves its transparent and semi-transparent areas and shadows.

Now you can copy/paste screenshots with transparency from WinSnap to PowerPoint presentations and Word documents, or copy/paste Office 2010 drawing objects, clip arts, charts and shapes from Word to WinSnap.

Minor Tweaks and Improvements

Since I’m reworking everything in WinSnap, there are lots of improvements in the UI and overall feeling. WinSnap 4 has a button on the taskbar, larger controls in the main window, improved region and object selection.

My favorite improvement is that cursor and watermark are recognized as image objects in WinSnap 4. It’s very useful sometimes, because you can move the cursor or watermark over the screenshot image.

Any Feedback is Welcome!

If you want to get involved in an open development process, download the latest ‘dev’ snapshot of WinSnap 4. Test it yourself for a while and post your comments, thoughts and suggestions on the forum. Many updates are coming soon!

Download the latest development snapshot →

WinSnap v3.5.7 - Support of Windows 8 Aero

Alexander Avdonin — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:33:44 -0500

This is probably the latest maintenance release of WinSnap 3.5. I'm planning to start alpha/beta-testing of WinSnap 4.0 within a week or two. This release adds test support for the rectangular Aero theme in Windows 8 Developer Preview.

Changelog for WinSnap v3.5.7:

Updated languages: German, Slovenian
Added test support of Windows 8 Developer Preview
Fixed issue with clearing Tools menu preferences after restart
Fixed issue with "dwmapi.dll not found" error on Windows 2000/XP

Download WinSnap v3.5.7 (32-bit, 64-bit, portable)

WindowSpace v2.5.5 - Win + Arrow Keys in Windows 7

Alexander Avdonin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:44:54 -0500

New version of WindowSpace was released today. Even on Windows 7, you can reassign now Win + Arrow Keys in the WindowSpace Settings. After a few hours of investigation I found a workaround to fix this annoying issue.

Changelog for WindowSpace v2.5.5:

New translations: Georgian - more than 14 languages now!
WindowSpace can reassign Win + Arrow Keys on Windows 7
Default hotkeys are now the same on all versions of Windows
A few changes to option names were made

Download WindowSpace (32-bit and 64-bit)

WinSnap v3.5.6 - Language Files Update

Alexander Avdonin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:46:21 -0500

New version of WinSnap was released today. It contains a few updated language files and an improved installer. WinSnap 3.5 is translated into more than 35 languages.

Changelog for WinSnap v3.5.6:

New languages: Georgian (35+ languages now!)
Updated languages: Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Persian
Improved language selection in WinSnap installer

Download WinSnap v3.5.6 (32-bit, 64-bit, portable)

Hidden Start v4.0 – Run Apps without UAC Prompt

Alexander Avdonin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 06:21:55 -0500

The new major version of Hidden Start was released this week. The most noticeable update is Hstart GUI Tool – HstartUI.exe which is a part of the distribution package now.

Hstart GUI Tool would help you to build complex command lines and test them immediately. It can quickly create a shortcut on the desktop or an autostart entry in the Windows registry.

Run Applications without UAC Prompt

The second big improvement is /NOUAC switch that allows you to run applications or batch files with administrative privileges without any UAC prompts. Here is a simple example:

hstart.exe /NOUAC regedit.exe

Of course, it can be used with other options:

hstart.exe /NOUAC /NOCONSOLE "D:\Batch Files\Riquires_Admin_Rights.bat"

The following command opens Local Group Policy Editor:

hstart.exe /NOUAC /SHELL gpedit.msc

And here is how to open Windows Hosts file for editing:

hstart.exe /NOUAC "notepad.exe "%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts""

Environment Variables

As you can see from the previous example, Hstart now expands environment variables in the executed command lines. This may help you to make more system independent commands:

hstart.exe /NOCONSOLE /WAIT /D="%TEMP%"
"cmd.exe /c "D:\test.bat > test-output.txt""
""%ProgramFiles%\EmEditor\emeditor.exe" test-output.txt"

Other Improvements

The new Hstart uses a more efficient parsing algorithm to process complex command lines. The entire program code has been rewritten to make Hstart faster and bug free.

Download Hidden Start (32-bit and 64-bit)

WindowSpace v2.5.4 - Improved Update Process

Alexander Avdonin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:33:05 -0500

New version of WindowSpace contains a greatly improved installer. Finally, I fixed an issue with updating WindowSpace DLLs caused the following error to be displayed:

Starting from v2.5.4, WindowSpace setup asks for rebooting (if DLLs are in use):

If reboot is not required, the setup page looks like before:

Changelog for WindowSpace v2.5.4:

New translations: Turkish - more than 13 languages now!
Unified installer for 32-bit and 64-bit editions (single download file)
Added reboot support to install/uninstall process
Some minor improvements and bug fixes

Download WindowSpace (32-bit and 64-bit)

Sticky Previews v1.4 - Double-Click Action

Alexander Avdonin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:59:33 -0500

The new version of Sticky Previews includes an option to set up the default double-click action. Also the distribution package is now a single download file for both 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

Changelog for Sticky Previews v1.4:

Added option to set up double-click preview action
Unified 32-bit and 64-bit installer (single download file)
Some minor bug fixes and improvements

Download Sticky Previews (32-bit and 64-bit)

WinSnap v3.5.5 - 32-Bit + 64-Bit Unified Installer

Alexander Avdonin — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:19:48 -0600

New version of WinSnap was released recently, changelog:

Updated languages: Chinese, Danish, Turkish, Ukrainian
Unified installer for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of WinSnap
"Check for Updates" was greatly improved (2 mouse clicks now)
Shorter screen capture delay on Windows 7 and Vista
Fixed close button bug in Image Options dialog
Several other minor improvements and bug fixes

Download WinSnap v3.5.5 (32-bit, 64-bit, portable)

WindowSpace v2.5.3 - German & Dutch Translations

Alexander Avdonin — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 02:12:15 -0600

This maintenance release of WindowSpace contains a few updated language files and several minor improvements. Version information and "Check for Updates" link are now shown in the Settings dialog.

Changelog for WindowSpace v2.5.3:

New translations: German and Dutch (12+ languages now)
Added version info and "check updates" link into the settings dialog
Some default settings were changed (snap to side - 50%)

Download WindowSpace (32-bit and 64-bit)

Sticky Previews v1.3 - Maximize/Restore Previews

Alexander Avdonin — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:23:07 -0600

The new version of Sticky Previews adds the ability to maximize/restore previews to the current monitor. It also improves the way you select the preview regions (single mousedown/mouseup operation).

Changelog for Sticky Previews v1.3:

Single-click selection of the preview region (mousedown/mouseup)
Added ability to maximize preview to the current monitor
Double-click now maximizes/restores preview

Download Sticky Previews (32-bit and 64-bit)

VistaSwitcher v1.1.4 - Fixed Compatibility Issue With IE9

Alexander Avdonin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:26:07 -0600

New version of VistaSwitcher has been released today. This version mainly addresses a compatibility issue with IE9 Beta and Preview versions (see How to Fix VistaSwitcher Showing Blank Windows in the List for details).

Changelog for VistaSwitcher v1.1.4:

Fixed an issue with Internet Explorer hidden window (IE9 Beta)
Several stability and performance improvements

Download VistaSwitcher v1.1.4 (32-bit and 64-bit)