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Topic: «New version 5.4 of Actual Window Manager and other products , Aero Snap feature, Virtual Desktops Switcher, Window Thumbnails » on forum: Announcements   Views: 21556
 
Alexander Belyakov
Administrator
-retired-
 
 Posts: 196
Joined: 06/07/2007
Posted: 07/09/2009 03:07:16
 
 
 Hello,

We are glad to announce that July 9, 2009 we released the new version 5.4 of Actual Window Manager and other products.

Here is the list of most important upgrades and improvements made in this product (the full list of changes is available here):

  • Core engine improvements
    Now the actions at window's startup are applied before the window becomes visible. This must remove the annoying blink effect when changing window placement at startup and therefore make the work more smooth and natural.

  • Multi-monitor Taskbar improvements
      - Multi-monitor Taskbar is now visually compatible with Windows 7;
      - now it works under Windows 2000;
      - now it works even if the main taskbar's Group similar taskbar buttons option is turned on;
      - now it can optionally be turned off (see the Multiple Monitors property sheet in the Options window).

  • The Windows 7 Aero Snap emulation is added
    It allows you:
      - auto-maximize a window by dragging it to the top edge of desktop;
      - auto-restore a maximized window by starting drag it as any normal window;
      - auto-span a window to the left/right half of desktop by dragging it to the left/right edge of desktop correspondingly;
      - auto-maximize a window just vertically while dragging its top/bottom edge to the top/bottom edge of desktop correspondingly.

  • Virtual Desktops Switcher window
    Virtual Desktops Switcher is similar to regular Taskbar but for virtual desktops. Virtual Desktops Switcher contains as many toolbars as virtual desktops you have (one toolbar per desktop). Each toolbar displays the icons of applications running on its corresponding virtual desktop - so that you can quickly overview, which desktop the certain application is on. With the Switcher window you can:
      - click any application's icon to activate the application window (and its host virtual desktop as well);
      - click somewhere on the empty space in the toolbar to activate virtual desktop itself;
      - drag any application's icon from one toolbar to any of others, which means moving that application's windows from one virtual desktop to another.
    You can toggle the Switcher window either via Alt+` hotkey (Alt key with back single quote key) or via Show/Hide Switcher command in Actual Window Manager tray icon's context menu.

  • Window Thumbnails feature
    Window thumbnail is a reduced window snapshot - looking at it you can quickly overview window contents on the whole and tell windows apart easier without the need to activate them. Once enabled (see the Window Thumbnails item in the Options window), this feature creates a preview image for each running window (either visible or hidden) and then displays it along with the tool tip in the following places:
      - over Taskbar buttons;
      - over AltMin screen icons;
      - over above-mentioned Virtual Desktops Switcher buttons.

  • Desktop Icons Manager facility
    It will help you to keep the preferred layout and order of the icons on your desktop from being accidentally changed or corrupted because of display resolution changes. Just arrange your icons as you like, then right-click Actual Window Manager icon in the system tray and click the Save Desktop icons item in the popup menu - and from now, the icons order is stored. If it is unintentionally changed or garbled in some way - you can quickly restore the preferred layout by selecting the Restore Desktop icons item in tray icon's popup menu. Please consider the following notes while using this feature:
    • you can store separate layouts for different display resolutions. For example, when you switch your display resolution from 1280x1024 to 1024x768 - you can rearrange desktop icons and save the new order for that particular resolution. If you then switch back to 1280x1024 - you can quickly restore the icons order native to this resolution;
    • when storing the icons order in a multiple displays environment, it is stored/restored on a per display basis, and only resolutions of displays are taken into account, not their relative order. It means that if you have several displays - you can rearrange them freely without the need to store the icons order after each change.


  • Compatibility issues with some popular pieces of software fixed
      - Microsoft NetMeeting;
      - RAdmin Server;
      - NetOp Remote Control (Host);
      - Ad Muncher;
      - Calendar Magic;
      - Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

  • Other fixes that are worth mentioning are:
      - the Virtual Desktops are now compatible with CursorFX;
      - the Multi-monitor Task Switcher extension is compatible with the TaskSwitch XP PowerToy utility;
      - title buttons have stopped responding to mouse clicks in full screen applications (like games);
      - design of the main Configuration window slightly redesigned.

    Please let me remind the basic principles of our Upgrade Policy:
    • If you are a registered user of the version 5.0 or later - simply download the new version, run the installation and install the new version into the same directory of your current version (note: you will be asked to restart your PC!).
    • If you are a registered user of any version earlier than 5.0 then the upgrade to version 5.4 is paid but you are entitled for the significant upgrade discount. To get advantage of this discount, please visit our Upgrade Center and enter there your original 3.x/4.x registration code.
    • All others are welcome to try our software for 60 days for free and on their own see all the advantages our products bring to a day-to-day computer use.

    Note: If you are a blogger then you can take advantage of our Blogs Support Initiative and get Actual Title Buttons for free!

    Hope the new version will be of great use for you!

    Best regards,

    Actual Tools team
    If you have any questions please mail to support@actualtools.com
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