FlashScreens Version History

3.0 Beta 1

Well it's been over two years since we've updated the venerable FlashScreens. The time has come for an upgrade! New in this version are lots of bug fixes with newer versions of Windows (Win2k, WinME, WinXP), some new features like "Trayed Windows," which automatically minimizes windows you specify to the tray, and transparency effects (visible under Win2k and WinXP). FlashScreens has also been ported to VB6 now.

More to come soon.

2.1.2

Maintennace release:

• First hand testing done on Windows NT. All major features appear to work fine under NT.
• The Per-Screen Display Resolution feature now supports refresh rates (primarily for Windows NT and video drivers that support it)
• Made some improvements and minor fixes to the Manage Windows window. Manage Windows now has an autorefresh feature.
• Made it so that the FlashScreens bar and the QuickStart toolbar cannot be docked to the same side of the screen (this was presenting problems under some scenerios).
• Fixed the exagerrated resize bug that occurs when the Taskbar is on the top and FlashScreens on the bottom of the screen (and under some other rare situations as well).
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the options menu to be obscured by the FlashScreens bar when FlashScreens is docked (this bug showed up consistently under Windows NT).
• FlashScreens can now be repositioned into a viewable area of the screen when it is accidentally moved off the screen by simply clicking on its icon in the taskbar.
• The Task Manager button now works under Windows NT.
• Updated the Help files.
  

2.1.1

Maintennace release:

• Fixed more bugs for users running in 'Large Font' mode.
• The undocked height of the FlashScreens bar is no longer limited to 20.

2.1

• Fixed several bugs which only occurred if the user was running Windows in 'Large Font' mode.
• Fixed a bug that was preventing the Transcending Windows feature from working properly.
• The resource meter was and still is incompatible with Windows NT. But version 2.1 will not turn on the resource meter by default anymore.
• New feature: The ability to specify screen resolutions for each screen!!! For instance one screen can be set to 800x600-high color, and another 1024x760-256 color, etc.
• New feature: The ability to save layouts. That is, have FlashScreens remember which windows are in each screen. Look for improvements to this feature to be made in the future.

2.0

• An unobtrusive system resources and CPU usage meter has been added to the FlashScreens bar.
• QuickAccess buttons are now represented by color icons (rather than symbol fonts).
• The size of QuickAccess buttons can now be changed.
• The Hide feature now works even when FlashScreens is docked.
• The various 'small' icons displayed by FlashScreens are now actual 16x16 icons (rather than squished 32x32 icons) making them much clearer.
• Streamlined the docking feature. FlashScreens now reacts accordingly when the screen resolution is changed or another bar docks over it.
• Fixed the bug in Manage Windows which prevented the 'View' option from working right.
• Other improvements and bug fixes. Comments and suggestions welcomed!

1.5

• -Windows NT compatible!!! (I hope) Found the bugs that were causing incompatabilities with WinNT. Some bugs may still exist but at least the program will run under NT.
• -Fonts used to display some of the QuickAccess buttons are now installed properly.
• -The docking feature has been extended to the QuickStart toolbar. The toolbars can be docked to any side of the screen and are even AutoHide enabled.
• -The QuickAccess tools can now be accessed from the FlashScreens icon on the system tray (next to the clock).
• -After this release the Custom QuickAcess buttons will not be forgotten when the user upgrades to a newer version.
• -In the QuickStart toolbar, documents can now be used as sources for icons. Previously only normal icon files could be used (ico, exe, dll etc.). Now when a document is specified the document's associated icon is used.
• -Fixed some other bugs, including some bugs in the Custom QuickAccess feature.

1.4.1

Maintennace release:

• -Streamlined the docking process. Fixed it to be more compatible with other docked windows.
• -Fixed the icons for screens so that they maintain proportions when FlashScreens is resized.

1.4

• -The user can now add custom QuickAccess buttons to the FlashScreens bar.
• -FlashScreens can now be docked to the top or the bottom of the screen like the Taskbar so that no windows are obscured.
• -A few minor bug fixes.

1.3

• -A new Batch Launch utility integrates into Windows 95 and allows you to easily create shortcuts that launch multiple programs and documents.
• -The Move/Mirror/Transcend/Float window functions have been consolidated into one intuitive and powerful window. Windows are now listed with their icons and windows from other screens can be managed even if that screen isn't the current screen.
• -A 'Show All Screens' function allows the user to display all the windows in all the screens as if FlashScreens wasn't running.
• -Buttons can now be created by dropping files on to the QuickStart toolbar.
• -Improved keyboard support including the use of 'hot-keys'.
• -Plus many other small bug fixes and improvements.

1.2.1

Maintennace release:

• -Fixed the program for users running in 'Large Font' mode.

1.2

• -The user can now specify several options including which QuickAccess buttons (Clipboard, Screen Saver, etc.) appear in the FlashScreens window.
• -A Task Manager button added to the FlashScreens window
• -The user now has the ability to control whether FlashScreens appears in the system tray (next to the clock).
• -FlashScreens now exits cleanly when Windows shuts down. Previously, the new runtime files installed by MS Office 97 caused temp files to remain in the temp folder when FlashScreens shut down due to Windows shutting down- these files are created by the VB runtime engine and NOT FlashScreens, however this problem has been corrected by having FlashScreens identify when Windows is shutting down and react accordingly.
• -And a few other improvements.

1.1

• -A convinient show desktop and clipboard feature added
• -Fixed an error that occurred when a QuickStart buttons contained a comma in its properties
• -User now has the option to specify whether a screen's icon or name will be displayed in the FlashScreens bar
• -Other small improvements and bug fixes

1.0

• -First version