Softpedia >Windows >Desktop Enhancements >Other Desktop Enhancements >TaskLayout >  Changelog

TaskLayout Changelog

What's new in TaskLayout 0.7.3.1

Jun 1, 2021
  • Added filter edit to the Layout editor to let user find specific commands
  • Added "Use colors: Yes, No" option to let user switch off using of red/green/blue colors in the UI
  • Improved Finder tool coloring while testing values captured from windows: red (false) and green (true) colors only are used for better visual perception
  • Improved UI for high-DPI configurations
  • Fixed crash on application quit

New in TaskLayout 0.7.3.0 (Nov 8, 2020)

  • improved command line functionality:
  • /datapath C:tmp
  • set path for license, settings, layouts
  • improved performance via command line
  • improved UI for high-DPI/multi-monitor configurations

New in TaskLayout 0.7.2.0 (Jan 5, 2020)

  • added Finder tool to Layout editor: pickup commands without Command editor
  • added Command Line Pattern option to Command editor
  • added Command Line Pattern editor:
  • Use WMI Query to filter applications by command line
  • Use finder tool to test current value matches specific window (Sample tab)
  • Retrieve all matching processes (Process tab)
  • improved EULA:
  • Removed excess limitations for Software usage
  • Collectable data (related to Software usage) are explicitly stated
  • improved performance in awaiting state (CPU consumption is now 0%)
  • improved performance when opening layout
  • changed hotkey for "Break"-feature: Ctrl+Shift+`
  • fixed bug for "Display" option: incorrect id was saved
  • fixed UI bugs with "What's New" settings tab
  • fixed bugs when working with "known" Windows folders (aka Desktop, Library, Music)

New in TaskLayout 0.7.1.0 (Nov 29, 2019)

  • Improved "Display"/"Virtual desktop" features
  • Improved percents option in window position
  • Fixed crash when opening Layout editor in Windows 10

New in TaskLayout 0.7.1.0 (Nov 28, 2019)

  • added "Display" option for window position
  • added "Virtual desktop" option for window position (Windows 10)
  • added "Desktop" option in Layout editor (pickup windows from specific desktop)
  • added pixels/percents option for X+Y/Width+Height values for window position
  • added "Run" button to window position editor
  • added hotkey for "Break"-feature (Ctrl+Shift+B)
  • user can break long operations, e.g when loading data from desktop or applying layout
  • fixed bug: sticky windows works incorrectly in Windows 10
  • fixed bug: retrieving of command line may cause file dialogs remained opened on desktop in Windows 10

New in TaskLayout 0.7.0.5 (Dec 1, 2018)

  • Added "What's New" tab on Settings dialog:
  • Small tips and hints about recently added improvements and features are
  • Demonstrated with animated GIFs to help user to study new functionality
  • Added "Clone" feature: use to copy existing layouts/commands/window settings/window positions
  • Added feature: unpause and show tray icon when starting new application instance
  • Added feature: use F2 hotkey to rename layout file (Settings> Layouts)
  • Added feature: ability to reset previously assigned commands when trying to assign hotkey for layout
  • Changed behavior: use F4 hotkey (instead of F2) to edit layout/command/window/poition
  • Improved behavior: missing windows are no longer treated as error when closing layout
  • Improved UI: show current action in the tray tip ("opening/closing layout...")
  • Improved error handling when applying layout
  • Fixed bug: Ignore/Close window action treated and reported as error
  • Fixed bug: "access denied" error popup when repositioning Spotify app
  • Fixed crash in the WMI requests subsystem
  • Fixed crash when applying layout
  • Fixed bug: default max command startup delay instead of specified one for layout
  • Is used when doing test "Run" for command/window
  • Fixed UI bug: unable to save "Window settings" with empty positions list for close/ignore action

New in TaskLayout 0.7.0.4 (Oct 17, 2018)

  • Added "Break"-feature:
  • User can break applying of layout via single/double click on the tray icon.
  • User can break applying of layout by pressing button on the popup window when using "Run" button to test current layout in the layout editor.
  • Added filter edit on the "Layouts" tab in Settings dialog to allow user to find layouts by filepath/description
  • Improved error handling when applying layout
  • Fixed crash in the WMI requests subsystem
  • Fixed bug: newly created layout is missing on application restart
  • Fixed bug: description in the layout editor remains the same as for previously opened layout
  • Fixed bug: "tray menu> Open Layout...> From file..." item is disabled in trial mode
  • Fixed bug: wrong assigned hotkey does not allow to make test Run in the layout editor
  • Fixed UI bug: sometimes dialogs may popup on wrong display
  • Fixed UI bug: hint tray tip (left click on tray icon) not displayed when "Show system tray messages" option set to "On failure"

New in TaskLayout 0.7.0.3 (Sep 18, 2018)

  • Added tray menu option to restart application with elevated privileges: "Run as administrator"
  • Added new setting:
  • Settings> Configuration> Miscellaneous: "Autorun with elevated privileges: Yes, No"
  • This option allow to set "Run as administrator" flag for startup shortcut.
  • Added new mode for command: Command editor> "Adjust currently active window"
  • Use this mode to move any active window to predefined position(s).
  • Added "New Layout..." command (Ctrl+Shift+L) to run empty layout editor (no pickup from desktop)
  • Added shell window panes state support for Windows 10 (see window position editor)
  • "Details pane"-switch: Hide/Show/Ignore
  • "Preview pane"-switch: Hide/Show/Ignore
  • "Navigation pane"-switch: Hide/Show/Ignore
  • Improved classname/windowname value editor
  • Improved error/warning prompts: popup on the active screen
  • Improved behavior: move focus to files when changing shell window position/state
  • Fixed bug: command extraction fail when non-US keyboard layout is active
  • Added multiple UI and functional improvements

New in TaskLayout 0.7.0.2 (Jun 15, 2018)

  • Added ability to open Layout editor by clicking on tray tip message
  • Added animation in the taskbar and finder tool when loading data from desktop or applying layout, corresponding option added to settings: "Use animation: Yes, No"
  • Improved UI: assigned hotkeys displayed next to the tray menu items
  • Improved window finder tool
  • Improved checkboxes over applications: showed in any visible corner of the target window
  • Improved restoring of minimized/maximized window position
  • Fixed bug with expired trial mode
  • Fixed UI bugs related to refresh functionality in the Layout editor
  • Fixed bug: layout not restored after failed command
  • Fixed bug: opening of nonexistent folder causes system error popup
  • Fixed bug: extracting command from notepad may accidently modify currently opened file
  • Fixed bug: extracting command failed for minimized notepad

New in TaskLayout 0.7.0.1 (May 28, 2018)

  • fixed bug for legacy registration keys

New in TaskLayout 0.7.0.0 (May 26, 2018)

  • Added ability to extract commands from notepad, wordpad, paint, etc
  • Added multiple UI and functional improvements
  • Improved refresh logic in the Layout editor
  • EULA changed

New in TaskLayout 0.6.1.1 (Jan 15, 2018)

  • added ability to assign the same hotkey to open and close the same layout
  • added new option "Show tray icon when paused" (Settings> Miscellaneous): set to 'No'
  • to hide icon from system tray (stealth mode) when application is paused. Use assigned
  • hotkey to unpause application and restore tray icon.
  • added new option "Autorun parameters" (Settings> Miscellaneous): select TLF file
  • to launch it immideatly on system startup
  • fixed bug: tray menu not reloaded (layout list not applied) on apply in Settings dialog
  • fixed bug: broken layout loading when using portable mode
  • fixed bug: broken max command startup option (Settings> Layout> Advanced)
  • added "Pause application"-feature:
  • Allow user to quickly enable/disable all currently used hotkeys except the one
  • assigned for this command (default hotkey: Left Windows + Alt + P).
  • System tray icon/tip is updated to reflect the actual state of the application.

New in TaskLayout 0.6.1.0 (Oct 11, 2017)

  • "Move Up"/"Move Down" buttons added to Command editor, Window editor
  • Added multiple improvements to Layout editor
  • Added "Save recent changes"-prompt to Settings editor
  • Added view mode switch (List/Details) to Layouts settings tab
  • Added layout preview to Settings> Layout> Details view mode, tab Preview
  • Added new option "Activate windows" (Settings> Layout restoring; Layout editor> Advanced):
  • Set to off to prevent window flashing when restoring layout
  • Fixed bug: warning prompts may popup on wrong display devices
  • Fixed bug: unchecked items get removed from the original layout
  • From now every layout item can be temporarly disabled/unchecked without its
  • Content loss, e.g. for testing purposes

New in TaskLayout 0.6.0.2 (Sep 13, 2017)

  • Added scrollbar to classname/windowname value editor
  • Added command recognition for webbrowsers (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Opera): current url extracted only for *normal state* windows to reduce flickering when reloading windows in the layout editor
  • Added "Run" button to layout editor
  • Added new setting: Settings> Configuration> Miscellaneous: "Play sound for system tray messages: Yes, No". This option allow to setup showing tray tip messages in silent mode.
  • Added "Max command startup delay, sec"-option to layout editor: This option allow to customize delay for specific layouts.
  • Enabled editing for automatically created commands when creating layout
  • Fixed bug: broken inheritance for "Run command line"-option (layout level)
  • Improved error descriptions when applying layout

New in TaskLayout 0.6.0.1 (Aug 29, 2017)

  • improved main icon (image cleanup)
  • fixed bug: failed to launch TLF by double click/from command line when TaskLayout is already running
  • fixed bug: tray tip balloons are not discarded when animation started
  • added EULA dialog for the very first launch:
  • Accept EULA to continue using of the application
  • Use /accepteula command line switch to automatically accept EULA

New in TaskLayout 0.6.0.0 (Jun 12, 2017)

  • EULA changed:
  • TaskLayout is provided as freeware, but only for private, non-commercial use
  • that means at home).
  • TaskLayout is free for educational use (schools, universities, museums and libraries) and for use in charity or humanitarian organisations.
  • If you intend to use TaskLayout at your place of business or for commercial purposes, please register and purchase it.

New in TaskLayout 0.5.3.2 (Apr 8, 2017)

  • added "Run command line"-option to enhance TaskLayout usage as a window manager:
  • The option has 3 available modes:
  • "Yes" - run command line if required windows not found (default)
  • "No" - adjust existing windows only (no command line run)
  • "Shell commands" - run only shell commands (e.g. open folder)
  • The option is presented on the next levels and inherited from up to down:
  • Global setting: Settings> Configuration> Layout Opening
  • Layout setting: Layout editor
  • Command setting: Command editor
  • This option is a replacement for previously implemented Normal/Window-mode switch.
  • added "Close active layout: Yes, No"-option to allow user to automatically close active
  • layout when opening another one
  • added "Close active layout"-hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+X): single hotkey to close any active layout
  • added "Shell View"-settings to Position editor for shell windows:
  • "View Mode"-switch: Auto/Icon/Small Icon/List/Details/Thumbnail/Tile/Thumbstrip/Content
  • "Folder flags"
  • "Icon size"-option
  • "Sort columns"-option
  • "Group by"-option
  • For Windows7 added panes state support:
  • "Details pane"-switch: Hide/Show/Ignore
  • "Preview pane"-switch: Hide/Show/Ignore
  • "Navigation pane"-switch: Hide/Show/Ignore
  • added right-click handler for checkboxes over applications (duplicate to left-click)
  • added a delay when processing the same hotkey for few times in a row to improve
  • stability when switching window positions/states
  • added multiple UI improvements/fixed typos
  • improved layout/settings editors: popup on the active screen
  • fixed bug: tray icon not restored after explorer restart
  • fixed bug: problems with opening of the shell folder with #-character in it's parent name
  • fixed UI bug: Layout editor contains wrong extra columns (duplicates to existing)

New in TaskLayout 0.5.3.1 (Feb 21, 2017)

  • added "Show checkboxes over applications"-option (Settings> Configuration> Miscellaneous). This option allow to display checkboxes over applications to select corresponding windows when saving layout.
  • improved layout closing for shell windows (removed unnecessary navigation to path)
  • improved peformance for layout restoring
  • fixed crash occured under heavy TL usage
  • fixed bug: currently selected windows are discarded when refreshing the layout editor
  • fixed UI bug: removed white pixel from the top left corner of the main screen
  • fixed several bugs related to "select/deselect all" checkbox in the layout editor
  • fixed bug: "Close shell windows"-command closed IE windows
  • fixed bug: restoring of multiple shell folders navigated to the same location
  • is not available (e.g. few shell windows navigated to C:)

New in TaskLayout 0.5.3.0 (Jan 13, 2017)

  • added mode switch to Command editor:
  • Normal mode: launch command line if specified windows not found
  • Windows mode: adjust existing windows only (no command line launch)
  • "Window mode" allows using of TaskLayout as a window layout manager.
  • added improvements for Windows 10:
  • added support for Metro apps
  • suspended/hanged applications were hidden in the Layout editor
  • improved naming for commands
  • fixed bug when adjusting window with multiple allowed predefined positions:
  • window will not be moved to the next position if it was not actually visible.
  • E.g. restoring of the layout for overlapped window will show the window on its current position.
  • Second restore will move window to the next predefined position on the screen.

New in TaskLayout 0.5.2.2 (Oct 13, 2016)

  • added "select/deselect all"-checkbox in the layout editor
  • added license type switch in the registration form (business/home)
  • fixed UI bug: ampersand is not showing in the "registered to"-field in the About dialog
  • fixed UI bug: long names are truncated in the "registered to"-field in the About dialog
  • fixed crash: using of system tray menu in unregistered mode
  • fixed bug: operation setting not saved in TLF file

New in TaskLayout 0.5.2.1 (May 24, 2016)

  • fixed bug with custom assigned hotkeys

New in TaskLayout 0.5.2.0 (Apr 5, 2016)

  • re-designed command/window editor
  • added optional positions for window: these positions will be used by rotation
  • when applying layout (e.g. the user can setup the most handy positions for
  • specific application and relocate its window over these places using a single
  • assigned hotkey)

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.7 (Feb 13, 2016)

  • added "Move Up"/"Move Down" in the layout list editor (Settings>Layouts)
  • added grid lines in the layout list editor
  • added option to Settings dialog:
  • "Animate tray icon: Yes, No"
  • fixed bug: switching maximized window between monitors may fail
  • fixed bug: recently added manual commands may be accidently removed from the
  • layout editor list with automatical refresh

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.6 (Feb 3, 2016)

  • added automatical refresh functionality in the layout editor
  • fixed bug: adjusted label's height in the layout editor
  • fixed bug: layout editor closing may fail and corresponding button remains in the taskbar

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.5 (Dec 9, 2015)

  • added trial mode: try application for 14 days for free
  • fixed bug: %TL_FOLDER% is improperly calculated when full path contains a space character
  • added new commands to Library:
  • TaskLayout section
  • "Save layout" - run TaskLayout with /s key to save complete layout to TLF file
  • "Load layout" - run TaskLayout to apply layout from specified TLF file

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.4 (Nov 22, 2015)

  • added "Portable mode" (Settings>Configuration>Miscellaneous>Portable mode)
  • enable this mode to use application from removeable storage to force automatic
  • loading of layout files from the same disk drive (%TL_DRIVE%)
  • improved layout of "Check for updates"-wizard

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.3 (Nov 17, 2015)

  • added retrieving for tool windows when populating Paint.NET-, GIMP-commands
  • fixed bug: command execution without actual application launch takes too much
  • time in case of "window not found"-problem
  • fixed bug: TaskLayout may fail to find and restore GIMP's main window position
  • fixed bug: maximized state not properly applied when restoring window position
  • on additional monitor

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.2 (Nov 10, 2015)

  • added %TL_DRIVE%, %TL_FOLDER% macros to improve protable mode of TaskLayout
  • fixed bug: TaskLayout uses wrong path for settings file when there is a space
  • character in it's home folder path name, e.g. C:\Program File\TaskLayout
  • fixed few UI bugs in the command editor dialog
  • fixed bug: minimized state was not properly applied when restoring window state
  • fixed bug: window position restoration was not properly applied when window state was different from normal

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.1 (Nov 10, 2015)

  • added ability to launch system applications by module name (e.g. explorer.exe, calc.exe)
  • added automatical escaping/unescaping when switching name value type (plain text/regular expression)
  • improved global "Show system tray messages"-option: possible values are "Always, On Success, On failure, Never"
  • removed ShellExecute/CreateProcess-switch in the command editor
  • fixed bug in ShellExecute command: %CLIPBOARD_TEXT% parameter is truncated on space character
  • fixed bug: "Run"-command in the command editor does not respect global settings
  • explorer navigation mode, visible shell window adjustment, tooltip display mode)
  • fixed bug: layout closing operation causes improper closing of explorer windows even if user has switched to another location in this window
  • fixed bug in updgrade wizard (timeout issue)
  • fixed bug in settings dialog: autorun option is not properly saved

New in TaskLayout 0.5.1.0 (Nov 5, 2015)

  • x64 version released
  • upgrade for Settings dialog
  • added options to Settings dialog:
  • "Show result after opening: Always, On success, On failure, Never"
  • "Show result after closing: Always, On success, On failure, Never"
  • "Check for updates: Yes, No"
  • fixed bug: hotkey for layout with no assigned hotkey may be displayed improperly
  • fixed bug: default tray icon occasionally may not be restored after animation
  • fixed bug: "max command delay, sec"-option was applied to each window of a single command separately
  • fixed bug: restoring a layout with multi-window command causes additional
  • windows (tools, panels) be restored behind the main window (e.g. Paint.NET)
  • fixed bug: closing a layout for multi-window command causes additional
  • windows (tools, panels) be hidden on the next startup (e.g. Paint.NET)
  • improved layout editor resizing
  • fixed bug: sometimes wrong process module name is displayed in the layout editor

New in TaskLayout 0.5.0.4 (Nov 5, 2015)

  • added support of macro values for command line (clipboard text, username, computer name, date/time)
  • fixed bug: sometimes command does not executed if window action set to "Ignore"

New in TaskLayout 0.5.0.3 (Oct 24, 2015)

  • added "Total windows: %d" label in the command editor
  • fixed bug: command line length limit removed in the command editor
  • fixed bug: rollback for removed feature "Check for Updates" on application startup

New in TaskLayout 0.5.0.2 (Oct 24, 2015)

  • added "timeout" error handling (show proper message in tray)
  • fixed bug: icons are broken in layout editor list when there is a window with empty icon
  • fixed bug: shell folders navigated to X:\ does not appear in the layout editor list
  • fixed bug: hotkeys in layout editor are not discarded on editor start up
  • fixed broken logic of shell folders choice (open new folders/pickup current folders)
  • fixed bug in Windows XP: sometimes shell folders can't be found

New in TaskLayout 0.5.0.1 (Oct 16, 2015)

  • added "Edit Layout" tray menu item
  • added support of standard operations for items in the layout/command editors (F2 - edit, F5 - refresh)
  • fixed bug: application crashed after multiple frequent clicks on tray icon
  • fixed bug: animated tray icon sometimes failed to stop
  • fixed bug: layout names in the recent layouts menu (character '&' was not properly displayed)
  • fixed bug: "Refresh"-command works too slow in the layout editor

New in TaskLayout 0.5.0.0 (Oct 13, 2015)

  • added animated tray icon for long operations
  • added regex support for classname/windowname value
  • added ignore case flag for classname/windowname value
  • added testing tool for classname/windowname value, including capturing of sample values from any visible window on screen
  • added optional adjustment for multiple windows per single command
  • fixed multiple bugs

New in TaskLayout 0.4.1.2 (Sep 26, 2015)

  • added Windows XP support
  • added Operation parameter for ShellExecute command
  • fixed bug: "From file..."-menu item starts from improper character \n which was visible in Windows XP
  • fixed bug: "Close shell folders" hotkey not working in Windows XP

New in TaskLayout 0.4.1.1 (Aug 17, 2015)

  • added support for "Ctrl + A" hotkey in command line editor
  • added system registration for TLF-extension (icon display, launching of layouts)
  • fixed bug: tray icon not restored after explorer crash if application was running with administrative privileges
  • fixed typo

New in TaskLayout 0.4.1.0 (Jul 21, 2015)

  • added "Check updates"-wizard: download latest product version in a few clicks

New in TaskLayout 0.4.0.2 (May 22, 2015)

  • added browse button for command line in command editor
  • added browse button for current directory in command editor

New in TaskLayout 0.4.0.1 (Apr 10, 2015)

  • added support of windows from .NET applications
  • improved shell windows startup
  • improved layout execution
  • changed default settings for Firefox windows
  • fixed bug: improper hotkey validation logic
  • fixed crash when showing error in system tray area

New in TaskLayout 0.4.0.0 (Apr 7, 2015)

  • IMPORTANT NOTE: Windows XP is no longer supported
  • added command execution type: ShellExecute/CreateProcess
  • added window action type: Adjust/Close/Ignore
  • added import operation from Windows shortcuts
  • added import operation from Windows batch files (*.BAT)
  • added command library (contains a set of predefined commands)
  • added layout autorun feature (specify time interval in hours/minutes/seconds)
  • added environment variables support for command line/current folder (e.g. %WINDIR%)
  • multiple UI improvements
  • fixed bug: recent history not properly updated after layout changed/removed
  • fixed bug: hotkey validation problem

New in TaskLayout 0.3.1.0 (Feb 27, 2015)

  • added window settings editor with runtime adjustment support
  • added window finder tool to allow user to pick up window settings on-fly
  • improved layout editor(add, remove, edit, move up, move down, show)
  • fixed bug: PDF files were not properly restored
  • fixed bug: VirtualBox running machines were not properly restored
  • fixed multiple UI bugs

New in TaskLayout 0.3.0.2 (Jan 19, 2015)

  • fixed bug: max search time option was not properly used
  • fixed bug: initial language changed to comply current shell UI language
  • fixed buf: files were not properly loaded/saved when Unicode path is used

New in TaskLayout 0.3.0.1 (Dec 27, 2014)

  • added Win key support, tooltips for shortcut editor
  • added feature "Current shell folders should be ignored/minimized/closed" which
  • is executed just before layout restoring

New in TaskLayout 0.3.0.0 (Dec 17, 2014)

  • added hotkey for close operation(closes layout's windows)
  • added checkbox "restore windows position and state"
  • unchecked option is very useful to run fullscreen apps)
  • added checkbox "show operation result in system tray"
  • Fixed bugs in layout editor:
  • changes in the hotkey validation logic
  • changes were not properly saved when editing existing layout
  • dialog's translation fixed

New in TaskLayout 0.2.0.1 (Dec 8, 2014)

  • added hotkey for Settings dialog
  • added some UI fixes to Settings dialog
  • added working folder in autorun shortcut
  • fixed application startup(current directory parameter)
  • fixed proper restoration of actual window's state(normal/minimized/maximized)

New in TaskLayout 0.2.0.0 (Dec 4, 2014)

  • added Settings dialog with a set of general options
  • added "open/pickup shell folders"-option
  • added "Run apps after each other"-option
  • added "Close shell folders"-option
  • added "Run layout editor"-option
  • added "autorun on startup"-option
  • added hotkey assignment for layouts
  • added Layouts list for fast and easy management
  • fixed bug when layout is not properly applied if it was created after Windows Explorer has crashed and later restarted
  • added multiple improvements/bugfixes

New in TaskLayout 0.1.0.2 (Nov 22, 2014)

  • added navigation to special folders(My Computer, Network, Control Panel, etc)
  • added support of MMC applications(e.g. services.mmc)
  • added some error details when layout was not properly applied
  • fixed memory leaks
  • fixed bug when sometimes TaskLayout failed to find already executed applications
  • fixed bug when save of recent layout which was loaded at TaskLayout startup
  • does not affect currently loaded layout

New in TaskLayout 0.1.0.1 (Nov 11, 2014)

  • Added hotkeys for recent items (Alt+Ctrl+0..Alt+Ctrl+9)
  • Added saving/loading of recent items on application exit/start
  • Added saving of maximized state for windows
  • Fixed crash when user clicks on empty place in the windows list(layout editor)
  • Fixed bug when sometimes windows are not properly activated
  • Fixed Z-order restoring
  • Fixed memory leak