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TrayBlank Changelog

What's new in TrayBlank 1.9.1

Jan 31, 2018
  • There isn't really anything new in version 1.9.1 of TrayBlank - all the real changes are more external.
  • First, there is now a 64-bit version. With something as small and simple as TrayBlank there shouldn't be any difference in performance between 32-bit and 64-bit executables, but it shouldn't do any harm either. The main reason I compiled a 64-bit version of TrayBlank is because I want to produce a 64-bit version of JPEG Saver - which is likely to be a lot more complicated and so I wanted to try it out on something simpler first.
  • The second major change is that I've used the WiX toolset to produce .msi installers instead of using the NSIS-built .exe installers I have used previously. This should make it easier for me to build installers that put the 32-bit and 64-bit versions in the right places, deal with upgrades correctly, etc. The downside is that .msi files are quite a bit bigger, being a kind of database file instead of a self-extracting executable. I think it's worth the increase in size though.

New in TrayBlank 1.9 (Aug 4, 2017)

  • TrayBlank 1.9 actually adds something new for a change - options to start the screensaver directly. I've also updated the code that draws the tray icon to make it look clearer, and made the progress bar a lot more likely to be accurate.
  • The new option to start the screensaver directly is in a submenu called “Screensaver start” along with the existing delay option and another new option, “Directly after timeout”. What a direct start does differently is starting the screensaver as a new process instead of sending a message to Windows telling it to start the screensaver.
  • This means that the screensaver is run the same was as if you double-clicked on the screensaver icon itself. It will run on your main desktop instead of the empty desktop that Windows creates for screensavers to run on, so it has access to Windows Explorer and any other windows running there. Microsoft don't separate things out for no reason - if you don't trust your screensaver, don't run it directly! Actually, if you don't trust your screensaver you shouldn't run it at all. Uninstall it and run a virus and malware scan.
  • The other new option I mentioned, “Directly after timeout” attempts to run the screensaver directly when TrayBlank thinks Windows would automatically start the screensaver. To do this, I've had to improve how TrayBlank figures out the time until the screensaver starts by adding in a check for processes telling Windows that the display is busy - media players generally do this, along with browsers playing video. Games and other software can do this, or might find another way to prevent the screensaver starting, so it still is not completely accurate.
  • Because both of these new options change how TrayBlank behaves quite drastically, I've added a couple of indicators to the tray icon when they are active. For direct start there is a small arrow head, and for direct start after the timeout there is an extra pair of lines like a pause symbol behind the arrow head. (I wanted to add a stopwatch symbol, but I couldn't fit one into the limited number of pixels available).
  • The icon also changes when TrayBlank detects a media player or other software setting the display in use - the progress bar is removed and the centre of the icon is filled with grey. I've improved the tooltips to explain what is going on better too.
  • In other, more ominous news, Microsoft appear to be gradually removing support for screensavers from Windows: Goodbye Outlook Express, farewell Paint, Au Revoir screensavers – What Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is killing. It appears that they want people to use the lock screen instead of a screensaver. We'll have to wait and see what it really means, but I'm not abandoning JPEG Saver and TrayBlank just yet.

New in TrayBlank 1.8 (May 27, 2017)

  • Version 1.8 of TrayBlank fixes a few things that have been bugging me about version 1.7, including a bug that is still bugging me now that it is fixed. It really is fixed though.
  • The changes all affect the way TrayBlank behaves when the screensaver is not set - in other words, when the “Screen saver” drop-down in the Control Panel's “Screen saver Settings” dialog is set to “(None)”. Now when TrayBlank finds that the screensaver is not set its “Start screensaver” and “Configure screensaver” menu options are greyed out, and the progress bar showing the time until the screensaver starts is not shown.
  • The text in the tooltip is clearer now too - it was a bit muddled before, but now the name of the screensaver and the timeout are displayed on separate lines, or there will be a message telling you the screensaver is not set.
  • The bug that is fixed is a broken balloon tooltip that is shown when you try to start or configure the screensaver when there is none set. (The menu options are greyed out, but the hotkeys are still active and you could still double-click on the TrayBlank icon). The balloon tip was working from Windows XP up to Windows 7 (I think) but not on Windows 8 to Windows 10. It should now work on all these versions of Windows.
  • The reason it is still bugging me is that Windows 10 has changed the way balloon tips work. Instead of a balloon pointing to the icon you get a “Toast notification” - a rectangular popup window in the corner of the screen containing the message text. The reason it is bugging me is that they don't pop up immediately - there can be quite a delay before it appears. I might have to come back to this in the next version and do something to make the message appear straight away, because it is quite annoying.
  • The only other change of any significance is that this version is compiled using Visual Studio 2017 and without my attempts to squeeze it into the smallest size possible. This means that TrayBlank 1.8 is about five times the size of version 1.7, even though there is very little new code. It is still quite small though.

New in TrayBlank 1.7 (Jun 21, 2016)

  • Adds an extra hotkey for configuring the screen saver, and there are now check boxes in the hotkeys setup dialog to enable/disable each of the hotkeys individually.

New in TrayBlank 1.5.1 (Nov 6, 2013)

  • There was a bug in version 1.5 that meant it could crash if it was started up without a screen saver already being set. Fixing this bug is the only difference in TrayBlank itself.
  • For the version 1.5 installer I enabled the selection of installing for the current user or for all users. It sounds quite useful - except that it didn't work. I've taken the option back out again and now the installer will always install for all users.

New in TrayBlank 1.5 (Nov 4, 2013)

  • This new version of TrayBlank is a bit smaller, and a bit more useful. It displays the currently selected screen saver in the tooltip, and there is an extra submenu for choosing how long the timeout is before the screen saver starts automatically.
  • The timeout submenu displays a tick or check symbol next to the current timeout value - but only if it happens to be one of the values in the menu. Obviously you can still set the timeout to whatever value you like using the Control Panel.