VirtuaWin Changelog

What's new in VirtuaWin 4.5

Mar 31, 2021
  • Updated Inno setup
  • Changed contact mail
  • Added module reload in Module API
  • 235 Corrected message sent for ALT key modifier for release
  • 232 Somewhat patchy fix of unexpected crash. Dynamic taskbar support should probably be rechecked on newer win versions
  • Fixed 1 byte scribble in vwModuleLoad
  • 221 Fixed 64bit process names not being obtained and added VW icon to winrule dialog
  • 228 Added main program resource to WinList to improve its identity
  • 228 Added support for MS VC++ (Epress) 8 & 9+ (tested v10 2010)
  • FR134 Fixed window order to be case insensitively sorted.
  • Fixed typo reported by Dean Toth (thanks for reporting).
  • 236 Hung window (blinking icon) on Windows10

New in VirtuaWin 4.4 (Oct 12, 2012)

  • Added dynamic taskbar support for Win7
  • Implemented boss & unboss key
  • Fixed activation of minimized window when not hiding them.
  • Fixed title bar redraw issue caused by toggling TOOLWIN flag
  • Implemented own FindWindow and improved module start-up reliability
  • Changed action of Module Enable/Disable button to start module
  • Improved code getting a window icon, getting icon from app first
  • Updated hotkey list when setup is applied as changes may effect it
  • Handled explorer exiting so middle mouse button still works
  • Added message VW_INVERTY to return invert Up/Down setting
  • Added Reapply window rules hotkey and module interface
  • Added Automatically close window option to Window rule dialog
  • Fixed problem with middle clicking on opera tabs opening VW menu
  • Fixed problem with 'stickies' windows being automatically grouped

New in VirtuaWin 4.3 (Sep 10, 2010)

  • Fixed bug causing current window to be moved to the next desktop
  • Added new module interface message to control desktop changing
  • Updated external interface documentation
  • Improved VW_FOREGDWIN message so that modules can force VW to give focus to their unmanaged windows
  • Improved VW_FOREGDWIN message to allow modules to get VW to choose a suitable foreground window
  • Fixed problem with hidden linked windows being made visible by VW
  • Added manifest file to the source package
  • Fixed minimised window activation issue when using new 'Only hide taskbar button ...' option.
  • Changed BltMode to HALFTONE (not Win9x) to improve image quality
  • Improved initial deskop image by simulating the taskbar and adding a boarder.
  • Improved Window Rule's hide method option behaviour to avoid invalid combinations
  • Added documentation for hidden config options
  • Fixed size of box around User Interface section in Setup

New in VirtuaWin 4.2 (Sep 10, 2010)

  • Added VW_CMENUITEM module message so modules can add items to the main control menu
  • Restructured help topic tree to have fewer top level items.
  • Allowed up to 5sec for VW to detect taskbar before complaining
  • Added direct desktop change options to control menu and created compact & standard versions with hotkey & mouse options.
  • Fixed loss of minimized window thumbnail on Win7, added "Only hide taskbar button ..." expert option to disable it in case of side effects
  • Reduced outlook lockups by modifying set foreground window algorithm
  • Fixed Minimize hide method issue on Windows 7
  • Brought back "Hide minimized windows on desktop change" expert opt
  • Added "Make windows of this type always on top" option in Win rules
  • Added VW_HOTKEY module message so modules can execute hotkey cmds
  • Added "Only change when dragging a window" mouse option.
  • Added "WIN: Bring to the top" hotkey command
  • Added "Operate on window under mouse" hotkey option
  • Added 64bit OS support for dynamic toolbar and added error message documenting dynamic toolbar is not supported on Win7
  • Added WIN as a mouse modifier (submitted patch)
  • Implemented clicking on window list desk names to change desktop
  • Added hidden option lastDeskNoDelay to disable the 1sec delay before updating last desktop, used by "NAV: Return to last desktop" command
  • Improved module IMAGE message so that 6 & 7 return the desktop size and 8 toggles auto image create state (so a module can temporarily disable it)
  • Support Win Rule Window Name to be '' to mean no name.
  • UAC support - recognise elevated windows and not class them as hung
  • Handle failue to call EnumWindows better.
  • Fixed Window Menu -> Info feature for an elevated window.
  • Fixed start-up issues on windows 7
  • Fixed ** win rule matching.

New in VirtuaWin 4.1 (Sep 16, 2009)

  • Improved the windows help file, now has index and search enabled.
  • 2727927 Extended middle mouse button desktop change & open winlist to include the taskbar
  • 2854161 Added a hidden 'start desktop' config option (.cfg file must be hand edited)
  • 2797845 Improved return to last desktop command to support a rapid switch
  • 2682854 Added XP theme support for setup dialog and fixed several rc issues
  • 2448910 Added option to install for current user or for all users
  • 2789338 Improved error messages in case of corrupt or zero byte config file
  • 2134867 Added "Force release of modifier keys on desktop change" option
  • 2189263 Added improved init and system setup logging and added potential fix
  • 2306168 Fixed setting of last active window when only preserving the Z-order
  • 1842145 Implemented global system hook to detect window activations - new config expert setting
  • 1971856 Added option to open menus at fix locations when hotkey is used and improved the location of the dialog - central in the primary monitor
  • 1983857 Added copyright confirmation notice to icon submission
  • 1942881 Fixed Z-Order of windows assigned immediately to another desktop
  • 2036553 2036555 Implemented systray icon toggle and exit hotkey commands
  • 2089761 Increased the max number of hotkeys to 80
  • 1869917 Added new dynamic taskbar order feature to support Taskbar shuffle
  • Added dynamic taskbar button removal option as a better fix to long standing issue
  • 1979116 Re-implement taskbar activation option to be a window rule option
  • 1964565 Added crash handler and reimplemented showHelp to avoid rare crash
  • 1967494 Close spawned module process handles
  • 1919024 Implemented NAV: Return to last desktop hotkey command
  • 1933182 Improved SetForegroundWindow so focus can be given back to desktop
  • 1930005 Force redraw of activated window hidden using toolwin flag
  • 1953231 Fixed handling of close message so it does exit VW if requested
  • 1950577 Made process name string comparisons case insensitive
  • 1956478 Added portable unicode package creation

New in VirtuaWin 4.0.1 (Apr 25, 2008)

  • 1924256 Moved the on-line help over to MS HTML help (chm).
  • 1938548 Fixed systray icon tooltip when VW is disabled.
  • 1936226 Up-dated Setup About copyright to 2008
  • 1926893 Fixed ignore activation event flashing all linked windows.
  • 1930012 Fixed hidden explorer activation issue.
  • 1928095 Added WM_CLOSE message handler prompting user if they want VW to exit
  • 1926902 Fixed link window logic bug in window list menu.
  • 1923412 Added hotkeys for moving windows Left right up down and added enable toggle hotkey command.
  • 1917996 Fixed hiding of FeedReader when maximized
  • 1915723 Documented retirement of VW_WINLIST module message
  • 1919023 Changed compact window list column cycling so all columns can be accessed
  • 1921289 Changed the location of hidden VW window to avoid problem with Multimon
  • 1926160 Stored flag for forced unmanaged windows and made its children unmanaged.
  • 1926899 Added new VW_WINMANAGE module message to allow modules to force VW to (not) manage a window
  • 1944158 1901457 Documented external interface & window list menus
  • Added default window rules for Excel & AdobeAcrobat to address their main window taskbar button behaviour.

New in VirtuaWin 4.0 (Mar 14, 2008)

  • Creation of a new Window Rule dialog to manage userlist.cfg, tricky.cfg, sticky.cfg & assignment.cfg via a UI
  • Window type identification can now be any combination of class, window or program name
  • Changed window management to store some info about all non-child windows, allows VirtuaWin to not manage some window types and to manage others
  • Removed upper limit on the number of windows that VW can manage
  • dded window type option to keep a window's taskbar button visible
  • Rewritten main Setup hotkey configuration to allow many more different hotkeys to be created
  • Added MRU window list menu as a hotkey binding
  • Fixed exit deadlock issue
  • Fixed VW & WinList taskbar detection issues
  • Fixed setup option change issues
  • Added program version info to the exe resource
  • Removed the need for admin privileges for installer
  • Added get modules button to setup dialog
  • Changed window flags and changed GETWINDESK to WINGETINFO with enhanced functionality
  • Added new 'Group App' window rule and Gather option in window menu

New in VirtuaWin 4.0 Beta 3 (Mar 4, 2008)

  • Change the term 'Window Type' to 'Window Rule'
  • 1901183 Changed window flags and changed GETWINDESK to WINGETINFO with enhanced functionality
  • 1873544 1897011 Added new 'Group App' window rule and Gather option in window menu
  • 1873539 Added a Re-apply Rules option to Control menu
  • 1896828 1877997 Implemented new 'Main Window' window rule option
  • 1896830 Reimplemented main window hide/show function to improve performance and fix minimize window hiding method
  • 1877491 1737872 Resolved long standing pop-up window event issues

New in VirtuaWin 3.1 (May 25, 2007)

  • 805556 - Added screen capture functionality, enabled via module interface.
  • 891589 - Added regex support to most cfg files, now support cn:, cr:, wn: & wr: lines.
  • 909401 - Changed the font used by setup dialog to avoid the problem.
  • 1090375 - Implemented new VW_ENABLE_STATE message.
  • 1221023 Implemented VW_ASSESSWIN message to access a given window, required by WinList.
  • 1314574 - Fixed taskbar order issue caused by sticky windows and dragging a window between desks.
  • 1329448 - Added new current window menu opened via a hotkey or middle mouse button on the title bar
  • 1358979, 1017407 - Combined 'ignore popups' and 'move popups' into a combined 'On hidden window activation' option with a new move to desk option and made ignore really ignore.
  • 1412624 - Added code to properly identify the position of the taskbar - removed redundant 'taskbar warp' & 'XP themed bar' options.
  • 1439471 - Integrated unicode support patch, added new build -u option.
  • 1482377 - Added option to open the window list menu by middle clicking on the desktop and add a compact menu option.
  • 1589763 - Fixed a tricky window .Net & sub-dialog hide problem
  • 1595110, 1468842, 1338957, 942081, 798159 - Implemented mouse desktop edge knocking support and improved window dragging detection.
  • 1644675 - added support for UNC network user paths (i.e. path)
  • 1659736 - Changed display of disabled modules, now have a ' (disabled)'.
  • 1693125 - Removed crash recovery as the moving of hidden windows caused problems with maximised windows on multiple monitor systems.
  • 1716321 - Fixed Always on top z-order problem and generally improved the z-ordering preservation.
  • Added an Explore Config button to setup to help people locate their setup files.
  • Added new dragging on desktop with middle mouse button to change desktop
  • Changed the default location of the setup dialog to be near the top left of the primary display (i.e. windows default location) as a centralized position is a really bad place to choose for systems with 2 monitors.
  • Fixed a few double lockMutex issues.
  • Fixed a hide problem with Word's Find dialog caused by its parent being a hidden window
  • Fixed long standing winamp issue by changing the window handling criteria
  • Fixed potential crash and memory leak in window list menu generator
  • Identified tricky windows created by excel and adobe reader when more than one file is opened and made them owned by the main window to keep the taskbar icons together
  • Implemented VW_GETWINDESK message to return a given window's desk, required by WinList.
  • Improve the look of the window list menu.
  • Improved VW_CHANGEDESK, VW_ASSIGNWIN & VW_SETSTICKY module messages so they can be directly used by a hotkey program.
  • Increased MAXWIN to 128 and changed the way VW handles too many windows, ignores extra windows rather than disabling.
  • Made event logging part of the normal build, enabled via an Expert setup option.
  • Several improvements to WinList, including getting a windows desk #, multiple undo, and new Refresh & Save button

New in VirtuaWin 3.0 (Oct 23, 2006)

  • Implemented support of owned windows (fixes winamp and bug SF939132 etc)
  • Fixed issues caused by minimized windows with sub windows, fixes SF1457569
  • Fixed VirtuaWin lock-up issues caused by hung Tricky windows
  • SF874409, maintained list of hung windows and continue to attempt recovery - windows will not be lost (tray icon continues to flash)
  • Re-implemented crash recovery so that it does not have to write to disk every minute (uses window positioning), removed setup option as it is for free. Better z-order storage so sticky windows are handled better
  • Changed the initial start-up process to copy any installation cfg files into the user area so the VW installation can have a 'recommended' setup but the user has access to all cfg files. Fixes SF1178901, SF950115 & SF1210922
  • Changed the default location of the user config files to the user's 'Application data/VirtuaWin' (uses SHGetSpecialFolderLocation as its supported on all OSs)
  • SF1435429, added new userpath.cfg to set the location of the user config directory to support roaming profile
  • Implemented support for hidden applications popping up due to some event, fixes SF1017408 & SF1358979. Added new options 'Pop-up raised hidden windows' & 'Move popped-up hidden windows' to control this. Note that some apps (like Opera) must be made Tric
  • Implemented a Z-order preservation feature, fixes SF1008751 & SF1314574
  • Improved the reliability of setting the foreground window (this function failing is the biggest cause of 'odd' behaviour)
  • Fixed SF1324555, SF1004564 & SF807794, bug in window drag code makes the window appear sticky
  • SF1421175, added alternative fallback method in case the application icon cannot be retrieved with GetClassLong
  • SF1046367, changed setup to allow multiple modifiers
  • Added MSVC v6 make files and build scripts for MINGW & cmd