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iScreensaver Changelog

What's new in iScreensaver 6.8.7.1368

Jan 16, 2024
  • iScreensaver version 6.8.7 has a number of small bugfixes, primarily when authoring on Windows OS. Authors encountering any issues noted below should upgrade and re-build their screensavers. Other authors can upgrade at their convenience.

New in iScreensaver 6.8.6.1367 (Oct 16, 2023)

  • iScreensaver version 6.8.6 has a number of bugfixes and improvements, including fixes for several critical issues that prevented screensavers from working under macOS 14 Sonoma.

New in iScreensaver 6.8.4.1356 (Jun 13, 2022)

  • Screensaver Installer: cosmetic improvements so button highlighting is more visible in the screensaver installer on Windows 11
  • Screensaver Installer: improvements to the screensaver uninstaller when run from the Add/Remove Programs control panel
  • Improved the performance and reliability of screensaver playback when using many short videos
  • Designer: improved reliability of grabbing thumbnails from video files.

New in iScreensaver 6.8.3.1351 (Nov 17, 2021)

  • Fixes an issue that could cause screensaver installers to crash silently on macOS non-English language systems (such as Korean). It also has improved error reporting, and has been tested with the latest versions of Windows 11 and macOS 12.1 Monterey. Any authors distributing screensavers to non-English macOS users should update and rebuild as soon as possible, and other authors are encouraged to update and rebuild when convenient.

New in iScreensaver 6.8.1.1349 (Sep 9, 2021)

  • iScreensaver version 6.8.1 fixes a bug that would prevent screensavers from working on the M1/Apple Silicon macs. It also contains workarounds for some bugs we are seeing in the early Beta builds of macOS 12 Monterey. All iScreensaver authors are advised to upgrade iScreensaver Designer, re-build, and re-release their screensavers for their macOS customers.
  • Improvements/New Features:
  • Screensavers built with 6.8.0 would not work on M1 macs. Fixed.
  • Improved reliability of creating image and video thumbnails.
  • macOS Monterey 12.0 Beta Issues:
  • Please note that macOS Monterey is in beta. We are seeing quite a number of issues and bugs in this new OS. We expect some of these will get fixed before Apple's official release; for others, version 6.8.1 includes bug-fixes and/or workarounds that fix, or improve the following issues:
  • Previewing from the Installer would not fill the screen on macOS Monterey.
  • [Known Issue] Video playback is inconsistent in macOS Monterey. We have made improvements to address most of the issues, but it's still possible to cause videos to get stuck or go invisible if you use the HUD to forward/reverse quickly.

New in iScreensaver 6.8.0.1348 (Aug 28, 2021)

  • New Features:
  • New! in version 6.8: photo metadata (date/timestamp) and more improvements for macOS 11 (Big Sur), macOS 12 (Monterey) and Windows 11
  • New! in version 6.7: support for macOS 11 (Big Sur), macOS 12 (Monterey) and Windows 11
  • New! in version 6.6: initial support for macOS 11 (Big Sur).
  • New! in version 6.5: multimonitor playback is synchronized.
  • New! in version 6.5: PBR-based rendering for GLB/GLFT models.
  • New! in version 6.5: improved metadata import of title, description and location data from image files.
  • Advanced Video / 3D playback engine: Our new playback engine has been rewritten from the ground up to use HTML5, CSS, MP4 / AVC, and WebGL engines.
  • 3D model import - using standard GLTF / GLB file formats, import your 3D model with animation: view 3D Model Support.
  • Dark Mode: a new 'dark mode' look for built screensaver installers (all OSs), and optional Dark Mode support for iScreensaver Designer (macOS Mojave only).
  • Live Photos: automatically imports both the picture and video file from Live Photos (macOS only)
  • macOS Changes:
  • iScreensaver Designer for Mac is a fully 64 bit app.
  • iScreensavers built for macOS are now 64 bit, using modern technology such as the Swift programming language.
  • iScreensaver supports macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) thru 12 (Monterey): view System Requirements.
  • iScreensaver supports the older Intel CPUs as well as the newest M1 (Apple Silicon) CPUs
  • iScreensaver supports code-signing with the hardened runtime and notarization.
  • Windows OS Changes:
  • iScreensaver Designer for Windows is a fully 64 bit app (which means it requires a 64 bit OS).
  • Built iScreensavers are 32 bit - this allows maximum compatibility with both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows.
  • Single-File EXE / SCR: the windows screensaver is built as a single-file EXE, and installs as a single-file SCR. This greatly simplifies installation and delivery options.
  • iScreensaver supports Windows 7 thru 11: view System Requirements.
  • Improved Features:
  • Photos.app integration: improved support for drag & drop and metadata import (macOS only).
  • Easy upgrade: Project files from version 4 or 5 can be easily loaded into Version 6.
  • Fully cross-platform: Design on Mac, build for Mac & Windows; Design on Windows, build for Windows & Mac. Still the world's only truly cross-platform screensaver development tool.
  • Overlays: Images & Text captions can use all XYZ motion effect animations.
  • Playback performance: Video playback is now fully hardware-accelerated on supported systems.
  • Deprecated or Removed Features:
  • Removed: Adobe / Macromedia Flash (SWF) support has been removed.
  • Removed: OpenGL is no longer needed or required.
  • Removed: Secondary (Alternate or "locked") sequences.
  • New License Terms:
  • Subscription Pricing: our commercial / business licenses are offered as a one year term. New price and feature levels to meet your needs.
  • New Personal/Home license: a one-time purchase for light use at a bargain price.
  • As before, you may use and test iScreensaver without purchase in demonstration mode. In this mode, screensavers and screensaver installers built will expire. Text and images are will be watermarked with notices.
  • 30 day money-back guarantee on all licenses. Buy with confidence.

New in iScreensaver 6.7.0.1343 (Jul 31, 2021)

  • New Features:
  • New! in version 6.7: support for macOS 11 (Big Sur), macOS 12 (Monterey) and Windows 11
  • New! in version 6.6: initial support for macOS 11 (Big Sur).
  • New! in version 6.5: multimonitor playback is synchronized.
  • New! in version 6.5: PBR-based rendering for GLB/GLFT models.
  • New! in version 6.5: improved metadata import of title, description and location data from image files.
  • Advanced Video / 3D playback engine: Our new playback engine has been rewritten from the ground up to use HTML5, CSS, MP4 / AVC, and WebGL engines.
  • D model import - using standard GLTF / GLB file formats, import your 3D model with animation: view 3D Model Support.
  • Dark Mode: a new 'dark mode' look for built screensaver installers (all OSs), and optional Dark Mode support for iScreensaver Designer (macOS Mojave only).
  • Live Photos: automatically imports both the picture and video file from Live Photos (macOS only)
  • macOS Changes
  • iScreensaver Designer for Mac is a fully 64 bit app.
  • iScreensavers built for macOS are now 64 bit, using modern technology such as the Swift programming language.
  • iScreensaver supports macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) thru 12 (Monterey): view System Requirements.
  • iScreensaver supports the older Intel CPUs as well as the newest M1 (Apple Silicon) CPUs
  • iScreensaver supports code-signing with the hardened runtime and notarization.
  • Windows OS Changes
  • iScreensaver Designer for Windows is a fully 64 bit app (which means it requires a 64 bit OS).
  • Built iScreensavers are 32 bit - this allows maximum compatibility with both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows.
  • Single-File EXE / SCR: the windows screensaver is built as a single-file EXE, and installs as a single-file SCR. This greatly simplifies installation and delivery options.
  • iScreensaver supports Windows 7 thru 11: view System Requirements.
  • Improved Features:
  • Photos.app integration: improved support for drag & drop and metadata import (macOS only).
  • Easy upgrade: Project files from version 4 or 5 can be easily loaded into Version 6.
  • Fully cross-platform: Design on Mac, build for Mac & Windows; Design on Windows, build for Windows & Mac. Still the world's only truly cross-platform screensaver development tool.
  • Overlays: Images & Text captions can use all XYZ motion effect animations.
  • Playback performance: Video playback is now fully hardware-accelerated on supported systems.
  • Deprecated or Removed Features:
  • Removed: Adobe / Macromedia Flash (SWF) support has been removed.
  • Removed: OpenGL is no longer needed or required.
  • Removed: Secondary (Alternate or "locked") sequences.
  • New License Terms:
  • Subscription Pricing: our commercial / business licenses are offered as a one year term. New price and feature levels to meet your needs.
  • New Personal/Home license: a one-time purchase for light use at a bargain price.
  • As before, you may use and test iScreensaver without purchase in demonstration mode. In this mode, screensavers and screensaver installers built will expire. Text and images are will be watermarked with notices.
  • day money-back guarantee on all licenses. Buy with confidence.

New in iScreensaver 6.6.0.1338 (Feb 3, 2021)

  • New Features:
  • New! in version 6.6: support for macOS 11 (Big Sur).
  • New! in version 6.5: multimonitor playback is synchronized.
  • New! in version 6.5: PBR-based rendering for GLB/GLFT models.
  • New! in version 6.5: improved metadata import of title, description and location data from image files.
  • Advanced Video / 3D playback engine: Our new playback engine has been rewritten from the ground up to use HTML5, CSS, MP4 / AVC, and WebGL engines.
  • 3D model import - using standard GLTF / GLB file formats, import your 3D model with animation: view 3D Model Support.
  • Dark Mode: a new 'dark mode' look for built screensaver installers (all OSs), and optional Dark Mode support for iScreensaver Designer (macOS Mojave only).
  • Live Photos: automatically imports both the picture and video file from Live Photos (macOS only)
  • macOS Changes
  • iScreensaver Designer for Mac is a fully 64 bit app.
  • iScreensavers built for macOS are now 64 bit, using modern technology such as the Swift programming language.
  • iScreensaver supports macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) thru 11.2 (Big Sur): view System Requirements.
  • iScreensaver supports code-signing with the hardened runtime and notarization.
  • Windows OS Changes
  • iScreensaver Designer for Windows is a fully 64 bit app (which means it requires a 64 bit OS).
  • Built iScreensavers are 32 bit - this allows maximum compatibility with both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows.
  • Single-File EXE / SCR: the windows screensaver is built as a single-file EXE, and installs as a single-file SCR. This greatly simplifies installation and delivery options.
  • iScreensaver supports Windows 7 thru 10: view System Requirements.
  • Improved Features:
  • Photos.app integration: improved support for drag & drop and metadata import (macOS only).
  • Easy upgrade: Project files from version 4 or 5 can be easily loaded into Version 6.
  • Fully cross-platform: Design on Mac, build for Mac & Windows; Design on Windows, build for Windows & Mac. Still the world's only truly cross-platform screensaver development tool.
  • Overlays: Images & Text captions can use all XYZ motion effect animations.
  • Playback performance: Video playback is now fully hardware-accelerated on supported systems.
  • Deprecated or Removed Features:
  • Removed: Adobe / Macromedia Flash (SWF) support has been removed.
  • Removed: OpenGL is no longer needed or required.
  • Removed: Secondary (Alternate or "locked") sequences.
  • New License Terms:
  • Subscription Pricing: our commercial / business licenses are offered as a one year term. New price and feature levels to meet your needs.
  • New Personal/Home license: a one-time purchase for light use at a bargain price.
  • As before, you may use and test iScreensaver without purchase in demonstration mode. In this mode, screensavers and screensaver installers built will expire. Text and images are will be watermarked with notices.
  • 30 day money-back guarantee on all licenses. Buy with confidence.

New in iScreensaver 6.5.0.1330 (Jun 26, 2020)

  • New! in version 6.5: multimonitor playback is synchronized.
  • New! in version 6.5: PBR-based rendering for GLB/GLFT models.
  • New! in version 6.5: improved metadata import of title, description and location data from image files.
  • Advanced Video / 3D playback engine: Our new playback engine has been rewritten from the ground up to use HTML5, CSS, MP4 / AVC, and WebGL engines.
  • 3D model import - using standard GLTF / GLB file formats, import your 3D model with animation: view 3D Model Support.
  • Dark Mode: a new 'dark mode' look for built screensaver installers (all OSs), and optional Dark Mode support for iScreensaver Designer (macOS Mojave only).
  • Live Photos: automatically imports both the picture and video file from Live Photos (macOS only)

New in iScreensaver 6.4.0.1310 (Feb 20, 2020)

  • iScreensaver version 6.4 improves support for macOS Catalina 10.15, fixes some bugs related to building Mac screensavers on Windows, and improves behavior with the screensaver installer's automatically-generated Zip file. All authors are recommended to upgrade and re-build their screensavers for distribution.

New in iScreensaver 6.3.0.1307 (Jan 20, 2020)

  • Screensavers - General:
  • General bug-fixes and performance enhancements.
  • Designer - General:
  • Right-clicking an sequence item in thumbnail view now properly selects the item as expected before triggering the contextual popup menu.
  • A sequence item with a blank overlay text caption could fail to display. Fixed.
  • Fixed an infrequent crash when closing the Info window after editing a 3D effect

New in iScreensaver 6.1.0.1298 (Aug 27, 2019)

  • Designer - General:
  • Fixed some bugs with editing multiple Text Captions at once.
  • Fixed some bugs with the display of foreground/background and mask colors in the Editor.
  • Fixed some bugs related to loading of thumbnail images when re-using items more than once in the same project.
  • Building a screensaver is more reliable, upon the first build, or when building after clearing the cache.
  • Improvements to the Column Selector (In List View - right-click the header). More columns can be selected, and when using a custom set of columns, the editor no longer gets confused. You can toggle multiple columns using the spacebar.
  • Screensavers - General:
  • If you connected or disconnected a monitor while previewing from the screensaver installer, it could crash. Fixed.
  • If you hit Cancel during an installation, it could crash. Fixed.
  • Managed Installation is now easier to do - you no longer need to set the installationKey.
  • Improved the animation engine to keep higher frame rates, especially on slower machines with high resolution monitors.
  • Preferences & Heads-Up-Display (HUD):
  • Fixed bug with preferences not always saving on multi-monitor systems.
  • Exiting the screensaver (via mouse click or keyboard) is now more reliable and always honors the HUD settings for Spacebar and Enter key behaviors.
  • Screensavers with large sequences of shuffled items could fail to save their status. Fixed.
  • Screensavers - Windows:
  • An internal error could trigger a never-ending set of popup dialogs. Fixed: These are now handled with a simple onscreen notification instead.

New in iScreensaver 6.0.4.1291 (May 24, 2019)

  • Tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.5 and 10.14.6 beta 1) and Windows 10 (Version 1903, Build 18362)
  • Video or audio files set to play "forever" were causing the screensaver to hang.
  • If the screensaver sequence has only a single video item, it will now loop automatically even if you don't set the Behavior to "Play Forever".
  • GLB (GLTF models) with internally transparent materials now render correctly.
  • Improved reliability of the Sample Project downloader.

New in iScreensaver 6.0.3.1290 (May 18, 2019)

  • Tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.5 and 10.14.6 beta 1) and Windows 10 (Version 1903, Build 18362)
  • The author's HUD setting will now be used, even when doing managed installations.
  • Fixes a possible crash when exiting windows screensavers on multi-monitor systems.

New in iScreensaver 6.0.2.1288 (May 14, 2019)

  • Tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.5) and Windows 10 (Version 1903, Build 18362)
  • Improved reliability of installers when installing 'for me' or 'for all users' with administrator and non-administrator accounts.
  • Improved reliability of Managed Installations

New in iScreensaver 6.0.1.1286 (May 14, 2019)

  • Improved reliability of installation and uninstallation behavior on Windows 32 and 64 bit systems.
  • Improves consistency of author customization strings in the installer, settings, and uninstaller windows.
  • Prevents authors from adding the wrong file type for custom images, which could cause a crash.

New in iScreensaver 6.0.0.1284 (May 14, 2019)

  • Fixes bugs with "Install for All Users" including managed installations on mac and windows. A problem where the cursor would disappear when building on Windows is fixed. Builds that could fails due to missing or improper files now give a more descriptive error message. All authors are encouraged to upgrade to this version.

New in iScreensaver 6.0.0.1282 (May 14, 2019)

  • iScreensaver Designer:
  • Unicode: Numerous improvements to Unicode text handling for styled text areas.
  • Unicode: video or audio files with filenames containing Unicode characters would fail to operate properly on Windows. Fixed.
  • Info / Settings window: improved performance, fixed bugs with data sometimes not updating properly.
  • Effects: Changing the duration of a custom video effect could cause it to change speed. Fixed.
  • Sample Project: upon first run, the sample project download will be offered, and if accepted, it will automatically download, unzip, and open.
  • Built Screensavers:
  • Playback: Performance improvements when using large images or colorization or masking.
  • Screensaver Installer: Improved responsiveness and notification messages when the internet is not reachable during installation.

New in iScreensaver 6.0.0.1276 (May 14, 2019)

  • iScreensaver Designer 6.0 is a major new release, re-engineered from the ground up to support today's modern operating systems (macOS and Windows 10).

New in iScreensaver 5.0.2.1125 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Screensavers:
  • On Windows 7, the detection of a missing or out-dated Flash plugin was not working. Fixed.
  • On Windows (all versions) if an item couldn't be displayed (e.g. due to a missing plugin) the yellow warning message wasn't always showing up on screen. Fixed.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.1.1124 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Screensavers:
  • Fixed several bugs with Screensavers for Windows 7 and 8, which could cause the screensaver to show a blank screen, and/or crash. Anyone using iScreensaver Designer 5 to deliver screensavers for Windows 7 or 8 clients are encouraged to upgrade.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.0.1123 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Designer:
  • A bug introduced in 5.0.0.1122 could cause the build to report zero file sizes when building. Fixed.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.0.1122 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Designer:
  • The Date in a zipped build was off by about 30 days. Fixed.
  • The build system now more reliably shows custom icons in the Finder.
  • Windows that were opened on a secondary screen that is no longer connected will now move back to the main monitor when opened.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.0.1121 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Designer:
  • Improved build system to better tolerate running within a network share or synchronized folder system (such as DropBox).
  • Build system no longer shows the files as they are being built so you can't use them before they are ready.
  • The "Reveal" button at the conclusion of a build will show the correct folder(s).
  • Increased reliability when grabbing Poster Frames ("Thumbnail" images) from Movie files.
  • Loading older version 3 or 4 project files no longer gives a blank filename when "Save As" is chosen.
  • The Project List window could get into a state where it wouldn't show the list of projects and couldn't be resized. Fixed.
  • Screensavers:
  • Windows 7: fixed a crashing bug with some movie files when used on 32 bit versions of Windows.
  • Windows 7: fixed an issue regarding detection of which version of Windows was in use.
  • On older versions of windows (prior to 8.1) on computers that have more than one screen, installed screensavers will default to only playing on a single screen. The end user may change this setting to use more screens if they wish and performance is adequate.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.0.1118 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Fixed some bugs with Text overlays not having the right transparency values in built screensavers.
  • Designer:
  • The "Run Full Screen" command was getting stuck. Fixed.
  • Project List Window now warns before forgetting items when you press the Delete key.
  • Screensavers and Screensaver Installers now are more compatible with Windows 7.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.0.1117 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • Windows Single-File-EXE Installers would not run after being authenticode code-signed using a SHA256 certificate. Fixed.
  • Using an Overlay image with multiple sequence items but with different display settings was not working reliably. Fixed.
  • Loading a very old project (4.0) with missing items could crash. Fixed.
  • Entering 0% for width or height on Custom display sizing would cause a malfunction. Fixed.
  • The Zoom effect now considers the image rotation angle (set in Display tab) as setting the Final angle as well as the Starting angle, since this is more logical (and you always get one 90 degree rotation no matter what angle you start with).
  • Drag & Drop Images: Designer was getting confused if you dragged a Movie onto an Image drop zone. Fixed.
  • Command-R now functions as "Reveal on Desktop" in the project list window as it does in the project editor window.

New in iScreensaver 5.0.0.1115 (Aug 25, 2016)

  • iScreensaver Designer 5.0 is a major new release, re-engineered from the ground up to support today's modern operating systems.

New in iScreensaver 4.5.0.388 (Jul 6, 2012)

  • Screensaver Installer:
  • On windows, the single-file-EXE installer is more reliable. Launching the installer multiple times during an installation or clicking too quickly will no longer cause the installation to fail.
  • Missing plugins will no longer open an error window during the screensaver installer preview. The existing onscreen warning will be shown reminding the user to install the missing plugin.
  • Wallpaper installation : is now more reliable when using filenames with spaces or other punctuation.
  • Screensaver Playback:
  • The transition between movies, openGL items and SWF/Flash files is better, with reduced screen flashing. Items with the same background color no longer show a black screen flash during the transition.
  • Movies with customized Start and End Times : more reliably play through from the start to end time.
  • OpenGL Support:
  • OpenGL: windows PCs with buggy OpenGL drivers are now supported more reliably - in particular, drivers that mistakenly detect and interfere in fullscreen mode by blocking other window layers from showing are now handled better.
  • Interactive Content:
  • Videos and Flash content: if the Item/Behavior/Interactive checkbox is on, we now force the keyboard focus to the movie/flash content (as per the documentation). At this point, keyboard input will be ignored, so it's very important to give the user a way to exit the screensaver (e.g. a big "Exit" button). Note that the HUD (if enabled by the end user) will still be visible and can be used via the mouse as usual.
  • Notes:
  • There are some issues with using the keyboard within SWF movies that depends on the version of the web browser (Safari or IE) installed. We recommend that you only try to design keyboard input into your screensaver in situations where you have control over the computers the screensavers will be installed on, and you can test thoroughly.
  • Editor:
  • Improved handling of file path delimiters so that backslashes and spaces are handled better, especially when transferring project files between mac and windows, or when looking for missing files. Note: the project file format has changed slightly to accomodate this. Files will be automatically updated from the 4.0 to 4.5 format. The new files are backwards compatible with the old format, so you can always go back again if needed.
  • List view: sorting by file size now does a proper numeric sort again.
  • List view: New columns can be chosen for Overlay images: Overlay Width, Height, Size-Original and Size-Final.
  • Swapping assets (using the + button) now resets the custom start/end times.

New in iScreensaver 4.4.4.380 (Jan 30, 2012)

  • Editor:
  • Fixes several bugs in the styled text editor when editing more than one item at a time. Added code to protect against a crash with third party haxies such as RightZoom. Fixes so the Help menu no longer opens the browser window twice.
  • Screensavers:
  • Better error trapping for registry permission issues.

New in iScreensaver 4.4.3.377 (Dec 9, 2011)

  • Screensaver Installers do a better job suppressing OpenGL driver errors for older systems when OpenGL is not needed.
  • Exiting screensavers is faster and more reliable on Windows PCs when using the mouse or keyboard.

New in iScreensaver 4.4.1.374 (Oct 11, 2011)

  • Fixes a bug that prevented the software from working on Windows PCs at all (an issue introduced in the 4.4.0.373 release).

New in iScreensaver 4.4.0.373 (Oct 6, 2011)

  • Version 4.4 includes important bug-fixes for Windows screensavers. Monitor sleep and system suspend are more reliable on Windows PCs, especially those with misbehaving Power Manager drivers. Fixes a QuickTime-related crash on Windows for certain H264 movies. In the screensaver editor, improves handling of filenames and captions containing unusual characters such as slashes. Better handling of thumbnail generation from Flash and Video files. Automatically enables looping for single-item sequences.
  • Screensavers:
  • A crash inside QuickTime (triggered by an H264 movie that was the same aspect ratio as the screen, in certain size modes on Windows XP, Vista and 7) has been fixed.
  • The TaskBar will no longer occasionally be hidden on Windows.
  • Under Windows, screensavers behave better in respect to monitor Dim, monitor Off, and system Suspend settings, and will no longer prevent some PCs from sleeping, especially those with out-of-date Power Manager drivers. For best results, be sure to set the Monitor OFF time to less than the System Suspend time.
  • Captions which include text or filenames with backslashes will display properly.
  • Designer:
  • Files containing unusual characters (such as backslash or forward slash) are handled more reliably. Note: if you load an old project, you may have to relocate such files, once.
  • A single-item sequence containing a Movie or Flash (SWF) file will now default to looping the item itself rather than looping the containing sequence. This is more user-friendly for a common situation and prevents video glitches at the loop boundary.
  • New Warning if you try to add recursively linked folders ("turtles all the way down").
  • Better handling of background thumbnail generation for Flash (SWF) and video files. Several random crashes fixed.

New in iScreensaver 4.3.8.362 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.3.8 includes numerous bug fixes: improved behavior when password protection is enabled, fixes for installation and uninstallation, and compatibility fixes for the newly released Safari 5 and IE9 updates. All users and authors are encouraged to upgrade, rebuild, and re-distribute their screensavers.
  • Screensavers:
  • Under Windows (all versions), Fixed several issues when "Screen Saver Settings: On resume, display Login Screen" is enabled.
  • If the computer goes to sleep while the screensaver is running, in some cases after you wake the computer up, the Windows TaskBar would be missing. Fixed.
  • The locked content reminder screen could open in the wrong window layer. Fixed.
  • Windows screensaver installer: more reliable if the user accidentally launches several copies at once.
  • Windows screensaver uninstaller: more reliable and gives better feedback.
  • Improvements to ensure SWF and QuickTime content play back under various installed versions of the WebKit and IE browser libraries.
  • Designer:
  • Designer : Edit Unlocking codes - always saves codes when edited, and you can now undo/redo changes to unlocking codes.
  • Designer : When opening project files, the "Open new window" and "Open last project" settings are suppressed for convenience.

New in iScreensaver 4.3.7.350 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.3.7 includes minor improvements & bug-fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade, rebuild, and re-distribute their screensavers.
  • Designer:
  • Sequence Editor / Contextual Menus
  • Duplicate menus seen when using contextual menus. Fixed.
  • Project List and Sequence List View
  • You can now type in the listbox to select items by filename. In Sequence Editor this works even if the filename column is hidden.
  • Copy/Paste
  • Copy/Paste of unlocking keycodes was unreliable if it contained UTF16 data. Fixed, all data is now converted to UTF8.
  • Copy/Paste of registration name/code was unreliable if it contained UTF16 data. Fixed, all data is now converted to UTF8.
  • Sequence Editor / Undo:
  • "Cut" was showing up in the Undo History as two separate operations (Cut + Delete). Fixed, now only shows up as a single "Undo Cut" operation.
  • Undo was nuking the Build Author string. Fixed.
  • Test: set an author string. Make an edit in the sequence editor (cut or duplicate an item). Undo. Check the author string.
  • Screensaver:
  • Screensaver startup sequence
  • the startup progress bar is now smarter. It will not show up unless the module load is taking more than 1.0 seconds.
  • exiting the screensaver during the startup sequence could cause odd behavior or a crash. Fixed.

New in iScreensaver 4.3.4.343 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.3.4 includes improvements to the Windows single-file-installer, and other minor bug fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade, rebuild, and re-distribute their screensavers.
  • Designer:
  • Added error checking for a crash while saving a project file.
  • Screensaver:
  • [win] The single-file-installer on windows now gracefully handles the situation if a user launches multiple copies.

New in iScreensaver 4.3.2.337 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.3.2 includes bug-fixes for international authors and end-users, and improvements to the upgrade procedure for Windows XP, Vista and 7. All users are encouraged to upgrade, rebuild, and re-distribute their screensavers.
  • Designer:
  • Systems which use the comma as the decimal point (e.g. 1,23 instead of 1.23) could encounter numerous problems due to calculation errors. Fixed. Now, decimals will be displayed according to your OS settings. Authors can enter decimals in either format while editing.
  • Fixed a crash when loading a thumbnail image from movies lacking a poster frame.
  • The Undo command was accidentally clearing some project settings (Use HUD, Audio volume and the OpenGL Version string). Fixed.
  • Single-item movie screensavers were always resuming at the last play time, even if "Resume with previous item" was off. Fixed - will now always start at zero playtime, unless that setting is on.
  • [win] When installing iScreensaver Designer, the InnoSetup installer now properly detects if the app is already running and advises you to quit it before proceeding, making upgrades easier.
  • Screensaver:
  • Systems using a comma as the decimal point (e.g. 1,23) could encounter numerous issues during playback, including mis-sized videos, incorrect audio volume, or wrong playback start/resume time. Fixed.

New in iScreensaver 4.3.1.328 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.3.1 includes new features and numerous bug fixes. Most importantly, the Single-File-Installers for Windows have improved handling of Unicode (UTF8) characters both in filenames and text fields, as well as improved error reporting. All users are encouraged to upgrade, rebuild, and re-distribute their screensavers.
  • Unicode Text:
  • for the Windows Single-File-Installer, Unicode in the filename was causing a crash. It now works (XP, Vista, 7). Note, in XP the filename may not display properly due to XP's limited Unicode support.
  • for the Windows Single-File-Installer, unicode in the Installer Title field now shows properly in the Unzip window caption (Vista and 7 only, XP's unicode support is very limited)
  • Note: full support for Unicode filenames on the Internet remains limited, so for best results we recommend using standard ASCII characters for your screensaver installer filename.
  • Single-File-Installer: better error logging when something goes wrong.
  • Single-File-Installer: will still function if it has been code-signed with signtool.
  • Designer:
  • iTunes and iPhoto XML library readers now thread better so app responsiveness is improved when first opening, if you have large iPhoto / iTunes libraries.
  • Project windows: the Video & Audio editors now remember visual settings (Thumb or List view and list/thumb size).
  • various toolTips added/improved
  • you can now control the Preview window (Play, Pause, etc.) even when that window is not frontmost.
  • menu items now enable/disable more appropriately based on context.
  • Screensaver:
  • The screen saver control panel audio volume setting would always drop back to zero. Fixed, now remembers the user's choice.

New in iScreensaver 4.3.0.312 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.3.0 heralds the return of the "Single File Installer" for Windows Screensavers. The single-file EXE, when downloaded, will automatically unzip itself, open the screensaver installer, and clean up afterwards. This makes for a much more user-friendly experience. Use of QuickTime Movies on Windows has been improved: For large movies, start time is up to 30x faster. The screensaver build process has been improved, with more accurate file size calculation and better cleanup of temporary files. Numerous other small bug fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade, rebuild, and re-distribute their screensavers.
  • Single-File-EXE Installers:
  • Windows builds include the option for a "Single-File-EXE" installer. This packages the screensaver content and program within a single EXE file (rather than the multiple folders & files of the standard install).
  • the installer window title and caption text are the same as the Installer title
  • the splash screen artwork is the Installer splash screen.
  • When launched, the file is unzipped, placing the Installer app inside a Windows Temp folder. The temp folder name is keyed to the screensaver ID, thus unique for each screensaver. Therefore, multiple downloads of the same saver won't fill up your hard drive, as each unzip will simply overwrite the prior one.
  • The unzipped installer will be set to auto-delete at next system reboot.
  • Icon: the installer icon is limited to 48x48 pixels full color (32 bit)
  • Benefits:
  • when downloading the EXE, IE shows an immediate download progress and asks "Run" or "Save" much more quickly.
  • the user can simply click "Run" rather than going through the several "Extract All" steps required with the traditional Zip file.
  • Cons:
  • overall file size increases by about 3.5MB
  • overall installer size, and size of any individual file must be under 2GB.
  • QuickTime playback on Windows:
  • a bug in QuickTime 7 and IE8 was preventing QuickTime from streaming movie data. As a consequence, large movie files were being pre-loaded entirely before they started, rather than streaming. This would cause a long pause (10, 20, 30 seconds or longer) during which the app was unresponsive. Fixed: on Windows, we included a workaround so that QuickTime movies are now streamed instantly. In practice, this allows very large movie file screensavers to work well on Windows.
  • Designer Build:
  • Build process now only checks & reports errors for targets currently being built, rather than all targets (e.g. if you select "Build Mac", you won't see errors for the Windows build).
  • The build process does a better job cleaning up after itself -- temp files are now deleted immediately, rather than being moved to the Recycle Bin/Trash Folder.
  • Disk space checks were broken. Fixed. Checks for...
  • not enough space for build (properly accounts for zip and single file exe options. Uses a 25% additional size calculation for safety)
  • Zip or single-file-exe with any single file > 2GB
  • Zip or single-file-exe with total size > 2GB
  • fixed 32 bit overflow bug in media size checks: now calculates sizes properly with individual files > 2GB
  • properly accounts for re-use of items.
  • Designer Misc:
  • Locking: unlocking reminder dialog setting would be reset after Edit Undo/ Edit Redo. Fixed.
  • Thumbnails: QuickTime movies that don't provide a valid Poster frame for a thumbnail will now get the generic "Movie" icon rather than a blank white frame. Warning: such movies tend to be corrupted, and should generally not be used. Right-click the item and choose "Update Thumbnail" if you see this happening, and if you can't get a valid thumbnail, consider re-encoding the movie.

New in iScreensaver 4.2.0.305 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.2.0 includes general bug-fixes as well as important improvements for Flash (SWF) files. All users are encouraged to upgrade and, when appropriate, re-build and re-distribute the screensaver installers.
  • Designer:
  • Flash: a bug in the Flash plugin was causing many large SWF files (such as those with embedded FLV video) to fail. The problem was due to the flash plugin reporting nonsense values for the "PercentLoaded()" call. Fixed - Such files now work properly. Note, however, that Adobe does not recommend the use of embedded video files longer than approximately 10 seconds.
  • Flash: Fixed some crashes related to mangled SWF files.
  • Changes in the Flash plugin means that SWF thumbnails weren't being generated correctly. Fixed. To re-build a thumbnail, right-click the item and choose "Item/Update Thumbnail Image", or use Preferences/Debug/Clear All Cached Files.
  • Locking: additional options for authors to determine when the unlocking reminder dialog(s) are displayed: During Installation, or after the Screensaver exits.
  • Crash during "File/Save As..." - fixed.
  • Various minor crashing bugs fixed.
  • Screensavers:
  • Windows: OpenGL - reduced taskbar flashing when auto-detecting OpenGL features.
  • Windows: OpenGL: Bogus OpenGL error messages were showing up incorrectly. Fixed: only true errors will be displayed.
  • Screensaver Installer:
  • When QuickTime is out of date (or missing), Apple Software Update will be launched on mac, and on windows too (if available). Otherwise, the user will be prompted to visit the QuickTime download website as before.

New in iScreensaver 4.1.0.299 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • Version 4.1.0 includes some important bug-fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade and, when appropriate, re-build their screensavers.
  • Designer:
  • iScreensaver Designer 4 is now code-signed. This applies to the application and the installer on Windows. Code-signed apps can be verified as originating with iScreensaver.com, and will avoid needless "Unknown Publisher" warnings on Windows.
  • Note: screensavers produced with iScreensaver Designer are *not* code signed as this is not technically possible. To code-sign a screensaver that you author, you would need to obtain your own signing certificate and code-sign it yourself.
  • Proxy auto detection for License Code verification.
  • Designer / Registration tab has new auto-proxy-detection code. It defaults to "Auto" which should auto-detect system proxy and use it.
  • Other modes:
  • Off - bypass any proxy settings.
  • Manual - override any proxy settings.
  • If you are having trouble validating your purchased license code, please contact your IT department and ask them for the HTTP:PORT proxy settings to use.
  • [win] In XP: typing WindowsKey-D (the shortcut to minimize all windows) would crash and then be unable to exit the program. Fixed.
  • Splash screen art cleaned up.
  • Screensaver Installer:
  • [win] When launching installer, exception in wInstall.wInstall.Event_Open%%o on some systems when a plugin was not installed or blocked by anti-virus software.
  • Fixed: we trap this error so it no longer crashes, and instead show the "... plugin not installed" warning message.

New in iScreensaver 4.0.0.293 (Jul 29, 2011)

  • A general bug-fixing release with some new/improved features. Includes minor updates for Safari 5 and Flash 10.1, and important OpenGL bug fixes for Mac and Windows. OpenGL fixes for the notorious Intel GMA950 drivers (on Windows). Installers and Uninstallers are more reliable. Authors can set default values for Heads Up Display (HUD) and audio volume.
  • Installation Plugin Checks:
  • OpenGL
  • We now provide an OpenGL driver check. Rather than checking the driver version number (which is different for every manufacturer) we simply check the OpenGL version. The generic Microsoft Drivers tend to support version 1.0 or 1.1, whereas good vendor drivers support 1.3 or higher.
  • When the OpenGL driver check fails, we send the user to a URL that explains how to update the video card drivers.
  • All plugin checks are automatically skipped when not applicable. For example, if the author sets QuickTime to check for version 7.6, but there is no QuickTime content in the screensaver, that check will be ignored.
  • The "Aero Glass is not enabled" error message: no longer shows up in Windows XP. Under Vista and Windows 7 it still shows up, but now includes a button that links to a web page explaining how to enable the feature.
  • Screensaver Uninstaller:
  • [win] on Vista/7, we always request elevated permissions when uninstalling a "forAllUsers" install, which should prevent cases where the uninstaller was failing (as noted by the lack of the DOS console).
  • [win] also fixed cases where the uninstaller wasn't removing the uninstall data, so the saver would still show up in the Add/Remove control panel list.
  • OpenGL Drivers:
  • Intel Graphics Drivers: for Windows, we have workarounds for various bugs with the Intel drivers. This improves reliability on numerous Windows laptops using the low budget GMA 945 / GMA 950 series chips.
  • Note that in the case where there is a good hardware chip, but poor drivers, the screensaver will usually still run, but it may run *very* slowly as it falls back to software rendering.
  • For maximal OpenGL compatibility with the Intel graphics cards, authors are now asked to choose a short (8.3) filename for the screensaver SCR file on windows systems. The Build panel now includes an option for this.
  • Control Panel Author Defaults:
  • Authors may now set the following items in the editor for the Control Panel:
  • Use HUD (Heads up display). (defaults to Off)
  • Audio Volume (defaults to 100%)
  • Audio Mute (defaults to Off)
  • These values will serve as defaults when the user previews or installs a screensaver. The end-user can always change these settings later.

New in iScreensaver 4.0.0.287 (Jun 1, 2010)

  • OpenGL Animations:
  • Add real-time OpenGL animations to images.
  • Mixedmedia Screensavers:
  • Sequence Images, SWF, Audio and QuickTime movies in any order.
  • Adobe Flash CS4 compatibility:
  • Import your Flash 10 SWF files including ActionScript 3.0.
  • Text Captions:
  • Add translucent text overlays with per-character style formatting options.
  • Image Overlays:
  • Add floating images with transparency.
  • Big Sequence Support:
  • Include hundreds or even thousands of images. Individual files and built Installers can be over 2GB in size.
  • 64-bit Support:
  • Edit screensavers and deploy on 32 and 64-bit versions of Mac OS X and Windows.
  • Multiple Audio Tracks:
  • Include a background audio soundtrack sequence that runs independently from the foreground video sequence.
  • Individualized Keys:
  • Custom keys for unlocking codes available per-user or per-project.
  • Heads Up Display:
  • Simple on-screen transport controls for authors and end users.
  • Realtime Go-To Chooser:
  • Instantly jump to any asset from within the screensaver.