PortableApps.com is proud to announce the PortableApps.com Platform Version 12.0 Beta 4.8 release. This fourth beta in the 12.0 line which adds new features (cascading tray app menu, automated app closing on platform exit) as well as fixes bugs and makes performance improvements. It begins the daily beta update cycle leading up to our 12.0 Stable release on Tuesday, August 19th Thursday, August 21st. It is also designed to continue to test fixes to the updater and app store, refinements to the new theme and menu layout change, updated branding that's more subtle and manual proxy support. Like previous releases, it has automated app updates, customizable folders (categories) in the menu, a full theming engine with multiple chrome styles, the Portable App Directory app store for automatic download and installation of portable apps, find-as-you-type search (just type / or F3) to easily find apps in your ever-growing collection, an improved updater, more-complete translations into more languages and lots more. If you'd like to see more features and functionality keep coming, please read a personal appeal from PortableApps.com founder John T. Haller to help! Read on for all the details...(permalink)
Existing Platform users can automatically update by clicking Help - Check for Updates if they have the beta channel enabled under the Advanced tab in Options.
New in 12.0 Beta 4: Cascading Tray App Menu, Automatic App Closing
Beta 4 adds a semi-experimental cascading app menu to the right-click system tray menu courtesy of Martijn (user: Kloas76) as well as automated app closure on exit made easier with process code provided by Luthfi Harahap. It also finally fixes the last issues with the proxy handling, has improved performance within the app store/updater, fixes an issue with app installers asking for language selection for non-English users, and has multiple locale updates. Complete details are available in the platform changelog.
12.0 Beta 4.1 updates multiple locales and includes some translation fixes to code. It also fixes an issue with the Apps and Favorites bugs not displaying in the system tray right-click menu.
12.0 Beta 4.2 updates multiple locales and fixes an issue with slow app update checks, multiple instances of the platform showing, and unreliable task icon right-clicks.
12.0 Beta 4.3 fixes an issue with app list scrolling speed, flickering right-click cascade menu, incorrect checkbox graphics on Windows 8, and updates multiple locales.
12.0 Beta 4.4 fixes a long-standing GDI overflow crash bug, adds the option to search within app descriptions, and updates Spanish International.
12.0 Beta 4.5 fixes issues with app closing and updates multiple locales.
12.0 Beta 4.6 adds a prompt to close apps on exit and updates multiple locales.
12.0 Beta 4.7 adds an always visible search box, fixes an issue with app closing, and updates multiple locales. It also debuts the new installation wizard with local, portable, and cloud drive support.
12.0 Beta 4.8 fixes bugs with app closing and the platform installer. It also updates 2 locales' installer strings.
New 12.0 Theme, Branding, Features
For 12.0, we're simplifying the branding on the PortableApps.com Platform to make it more subtle and modern. The logo is also changed on the taskbar and system tray We're also introducing a new default theme that's more modern and clean with simplified iconography. The new theme is not yet complete, but we have included both a light and dark version, replacing the existing Default Light and Default Dark themes included in 11.0 stable. Don't worry, we'll be bringing back the existing themes in an upcoming release for those who like them. The space at the top where the large PortableApps.com logo used to be will be used by an always-visible search bar in the final release which will have focus by default, enabling find-as-you-type search without the need for a hotkey. We recommend using Silver and the Light theme. Give it a try!
In addition, multiple new features have been added including manual proxy support, OEM branding (KeyZ, Gigs2Go, etc), and more.
Platform Development Continuing, 12.0 Release on Tuesday August 19th Thursday, August 21st
As many users know, platform development was on hold for a while as we worked on shoring up the business side of things and while our lead developer recovered from surgery. Development of the platform is now back up to speed.
For the 12.0 final release, we'll be focusing on finalizing the existing features in the current release, fixing some final bugs, improving translations, and rolling out an updated platform installer.
Beyond 12.0
After 12.0, we'll be working on the remaining features listed in the Platform bug report and feature list and doing a new platform release about monthly. One big feature we'll be working on post-12.0 will be file associations. Work on this has been stalled as the lead developer is currently the only platform developer and has otherwise been occupied with the business side of things, app updates/releases, and his recent injury and surgery. The underlying code is mostly complete, but the UI for them is still in a relatively early state. Additionally, the method we are using does not appear to function on Windows 8/8.1 due to the way Windows now requires the end user to select which app will open which file. We're exploring incorporating the basic double-click detection in eXpresso/CAFE as a backup for this situation so that all operating systems are covered and will update as we know more.
Ongoing Donation Drive
PortableApps.com needs your help to keep bringing you great software! To learn more, read a personal appeal from PortableApps.com founder John T. Haller. Now you can sponsor the PortableApps.com Platform and help us keep delivering awesome software for free. With options ranging from having your name included to a full-blown site-wide sponsorship, there's a good fit for everyone. Sponsor us today and be a part of the action!
We also accept donations of any size to help with development and hosting:
- Please help support PortableApps.com's development and hosting
Discussing The Release, Enhancements and Bug Reports
For bug reports, localization updates, and discussion of the sorting methods, please use these threads:
- Platform bug reports
- Default app organization settings and "smart" list sorting
- Language updates and changes
Download Today
You can download the beta version of the PortableApps.com Platform from the PortableApps.com Platform Beta page. Get it today!
Please note that any bug reports and feature requests go in the PortableApps.com Platform Bug Report and Feature Request Tracker. Any bugs reported here will be transferred to the bug report topic.
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Daily Beta Updates, Translations, Issues, 12.0 Stable on Tuesday
We'll be rolling out updated beta releases on a daily basis leading up to the final stable release on Tuesday. This Beta 4 release is a 'full package' release, so it will take a bit longer to install than the standard fast and light updates we usually roll out. This is to ensure testers have all the latest files regardless of any previous changes.
Translators are encouraged to update their translations as soon as possible. Updated translations will be included with each daily beta update.
There are some known issues with the new features, including NSIS/PAL launchers being incorrectly closed when they're tied to local apps (On Screen Keyboard Portable) and being closed on platform updates (will be fixed soon). You can see existing issues and report new ones in the platform bug/feature tracker. Please don't report issues as comments on this news story.
Thanks for helping to test!
Loads Up Faster
Also noticed that the suite also seems to load up much faster
Changelog: "FIXED: Updater progress bar doesn't properly progress with over 75 apps"
New Features are running fine
12.0
12.0 Beta 4.1
Just posted today's beta with the following changes:
UPDATED: Armenian, Dutch, English, EnglishGB, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, PortugueseBrazilian, PortugueseBrazilian, Turkish
FIXED: Updater doesn't display translation for 'of' from DOWNLOADOF
FIXED: Apps and Favorites icons missing from the platform tray menu
FIXED: "Next" not translated in updater/app store header (string changed, legacy will show as >)
12.0 Beta 4.2
Just posted today's beta with the following changes:
UPDATED: Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Polish, Portuguese Brazilian locales
FIXED: Very slow app update check introduced in Beta 4/4.1
FIXED: Multiple PortableAppsPlatform.exe instances appear when launching again with Start.exe
FIXED: Unreliable display/hide of the PA.c Menu on right-click
12.0 Beta 4.3
Today's beta update has been posted:
UPDATED: Bulgarian, Italian, Turkish
FIXED: Slow app scrolling on some systems
FIXED: Tray menu flickers on Windows 8 when collapse categories on minimize is on
FIXED: Windows 8/8.1 checkboxes not properly appearing in updater/app store
12.0 Beta 4.4
Today's beta has been posted:
ADDED: Advanced option to include app descriptions when searching
UPDATED: English, EnglishGB, Spanish International locales
FIXED: Platform crash after many refreshes due to GDI leak. This long-standing bug has finally been squashed.
FIXED: Display tweaks to the 'apps still running' dialog
12.0 Beta 4.5
Today's beta has been posted:
UPDATED: Bulgarian, French, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian locales
FIXED: Platform continues to attempt to close apps and displays 'cannot focus modal form error' when apps still running that won't close
FIXED: Automated app closing incorrectly closes apps on platform upgrade (Fixed on upgrades from 12.0 Beta 4.5 and later)
Beta Extended One Day - Translators Needed!
We've extended the beta by one day to give translators some additional time with the platform translations and to translate a new platform installer. We were going to debut it in 13.0 but just couldn't wait, so it will debut this week for all locales that get translations in.
Platform translation details can be found here: https://portableapps.com/node/28595
Platform Installer details can be found here: https://portableapps.com/node/42283
Thank you in advance to all our translators for your help!
Question
Are you planning on releasing it before or after 4:00pm tomorrow?
When It's Done
It'll be released when it's done.
Okay
I was just wondering because I will be spending the next few days out of town with no computer access and I leave on Wednesday at 4:00 pm. By the way, could you change my username to "Zackery Graves" please?
12.0 Beta 4.6
Today's release features:
ADDED: Prompt user about closing apps on first exit
UPDATED: Bulgarian, Czech, English, EnglishGB, French, German, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese Brazilian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish International, Turkish locales
We'll be doing at least one more beta/release candidate tomorrow (Wednesday the 20th) morning to test the final new installer setups and then releasing 12.0 stable later in the day.
12.0 Beta 4.7 aka RC 1
This release is basically Release Candidate 1. We needed another test release to shake out the last bugs with the app closer.
ADDED: New full-featured installer with support for portable, cloud drive, and local installs
ADDED: Prompt user about closing apps on first exit
UPDATED: Bulgarian, Czech, English, EnglishGB, French, German, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese Brazilian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish International, Turkish locales
As long as this release fixes the last few big bugs, this will be released as final today.
Testers: Please try the new installer to a few different locations.
Updating Platofrom?
It updated the platform, but it gave an error, and said could not write to start.exe. What does that mean.
File Permission
That happens when you install to your system drive (usually C:) and the installer is mistakenly trying to write out Start.exe and/or autorun.inf. Windows won't let it. I just fixed it for the next build. You can ignore the error. If you set it to start with Windows, the shortcut it created in your Startup group won't be right.
Well i don't know if it has
Well i don't know if it has to do with the fact that I have a Windows 8 certified flash drive, which means the computer thinks my flash is a local disk, even though its not.
Buggy
So it was writing to your flash drive and it produced that error? That shouldn't happen. Did you setup some odd permissions on it?
Then again, the Windows 8 certified flash drive thing did produce some buggy drives, which is why they abandoned it. Unfortunately, there's no way to convert it to a legit flash drive.
yeah but it had a button to
yeah but it had a button to ignore it. It completed the update, but i don't know if it affected it at all. I got the new search function, and everything It never did that error, for any other update, so maybe the flash isn't the error. I've updated the platform before fine.
12.0 Beta 4.8 aka RC 2
This RC 2 release fixes all reported issues with the 12.0 RC 1 release. Please ensure your reported bugs are fixed and we'll roll this out as final!
UPDATED: Basque and Bulgarian installer translations
FIXED: 'Can't show modal' error if attempt to close platform while 'apps still running' dialog shown
FIXED: Installer detects C drive twice for upgrades
FIXED: Brackets look like strange symbol when no name for drive in installer upgrade, cloud, local, and confirm pages
FIXED: 'Launch PortableApps.com Platform' not translated on installer final page
FIXED: Don't add or change desktop.ini in Documents et al when installing to USERPROFILE
FIXED: Automatic app closing leaves some apps unresponsive, particularly tray icons
perfect job
FIXED: 'Launch PortableApps.com Platform' not translated on installer final page
FIXED: Automatic app closing leaves some apps unresponsive, particularly tray icons
Great
Glad to hear it
So are u adding anythihng for
So are u adding anythihng for the stable release, and when is the stable release coming out?
Today
Stable comes out today. Only translation fixes at this point. Unless a big bug comes to light.
Search box
Is the search box really meant to be permanent now?
Wouldn't it be better to make this optional somehow?
Yes. Possibly.
The search is always on and has focus by default like the windows start menu. That way users can hit the hotkey and just start typing. There's not much reason to hide it, but I'd consider and optional way to do so if there was some interested folks.
Under All Portable Apps
Is it possible to put the search box under All Portable Apps, it will look much better like the windows start menu ?
Was always there
It was always there for years and nobody complained!
The only change is that you don't have to access it by a hotkey any more. I don't think it makes sense to change the position.
May be something like this:
May be something like this: http://i.imgur.com/05dVKVW.png
yes, but in years its show and hide, now it is permanent show
Usability
Realistically, the top makes more sense in terms of usability. The Windows Start Menu having it at the bottom is... odd... usability-wise. As you thin down your list of matches by typing more, the list is further and further away from where you're typing. I'd wager the box wound up in that position by committee instead of usability. We went with the top as its similar to how launcher utilities like Launchy work: you hit a hotkey, start typing, then either TAB/mouse down to get to the one you want or ENTER to launch the top one.
Thanks
yeah, thanks, may be i'm used to windows start menu and now this looks different for me
border color
Where do you set the search box border color?
So far I couln't find it. The same is true for the magnifier icon.
Built In
The border color is fixed by Windows, unfortunately, and can't be altered without building a custom component (which we're not ready to do just yet). The magnifier icon and the search close/clear icon are currently built-in and not themeable. They will be in an upcoming release.
Thanks
Thanks for the explanation.
So currently there is no more work to do for me! Yeah!
What about the search box's background color?
I hadn't noticed it as I was testing with the default theme (because most users will use it), but when setting the theme to one of the 'Dark' variants, the background of the search box changes to match the 'Silver' color, and due at least in part to the border looks really bad (IMO), could we perhaps keep this white? or make it a color that's slightly lighter than the
ThemeColor?Do it yourself
Just do it yourself.
Go to
..\PortableApps.com\App\Graphics\Themes\ClassicDark (or any other theme(
open file
PATheme.ini
and change settings
[SearchBox]
FontColor=FFFFFF
BackgroundColor=000000
as you like.
Be aware to store the settings somewhere because John will overwrite them with the next release.
I meant for the release.
Yes, I realise I can make that change on my local copy.
I was suggesting that the default colour(s) for the search box in the release be changed.
But why
But why should John change the color just to your taste if you can do it on your local? If you are not satisfied with it change it.
Nevermind, it looks better in the latest version
John put a new version on the Platform tracker thread which improves the border by an order of magnitude, and the colour looks fine with a better border, so I guess it's a moot point now, eh?
Color Matched
The background color is closely matched to what the blended color works out to at the top of the app list. So each color within a dark theme has its own custom color Search box.
AhHA
I see what I did wrong.
It is colour matched with the new EXE & PATheme.ini, I had put the ini in the wrong place
Move To Bug Thread
Please move this whole chat to the bug thread. Remember, news stories aren't for discussing bugs.
I'm working on a patch for this. I've already got a custom search box without the white border working. Keep refreshing the bug thread, I'm going to post the patch quickly to have you test.
Search Box Theming
Please see this and report findings there: https://portableapps.com/node/28593#comment-217773
Yuck!
Search box is ugly!
Never ever use them, can it be disabled?
Sorry, but it's a little presumptuous to think everyone would want it.
Which hotkey gets the
Which hotkey gets the platform on top?
Ctrl + Alt + Space should do
Ctrl + Alt + Space should do it.
thx
thx
is the stable release still
is the stable release still coming out tonight?
Already Out
It's already out