PortableApps.com Platform 12.0.1: Cascading Tray Menu, Automatic App Closing, Better Search, Awesome Themes, Faster, Sleeker, Stronger, and Ready for your USB, Cloud, or local drive.

PortableApps.com is proud to announce the PortableApps.com Platform 12.0. This release adds new features like a cascading app menu in the system tray, automatic app closing, proxy support, a great set of themes, a much faster updater and app store, improved app searching, a cloud+portable+local installer, improved multilingual support, and lots more! As always, it also features a complete app store, automatic updater, easy app organization, portable fonts, and lots of other features to make it your favorite set of apps whether you're running from a portable drive, a cloud drive, or run locally. 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.

New in Platform 12.0

This new update adds lots of features you're sure to love like:

• Automatic App Closing - Closing down and getting going is easier than ever with the platform automatically (and safely) closing your running portable apps and letting you know which ones need to be closed before you eject and finish syncing your cloud drive. Luthfi Harahap was kind enough to re-license some of his code to help with this feature
• Awesome Themes - The theming engine has been revamped and looks even better than before. The modern default theme matches well with Windows 7, Windows 8 and the upcoming Windows 9 release.
• Cascading Tray App Menu - Several long time users wanted access to a full app menu on right-click, and Martijn (user: Kloas76) answered the call
• Better Always-Ready Search - The app search box is always visible and ready by default, so you can open the platform - possibly with the CTRL-ALT-SPACE hotkey - and just start typing to launch your favorite app. You can even search in app descriptions if you'd like by ticking a box in Options
• Proxy Support - The connections tab in Options lets you automatically or manually configure the platform to work with your internet proxy
• Full Featured Installer - The Platform installer can now detect and install to your portable devices, synced cloud directories, local machine, and more
• Much Faster Updater / App Store - The code to check for updates is now 10x faster and the download of the app database 1/5th the size. You save time and bandwidth every day.
• Lots of bug fixes and tweaks - Lots of little things throughout the platform have been fixed and spruced up. It's faster, sleeker, and more stable than ever before. Even with all 300+ apps installed.
• Localization Updates Galore - We've had a ton of updates to all of our locales courtesy of our hard working translation team. You'll see them in the forums and in story comments with a little translation flag next to their name.
• All the fixes and features are details in the PortableApps.com Platform Changelog

Next Steps - Monthly Releases

Now that 12.0 is up 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 was stalled due to other commitments by our lead developer as well as his recent injury and recover but is now continuing anew. Sorting out the Windows 8/8.1 issues since it blocks the standard approach is first on that list. We'll also be finishing up the custom theme engine and adding support for external themes, adding more automation support (BAT files, run on exit, etc), app customization, Java and .NET apps, more advanced features, and lots more. We'll be doing public betas each month, so you'll know exactly what features are arriving and when.

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

Buy The Platform On A Flash Drive: Companion and Carbide

If you'd like a speedy new flash drive to use with the new platform, we have the the PortableApps.com Companion available starting at under $30. This durable USB 3.0 drive comes laser-etched with your name, URL or other text and is a great way to carry your software with you. And it comes in a new 64GB size. If security is your concern, we also have the PortableApps.com Carbide available. It's the Safest, most secure USB flash drive on earth. Best of all, sales of both help support the PortableApps.com project and our mission to change the world of software!

Discussing The Release, Enhancements and Bug Reports

As there is much to discuss with this new release, we've separated out a few forum threads for discussing:

• Platform bug reports
• Default app organization settings and "smart" list sorting
• Language updates and changes

Download Today

You can download the new version of the PortableApps.com Platform from the download 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.