ObjectDock 1.3 BETA available for existing owners...

Via Stardock Central

Monday, April 17, 2006 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News

A new version of ObjectDock is nearly ready to go.  ObjectDock and its big brother, ObjectDock Plus, is a utility that lets you have a really cool and useful dock that can sit on an edge or pretty much anywhere else you might want to have it.

New features include:

  • PLUS-Enabled activation in Plus build
  • BOTH-Added ability to offset dock from edge of the screen
  • PLUS-"Automatic distance from edge" (place above taskbar) feature
    now fully compatible with multi-monitors. This handy feature ("auto
    distance from edge") is only available in the Plus version, and is
    enabled by default in the plus version.
  • PLUS-Added mouse-activation (different from hotspots) ability for
    tabbed docks whose tabs are not always on top. When mouse activation
    is checked, docked tabbed docks whose tabs are not AOT will come to
    the front when you hit the edge of the screen directly over where
    they are for the specified time period.
  • BOTH-Not always-on-top tabbed docks that are docked to the edge of
    the screen (autohidden) will now un-autohide if you choose from from
    the alt-tab list.
  • PLUS-Added ability for tabbed docks to reserve the entire edge of the
    screen that they are on. Adjustable to be autohidden or not
    autohidden.
  • PLUS-When dragging docks that are reserving the edge of the screen,
    they will detach and turn off their reserve-edge option upon pulling
    far away from the edge. If moved back to the edge or to another edge
    while in the same move/drag operation, the dock will automatically
    re-reserve the edge space upon docking to an edge. Under other/normal
    circumstances (just usual docking to the edge), the dock will not
    automatically reserve the edge of the screen.
  • PLUS-When in "My Docks" dialog, all autohidden or not-on-top
    zooming and tabbed docks should come to the front and become
    interactive. Upon leaving the application completly, docks go back to
    their original positions.
  • BOTH-When in the properties dialog for a
    individual dock (zoomer or tabbed), that dock will temporarilly
    ignore its autohidden and AOT state if present to make itself on-top
    and visible to the user.
  • PLUS-When using the configuration dialog for a dock, a bouncing
    arrow will show up to identify which dock is currently being edited.
    Similarly, when in the "My Docks" dialog, upon selecting a dock from
    the dock listing, that dock will have a bouncing identifying arrow
    pointing to it to identify which dock is currently selected. This
    feature can be disabled from the advanced options, and when shown due
    to a configuration dialog being active (not "My Docks"), the arrow
    will fade out after 5 bounces to prevent it from becoming annoying.
    The arrows only show up when there is more than one dock present (and
    so are not necessary in the free version).
  • BOTH-"Send To" now displays and works in system context menus for
    files/folders within ObjectDock.
  • PLUS-(less significant change)-In tabbed docks, more effectivly
    separated the options for "Always on Top" and "Tabs Always On Top".
    Tabbed docks maintain two AOT settings...usual AOT has effect only
    when not docked to edge, and "tabs AOT" has effect only when docked.
    Checkboxes in the dialog and context menus will change themselves
    accordingly based on the current mode (docked or not).
  • PLUS-Similarly, the option for if the tabbed dock appears in the
    systray or taskbar when not AOT is kept seperatly for when docked and
    undocked. This is the case as when just floating and not AOT, by
    default the user will want to have it accessible via taskbar as there
    is no other means. But if docked to the edge, it is more likly that
    they don't want it in their taskbar, but rather they want to access
    it by mouse activation (bumping the edge of the screen). Thus, this
    allows automatic defaults to accomidate each scenario.
  • BOTH-(minor change)-Added ability to set "Autohide" from context
    menu of zooming dock
  • PLUS-Fixed bug where in changing themes or shutting down, if more
    than 1 tabbed dock is present not all tabbed docks have their
    resources freed properly
  • BOTH-Found and fixed 'handles' leak upon each use of context menus
    for File/Folder dock items, amoung a few other small places (such as
    during the poof animation)
  • PLUS-Changed default tab appearance (e.g. on creation of a new
    tabbed dock) to the "Simple Tabs" look.
  • BOTH-New logo images in config dialogs for both plus and free
    version
  • BOTH-Fixed bug, when zoomed dock uses autohide, when you run an app
    from the dock you can still click it even when it has disappeared
    until the "running" animation ends.
  • BOTH-auto-save 5 last 5 crashes into ObjectDock folder
  • PLUS ONLY-Added ability to automatically place dock on edge of
    screen, above the taskbar
  • Updated Free-version's dialogs (the main dialog only. the nicer
    for-each-item dialog are still plus-only)
  • BOTH-Trash icon did not update automatically when a folder is
    dropped onto it. Fixed.
  • BOTH-Added 100ms delay in updating the trashcan's image, so that it
    will refresh to the proper image when just the standard windows icon
    is being used. (eg when no *custom* images are being used for the
    trash)
  • BOTH-Tweaked drag & drop on zooming docks, fixed issues involving
    glitchy drop targets when the taskbar (and systray) is disabled

Stardock expects to release ObjectDock 1.3 officially in the next week or two.

Its home page is www.objectdock.com. Use Stardock Central to download it.

 

First Previous Page 2 of 3 Next Last
Frogboy
Reply #21 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 11:53 AM
DaveBo: Only customers have access to 1.3 right now.
PurrBall
Reply #22 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 12:18 PM
I would like to see the icons in popup menus not be cut off. That is the one thing that really annoys me.
egandt
Reply #23 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 12:30 PM
Sounds nice, but no mention of x64 support for the tray or tasks. Bummer I would have hoped the next version would support x64 as windowblinds and iconpackager do.

ERIC
Davebo
Reply #24 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 1:35 PM
DaveBo: Only customers have access to 1.3 right now.


Well, I'm an ObjectDesktop customer, but I'm assuming you mean ObjectDock Plus customer? Your OP is not to clear about who gets what...
RomanDA
Reply #25 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:10 PM
Ok ok ok ok.. the "reserve edge of screen" is PERFECT!!

Now, let me be able to do this with DX v3.2 or is it 3.3? So i can make a "DOCK" that can reserve the screen area i want to make avail for my screen. IE: Like the GalCivII dock im playing with, it would be great to be able to block off the top/sides/bottom of the screen for the dock!!

Keep up the great work all!!
ZubaZ
Reply #26 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:17 PM
"reserve edge of screen"


How is this different from the Reduce Work Area in DX?


Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
ZubaZ
Reply #27 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:23 PM
I like having a normal dock at the top, set to autohide, set far from edge. I mouse over where the dock is and it drops out of the sky to the middle of my screen.

Not useful, but fun.


Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Excalpius
Reply #28 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 5:51 PM
I like having a normal dock at the top, set to autohide, set far from edge. I mouse over where the dock is and it drops out of the sky to the middle of my screen.

Not useful, but fun.


I found it very useful, now that you mention it. I have a floating dock that acts as shortcuts for Internet Explorer. When active/unhidden it fills the vast open space to the right of the back/forward/etc. buttons. And when I am not browsing, it's not in the way. Before this new release I had to do this with a tabbed toolbar to get the positioning right. But that wouldn't zoomer or autohide, etc. Now, I get all of it in one tasty zooming offset row of icons with a transparent background, so they look just like cool new buttons on IE.
Lantec
Reply #29 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 8:09 PM
That's nice, but I personally haven't found it useful.

I've been having the problem with a dock on the right side always in the way of the scroll bars on maximized windows. Now I've set it about 18 pixels out and no scroll bar interfernce.
Hitchhiker0427
Reply #30 Tuesday, April 18, 2006 10:42 PM
Will this have the ability to hide the system tray icon? Just a little thing, but it still bugs me.
scorpNZ
Reply #31 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 12:29 AM
Hitchhiker look again in the options assuming you have the bought version the system tray icon can be disabled if you unselect it
Kevison
Reply #32 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 6:57 AM
I guess I will put my comment in too about the beta not showing up in SDC. Im a full paid ODNT subscriber and all....
Dangerousdaze
Reply #33 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 7:27 AM
It's frustrating to see how well this product is turning out, knowing that it's useless to me without support for virtual desktops. I would love to use this to replace my taskbar but I simply can't operate without BandVWM or an equivalent. I would have thought that DesktopX technology would have arrived in this product by now, as it as with ObjectBar for example, in which case I might have been able to use a VWM widget. Hmm, I wonder whether a VWM gadget will work instead...

***BTW, I couldn't see the new release in the Stardock Central software list either, but when I manually selected "Check for updates" it detected the new version and allowed me to download it. Give it a try.

/edit - I see this site still has a tendency to just throw you out, even after the server upgrade. Glad I CTRL-C everything before hitting that Submit button.
ZubaZ
Reply #34 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 8:33 AM
I wonder if a virtual desktop docklet could be built? Maybe call the bandvwm2.dll?
Dangerousdaze
Reply #35 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 8:53 AM
A related question is whether ObjectDock should even have its own native docklet API any more. It would be far more consistent across the OD product suite to standardise on DesktopX for all such components, whether they're in ObjectBar, ObjectDock, or standalone in the form of gadgets. Even RightClick uses DesktopX these days so I'm pretty sure that's Stardock's vision but they're not quite there yet. I suspect that a weapon in the upcoming gadget wars will be how pervasive each technology is - having a fancy clock on your desktop is one thing, but being able to seamlessly slot it into other tools could be a key differentiator.
MSethWeisberg
Reply #36 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 9:14 AM
Anyone else having this problem? With the plus version since updating to version 1.29x I can't get the system tray icons to show up (I do have the option checked in the dock settings) and the group taskbar items don't work.
RomanDA
Reply #37 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 10:26 AM
David

RomanDA
Reply #38 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 11:25 AM



The first one shows the dock open, but when it slides closed it can leave artifacts on top of itself.

You can see the transparent icons on top of the tabs that were/are in the dock.

Not able to access IRC today, so i thought id post it here.
orb351
Reply #39 Wednesday, April 19, 2006 10:07 PM
I love the reserve option. Would be nice if that option was available on regular docks.
Stig2k
Reply #40 Thursday, April 20, 2006 1:59 PM
SDC is STILL only showing version 1.20. This is really anoying. Is there any other way I can get it?

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