Winstep Nexus Dock 10.3 Released

[Redwolf]

I really like this dock, but I have a problem. Is there a way to configure the dock so that it will pop up even when a program is in full screen mode? I use a lot of programs in fullscreen mode and it would be convenient for me to be able to access it in full screen mode. I know I can do that with rocket dock.

[JcRabbit]

Zexe, yes, given the way Windows 7 taskbar works that is starting to make sense - and you could use the SHIFT key when clicking on a dock icon to launch more than one instance.

I'm begining to think I should add some kind of 'Windows 7' mode to Nexus task management abilities.

RedWolf, Nexus automatically disables a lot of things (not just detection of screen edge bumps) when it detects an application is running in full screen mode, in order to use as little system resources as possible.

How would you then solve the problem of running a full screen game and Nexus popping up when you accidentally hit a screen edge with the mouse pointer?

[Redwolf]

RedWolf, Nexus automatically disables a lot of things (not just detection of screen edge bumps) when it detects an application is running in full screen mode, in order to use as little system resources as possible.

How would you then solve the problem of running a full screen game and Nexus popping up when you accidentally hit a screen edge with the mouse pointer?

I can't speak for anyone else but I usually didn't have that problem when I used Rocket dock. I usually set the edge delay high enough so that it wouldn't pop-up until the mouse had been on the edge of the screen for while.

[zexe]

Zexe, yes, given the way Windows 7 taskbar works that is starting to make sense - and you could use the SHIFT key when clicking on a dock icon to launch more than one instance.

I'm begining to think I should add some kind of 'Windows 7' mode to Nexus task management abilities.

cmon mate, make my day! i would love that feature.

also, grouped tasks have quite a delay till it pops up the window with the opened windows from the process, think there's any way to speed it?

[JcRabbit]

No, sorry, the delay (1 second) for the first window thumbnail to appear is hard coded - Nexus is actually using the same code used to display document and video thumbnails in menus. The longer delay makes sense there but not for grouped tasks, so expect that issue to be fixed in the next release.

[zexe]

then should we expect the "shift for new window" feature in the next update?

[jmbattle2]

JcRabbit, I really Nexus Dock, however is it possible to disable the splash screen that appears at start-up?

Cheers,

James

x

[JcRabbit]

JcRabbit, I really Nexus Dock, however is it possible to disable the splash screen that appears at start-up?

Not currently, sorry... But come on, it's such a tiny splash screen...! ;-)

[jmbattle2]

Maybe so, but I personally believe that such elements should be optional.

Cheers,

James

x

[zexe]

mate, give them some space. their work, their product, your fun. it should be their option to put it or get it out.

if a product would scream in your face with popups, it's one thing. a 1 second splash with loading message is like a spring breeze.

now, update?

[JcRabbit]

Thanks for standing up for me, Zexe. This said, he is right - it should be optional.

As for updates... working on the dock magnification algorithm and some other stuff with lots of 'speed up' potential.

[zexe]

ill give it a run on windows7 x64 machine, wonder how you'll deal with the new systray icons/notifications management. will get back with comments

ok, systray items working awesomely.

now, problems: unlike windowsXP, i cannot unlock the taskbar and pull it down so it dosent actualy take space on the desktop.

and since you have show/hide taskbar feature but your dock will not sit on top of the hidden taskbar, we have a problem.

im thinking you could make the setting for offset to edge for docked dock to have negative values, or something.

or, i need to find a way to throw the superbar to the edge (outside) of the desktop.

Edited April 3, 2010 by zexe

[JcRabbit]

You can solve the issue in one of two ways:

1. Set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide. That will prevent it from reserving screen space.

2. Set Nexus NOT to respect reserved screen space when docked: Nexus Preferences -> Behavior -> Advanced -> 'Respect space reserved by other docks...'

[zexe]

you were correct, with the addition that it needed both steps, otherwise using just 2. would make maximized windows take both nexus and the taskbar space into consideration...

wonder if i can paste links:
/>http://img229.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=screenshot01h42m35s.jpg

Edited April 3, 2010 by zexe

[zexe]

JC please don't leave us hanging till you get the next update, man.

hows the thing going?

[JcRabbit]

JC please don't leave us hanging till you get the next update, man.

hows the thing going?

Well, lets see: dock magnification for tiled backgrounds is up to *5* times faster, and for single bitmap backgrounds up to *3* times faster (not a guess, actually measured). Not bad, heh? This should take care of any 'slugishness' issues with very large docks.

Of course, if you turn on *all* the effects at the same time, then I can't garantee anything (for instance, the blurring of semi-transparent dock backgrounds in Vista/Win7 can cause the dock to magnify a bit slower the first two or three times you do it, as the background bitmap needs to be scanned for semi-transparent regions before blurring can be applied. These 'semi-transparent' regions are then cached, therefore subsequent dock magnifies have virtually no speed penalties).

The slight 'shaking' that could sometimes occur due to rounding errors when the dock is magnifying is also gone.

I decided to modify and simplify the magnification algorithm not only to make it faster but also to see if I can make inserting new dock items (i.e.; when you drag an item over the dock before dropping into it, and the dock opens a space for it) a lot smoother. Currently working on that.

Something else I'm going to tackle next has to do with boot speed of Nexus: a common complain I kept receiving on Uninstall surveys was that Nexus was increasing the boot time of Windows, or taking a long time to initialize on its own. Not everybody was suffering from this, however, which puzzled me.

If finally hit me why this is, and it's tied to another user's complain about Winstep Xtreme taking a long time to initialize (we're talking 5 to 10 *minutes* here!!) because his source control system left him with 10,000+ files on the Recycle Bin.

When Nexus initializes, it needs to know if the Recycle Bin is empty or full (and how many files are in it and the space taken by them on disk if not) in order to display the correct Recycle Bin icon and info.

It does this by calling SHQueryRecycleBin, the only Windows API call that returns this information.

There is one MAJOR problem with this, however: Windows does not cache the information about the Recycle Bin - instead, SHQueryRecycleBin gets to work and enumerates *every single file* on each hard drive's Recycle Bin folder. If the Recycle Bin is nearly empty, this is quite fast... but when it isn't, it can be VERY slow, as disk accesses are slow by nature. Nexus will also 'freeze' until SHQueryRecycleBin returns.

When SHQueryRecycleBin enumerates the contents of the Recycle Bin folders, disk heads start moving all over the place - this is because deleted files are 'marked' as deleted and left at their original physical location on the drive. In practice, this means deleted files are spread all over the disk's surface.

When Windows is booting, it becomes very busy loading drivers, system files, applications, etc..., from the disk. If, while Windows is booting, SHQueryRecycleBin is also enumerating deleted files (as it happens when NX initializes) then you get something called 'disk trashing', where the physical heads of the disk are moving all over the place all the time because two very disk intensive operations are happening simultaneously.

This would explain why NX could noticeably increase Windows boot time. Unfortunately most of that time is wasted with the disk heads travelling back and forth on the surface of the disk, trying to get all the data at once (random access times are the achiles heel of mechanical hard drives).

I have a pretty good idea on how to solve the problem: first the call to SHQueryRecycleBin needs to be delayed, by, say, 30 seconds or more, so it (hopefully) only happens once Windows has finished booting.

Second, it needs to be concorrent so NX does not hang waiting for SHQueryRecycleBin to complete. I'm thinking about implementing some multi-thread code for the later, and another idea is using an independent applet to do this, with communication between NX and the applet being done via Windows messages.

Plenty of info for you now?

[jmbattle2]

Sounds interesting, thank you for this insight into the development process.

May I ask if Nexus dock still queries the contents of the RecycleBin even if the user has removed it from the dock? If so, this sounds like one area that can be optimised.

Similarly, regarding start-up speed, would removing/disabling the splash screen help here? I seem to recall that the splash is themed, which I assume requires the loading/decoding of additional images. If the splash is removed/disabled this additional icandy will not be required and start-up time should improve, correct?

Cheers,

James

x

Edited April 7, 2010 by jmbattle2

[JcRabbit]

May I ask if Nexus dock still queries the contents of the RecycleBin even if the user has removed it from the dock? If so, this sounds like one area that can be optimised.

Yes, it does, and you're right. But I have to solve the issue anyway.

Similarly, regarding start-up speed, would removing/disabling the splash screen help here? I seem to recall that the splash is themed, which I assume requires the loading/decoding of additional images. If the splash is removed/disabled this additional icandy will not be required and start-up time should improve, correct?

Nope. The splash screen is there mainly so users get some instant feedback when they launch Nexus manually. To put it into perspective, the time taken to display it is a drop of water in the Atlantic ocean.

[zexe]

more than anticipated, in terms of info, thank you.

eager to see the next update then.

[zexe]

small visual bug with systray.

if one app that has systray icon happens to crash usualy after a mouseover the tray icon should vanish. on your dock when this happens, when i click the grouped icons the window with the hidden items group jumps from its spawn position all the way across the screen, removing the dead icon, but staying there, far from the dock.

[JcRabbit]

Hey Zexe!

Could you please download and install Nexus 10.4 from HERE?

Would like to know what you think of the performance enhancements before releasing the official version - docks should magnify much faster now, test it out by un-groupping your dock tray icons.

[Guest Di7ra]

Yay! Working indicators for running programs!

But now if i use "Shift icons to make room for new entry when droping ..." icons in the dock go magnified with turned off any magnify (mouse over) effect: that isn't good as i loose place where i wanted drop the item from focus.

I know that i may diable magnifity at all via Effect Settings just setting up the same size for magnified icons as for normal once. But shouldn't it work the same with just turned off mouse over magnifity effects?

Edited April 22, 2010 by Di7ra

[JcRabbit]

But now if i use "Shift icons to make room for new entry when droping ..." icons in the dock go magnified with turned off any magnify (mouse over) effect: that isn't good as i loose place where i wanted drop еру item from focus.

Ooops! Fixed, thanks!

That link to v10.4 is still a pre-release - the update manager will notify you when the official version comes out.

[Guest Di7ra]

That link to v10.4 is still a pre-release - the update manager will notify you when the official version comes out.

Thank you.

I know it's not a release yet just used my chance to download it as you provided public link I would like to test this version if you don't mind. Have used OD+ (and OD2 beta later), RKL and XWD. And Nexus currently is the best dock speaking about development progress/abilities.

[JcRabbit]

Thanks!

Please let me know if you find any further issues with v10.4 - you can find a complete list of changes, additions and fixes in the history file located at C:\Program Files\Winstep\.