Maverick : Release Notes

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Version 3.5

This is a major upgrade and includes many changes. The most notable are detailed below.

Remnants

• Semi-automatic clicking is now possible (and is the default option for new installations).
  In semi-auto mode, clicks are only generated if either a launch window or remnant is focused.
• Additional remnant sizes have been added.
  Remnants may now be 32, 48, 64, 96 and 128 pixels in size. Default sizes are unchanged.
• Remnant hints now include an icon and are rectangular (rather than balloon-style).
  Icons may not be displayed in Windows 2000 (and earlier versions).
• Positioning of remnants on short edges is now possible.
• A popup menu has been added to the remnant bar.

Launch Buttons

• The box labelled Use Verb is no longer present in the Launch Button Properties dialog.
  To ensure that a folder button opens using a dropdown menu, its Verb must be blank.
  In a very few cases, existing buttons will require manual correction.
• Buttonbar-styled launch buttons are now drawn with rounded corners.
  If a non-default colour is specified, it is used when highlighting the button.
• Launch buttons can now specify an icon size (which will override the launch window default).
• When buttons are created by dragging or by importing shortcuts, simplifications and corrections are applied automatically. For instance, a trailing '\' character will be removed from the Working Directory. Most buttons created from shortcuts will now use the default icon. Also, if possible, the command path is removed leaving just the filename.
• Changed button creation - the default verb is now always blank.
  An additional pseudo-verb has been defined *AutoSelect but this should be rarely needed.
• Selecting alternate icons for launch buttons has been made simpler by providing access to the standard Windows icon browser.

Launch Windows

• Changed the auto-arrange algorithm and options. Buttons are now arranged in a grid.
• Added a move/resize mode for rearranging buttons. This is entered by double-pressing the control key.
• If the titlebar is hidden, a small area of the launch window is reserved to act as a drop-target, etc.
• A display name can now be specified (for use in popup menus).

General

• Existing program and user files are backed up during installation and can be restored as an alternative to uninstalling Maverick should a problem be identified.
• Added option to hide desktop icons while Maverick is open.
• The *Desktop command has been enhanced and now supports popup menus, Explore and Open verbs, etc.
  To toggle the desktop, the pseudo-verb Toggle or *Toggle must be used.
• Added *Standby command and changed the icon for the *Shutdown command.
• Added *HelpWindows command to open Windows Help.
• The *ScreenSaver command now recognises the pseudo-verb *Lock.
  If used, when the screen saver terminates, Maverick attempts to lock the computer so that a password is required.
• The clock can now display the date and can be treated as a button when auto-arrange is used.
• Alarms have been reimplemented with integer arithmetic to avoid rounding errors.
  The default time for new alarms is now 00:00 i.e. midnight.
• Tooltips no longer follow rules for Windows themes.
  Typically this means that the background will be light yellow, even when using Windows Vista.
• Shortcut arrows can now be removed from folder menus.
• Some standard filenames are now recognised so that default captions can be provided.
• Some standard filename alternatives are now recognised, for instance the filenames dfrg.msc and dfrgui.exe are used by different versions of Windows to open the disk defragmenter. If either name is used but not found, the alternative will be used (if found).
• Internally, string handling has been extensively modified and optimised. Performance benefits may not be noticed but behaviour should be better in non-English locales.
• Internally, icon-search strategies have been improved.

Version 3.1.0.2

• Added a choice of remnant sizes.
  Remnants may now be 32, 48 or 64 pixels in size. In earlier versions, remnants were 32 pixels, however, the default is now 64 for the primary launch window and 48 for other launch windows.
• When upgrading it may be necessary to manually reposition remnants (by dragging) to correct overlaps.
• If you prefer the old remnant size of 32 pixels, this can be selected on the remnant page of the properties dialog.
• To accomodate the requirements of the new remnant sizes, the launch windows and remnants are now aligned on a 16 pixel grid rather than a 32 pixel grid.

Version 3.1.0.1

• Corrected minor fault. The title area of customised applets is now displayed correctly.

Version 3.1

Name Change

• The short name is now Maverick and the full name is now Maverick Launcher.

Registration

• Registration codes for Maverick 2.x are not recognised. However, for a limited period, upgrade codes may be provided on request.
• Registration codes for Maverick 3.0 must be reentered (due to changes to the way this data is stored).

Upgrading from version 3.0 (Swift Launch)

• This version should be installed in a new directory (not an old Maverick directory).
• If either the old version or the new version is installed within the Program Files directory (not recommnded) then user settings will be imported at startup. If multiple user profiles exist, the new version should be run in each user profile before the old version is uninstalled.
• If the old and new versions are both installed outside the Program Files directory (recommended) then all settings should be imported during program installation.
• The old version should be uninstalled after the new version is installed and working correctly.
  DON'T FORGET TO REENTER YOUR REGISTRATION CODE.

Upgrading from version 2.x

• This version should be installed in a new directory (not an old Maverick directory).
• Configuration data is no longer stored in the Windows registry but user settings will be imported at program startup.
• Read the full release notes for version Version 3.0.

General

• The evaluation period is now 28 days rather than 42 days.
  When upgrading, the evaluation period may be 21 days.
  During evaluation, the minimum use is now 14 days, i.e. Maverick may be used at least 14 times even if that means extending the normal evaluation period (using multiple times on a single day counts only once).
• Data Execution Prevention (a security feature of Windows XP Service Pack 2 onwards) is now fully supported.
• Minor corrections have been made to program registration.
• The merged contents of a user directory and its all-user equivalent are now displayed correctly.

Version 3.0

This is a major upgrade and includes many changes the most notable are detailed below.

Name Change

• The full name of this version is Maverick Swift Launch (rather than Maverick Launch Center).
• The short name of this version is Swift Launch (rather than Maverick).

Installation

• This version should be installed in a new directory (not an old Maverick directory).
• When you are satisfied that this version is working correctly, you should uninstall the old version.

Windows Compatibility

• Swift Launch should work correctly on Windows 2000, XP and Vista.
• Older versions of Windows are no longer supported (but Swift Launch may work correctly these platforms).

Backward Compatibility

• Most settings should be imported correctly from earlier versions, however, buttons that use shortcuts as commands may need to be corrected.
• Alarm messages : The escape sequence \r is no longer supported, \n should be used to insert linebreaks.

Registration

• Registration codes for Maverick 2.x are not recognised. However, for a limited period, upgrade codes may be provided on request.
• Temporary transfers are no longer supported (or required).

Data Storage

• Configuration data is no longer stored in the Windows Registry - it is now stored in xml files.
• For backward compatibility data can be read from the registry.

Remnants

• By default, remnants are now placed within black application bars so that they do not overlap the work area of the screen.
• Remnants can be dragged to reposition them.
• Remnants behaviour can be controlled globally from a new properties page.