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NextStart received 5 stars at ZDNet... "versatile, dynamic... impressive, good-looking tool".
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  News
 
December 1, 2009 - Winstep Xtreme 9.12 Public Beta 6 Released!


An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

You can download the public beta of Winstep Xtreme 9.12 from HERE.

WorkShelf and Nexus in this public beta release proudly feature the new User Interface with multi-language support that will soon make its way to NextSTART as well (have a sneak preview of the new NextSTART User Interface HERE).

In addition, the new beta adds full support for Windows 7 and all 64 bit versions of Windows, also fixing serious issues such as Skype 4.x becoming unresponsive when accessed via the systray icon, and an incompatibility with Logitech's 64 bit version of Setpoint that caused docks, menus and the shelf to become blank and unresponsive. Nexus compatibility with 3rd party dock backgrounds has also been vastly improved.

New modern and super-intuitive User Interface:

Watch the Nexus dock in action:

Watch the Winstep Xtreme "Superbar" in action:

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 9.12 Beta release. You can see a complete list of changes to the Workshelf and Nexus components HERE, to the NextSTART component HERE and to the Start Menu Organizer HERE.

Want a FREE Winstep Xtreme license key?

WorkShelf features incomplete language files based on the Nexus dock language files (except for Traditional Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, French, German and Portuguese, which have already complete translations). If you would like to help translating WorkShelf into your native language and receive a free Winstep Xtreme license key for your efforts, plus have your name credited, please read THIS topic on the Winstep forums or contact Winstep support.


November 23, 2009 - Nexus 9.11 final Released!


The Winstep Nexus dock is a FREE, stand alone, version of the Nexus dock that is part of the Winstep Xtreme suite of applications, although it has no support for multi-docks and multi-level sub-docks, unlike its bigger 'cousin' in Winstep Xtreme.

Every feature you’d expect from a dock and much more, including widgets, mouse-over effects, skins, drag-and-drop, and even live icon reflections and support for Vista Aero Glass effects. Completely customizable, has thousands of backgrounds freely available online and is fully compatible with backgrounds for all other docks.

Nexus is fully compatible with all Windows versions, including Windows 7 and all 64 bit versions of Windows. It's available in the following languages: Catalan, Dutch, English, Farsi (Persian), French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and Swedish.

Modern, super-intuitive, User Interface:

Live Icon Reflections:

Glass Blur effect:


Watch Nexus in action:

You can download the final release of Nexus 9.11 from HERE.

Nexus Features:

  • Multi-dock system (Winstep Xtreme version only).
  • Multi-level sub-docks (Winstep Xtreme version only).
  • Skinnable context menus (Winstep Xtreme version only).
  • Live icon reflections.
  • Dock magnification, swing, bounce, afterglow and many other incredible mouse over effects.
  • Water ripple, fluid surface, fluid reflections and many more dock animation effects.
  • Automatic Vista glass blur for semi-transparent dock backgrounds.
  • Running application indicators.
  • Adjustable icon spacing.
  • Dock auto-hide and auto-collapse to take up as little screen space as possible.
  • Built-in clock, weather, recycler, fortune cookie reader, email checker, net, cpu and ram meter docklets/widgets.
  • Over 80 useful internal commands (Show Windows Start Menu, Capture Desktop Screenshot, Hide Taskbar, etc…).
  • Ability to prevent maximized windows from overlapping the dock.
  • Supports drag & drop of virtual file system objects (My Computer, Control Panel, etc...).
  • Completely customizable - thousands of backgrounds freely available online.
  • Fully compatible with skins for all other docks.
  • Full drag & drop support with extremely easy to use and intuitive User Interface.
  • Multi monitor support.
  • Multi language support.
  • Includes Update Manager to look for, download, and automatically install new versions.
  • ... and many, many, other incredible features!

November 23, 2009 - Winstep Xtreme 9.11 Public Beta 5 Released!


An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

The WorkShelf component in this first public beta release proudly features a new User Interface with multi-language support that will soon make its way to the NextSTART component.

In addition, the new beta adds full support for Windows 7 and all 64 bit versions of Windows, also fixing serious issues such as Skype 4.x becoming unresponsive when accessed via the systray icon, and an incompatibility with Logitech's 64 bit version of Setpoint that caused docks, menus and the Shelf to become blank and unresponsive.

New modern, super-intuitive, User Interface:

You can download the public beta of Winstep Xtreme 9.11 from HERE.

Winstep Xtreme 9.11 Beta Features:

  • Completely redesigned User Interface (WorkShelf).
  • Multi-language support (WorkShelf).
  • Full Windows 64 bit support.
  • Full Windows 7 support.
  • Brings Nexus functionality and features up to par with the free Nexus version.
  • Fixed incompatibility between NextSTART's systray and Skype 4.x which caused the later to become unresponsive.
  • Fixed incompatibility with Logitech's Setpoint under 64 bit systems that caused menus, docks and the shelf to become blank and unresponsive.
  • Fixed a problem where Winstep applications could grab the focus from the desktop under Windows 7, making it difficult to select and rename desktop icons.
  • Real Time theme previews (WorkShelf).
  • In-dock and in-shelf modules can now be renamed.
  • Browse and Browse Container context menus now support drag & drop.
  • ... and many, many, other more features and fixes!

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 9.11 Beta release. You can see a complete list of changes to the Workshelf and Nexus components HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE.

WorkShelf features incomplete language files based on the Nexus language files (except for Portuguese, German and Farsi, which are complete translations). If you would like to help translating the missing entries (about 250 entries of text specific to WorkShelf need to be translated) into your language, please read THIS topic on the Winstep forums or contact Winstep support.

Anybody providing a full WorkShelf translation gets a FREE Winstep Xtreme license key, as well as having their name properly credited, of course!


June 13, 2009 - Nexus 9.5 Public Beta 1 Released!


The Winstep Nexus dock is a FREE, stand alone, version of the Nexus dock that is part of the Winstep Xtreme suite of applications, although it has no support for multi-docks and multi-level sub-docks, unlike its bigger 'cousin' in Winstep Xtreme.

This first public beta release features the new User Interface with multi-language support that will also become part of Winstep Xtreme later this month.

New modern, super-intuitive, User Interface:

Live Icon Reflections:

Glass Blur effect:


Watch Nexus in action:

You can download the public beta of Nexus 9.5 from HERE.

Nexus Features:

  • Multi-dock system (Winstep Xtreme version only).
  • Multi-level sub-docks (Winstep Xtreme version only).
  • Skinnable context menus (Winstep Xtreme version only).
  • Live icon reflections.
  • Dock magnification, swing, bounce, afterglow and many other incredible mouse over effects.
  • Water ripple, fluid surface, fluid reflections and many more dock animation effects.
  • Automatic Vista glass blur for semi-transparent dock backgrounds.
  • Dock auto-hide and auto-collapse to take up as little screen space as possible.
  • Built-in clock, weather, recycler, fortune cookie reader, email checker, net, cpu and ram meter docklets/widgets.
  • Over 80 useful internal commands.
  • Ability to prevent maximized windows from overlapping the dock.
  • Supports drag & drop of virtual file system objects (My Computer, Control Panel, etc...).
  • Completely customizable - thousands of backgrounds freely available.
  • Fully compatible with skins for all other docks.
  • Full drag & drop support with extremely easy to use and intuitive interface.
  • Multi language support.
  • Includes Update Manager to look for, download, and automatically install new versions.
  • ... and many, many, other incredible features!

May 21, 2009 - Winstep Xtreme 9.5 Released!


An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

Winstep Xtreme's 8.11 release last December brought the Windows 7 "Superbar" to the Windows XP and Vista world. With Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) now available, the new 9.5 release also ensures that Winstep Xtreme is fully compatible with both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of what will soon become Microsoft's new flagship Operating System.

Live Icon Reflections:

New Glass Blur effect:


Watch the Winstep Xtreme "Superbar" in action:

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 9.5 version from HERE.


Highlights in this release:

  • New and improved systray (system notification area) replacement. No more occasional visual 'glitches'.
  • Glass Blur feature that automatically blurs whatever is behind semi-transparent docks, shelf, menus, startbar and desktop modules (Vista and Windows 7 only).
  • Ability to colorize existing themes, thus permiting thousands of different color variations on the same theme.
  • Full compatibility with all 64 bit versions of Windows.
  • Full Windows 7 compatibility.
  • Ability to rescale desktop modules (very useful when running on systems with low screen resolutions).
  • Winstep Xtreme remains fully responsive even when launching extremelly heavy applications.
  • Docks can now be disabled and thus temporarily prevented from showing on-screen while at the same time preserving their contents. Very useful in multi-dock environments.
  • Docks can now be offset from the screen edge they are docked to by up to 128 pixels.
  • Small 'close' buttons on task and task group menus now allow the user to quickly close a windows without having to right click on the menu task entry first.
  • The Net Meter module now properly recognizes Wireless connections as such.
  • Fixed some miscellaneous issues.
  • ... and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 9.5 release. You can see a complete list of changes to the Workshelf and Nexus components HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE.


December 9, 2008 - Winstep Xtreme 8.11 released!

Among Windows 7's features, the taskbar overhaul is probably the feature in Microsoft's upcoming OS that has aroused the most interest.

You've seen all those videos of the new Windows 7 Beta taskbar and you can't help but wish that the new "Superbar" was available in your copy of Vista and XP?

Well, you won't have to wait for Windows 7 anymore - Winstep Xtreme 8.11 has just been released, and brings with it the most interesting and useful features of the new Windows 7 taskbar into the XP and Vista world:



Highlights in this release:

  • Interactive, grouped window thumbnails that appear when you mouse over a taskbar button. Taskbar window thumbnails are clickable, allowing you to open, close, or switch between windows right from the thumbnails. With your taskbar set to 'group similar windows', window thumbnails of the same application appear side by side.
  • Window 'peek' function, which displays the actual, full size, window (even when minimized) of the thumbnail you are hovering over, while all other windows are temporarily hidden.
  • Optional Windows 7 taskbar style using large icons with no labels.
  • Taskbar buttons can now be reorganized by left clicking and dragging (pressing SHIFT is no longer required).
  • Start Button can be quickly toggled to open the main NextSTART menu or the Windows Start Menu.
  • Many new context menu options to control the most common Taskbar, Startbar and Quick Launch Area settings.
  • Document thumbnails on menu mouse over - indispensable to quickly identify image, document and video files when browsing folders with NextSTART menus.
  • Theme menus now display thumbnails of the actual themes.
  • Dock settings can be accessed through the context menu of any dock item - which means the NeXuS control icon is now optional.
  • Creation and manipulation of sub-docks is now much more intuitive via handy context menu options. Every dock item has a context menu option to create a new, empty, sub-dock and existing sub-docks can be detached, duplicated and deleted via the context menu of the parent item.
  • Shelf tabs can now be reorganized directly by left-clicking on a tab and dragging.
  • The Capture Desktop internal command now adds screenshots to the Recent Documents list.
  • New 'Show Desktop' internal command (equivalent to WIN+D).
  • Fixed some miscellaneous issues.
  • ... and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 8.11 release. You can see a complete list of changes to the Workshelf and Nexus components HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE.


November 18, 2008 - Things just around the corner...

So you've seen all those videos of the new Windows 7 Beta taskbar and you can't help but Wish that the new "Superbar" was available for your trusty copy of Vista and XP?

Well, you won't have to wait for Windows 7 anymore. Winstep Xtreme 8.11 is going to be released this month... and guess what it features?



September 26, 2008 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 8.9!

An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 8.9 version from HERE.


Highlights in this release:

  • Added a brand new Winstep Xtreme component, the Winstep Start Menu Organizer, to clean and organize your Windows Start Menu.
  • Enhanced the icon reflection effect so icon reflections are no longer 'attached' to the icons.
  • New Zoom, Bounce, Afterglow, Rock and Swing effects in docks and shelves.
  • New 'Fluid Reflection' effect that animates reflections in real time so that icons appear to be reflected over a liquid surface.
  • New 'fluid surface' effect that distorts dock backgrounds in real time to make the grass in a grass dock background appear as if it's blowing in the wind, the water in a water background gently rocking back and forth, etc...
  • New Troubleshoot dialog from where you can reset WorkShelf and NextSTART settings back to their installation defaults.
  • Added 'Send to WorkShelf' option to Explorer's right click context menu.
  • Desktop modules now remember their previous positions when you switch screen resolutions.
  • Shelf icons are now 'lazy rendered' if a shelf is taking too long to open for the first time
  • Dock and Shelf collapse animations are now much smoother.
  • Menu and sub-dock opening animations are now much smoother.
  • Improved the dock magnification algorithm for a much faster and smoother experience.
  • Increased overal peformance.
  • Backing up and Restoring WorkShelf and NextSTART settings is now much faster.
  • Enhanced the thumbnails feature by adding support for MP4 movie previews.
  • Added 'Keep Tile Aspect Ratio' and 'Adjust Icon Reflection to Tile' NeXuS skinning options.
  • Tweaked the Dock Magnification algorithm so that the dock's zooming speed accelerates as the dock magnifies. This smooths the movement and minimizes expansion of the dock when the mouse pointer momentarily passes over it.
  • NextSTART menus displaying special folders like 'My Programs', 'Favorites', etc, no longer display the shortcut arrow on the icons.
  • Fixed many miscellaneous issues.
  • ... and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 8.9 release. You can see a complete list of changes to the WorkShelf and NeXuS components HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE.


May 30, 2008 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 8.5!

An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 8.5 version from HERE.



Highlights in this release:

  • New optional and user configurable icon reflection effect on docks and shelves.
  • Restored the weather feed provided by the Weather Channel.
  • New customizable backgrounds for the in-shelf/dock CPU, Net and RAM meters.
  • New Dock Manager to quickly manage and locate all your docks.
  • Added a new 'NeXuS Common Preferences' tab to WorkShelf Preferences for settings common to both the docks and the Shelf.
  • Added ability to group documents from the same program into a single task icon, bringing WorkShelf's task management abilities up to par with NextSTART.
  • Menus displaying grouped tasks now highlight tasks that were 'flashed' in the mean time (e.g. Messenger windows).
  • Added 'Task Flashing' support to the Tasks shelf.
  • Added many other task management improvements.
  • Improved the dock magnification algorithm for a much faster and smoother experience.
  • Added a 'Magnification Smoothness' setting to control how smoothly docks zoom in and out.
  • Added individual settings to optimize WorkShelf for either performance or memory usage.
  • Enhanced the thumbnails feature by adding support for Flash movies previews.
  • Added visual feedback when you click on a dock icon.
  • Improved the preview of non-native NeXuS themes in the Dock Style Editor.
  • Added support for dock separator bitmaps in native and non-native NeXuS themes.
  • Dock tile and overlay Endcaps now have their own settings for non-strechable bitmap areas.
  • Fixed many miscellaneous issues.
  • ... and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 8.5 release. You can see a complete list of changes to the WorkShelf and NeXuS components HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE.


April 23, 2008 - Things to come...


Sneak preview of the new icon reflection effect that will be featured in the next Winstep Xtreme release:


All automatic, which means the effect will work with any theme. It is up to the user to turn this effect on or off, and to specify how much of the icon is reflected (in this screenshot of a Mac OSX Leopard theme, for instance, the reflection is set to half an icon but it can go up to the full icon size).


February 20, 2008 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 8.2!


Screenshots:
     

An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 8.2 version from HERE.

New Features:

  • Now 100% functional in Vista: support for user and system tray notification areas, task handling and window previews work for both elevated and non-elevated applications, tasks and network connections belonging to elevated and non-elevated processes alike can be terminated with a single click, theme fonts are correctly installed when importing themes, theme wallpapers 'stick' between reboots, CPU and RAM Meter desktop modules are now able to display performance information for all processes, including services and applications running with elevated privileges, and all user data has been moved out of the read-only Program Files folder and into the Public Documents folder.
  • Live window previews for NextSTART taskbar buttons in Vista.
  • Improved functionality of groupped task menus which now open automatically when dragging an item over a groupped tasks button.
  • 'Run As Adminstrator' (Vista) and 'Run As Another User' (NT/2K/XP) item property setting that works for documents as well as applications.
  • Improved WorkShelf startup time.
  • Improved overall performance.
  • Fine tuned initial configuration which should now pick the correct international settings for the Clock and Weather modules, select the correct Network Interface to monitor for the Net Meter module, and set the email client used by the Email module.
  • Shelf and docks icon sizes now range from 16x16 to 256x256 in 1 pixel increments.
  • New 'Capture Desktop' Internal Command that takes a screenshot of the current desktop and saves it as a JPG file.
  • New 'Close CDROM <drive letter> Door' Internal Commands that complement the existing 'Close CDROM Door' Internal Command when more than one CD/DVD drive exists on the system.
  • Added Hotkeys for toggling Desktop Modules in and out of view.
  • Redesigned Active Network Connections panel that rivals the functionality of Sysinternal's TCPView.
  • Standard desktop right click menu now pops up even when desktop icons have been hidden by WorkShelf or NextSTART.
  • The NeXuS tasklist now displays minimized applications as application icons instead of small window titlebars.
  • New icon used for unknown/not found items.
  • Added a 'Enable/Disable Time Announcement' option to the context menu of the Clock module.
  • NeXuS control icon and sub-dock indicators now skinnable.
  • Shelf content offset from edges is now definable by the skinner.
  • Horizontal and vertical offsets for Quick Launch icons and taskbar button captions.
  • New Fonts Manager in the Themes Manager Preferences tab that makes it easier to manage fonts used by the current theme.
  • Icon sizes for NextSTART menus now range from 16x16 to 32x32 in 2 pixel increments.
  • Provided a work around for a MS GDI+ bug that prevented themes from using newly installed fonts without restarting Winstep Xtreme.
  • NextSTART menu icons are now 'lazy rendered' when browsing network folders, thus allowing menus to open nearly instantly.
  • One click registration: Winstep Xtreme can now be quickly registered by simply double clicking the license key.
  • Fixed many miscellaneous issues.
  • ... and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in the Winstep Xtreme 8.2 release. You can see a complete list of changes to the WorkShelf and NeXuS components HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE.


November 26, 2007 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 7.11!


Winstep is proud to announce the release of Winstep Xtreme 7.11 

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 7.11 version from HERE

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme 7.11? Well, we kept on listening carefully to your suggestions:

Overall performance has been greatly improved.

Desktop Module positions are now automatically remembered when switching themes.

The RAM meter module is now capable of displaying the top memory hogs. 

Added the ability to provide custom Wanda animations.

Updated the internal list of Internet Atomic Time servers to replace those not in service any longer.

Edge bumps now work when performing drag & drop operations. 

Changed the Internet communication retrial delays to prevent excessive flashing of the desktop modules when WorkShelf thinks an Internet connection is available when it actually isn't.

Included the extremely popular Winstep Atmospherica theme (over 27,000 downloads) in the default theme pack.

Fixed several miscellaneous issues.

and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in this awesome new release. You can see a complete list of changes to the WorkShelf and NeXuS component of Winstep Xtreme HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE

 


September 28, 2007 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 7.9!


Winstep is proud to announce the release of Winstep Xtreme 7.9 

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 7.9 version from HERE

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme 7.9? Well, we listened carefully to your suggestions:

Faster startup times: Winstep applications now initialize much faster than previous versions!

Improved Module Performance: The display of desktop and in-shelf modules has been fully optimized to use as little CPU as possible.

New default sounds: The previous default sounds were replaced with a less intrusive and cooler set of new sounds.

CPU Module support for multi-processors: The CPU meter module now properly supports multi-processor systems. 

NeXuS Tasklist icons blink: NeXuS tasklist icons now blink when the associated application needs your attention.

Weather Forecast on Desktop Weather Module: The desktop weather module is now capable of displaying the 5 day forecast on the module itself (note: this feature is theme dependent). Previously the forecast was displayed on the information tooltip only. 

Improved Windows Vista support: the new versions fix some issues on Windows Vista 32 bit.

and much, much more!

There are many other additions and fixes in this awesome new release. You can see a complete list of changes to the WorkShelf and NeXuS component of Winstep Xtreme HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE

 


April 16, 2007 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 7.4!


Winstep is proud to announce the release of Winstep Xtreme 7.4 

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

You can download the new Winstep Xtreme 7.4 version from HERE

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme 7.4? There are too many new features to list here, but the following is an highlight of some of the most important:

Weather Forecast: the weather module now covers over 39,000 cities all around the world, and provides useful 5 day weather forecast based on Weather.com's data.

Improved time-zone and location selection for cities within the US: the time zone information used by the weather module to decide when to display a moon or a sun icon is now more granular for US cities since it is now based on US State rather than shared by the whole country. Selecting a US city has also been made much easier by allowing you to specify the State to narrow the search.

Improved localization for non-western countries: NextSTART tooltips previously had trouble displaying non-western text (Cyrillic, Japanese, Chinese, etc...) . The issue has been fixed in this release.

One-click install theme packs: Winstep themes are now packed in the new .xtreme format. New themes can be automatically installed and applied simply by double-clicking on the downloaded theme file or immediately upon downloading from the Internet if you select 'Open' instead of 'Save' in your browser.

Complete full screen game cooperation: Winstep Xtreme applications are now able to automatically detect when a full screen game or application is running and enter a special 'cooperation' mode where CPU usage is kept strictly at a minimum and any activity that might interfere with your game playing is avoided. 

Show running applications on docks: NeXuS docks can now display running tasks as thumbnails of the actual windows (or simply as icons, if you prefer). Tasks in docks can be re-ordered by simple drag & drop.

In-dock Start Menu button: this is not exactly a new feature since it could be accomplished before, but, to make things easier, the default dock now comes with a Start Button item that opens the main NextSTART menu when clicked on.

Improved Sound Scheme handling: WorkShelf now reverts to the default sound scheme when applying a theme that doesn't supply its own sound effect pack.

New Internal Commands: added a 'Show/Hide Desktop Modules' to NextSTART so WorkShelf desktop modules can be quickly toggled into and from view through a NextSTART hotspot, 'Exit Winstep Xtreme' and 'Quick Exit Winstep Xtreme' internal commands that exit all currently running Winstep applications and a 'More Themes' internal command that opens the Winstep Themes page on your browser.

Modern 'Glass' look: WorkShelf balloon tooltips and the small 'busy' dialog now pop up using an attractive and modern 'glass' style that blends in perfectly with the new Windows Vista.

and, for the skinners among you:

Bitmapped clock hands with shadow: the desktop clock module can now display the time using 'real to life' clock hands.

Analog Gauges: the CPU, Net and RAM meters can now display data using an analog gauge format. The gauge needles can be either bitmaps (with optional shadow) or drawn by WorkShelf itself.

Desktop Module Overlays: added the ability to specify an overlay bitmap to the CPU, Net and RAM meter desktop modules.

New 24x24 icon size for menus: NextSTART menus can now display 24x24 icons, in addition to the previously available 16x16 and 32x32 sizes.

and much, much more!

There are literally hundreds of other additions and fixes in this awesome new release. You can see a complete list of changes to the WorkShelf and NeXuS component of Winstep Xtreme HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE

 


February 6, 2007 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 7.1!


Winstep is proud to announce the release of Winstep Xtreme 7.1. 

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

You can download the full version (16 MB) from

http://www.winstep.net/xtreme.zip

or the update version (5 MB) from

http://www.winstep.net/xtreme-exe.zip

The update version can ONLY be installed by users of the previous Winstep Xtreme version (6.11). If you are installing the update, you should NOT un-install the previous version and you should make sure the installation folders match.

You can see a complete list of changes and additions to the WorkShelf and NeXuS component of Winstep Xtreme HERE and to the NextSTART component HERE

 


November 24, 2006 - Winstep releases Winstep Xtreme 6.11 Final!


Winstep Xtreme Final is here!

Winstep is proud to announce the final release of Winstep Xtreme. 

Screenshots:
     

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

Winstep Xtreme is a change in the direction of the Winstep 2000 Project, one where focus is more on the desktop environment as a whole rather than on individual applications. Although NextSTART and WorkShelf are - and will continue to be - individual applications that can be run independently of one another, they only make perfect sense when run together. The user experience provided by running NextSTART and WorkShelf together proves, without a doubt, that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.

Winstep Xtreme is a brand new product, with a different philosophy, that starts off where the old Winstep 2000 project ended. Unlike Winstep Full Pak, which was just a bundle of our existing products, Winstep Xtreme is the product. Winstep Xtreme is a complete and unified Desktop Environment, composed by the next generation of our NextSTART, WorkShelf and FontBrowser products and by the brand new addition of NeXuS, the advanced docking system. Although Xtreme won't force you to run NextSTART and WorkShelf together, it will certainly encourage you to do so!

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme relative to Winstep Full Pak? There are too many new features to list here, but the following is an highlight of some of the most important:

Windows Vista support: Winstep Xtreme has been tested with Windows Vista RC1 and some minor modifications were made to ensure it works properly with the next generation of the Microsoft Windows operating system. 

Per pixel alpha: this new feature allows incredible eye candy effects and themes that will blow your mind! The Menus, Startbar, Desktop Modules, Shelf, Docks, all can now be semi-transparent - or have only parts of them semi-transparent - and blend smoothly with the background. You don't have to wait for Windows Vista: the next generation in User Interfaces is already here.

PNG and TIF Icon support: NextSTART, WorkShelf and NeXuS now allow you to use PNG and TIF files as well as ICO to specify object images. This is true for anything that previously used only icon files, including menu items, shelf items, tasklist icons, module icons, quick launch icons, etc...

Special FX: lots of new special effects, such as icons zooming in or magnifying on selection and shifting to make room for an item about to be dropped on the shelf or docks, incredible water ripple effect that makes the shelf and docks behave like a liquid surface whenever you click on them, new sound events for when you empty the recycler or drop a file into it, a mind warping 'ripple' menu animation and smoother menu animations.

Individual Hotspot Button bitmaps: Hotspot buttons previously used the bitmaps for the tasklist buttons. This didn't always work very well, more often that not a bitmap would look great as a task button but terrible as an hotpot button - or vice versa. Skinners can now make themes where hotspot buttons have their own bitmaps.

Systray Background bitmap: the systray can now have its own individual background when attached to the NextSTART startbar.

Sub-theme support: Child menus can now have a different look from parent menus. Couple this with the ability to 'hardcode' specific themes to specific menus and/or hotspots and you have one of the most flexible and powerful skinning engines around. 

 
Task Snapshots: the NextSTART tasklist and WorkShelf's Tasks shelf now displays snapshots of the actual windows, which are automatically refreshed to keep the contents always up-to-date. Window snapshots make it much easier to identify a specific document in a task list filled with identical icons.

Tasklist Context Menus: Right clicking a task button in the NextSTART tasklist or WorkShelf's tasks shelf displays a context menu from where you can restore, maximize, minimize and close the application and/or all similar windows (i.e.; all Internet Explorer windows), size or move the window, set the application's opacity level and customize the icon displayed for that window in the tasklist. For the later, you can use either .ICO, .PNG or .TIF files.

Manual task re-ordering: CTRL+Left clicking a task button in the NextSTART tasklist and dragging allows you to place the button exactly where you want it to be. Now you can group your favorite applications in the tasklist just where you want them, without having to worry about the order in which applications are opened or closed. 

Full Task function Support: every mouse click combination that works on the NextSTART tasklist (e.g.; left click to restore/bring to the foreground, middle click to terminate the application, right click to minimize and CTRL+right click to open the task's context menu) now also works on Tasklist Menus, Grouped Task menus and on the WorkShelf Tasks shelf.

Image and Video Thumbnails: NextSTART's context menus now allow you to visualize image and video files in menus. This is extremely useful to help you identify specific files when using NextSTART to browse through your hard drives.

Send To, Open With, context menu options: NextSTART's context menus were already very powerful, but they lacked support for the important Send To and Open With sub-menus, among some others. NextSTART context menus now not only provide all the options you would expect to find on Explorer's context menus as they manage to add a few more useful functions!

 
Shelf-Independent Desktop Modules: previously, when you clicked on the shelf or on a desktop module, all other WorkShelf components came forward as well. Now each module is totally independent from the shelf and the other modules by default - but you can still specify the old behavior, if you prefer.

'Wallpaper' Modules: Desktop Modules can now be 'glued' to the desktop, so that they never cover other windows.

Optional 'Auto Arrange' Desktop Modules function: whenever you load a new theme, WorkShelf desktop modules now neatly re-arrange themselves at the right edge of the screen, thus preventing differently sized modules from overlapping each other or even go partially off-screen as it happened before.

Desktop Module Animation Support: The desktop Email Checker, Recycler and Wanda modules now support custom animations. This means that the email module can now display a rotating envelope whenever you have new mail, that the Recycler can light up like a furnace when you move items over it, and that Wanda can have a new face.

Proxy Support: WorkShelf and NextSTART now provide transparent proxy support for all functions that depend on the Internet to work, like auto update, online cookie retrieval, and weather and email checking. There is no need to configure anything since proxy settings are automatically retrieved from Internet Explorer, but, in case you need it, you can also manually specify Proxy settings.

WorkShelf Hotkeys:  You can now open, activate shelves and run programs using nothing but the keyboard! Each shelf can have a hot key associated to it, which, when pressed, opens that particular shelf and brings WorkShelf to the foreground, un-collapsing it in the process if necessary. Items in regular shelves can also have key combinations associated to them, which, when pressed, execute the program without the need to activate WorkShelf. All hotkeys are system wide, that is, WorkShelf does not need to have the focus for the hotkeys to work.

Reorganized and simplified Preferences: the Preference screens of NextSTART and WorkShelf have been re-designed in a more logical and simplified manner, making it easier for new and previous users alike to find the options they are looking for.

Increased Performance: many previously existing functions have been fine-tuned to increase performance. For instance, meters are no longer updated every second unless necessary, processes are only enumerated when new windows are created or destroyed, bitmaps are now cached in memory instead of being constantly retrieved from the file system, window snapshots are only taken when window contents change, etc... All in all, the combination of all these performance improvements give the user a smooth experience when running Xtreme.

 

Multi-Dock system: Create multiple docks for a variety of customized needs.

Multi-Level Docks: Organize applications within collapsible groups, or 'sub-docks'.

Magnification: With magnification docks take a minimum of screen space until interaction is required.

Auto-Hide: Docks attached to screen edges can auto-hide and pop up on demand.

Auto-Collapse: Floating docks (i.e. docks not attached to a screen edge) can collapse into a single control tile and un-collapse on demand.

Multi-Monitor Support: Docks can be docked to any screen edge or left floating on any monitor.

Document Thumbnails: Documents dragged to a dock show up as thumbnails for easy identification.

In-Dock Modules: NeXuS supports all WorkShelf special modules, from the clock to the net meter!

Reserve Screen Space: Makes sure docks attached to screen edges are not covered by maximized windows.

Respect Reserved Screen Space: Makes sure docked docks do not overlap other docked items such as the taskbar.

Virtual File System Objects support: Allows you to drag special Explorer objects, like Control Panel items and the My Computer icon, into docks.

Powerful Dock Manipulation options: Create docks from existing WorkShelf shelves, detach sub-docks, turn docks into sub-docks, duplicate docks, delete docks - all this using simple drag-n-drop and/or context menu options.

Keyboard Navigation: Docks can be brought to the foreground and dock items launched through the use of user-specified hotkeys.

PNG and TIF File Support: Supports the use of .PNG and .TIF as well as .ICO files for object images.

Special FX:  Lots of special effects such as icons zooming on selection and shifting to make room for items about to be dropped, icon bouncing on application launch, visual feedback for specific actions, incredible water ripple effect that makes docks behave like a liquid surface whenever you click on them plus sound events for when the dock collapses and pops up or sub-docks open.

Complete Customization: Virtually every aspect of every dock is customizable: from icon size, to magnification size, to dock behavior.

There are literally HUNDREDS of other new features, changes and fixes, far too many to list all of them here. Become part of the Xtreme experience now!

Winstep Xtreme costs $39.90, unless you are a currently registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART or WorkShelf user, in which case you should read below.

Your purchase of Winstep Xtreme entitles you to one year of free updates for all components of the suite - including new components that might be released in the mean time - with one year renewals costing only a fraction of the original price: $19.95. Anything you download and install while your update subscription is valid will be yours to keep - for life!

Remember: you "own" the software that you bought, and you don't have to upgrade if you don't want the new features.

Another advantage of the Winstep Xtreme unified approach towards the desktop is that any related applications developed by Winstep in the future, under the Winstep Xtreme name, will also become an integral part of the suite - in other words, as long as your update subscription is valid, you will be able to download, install and keep the new components for free!

If you install an update after your one-year subscription has elapsed, you will have a new 30-day trial period - after which you can renew your yearly subscription online by clicking the 'Renew' link in the Registration tab of that application's Preferences window or automatically roll back to your previous, registered, version by clicking on the 'Roll Back' link instead.

You can download Winstep Xtreme Here.

Winstep Xtreme - extreme power!

 

Registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART v3.x or WorkShelf v1.x users:

Winstep Xtreme features many additions which, just by themselves, justify upgrading to Winstep Xtreme right now! 

Winstep Xtreme costs $39.90, but, as a token of appreciation to the support registered users have given Winstep, we will offer you a special upgrade price of only $29.95. 

Once you've tried out Winstep Xtreme you will be able to decide for yourself if it's worth the promotional upgrade price or not. You get a free 30 day trial version, after which you will be able to automatically roll back to your previous registered version or upgrade to Winstep Xtreme, taking advantage of the $29.95 promotional price.

Stick with us and enjoy the ride!

Upgrade procedure for registered Winstep users:

1 - Download and Install Winstep Xtreme.
2 - Open WorkShelf or NextSTART Preferences.
3 - Click on the Registration tab (last tab of Preferences). Here you will find a link to the Upgrade page.

Alternatively, contact us by email at Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under).


System Requirements:

Winstep Xtreme will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP/XP 64bit/Vista.

Note: Some of the more advanced features, such as task snapshots and per pixel alpha transparency, are NOT available on Win9x and NT4 systems. This is an Operating System limitation.


October 27, 2006 - NeXuS quickly approaching release date!

NeXuS, the dock component of Winstep Xtreme, is quickly approaching public release date.

NeXuS is the new addition to the Winstep Xtreme suite of applications and is a multi-level dock system that nicely complements NextSTART and WorkShelf. Currently in the last phases of development, it is only available to registered Winstep Xtreme users (email support@winstep.net for details). 

The Backbone Of Your Operating Environment 

NeXuS sits front and center, providing easy access to your most frequently used and favorite Applications. Flexible options allow it to dock or float anywhere on the screen, providing a myriad number of "On Demand" possibilities.

Totally Engineered For You, The User

Unlike many utilities that put cosmetics first, NeXuS has been carefully planned and developed to provide a streamlined and easy to use interface. From it's generous use of situational sensitive context menus to it's advanced Drag-n-Drop support, NeXuS is not only easy to use - it's a joy!

  • Multi-Dock system:
    Create multiple docks for a variety of customized needs.

  • Multi-Level Docks:
    Organize applications within collapsible groups, or 'sub-docks'.

  • Magnification:
    With magnification docks take a minimum of screen space until interaction is required.

  • Auto-Hide:
    Docks attached to screen edges can auto-hide and pop up on demand.

  • Auto-Collapse:
    Floating docks (i.e. docks not attached to a screen edge) can collapse into a single control tile and un-collapse on demand.

  • Multi-Monitor Support: 
    Docks can be docked to any screen edge or left floating on any monitor.

  • Document Thumbnails:
    Documents dragged to a dock show up as thumbnails for easy identification.

  • In-Dock Modules:
    NeXuS supports all WorkShelf special modules, from the clock to the net meter!

  • Reserve Screen Space: 
    Makes sure docks attached to screen edges are not covered by maximized windows.

  • Respect Reserved Screen Space: 
    Makes sure docked docks do not overlap other docked items such as the taskbar.

  • Virtual File System Objects support: 
    Allows you to drag special Explorer objects, like Control Panel items and the My Computer icon, into docks.

  • Powerful Dock Manipulation options: 
    Create docks from existing WorkShelf shelves, detach sub-docks, turn docks into sub-docks, duplicate docks, delete docks - all this using simple drag-n-drop and/or context menu options.

  • Keyboard Navigation:
    Docks can be brought to the foreground and dock items launched through the use of user-specified hotkeys.

  • PNG File Support:
    Supports the use of PNG as well as ICO files for object images.

  • Special FX:  
    Lots of special effects such as icons zooming on selection and shifting to make room for items about to be dropped, icon bouncing on application launch, visual feedback for specific actions, incredible water ripple effect that makes docks behave like a liquid surface whenever you click on them plus sound events for when the dock collapses and pops up or sub-docks open.

  • Complete Customization: 
    Virtually every aspect of every dock is customizable: from icon size, to magnification size, to dock behavior.

  • And Much More!

An Aesthetic Quality That Inspires Individuality 

Just because a tool is primarily designed for productivity and work, doesn't mean it only caters to the dull boy. Thanks to a state-of-the-art appearance features and gorgeous built-in animations, NeXuS is ready to play! Coupled with the right theme, it will bring fun and beauty to your desktop.

Download or create themes custom tailored to your taste, from slick and professional to Feng-Shui minimalism to skins that match the seasons and holidays:

Become part of the Winstep Xtreme experience today! Download Winstep Xtreme beta 4 (14 MB) from:

http://www.winstep.net/xtreme.zip


September 1, 2006 - Winstep releases public beta 4 of Winstep Xtreme!

Winstep Beta 4 is an interim release, made available because Beta 3 expired on September 1st, 2006.

You can download the full version (14 MB) from

http://www.winstep.net/xtreme.zip

and the update version (7 MB) from

http://www.winstep.net/xtreme-exe.zip

The update version can be installed by previous Winstep Xtreme and Winstep Full Pak users alike. If you are installing the update, you should NOT un-install the previous version and you should make sure the installation folders match.

Winstep is currently working on adding the NeXuS component to the Winstep Xtreme suite of applications (with preview versions available to registered Winstep users). NeXuS is a multi-level dock, where focus is given to functionality as well as eye candy, and to complete integration with all the other Winstep components.

NeXuS features three possible skinning modes, ranging from the simple to the complex, with the added bonus that it  even looks great with older, non NeXus aware, Winstep themes.

 


June 30, 2006 - Winstep releases public beta 3 of Winstep Xtreme!


Winstep Xtreme is here!

Winstep is proud to announce beta 3 of Winstep Xtreme. 

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

Winstep Xtreme is a change in the direction of the Winstep 2000 Project, one where focus is more on the desktop environment as a whole rather than on individual applications. Although NextSTART and WorkShelf are - and will continue to be - individual applications that can be run independently of one another, they only make perfect sense when run together. The user experience provided by running NextSTART and WorkShelf together proves, without a doubt, that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.

Winstep Xtreme is a brand new product, with a different philosophy, that starts off where the old Winstep 2000 project ended. Unlike Winstep Full Pak, which was just a bundle of our existing products, Winstep Xtreme is the product. Winstep Xtreme is a complete and unified Desktop Environment, composed initially by the next generation of our NextSTART, WorkShelf and FontBrowser products. Although Xtreme won't force you to run NextSTART and WorkShelf together, it will certainly encourage you to do so!

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme relative to Winstep Full Pak? There are too many new features to list here, but the following is an highlight of some of the most important:

Windows Vista support: Winstep Xtreme has been tested with Windows Vista beta 2 and some minor modifications were made to ensure it works properly with the next generation of the Microsoft Windows operating system. 

Per pixel alpha: this new feature allows incredible eye candy effects and themes that will blow your mind! The Menus, Startbar, Desktop Modules and even WorkShelf itself can now be semi-transparent - or have only parts of them semi-transparent - and blend smoothly with the background. You don't have to wait for Windows Vista: the next generation in User Interfaces is already here.

PNG Icon support: Both NextSTART and WorkShelf now allow you to use PNG files as well as ICO to specify object images. This is true for anything that previously used only icon files, including menu items, shelf items, tasklist icons, module icons, quick launch icons, etc...

Special FX: lots of new special effects, such as icons zooming in on selection and shifting to make room for an item about to be dropped on the shelf, incredible water ripple effect that makes the shelf behave like a liquid surface whenever you click on it, new sound events for when you empty the recycler or drop a file into it, a mind warping 'ripple' menu animation and smoother menu animations.

Individual Hotspot Button bitmaps: Hotspot buttons previously used the bitmaps for the tasklist buttons. This didn't always work very well, more often that not a bitmap would look great as a task button but terrible as an hotpot button - or vice versa. Skinners can now make themes where hotspot buttons have their own bitmaps.

Systray Background bitmap: the systray can now have its own individual background when attached to the NextSTART startbar.

Sub-theme support: Child menus can now have a different look from parent menus. Couple this with the ability to 'hardcode' specific themes to specific menus and/or hotspots and you have one of the most flexible and powerful skinning engines around. 

Task Snapshots: the NextSTART tasklist now displays snapshots of the actual windows, which are automatically refreshed to keep the contents always up-to-date. Window snapshots make it much easier to identify a specific document in a task list filled with identical icons.

Tasklist Context Menus: CTRL+Right clicking a task button in the NextSTART tasklist displays a context menu from where you can restore, maximize, minimize and close the application and/or all similar windows (i.e.; all Internet Explorer windows), size or move the window, set the application's opacity level and customize the icon displayed for that window in the tasklist. For the later, you can use either .ICO or .PNG files.

Manual task re-ordering: CTRL+Left clicking a task button in the NextSTART tasklist and dragging allows you to place the button exactly where you want it to be. Now you can group your favorite applications in the tasklist just where you want them, without having to worry about the order in which applications are opened or closed. 

Full Task function Support: every mouse click combination that works on the NextSTART tasklist (e.g.; left click to restore/bring to the foreground, middle click to terminate the application, right click to minimize and CTRL+right click to open the task's context menu) now also works on Tasklist Menus, Grouped Task menus and on the WorkShelf Tasks shelf.

Image and Video Thumbnails: NextSTART's context menus now allow you to visualize image and video files in menus. This is extremely useful to help you identify specific files when using NextSTART to browse through your hard drives.

Send To, Open With, context menu options: NextSTART's context menus were already very powerful, but they lacked support for the important Send To and Open With sub-menus, among some others. NextSTART context menus now not only provide all the options you would expect to find on Explorer's context menus as it still manages to add a few more!

Shelf-Independent Desktop Modules: previously, when you clicked on the shelf or on a desktop module, all other WorkShelf components came forward as well. Now each module is totally independent from the shelf and the other modules by default - but you can still specify the old behavior, if you prefer.

'Wallpaper' Modules: Desktop Modules can now be 'glued' to the desktop, so that they never cover other windows.

Optional 'Auto Arrange' Desktop Modules function: whenever you load a new theme, WorkShelf desktop modules now neatly re-arrange themselves at the right edge of the screen, thus preventing differently sized modules from overlapping each other or even go partially off-screen as it happened before.

Desktop Module Animation Support: The desktop Email Checker, Recycler and Wanda modules now support custom animations. This means that the email module can now display a rotating envelope whenever you have new mail, that the Recycler can light up like a furnace when you move items over it, and that Wanda can have a new face.

Proxy Support: WorkShelf and NextSTART now provide transparent proxy support for all functions that depend on the Internet to work, like auto update, online cookie retrieval, and weather and email checking. There is no need to configure anything since proxy settings are automatically retrieved from Internet Explorer, but, in case you need it, you can also manually specify Proxy settings.

WorkShelf Hotkeys:  You can now open, activate shelves and run programs using nothing but the keyboard! Each shelf can have a hot key associated to it, which, when pressed, opens that particular shelf and brings WorkShelf to the foreground, un-collapsing it in the process if necessary. Items in regular shelves can also have key combinations associated to them, which, when pressed, execute the program without the need to activate WorkShelf. All hotkeys are system wide, that is, WorkShelf does not need to have the focus for the hotkeys to work.

Reorganized and simplified Preferences: the Preference screens of NextSTART and WorkShelf have been re-designed in a more logical and simplified manner, making it easier for new and previous users alike to find the options they are looking for.

Increased Performance: many previously existing functions have been fine-tuned to increase performance. For instance, meters are no longer updated every second unless necessary, processes are only enumerated when new windows are created or destroyed, bitmaps are now cached in memory instead of being constantly retrieved from the file system, window snapshots are only taken when window contents change, etc... All in all, the combination of all these performance improvements give the user a smooth experience when running Xtreme.

There are literally HUNDREDS of other new features, changes and fixes, far too many to list all of them here. But this is not all: many more mind blowing features are scheduled to be added before Winstep Xtreme goes final. Become part of the Xtreme experience now!

Winstep Xtreme costs $39.90, unless you are a currently registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART or WorkShelf user, in which case you should read below.

Your purchase of Winstep Xtreme entitles you to one year of free updates for all components of the suite - including new components that might be released in the mean time - with one year renewals costing only a fraction of the original price: $19.95. Anything you download and install while your update subscription is valid will be yours to keep - for life!

Remember: you "own" the software that you bought, and you don't have to upgrade if you don't want the new features.

Another advantage of the Winstep Xtreme unified approach towards the desktop is that any related applications developed by Winstep in the future, under the Winstep Xtreme name, will also become an integral part of the suite - in other words, as long as your update subscription is valid, you will be able to download, install and keep the new components for free!

If you install an update after your one-year subscription has elapsed, you will have a new 30-day trial period - after which you can renew your yearly subscription online by clicking the 'Renew' link in the Registration tab of that application's Preferences window or automatically roll back to your previous, registered, version by clicking on the 'Roll Back' link instead.

You can download Winstep Xtreme Here.

Winstep Xtreme - extreme power!

 

New Users:

From now on, anyone purchasing Winstep Full Pak will also receive a FREE Winstep Xtreme key with one year's worth of FREE updates.

Winstep is famous for releasing betas that are as solid as the final versions of many other companies products. For this reason, you can jump straight into the full release of Winstep Xtreme beta 3, bypassing Winstep Full Pak altogether. However, if you simply don't feel comfortable running a beta version, you can download Winstep Full Pak Here and run that instead, comfortable in the knowledge that, by registering Winstep Full Pak, you will also receive a FREE Winstep Xtreme license key.

Become part of the Xtreme experience!

 

Users who registered Winstep Full Pak after September 1st 2005:

You too are eligible to a FREE Winstep Xtreme key, with one year of free upgrades from the date you purchased Winstep Full Pak. Please email Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under) and you should receive your free Winstep Xtreme key by email within 48 hours.

 

Users who registered Winstep Full Pak after March 1st 2005:

You can upgrade to Winstep Xtreme for the price of a Winstep Xtreme Subscription Renewal ($19.95). Please email Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under) and you will be given the URL from where you can upgrade to Xtreme for the promotional price of $19.95. This offer is for a limited time period ONLY and will be valid until Winstep Xtreme goes final.

 

Other Registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART v3.x or WorkShelf v1.x users:

This third beta of Winstep Xtreme features many additions which, just by themselves, justify upgrading to Winstep Xtreme right now! Many more exciting new features will be added before Winstep Xtreme goes final.

Winstep Xtreme final will cost $39.90, but, as a token of appreciation to the support registered users have given Winstep, we will offer a temporary upgrade price of only $29.95. This offer will be valid until Winstep Xtreme goes final.

Once you've tried out beta 3 of Winstep Xtreme you will be able to decide for yourself if it's worth the promotional upgrade price or not. You get a free 30 day trial version, after which you will be able to automatically roll back to your previous registered version or upgrade to Winstep Xtreme, taking advantage of the $29.95 promotional price.

Stick with us and enjoy the ride!

Upgrade procedure for registered Winstep users:

1 - Download and Install Winstep Xtreme.
2 - Open WorkShelf or NextSTART Preferences.
3 - Click on the Registration tab (last tab of Preferences). Here you will find a link to the Upgrade page.

Alternatively, contact us by email at Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under).


System Requirements:

Winstep Xtreme will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP/XP 64bit/Vista.

Note: Some of the more advanced features, such as task snapshots and per pixel alpha transparency, are NOT available on Win9x and NT4 systems. This is a limitation of the Operating System itself.


May 2, 2006 - Winstep releases public beta 2 of Winstep Xtreme!


Winstep Xtreme is here!

Winstep is proud to announce beta 2 of Winstep Xtreme. 

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

Winstep Xtreme is a change in the direction of the Winstep 2000 Project, one where focus is more on the desktop environment as a whole rather than on individual applications. Although NextSTART and WorkShelf are - and will continue to be - individual applications that can be run independently of one another, they only make perfect sense when run together. The user experience provided by running NextSTART and WorkShelf together proves, without a doubt, that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.

Winstep Xtreme is a brand new product, with a different philosophy, that starts off where the old Winstep 2000 project ended. Unlike Winstep Full Pak, which was just a bundle of our existing products, Winstep Xtreme is the product. Winstep Xtreme is a complete and unified Desktop Environment, composed initially by the next generation of our NextSTART, WorkShelf and FontBrowser products. Although Xtreme won't force you to run NextSTART and WorkShelf together, it will certainly encourage you to do so!

So what is new in Winstep Xtreme relative to Winstep Full Pak? There are too many new features to list here, but the following is an highlight of some of the most important:

Per pixel alpha: this new feature allows incredible eye candy effects and themes that will blow your mind! The Menus, Startbar, Desktop Modules and even WorkShelf itself can now be semi-transparent - or have only parts of them semi-transparent - and blend smoothly with the background. You don't have to wait for Windows Vista: the next generation in User Interfaces is already here.

PNG Icon support: Both NextSTART and WorkShelf now allow you to use PNG files as well as ICO to specify object images. This is true for anything that previously used only icon files, including menu items, shelf items, tasklist icons, module icons, quick launch icons, etc...

Special FX: lots of new special effects, such as icons zooming in on selection and shifting to make room for an item about to be dropped on the shelf, incredible water ripple effect that makes the shelf behave like a liquid surface whenever you click on it, new sound events for when you empty the recycler or drop a file into it, a mind warping 'ripple' menu animation and smoother menu animations.

Individual Hotspot Button bitmaps: Hotspot buttons previously used the bitmaps for the tasklist buttons. This didn't always work very well, more often that not a bitmap would look great as a task button but terrible as an hotpot button - or vice versa. Skinners can now make themes where hotspot buttons have their own bitmaps.

Task Snapshots: the NextSTART tasklist now displays snapshots of the actual windows, which are automatically refreshed to keep the contents always up-to-date. Window snapshots make it much easier to identify a specific document in a task list filled with identical icons.

Tasklist Context Menus: CTRL+Right clicking a task button in the NextSTART tasklist displays a context menu from where you can restore, maximize, minimize and close the application and/or all similar windows (i.e.; all Internet Explorer windows), size or move the window, set the application's opacity level and customize the icon displayed for that window in the tasklist. For the later, you can use either .ICO or .PNG files.

Full Task function Support: every mouse click combination that works on the NextSTART tasklist (e.g.; left click to restore/bring to the foreground, middle click to terminate the application, right click to minimize and CTRL+right click to open the task's context menu) now also works on Tasklist Menus, Grouped Task menus and on the WorkShelf Tasks shelf.

Image and Video Thumbnails: NextSTART's context menus now allow you to visualize image and video files in menus. This is extremely useful to help you identify specific files when using NextSTART to browse through your hard drives.

Send To, Open With, context menu options: NextSTART's context menus were already very powerful, but they lacked support for the important Send To and Open With sub-menus, among some others. NextSTART context menus now not only provide all the options you would expect to find on Explorer's context menus as it still manages to add a few more!

Shelf-Independent Desktop Modules: previously, when you clicked on the shelf or on a desktop module, all other WorkShelf components came forward as well. Now each module is totally independent from the shelf and the other modules by default - but you can still specify the old behavior, if you prefer.

'Wallpaper' Modules: Desktop Modules can now be 'glued' to the desktop, so that they never cover other windows.

Optional 'Auto Arrange' Desktop Modules function: whenever you load a new theme, WorkShelf desktop modules now neatly re-arrange themselves at the right edge of the screen, thus preventing differently sized modules from overlapping each other or even go partially off-screen as it happened before.

Desktop Module Animation Support: The desktop Email Checker, Recycler and Wanda modules now support custom animations. This means that the email module can now display a rotating envelope whenever you have new mail, that the Recycler can light up like a furnace when you move items over it, and that Wanda can have a new face.

Proxy Support: WorkShelf and NextSTART now provide transparent proxy support for all functions that depend on the Internet to work, like auto update, online cookie retrieval, and weather and email checking. There is no need to configure anything since proxy settings are automatically retrieved from Internet Explorer.

WorkShelf Hotkeys:  You can now open, activate shelves and run programs using nothing but the keyboard! Each shelf can have a hot key associated to it, which, when pressed, opens that particular shelf and brings WorkShelf to the foreground, un-collapsing it in the process if necessary. Items in regular shelves can also have key combinations associated to them, which, when pressed, execute the program without the need to activate WorkShelf. All hotkeys are system wide, that is, WorkShelf does not need to have the focus for the hotkeys to work.

Reorganized and simplified Preferences: the Preference screens of NextSTART and WorkShelf have been re-designed in a more logical and simplified manner, making it easier for new and previous users alike to find the options they are looking for.

Increased Performance: many previously existing functions have been fine-tuned to increase performance. For instance, meters are no longer updated every second unless necessary, processes are only enumerated when new windows are created or destroyed, bitmaps are now cached in memory instead of being constantly retrieved from the file system, window snapshots are only taken when window contents change, etc... All in all, the combination of all these performance improvements give the user a smooth experience when running Xtreme.

 

There are literally HUNDREDS of other new features, changes and fixes, far too many to list all of them here. But this is not all: many more mind blowing features are scheduled to be added before Winstep Xtreme goes final. Become part of the Xtreme experience now!

Winstep Xtreme costs $39.90, unless you are a currently registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART or WorkShelf user, in which case you should read below.

Your purchase of Winstep Xtreme entitles you to one year of free updates for all components of the suite - including new components that might be released in the mean time - with one year renewals costing only a fraction of the original price: $19.95. Anything you download and install while your update subscription is valid will be yours to keep - for life!

Remember: you "own" the software that you bought, and you don't have to upgrade if you don't want the new features.

Another advantage of the Winstep Xtreme unified approach towards the desktop is that any related applications developed by Winstep in the future, under the Winstep Xtreme name, will also become an integral part of the suite - in other words, as long as your update subscription is valid, you will be able to download, install and keep the new components for free!

If you install an update after your one-year subscription has elapsed, you will have a new 30-day trial period - after which you can renew your yearly subscription online by clicking the 'Renew' link in the Registration tab of that application's Preferences window or automatically roll back to your previous, registered, version by clicking on the 'Roll Back' link instead.

You can download Winstep Xtreme Here.

Winstep Xtreme - extreme power!

 

New Users:

From now on, anyone purchasing Winstep Full Pak will also receive a FREE Winstep Xtreme key with one year's worth of FREE updates.

Winstep is famous for releasing betas that are as solid as the final versions of many other companies products. For this reason, you can jump straight into the full release of Winstep Xtreme beta 2, bypassing Winstep Full Pak altogether. However, if you simply don't feel comfortable running a beta version, you can download Winstep Full Pak Here and run that instead, comfortable in the knowledge that, by registering Winstep Full Pak, you will also receive a FREE Winstep Xtreme license key.

Become part of the Xtreme experience!

 

Users who registered Winstep Full Pak after September 1st 2005:

You too are eligible to a FREE Winstep Xtreme key, with one year of free upgrades from the date you purchased Winstep Full Pak. Please email Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under) and you should receive your free Winstep Xtreme key by email within 48 hours.

 

Users who registered Winstep Full Pak after March 1st 2005:

You can upgrade to Winstep Xtreme for the price of a Winstep Xtreme Subscription Renewal ($19.95). Please email Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under) and you will be given the URL from where you can upgrade to Xtreme for the promotional price of $19.95. This offer is for a limited time period ONLY and will be valid until Winstep Xtreme goes final.

 

Other Registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART v3.x or WorkShelf v1.x users:

This second beta of Winstep Xtreme features many additions which, just by themselves, justify upgrading to Winstep Xtreme right now! Many more exciting new features will be added before Winstep Xtreme goes final.

Winstep Xtreme final will cost $39.90, but, as a token of appreciation to the support registered users have given Winstep, we will offer a temporary upgrade price of only $29.95. This offer will be valid until Winstep Xtreme goes final.

Once you've tried out beta 2 of Winstep Xtreme you will be able to decide for yourself if it's worth the promotional upgrade price or not. You get a free 30 day trial version, after which you will be able to automatically roll back to your previous registered version or upgrade to Winstep Xtreme, taking advantage of the $29.95 promotional price.

Stick with us and enjoy the ride!

Upgrade procedure for registered Winstep users:

1 - Download and Install Winstep Xtreme.
2 - Open WorkShelf or NextSTART Preferences.
3 - Click on the Registration tab (last tab of Preferences). Here you will find a link to the Upgrade page.

Alternatively, contact us by email at Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under).


System Requirements:

Winstep Xtreme will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

Note: Some of the more advanced features, such as task snapshots and per pixel alpha transparency, are NOT available on Win9x and NT4 systems. This is not a limitation of the software but of the Operating System itself.


March 13, 2006 - Winstep releases the first public beta of Winstep Xtreme!


Winstep Xtreme is coming!

Winstep is proud to announce the first public beta of Winstep Xtreme. 

Screenshot:
  

Winstep Xtreme is a complete integrated Desktop Environment featuring the next generation of award winning Winstep user interface enhancements.

Winstep Xtreme is a change in the direction of the Winstep 2000 Project, one where focus is more on the desktop environment as a whole rather than on individual applications. Although NextSTART and WorkShelf are - and will continue to be - individual applications that can be run independently of one another, they only make perfect sense when run together. Running NextSTART without WorkShelf or vice-versa is like having a three legged table - it will stand on its own, but not so well as if it had four legs. In that sense, the user experience provided by running NextSTART and WorkShelf together proves, without a doubt, that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.

The moment for this shift in direction couldn't be better either: after five years of continuous improvements and free updates, WorkShelf was finally about to reach version 2.0. Likewise, after three years, NextSTART was about to reach version 4.0. Under the current license agreement, WorkShelf v1.x and NextSTART v3.x registered users would have to pay again in order to use the newer versions.

For this reason, the timing is perfect to discontinue the old NextSTART and WorkShelf product line and introduce Winstep Xtreme! 

Winstep Xtreme is a brand new product, with a different philosophy, that starts off where the old Winstep 2000 project ended. Unlike Winstep Full Pak, which was just a bundle of our existing products, Winstep Xtreme is the product. Winstep Xtreme is a complete and unified Desktop Environment, composed initially by the next generation of our NextSTART, WorkShelf and FontBrowser products. Although Xtreme won't force you to run NextSTART and WorkShelf together, it will certainly encourage you to do so!

Another advantage of the Winstep Xtreme unified approach towards the desktop is that any related applications developed by Winstep in the future, under the Winstep Xtreme name, will also become an integral part of the suite - in other words, as long as your update subscription is valid, you will be able to download, install and keep the new components for free!

Your purchase of Winstep Xtreme will entitle you to one year of free updates for all components of the suite - including new components that might be released in the mean time, as mentioned above - with one year renewals costing only a fraction of the original price: $19.95. Anything you download and install while your update subscription is valid will be yours to keep - for life!

Remember: you "own" the software that you bought, and you don't have to upgrade if you don't want the new features.

If you install an update after your one-year subscription has elapsed, you will have a new 30-day trial period - after which you can renew your yearly subscription online by clicking the 'Renew' link in the Registration tab of that application's Preferences window or automatically roll back to your previous, registered, version by clicking on the 'Roll Back' link instead.

You can download Winstep Xtreme Here.

Winstep Xtreme - extreme power!

 

New Users:

From now on, anyone purchasing Winstep Full Pak will also receive a FREE Winstep Xtreme key with one year's worth of FREE updates.

Winstep is famous for releasing betas that are as solid as the final versions of many other companies products. For this reason, you can jump straight into the full release of Winstep Xtreme beta 1, bypassing Winstep Full Pak altogether. However, if you simply don't feel comfortable running a beta version, you can download Winstep Full Pak Here and run that instead, comfortable in the knowledge that, by registering Winstep Full Pak, you will also receive a FREE Winstep Xtreme license key.

Become part of the Xtreme experience!

 

Users who registered Winstep Full Pak after September 1st 2005:

You too are eligible to a FREE Winstep Xtreme key, with one year of free upgrades from the date you purchased Winstep Full Pak. Please email Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under) and you should receive your free Winstep Xtreme key by email within 48 hours.

 

Users who registered Winstep Full Pak after March 1st 2005:

You can upgrade to Winstep Xtreme for the price of a Winstep Xtreme Subscription Renewal ($19.95). Please email Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under) and you will be given the URL from where you can upgrade to Xtreme for the promotional price of $19.95. This offer is for a limited time period ONLY and will be valid until Winstep Xtreme goes final.

 

Other Registered Winstep Full Pak, NextSTART v3.x or WorkShelf v1.x users:

This first beta of Winstep Xtreme features many additions which, just by themselves, justify upgrading to Winstep Xtreme right now! Many more exciting new features will be added before Winstep Xtreme goes final.

Winstep Xtreme final will cost $39.90, but, as a token of appreciation to the support registered users have given Winstep, we will offer a temporary upgrade price of only $29.95. This offer will be valid until Winstep Xtreme goes final.

Once you've tried out the first beta of Winstep Xtreme you will be able to decide for yourself if it's worth the promotional upgrade price or not. You get a free 30 day trial version, after which you will be able to automatically roll back to your previous registered version or upgrade to Winstep Xtreme, taking advantage of the $29.95 promotional price.

Stick with us and enjoy the ride!

Upgrade procedure for registered Winstep users:

1 - Download and Install Winstep Xtreme.
2 - Open WorkShelf Preferences.
3 - Click on the Registration tab (last tab of Preferences). Here you will find a link to the Upgrade page.

Alternatively, contact us by email at Winstep Support with your registration details (name and email address you registered under).


System Requirements:

Winstep Xtreme will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

Note: Some of the more advanced features, such as per pixel alpha transparency, will not be available on Win9x and NT4 systems. This is a limitation of the Operating System itself.


February 2, 2006 - Winstep Software fully compatible with Windows 64 bit!

Winstep Software has been tested with WinXP X64 and has been found to be fully compatible!

IMPORTANT: WinXP x64 no longer includes the VB5 Runtime Library. This Library must be on your system before you attempt to install any Winstep software.

You can download the VB5 Runtime Library directly from Microsoft here.


January 30, 2006 - NextSTART v3.41 Released!

Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.41!

NextSTART Version 3.41 fixes a few bugs that went undetected with version 3.40:

* It was no longer possible to re-arrange menu items even if pressing the SHIFT key, the item was always copied.

* Menus that turned Inactive by becoming semi-transparent could momentarily be displayed as a black rectangle while the new sub-menu opened (the larger the sub-menu, the longer the parent menu remained black). Now you should, at the most, get a flicker lasting a fraction of a second.

* Z-Order (Always On Top) problems: the Startbar/Tasklist and Hotspot buttons could under certain conditions lose their Always On Top status.

* If you chose not to display the Systray, NextSTART would show a gray bar at the top of the screen on startup.

System Requirements:

NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.


December 5, 2005 - NextSTART v3.4 Final and WorkShelf v1.90 Final Released!

Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.4 and WorkShelf v1.90!

NextSTART Version 3.4 adds a multitude of enhancements such as Automatic Updates, Tip of the Day, improved Drag & Drop support, spring sub-menus and hotspot buttons, new sound events, ability to capture WorkShelf modules as icons into the NextSTART Startbar at user-specified sizes, automatic refresh of the Startbar Quick Launch area, ability to make Workshelf shelves from folders, improved context menu handling, ability to define how many documents appear in the Recent Documents menu, and much more!

For a complete list of changes and additions to NextSTART, please click here.

WorkShelf Version 1.90 allows you to view task icons as snapshots of the actual windows with a zoom-in on mouse over, adds task icon customization by simple drag & drop, improved task handling, new icon grow/shrink effect on mouse over, Preview button in the Advanced Skinning dialogs of desktop modules, redesigned Preferences windows, new Show Themes shelf type from where you can quickly visualize and apply themes, Browse In NextSTART context menu option for browsing folders using NextSTART menus, new Desktop Module effects and functions, ability to define how many documents appear in the Recent Documents shelf, and much more!

For a complete list of changes and additions to WorkShelf, please click here.

System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.


November 23, 2005 - NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 7 and WorkShelf v1.90 Public Beta 6 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 7 and WorkShelf v1.90 Public Beta 6!

NextSTART Version 3.4 adds a multitude of enhancements such as Automatic Updates, Tip of the Day, improved drag & drop capability, new sound effects, the ability to capture WorkShelf modules as icons into the NextSTART Startbar, automatic refresh of the Startbar Quick Launch area, etc...

WorkShelf Version 1.90 allows you to view task icons as snapshots of the actual windows, task icon customization by simple drag & drop, new icon grow/shrink effect on mouse over, Preview button in the Advanced Skinning dialogs of desktop modules, redesigned Preferences windows, new Show Themes shelf type from where you can quickly visualize and apply themes, Browse In NextSTART context menu option for browsing folders using NextSTART menus, new Desktop Module effects, and much more!

Note: A previous full NextSTART/WorkShelf or Winstep Full Pak installation is required to try out these betas! Do not un-install anything, just install the betas on top of your current Winstep installation.

Please, do not forget that feedback is extremely important, specially for beta versions. Should you find a bug, please report it on the Winstep Forums or email support@winstep.net .

System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.


--------------------------

WorkShelf Version 1.90 build 350 - November 23, 2005 - Public Beta 6


New Features:


* Added CTRL + Right Click context menu to tasks in Tasks shelf with the following options:

Minimize
Restore
Close
Minimize Similar
Restore Similar
Close Similar
Minimize All
Restore All
Change Task Icon
Add to/Remove from Snapshot Exclusion list.



Changes:


* Wanda animation is turned off by default on Win9x/NT4 systems so it doesn't use too much CPU resources.

* The Wanda desktop module is repositioned at the left of the other screen modules if screen resolution is less than 1024x768.

* Grow/Shrink selection method is disabled by default on Win9x/NT4 systems since it is very CPU intensive and it is assumed that the host machine is low end.


Fixes:


* Fixed problem where drag & drop outside of WorkShelf was not working properly with icon grow/shrink effect enabled.

* The Preview button of WorkShelf Preferences was not applying changes to specific modules when the Module tab was open.

* Workshelf was exiting anyway even when the user answered 'No' to the 'Exit WorkShelf' prompt.

* The CPU hogs list had the CPU usage percentage truncated if the text was right justified and the program name too large to fit.

* WorkShelf could overlap the NextSTART startbar when changing themes.

* Fixed problem where the wsdefault.wbk file was not being deleted on un-installation.

--------------------------

NextSTART Version 3.4 (build 229) - November 23, 2005 - Public Beta 7


New Features:

* Added a 'Disable Taskbar Beeping' option to the Sound and Animation tab in NextSTART Preferences. This prevents
NextSTART from beeping while flashing a tasklist button.


Fixes:

* Re-positioned the NextSTART control window which could still be visible on some multi-monitor configurations.

* NextSTART now waits for the resize of the Startbar to be complete before updating the reserved screen area.


October 18, 2005 - NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 6 and WorkShelf v1.90 Public Beta 5 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 6 and WorkShelf v1.90 Public Beta 5!

NextSTART Version 3.4 adds a multitude of enhancements such as Automatic Updates, Tip of the Day, improved drag & drop capability, new sound effects, the ability to capture WorkShelf modules as icons into the NextSTART Startbar, automatic refresh of the Startbar Quick Launch area, etc...

WorkShelf Version 1.90 allows you to view task icons as snapshots of the actual windows, task icon customization by simple drag & drop, new icon grow/shrink effect on mouse over, Preview button in the Advanced Skinning dialogs of desktop modules, redesigned Preferences windows, new Show Themes shelf type from where you can quickly visualize and apply themes, Browse In NextSTART context menu option for browsing folders using NextSTART menus, new Desktop Module effects, and much more!

Note: A previous full NextSTART/WorkShelf or Winstep Full Pak installation is required to try out these betas! Do not un-install anything, just install the betas on top of your current Winstep installation.

Please, do not forget that feedback is extremely important, specially for beta versions. Should you find a bug, please report it on the Winstep Forums or email support@winstep.net .

System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

August 17, 2005 - NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 2 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 2!

Version 3.4 adds a multitude of enhancements such as Automatic Updates, Tip of the Day, improved drag & drop capability, etc...

You can download beta 2 from

http://www.winstep.net/ns3-beta.zip

Note: A previous full NextSTART or Winstep Full Pak installation is required! Do not un-install anything, just install the beta on top of your current Winstep installation.

Please, do not forget that feedback is extremely important, specially for beta versions. Should you find a bug, please report it on the Winstep Forums or email support@winstep.net .

The following is a full list of fixes and additions of Beta 2 over Beta 1:

New Features:

* Hotspot buttons now also accept items dragged from NextSTART menus and WorkShelf.

Fixes:

* On themes where sub-menus should open aligned to the parent's titlebar, context menus could be too short when close to the reserved screen area at the bottom of the screen.

* the Single and Double line settings for the startbar section separator were both displaying a double line.

* Context Menus of Hotspot buttons were broken by Beta 1.

* Re-wrote the context menu code which seemed to be causing some Access Violation errors on occasion.

* NextSTART was not executing Internal Commands or applying Themes from menus.

* The 'Tip of the Day' dialog could be resized.

* The 'Disable Sounds' and 'Disable Animations' options in the Global Preferences tab were reversed (checked for on and unchecked for off).

* NextSTART was crashing in the Menu Editor and Item Properties dialog if you selected a URL type item.

* URL items were not displaying the proper icon.


System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

August 13, 2005 - NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 1 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.4 Public Beta 1!

Version 3.4 adds a multitude of enhancements such as Automatic Updates, Tip of the Day, improved drag & drop capability, etc...

You can download the new beta from

http://www.winstep.net/ns3-beta.zip

Note: A previous full NextSTART or Winstep Full Pak installation is required! Do not un-install anything, just install the beta on top of your current Winstep installation.

Please, do not forget that feedback is extremely important, specially for beta versions. Should you find a bug, please report it on the Winstep Forums or email support@winstep.net .

The following is a full list of changes and additions in version 3.4:

New Features:

* The NextSTART Recent Documents Menu under XP no longer displays hundreds of files, but the last 15 used documents.
* Added option in Global Preferences tab to control how many Documents are displayed in the Recent Documents menu.
* Spring folder items when dragging (open sub-menu automatically after 2 seconds).
* New 'Browse with NextSTART' right click context menu option for Program type items in NextSTART menus that point to folders (and would therefore open in Explorer if you clicked on them). Selecting Browse with NextSTART from the context menu will open a NextSTART sub-menu displaying the contents of that folder.
* New 'Make Shelf from Folder' right click context menu option. Right click on a folder item in a menu and you will get an option to create a new WorkShelf shelf displaying the contents of that folder. Note that WorkShelf must be running for this command to execute properly.
* Added 'New Quick Launch Item' to the Startbar context menu.
* NextSTART can now automatically check for updates over the Internet.
* Added a 'Check for Updates' Internal command.
* Added a 'Check for Updates' item to the Info sub-menu of the default NextSTART menu.
* Added a 'Tip of the Day'.
* Added 'Show Tip of the Day' Internal Command.
* NextSTART now accepts virtual shell items (such as the objects in Control Panel) to be dropped into menus. If such a virtual object is dropped into a folder type menu, a shortcut is created into it in the folder.
* You can now drag & drop file objects from normal menus into Explorer windows.
* Added support for URLs. You can now drag & drop an URL from Internet Explorer windows into a NextSTART menu.
* You can now copy URLs from NextSTART menus to Explorer windows.
* Added Starbar capture support to WorkShelf's new Net, RAM and Wanda modules.

Changes:

* Re-organized Global Preferences tab to make room for the new features.
* Removed the 'Show Launch Errors' option which was no longer used by NextSTART.

Fixes:

* NextSTART now signals WorkShelf on exit that the Reserved Screen area has possibly changed.
* Drag & Drop support between WorkShelf and NextSTART (and vice-versa) has been restored.
* NextSTART always showed hidden files even if the 'Show Hidden Files' toggle was unchecked.
* Fixed problem where WorkShelf modules released from the NextSTART startbar where no longer being returned to their proper position.


System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

June 26, 2005 - WorkShelf v1.8 Released!
The new release mainly tackles a serious complaint about Workshelf: the apparent lack of speed when switching to highly populated shelves. There is a very good reason why WorkShelf could be a little bit slower opening some shelves than most docks out there: it did (and does) things that no other dock can.

For instance, drag & drop an application into, say, ObjectDock. Even if the application has a 48x48 representation of its own icon, ObjectDock will show an enlarged version of the 32x32 icon instead. Now do the same with Workshelf: you will get the correct 48x48 icon (assuming, of course, that you are running WorkShelf with 48x48 icons). This is possible because WorkShelf manages to bypass a Windows limitation in which 48x48 icons always display as enlarged 32x32 versions in an application unless you have changed the default Windows icon size in Display Properties from 32x32 to 48x48. This feature allows WorkShelf to display shelves like the Control Panel shelf with the actual 48x48 icons, instead of the ugly enlarged 32x32 versions (old versions of WorkShelf could not do this, you will remember the difference if you have been using WorkShelf long enough). The penalty for this feature, is, of course, speed, since there is a lot of (clever) work being done in the background to bypass this Windows limitation.

Another thing that WorkShelf does (among many others) that no other dock currently can is to display the contents of virtual (e.g. My Computer, Control Panel) and physical folders (e.g. C:\). This means it sometimes has to retrieve hundreds or even thousands of files - add this to the time it takes to fetch each individual icon from disk and you now begin to understand why you sometimes clicked on a shelf and only got a response a second or so later.

The most time consuming process in all of this is still, of course, icon retrieving. Fetching application icons is always a time consuming operation, and you can quickly realize how time consuming it is by populating a folder with lots of ico files and then opening that folder in Explorer. You will see Windows first displaying a default icon for each file and then, slowly and painfully, rendering the actual icons one by one.

However, it only does this once. This is because the solution to all of this is something called icon caching. If you cache the rendered icons in memory once you've fetched them once, you no longer have to fetch them from disk the next time around (fetching things from disk is an operation hundreds, if not thousands, of times slower than fetching them from memory).

And this is the solution that WorkShelf also uses in the new v1.80 version. As you access a shelf, all the rendered icons are stored in memory. The next time the same shelf is opened, it displays instantly because WorkShelf no longer has to fetch all those icons from disk.

Another technique WorkShelf v1.80 uses to speed things up even further is icon rendering in the background: suppose you have a shelf with more than one icon row. As soon as Workshelf displays the current visible row, and while you are busy staring at it, it begins, in the background, fetching all those icons that are still not visible in preparation for when you click on the scroll button to access the next row. Chances are that when you do finally click on that scroll button, all the icons in the next row will have already been fetched from disk. Scrolling will then appear nearly instantaneous.

Same thing happens with thumbnail rendering. Open a shelf with lots of links to picture and video files for the first time and you will see Workshelf rendering the thumbnails one by one. Stare at it for a couple of seconds and you will find out that when you scroll to fetch the next icon row all thumbnails for that row have been rendered already. The best is that thumbnails are cached as well, so next time you open that same shelf your thumbnails will appear instantaneously too.

As with everything, there is a catch for all this icon caching. The catch is that each icon cached in memory uses something called a GDI handle. There is an almost unlimited supply of these in NT based systems (NT4, 2000, XP and so on) but GDI handles are a rare commodity on Win9x systems. Exhausting GDI handles in a Win9x system is a sure and quick way to crash your computer. To prevent WorkShelf from doing this, icon caching is turned off when Workshelf detects it is running under Win95, Win98, Win98 SE or Win98 ME. Then again, what are you waiting for to upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP? Everybody else has done it already and each of these two Windows versions is a quantum leap ahead of all those Win9x versions! 

Enjoy and don't forget to give some feedback on the new version, please.

Other features in WorkShelf v1.80 include:

* WorkShelf now permits simultaneous internet connections for all modules and Internet functions.

* The Email Checker module can now work over SSL connections. This also means the Email Checker can be used with Gmail accounts if you enable POP3 on that account.

* The Email Checker module now supports IMAP mail servers.

* The Email Checker tooltip now provides individual information about each of the mail servers being polled when you are using the module to monitor more than one email account.

* WorkShelf now uses it's own private clipboard format in drag & drop operations of WorkShelf objects. This means WorkShelf drag & drop data cannot be confused by other applications as
drag & drop of straight text anymore.

* The 'Current Network Connections' window of the Net Meter module is now resizable.

* Icons are now cached on NT/Win2000/XP systems. This means that shelves now open instantly after you have accessed them once.

* Shelf icons and thumbnails of the currently open shelf that are not in view are never-the-less rendered on the background so that they are ready to be displayed when the user scrolls the shelf.

* If system icons change, WorkShelf now automatically refreshes the currently open shelf so that any icon changes can be reflected.

* New 'Make Shelf from Folder' right click context menu option. Right click on a folder in a Shelf and you will get an option to create a new shelf displaying the contents of that folder. This new shelf will also open automatically.

* You can now specify which server port number to use for email server connections performed by the Email Checker module.

* Added a 'Check for Updates' item to Info sub-menu of the Shelf context menu.

Fixes:

* Fixed bug in the Icon Caching algorithm which would not update an item's icon when this was changed using that item's Properties dialog or by dropping an ico file onto it.


For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.


System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.


March 10, 2005 - NextSTART v3.3 and WorkShelf v1.7 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.3 and WorkShelf v1.7!

WorkShelf v1.7 released! This new version provides a considerable amount of useful additions to version 1.6:


New Modules:

Net Meter - Measures the bandwidth being used by your selected Network Adapter. In addition, in provides a mind-boggling amount of network statistics (TCP,IP,UDP,ICMP) about that particular connection and allows you to actually see which applications are using it to connect to the Internet or your Local Area Network.

RAM Meter - Measures the amount of RAM being used in your system.

Wanda - The 'fortune cookie' fish. Previously only available on Gnome systems, Wanda has been bought into the Windows world by Winstep. Wanda the fish sits swimming idlessly on your desktop and, when clicked on, provides precious pearls of human wisdom. Wanda can randomly retrieve quotes - or fortune cookies - from local, user-editable files, or from an Internet database with over 50,000 different quotes.

CPU Meter - Added a Most Active Programs History dialog to the CPU meter - lists the most active programs in the last 128 seconds and the percentage of CPU used by them (Windows 2000 and XP only).


New Visual Effects:

Dynamic width tabs - Until now WorkShelf tabs always covered the full width of the shelf, giving it a somewhat 'boxy' look. As of version 1.7, tabs can also be left justified, right justified or centered (therefore using only as much horizontal space as needed). Note, however, that even if most older themes will work well with this new option, not all will... Give it a try and decide for yourself. The new tabs position options can be found in the 'Appearance and Sounds' sub-menu of the left-mini tab context menu.

3D Item buttons - Items in the shelf can now be 'buttonized' for a more intense 3D look. Again, note that since older themes were made before this option was available, not all will look 'right' (even if most of them will). This option can also be found in the 'Appearance and Sounds' sub-menu of the left-mini tab context menu.

Icon Labels - Icon labels are now highlighted as well as the icon when the mouse pointer hovers over them.

Balloon Tooltips - All tooltips in Workshelf are now balloon-shaped.

Clock - Clock hands are now anti-aliased and the skinner can set the color of the clock hands for the in-shelf clock module.

Desktop Meters - Added bitmap graph support for Meter modules with advanced skinning (wsCPUb.bmp, wsCPUh.bmp, wsNetb.bmp, wsNeth.bmp, wsRAMb.bmp and wsRAMh.bmp). The 'b' stands for Bar and the 'h' for Histogram. This means the skinner can now, for instance, make multi-colored meters (e.g. green at the bottom and red at the top).
Also added Added Multi-State image support to desktop meters (for things like gauges, etc...). Filenames are wsCPUMulti.bmp, wsNetMulti.bmp and WsRAMMulti.bmp. Just create a single bitmap with as many state images as you want and tell WorkShelf the x and y position plus the number of frames.


Drag & Drop additions:

Virtual Objects - Workshelf now accepts virtual shell items (such as the objects in Control Panel) to be dropped into and from it. If such a virtual object is dropped into a folder type shelf (or from WorkShelf into an Explorer folder), a shortcut is created into it. This means Workshelf can now act as an Universal drag & drop target or source.

Regular Shelves - Previously you could drop files from Explorer windows into Regular shelf tabs, but not the reverse. Now you can, provided the object you are dragging from a Regular shelf is part of the file system or a Windows virtual object.

URLs - You can now drag & drop an URL from Internet Explorer windows into WorkShelf (and from Workshelf into an Internet Explorer or Explorer window).

Drag & Drop Auto-Scroll - A shelf can contain more items that can be viewed at once. To view all items you can either fully expand the shelf by double-clicking on its tab or scroll it, one row at a time, by clicking on the scroll buttons on the right side. When performing a drag & drop operation, however, you can do none of the above - that is why a multi-row shelf now auto-scrolls when you position the item being dragged over one of the scroll buttons - this allows you to position the item being dropped exactly where you want it.


Misc. Functionality:

Thumbnails - Image and video files in the shelf (as well as any registered file types that provide this functionality) can now be optionally previewed as thumbnails.

Information Tooltips - Up until version 1.6, item tooltips only provided the complete name of that particular shelf item (space restrictions meant long item names would usually be cropped). Version 1.7 tooltips now present as much information about files, folders and virtual objects in the shelf as the tooltips provided in Explorer windows.

Automatic Check for Updates - WorkShelf can now automatically check for new versions provided an Internet connection is available.

Tip of the Day - On startup WorkShelf now automatically provides a random - and optional - tip of the day. More tips can be manually displayed by opening the Info sub-menu of the Shelf's left mini tab context menu.



For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.


System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

August 20, 2004 - NextSTART v3.2 and WorkShelf v1.6 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases NextSTART v3.2 and WorkShelf v1.6!

Among many other improvements and fixes, the new releases fix a troubling bug with the multi-monitor code that prevented both NextSTART and WorkShelf from running properly on NT4/Win95 systems. With most, if not all, skinning applications moving away from NT4/Win9x and specializing in XP only, Winstep software is probably one of the last Windows customizing software that still supports these early versions of Windows.


New Features in NextSTART v3.2:

* Taskbar buttons now flash when Messenger windows try to get the user's attention.
* Startbar automatically reserves screen space so maximized windows don't cover it.
* Menus too long to fit on the screen can now be displayed in side-by-side panels.
* Added support for capturing the new WorkShelf modules into the startbar.
* Startbar tasklist can now be scrolled up and down using the mouse wheel.
* Better transparent systray support under XP.
* Automatic middle mouse button emulation can now be turned off.

Bug Fixes in NextSTART v3.2:

* NextSTART now runs properly under NT4/Win95.
* Bug that prevented the use of more than 36 hotspots.
* Deleting the last item of a menu in the Menu Editor would crash NextSTART.
* Hotspot button right click context menu could sometimes fail to pop up.
* Tasklist sometimes displaying blank icons.
* Cancel would not discard changes made in the Menu Editor.
* Lots more of new features and bug fixes!

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.


New Features in WorkShelf v1.6:

* New Explosion animation when an item is deleted from the shelf.
* WorkShelf automatically positions itself on the screen so it does not cover or is covered by the NextSTART startbar.

Bug Fixes in WorkShelf v1.6:

* WorkShelf now runs properly under NT4/Win95.
* Tray icon was not being added to the systray after an Explorer crash.
* Recycle bin problem with a specific Shell32.dll version.
* Lots more of new features and bug fixes!

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.


System Requirements:

WorkShelf and NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

April 12, 2004 - WorkShelf v1.5 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases WorkShelf v1.5!

Imagine no longer having to dig through countless menus and Explorer windows
just to find what you're looking for. Try to visualize NOT having to minimize
all your open windows just to launch a program on your desktop. With Workshelf
running on your computer those time-wasting actions are a thing of the past!
This powerful and intuitive desktop organization tool allows you to arrange, by
simple drag and drop, frequently used files, folders, applications and URLs into
their own groups and categories, providing quick access without disrupting your
work environment. Workshelf also gives you quick access to special system
folders like the Windows Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, Printers, and
much, much more!

New Features:

* Items in Regular shelves can now be deleted by dragging them away from the shelf.
* Added maximum width option for the top CPU Hogs text.
* Added 'Show CPU Meter Caption' option.
* Email Checker module now accepts arguments in the Email Client filename.
* Improved report of Weather server connection problems.
* Customized icons for in-shelf modules holding all possible sizes in single ico file.
* Leading zero on Hogs CPU load percentage removed.
* CPU Meter automatically adds "%" to current CPU load.
* Desktop Weather module text now scrolls smoothly pixel by pixel.

Bug Fixes:

* Vertical scrollbar in WorkShelf Preferences was not properly resized.
* Weather observation hour was being added daylight savings bias twice.
* Incorrect size of weather module icon being dragged.
* CPU Meter systray icon graph color is now always green.
* Folder type shelves were not being watched for changes.
* WorkShelf was allowing folders to be moved or copyed into themselves.
* Painting problems with round selection style.
* Custom in-shelf Recycler icon caused the shelf to flicker when re-painting.
* Painting problems with in-shelf Recycler bin animation and custom recycler icons.

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.

System Requirements:

WorkShelf will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

March 25, 2004 - NextSTART Corporate v3.1 Released!
NextSTART Corporate is a powerful, skinnable, and dynamic pop-up menu that can be used as a secure replacement to the Windows Start Menu and Interface. Ideally suited for Internet cafes, Libraries, public access terminals and corporate use, NextSTART Corporate Edition offers a range of features for improving productivity and ease of use, whilst preventing unauthorized modification of the PC's interface by end users.

With NextSTART you can conveniently access all your programs and files using a highly structured and completely customisable menu tree system. Menu configuration is a breeze with full support for drag & drop. Tear off sub-menus can be conveniently left open and placed anywhere on your screen while you work on related tasks. Winstep’s hotspot technology allows you to quickly open menus and launch programs by bumping screen edges and corners with the mouse cursor or by clicking anywhere on the desktop and other application windows. Above all, NextSTART is very easy to configure, providing a full-blown GUI Preferences screen.

* Allows the design of a common interface for all Windows PC's that reflects your corporate identity.
* Permits quick and intuitive access to those functions and applications that your users need.
* Secure, password-protected configuration panel prevents unauthorized modification of NextSTART Corporate Edition's interface.
* Far easier to use than the standard Windows interface.
* Improves productivity.
* Rapid access to applications and system utilities.
* Fast menu-based file browsing.
* Multi-lingual support.
* Multi-user support.
* Multi-monitor support.
* Enable/disable the powerful task management and system tray support dependent on the needs of your users.


Customer Comments:

"We're back from our meeting, and our Web Cafe was a resounding success, we had more people come through than any of our previous shows. NextStart Corporate worked like a charm, as well as your utilities. We were able to setup all 80 of our computers in a matter of minutes using the configuration import."

"Thanks so much for your help and excellent service -- not to mention a program that no one can beat in both features and price!"

Douglas Marcus
Internet Technology Manager
American Urological Association

"I am convinced that NextSTART was the right solution for our problem (thank you Jimmy for finding it!) and I am happy to see that the Corporate (secure) version is now available and working. Thank you again also for your support now and back then when I was in China with Jimmy."

Francois Arseneault
Supervisor, Systems Architecture
Bombardier Transportation

System Requirements:

NextSTART Corporate will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

March 15, 2004 - WorkShelf v1.4 Final Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases WorkShelf v1.4 Final!

Imagine no longer having to dig through countless menus and Explorer windows
just to find what you're looking for. Try to visualize NOT having to minimize
all your open windows just to launch a program on your desktop. With Workshelf
running on your computer those time-wasting actions are a thing of the past!
This powerful and intuitive desktop organization tool allows you to arrange, by
simple drag and drop, frequently used files, folders, applications and URLs into
their own groups and categories, providing quick access without disrupting your
work environment. Workshelf also gives you quick access to special system
folders like the Windows Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, Printers, and
much, much more!

The new v1.4 version is a major upgrade with lots of exciting new features: 


* CPU Meter Module with list of current CPU hog(s).
* Multi-Account talking POP3 Email Checker Module.
* Weather Module with comprehensive list of over 5,000 cities in the World.
* Improvements to previously existing Modules.
* Show In All Shelves now works for all Modules.
* Full 48x48 icon support even on systems not configured to use Large Icons.
* Ability to associate sounds to various events.
* Optional Shelf Collapse/Uncollapse smooth animation.
* Improved Drag & Drop support between Regular and Folder Shelves.
* Shelf Item Separators.
* Reserved Screen Space support.
* Reduced memory footprint.
* Improved WorkShelf Preferences GUI.
* Docking to top screen edge without having to invert WorkShelf.
* Automatic Tab selection even when WorkShelf is not collapsed.
* Improved Keyboard support.
* MSI Shortcuts now resolved properly.
* Fixed startup problem where WorkShelf sometimes appeared cut in half.
* Fixed a major problem that could cause WorkShelf to lose content when deleting shelves.
* Easier access to Backup and Restore WorkShelf functions.
* Many more other improvements and fixes!

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.

System Requirements:

WorkShelf will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

March 15, 2004 - NextSTART v3.1 Released!
With NextSTART you can conveniently access all your programs and files using a highly structured and completely customisable menu tree system. Menu configuration is a breeze with full support for drag & drop. Tear off sub-menus can be conveniently left open and placed anywhere on your screen while you work on related tasks. Winstep’s hotspot technology allows you to quickly open menus and launch programs by bumping screen edges and corners with the mouse cursor or by clicking anywhere on the desktop and other application windows. Above all, NextSTART is very easy to configure, providing a full-blown GUI Preferences screen.

New features in NextSTART v3.1 include:

* Startbar no longer temporarilly moves out of place when changing reserved screen space areas.
* Fixed problem where an hung application could also hang NextSTART if the corresponding button on the NextSTART tasklist was clicked on.
* NextSTART now shows a small 'Busy' dialog when applying settings or initializing.
* The NextSTART Help panel now features a 'Find' button to help you locate the information you're looking for faster.
* The built-in File Browser now remembers settings between sessions.
* Fixed Power Off Monitor internal command.
* Fixed a couple of problems with the Windows File dialogs.
* Many more improvements and fixes, ensuring that NextSTART continues to be the most versatile, functional and easy-to-use GUI enhancement product ever conceived.

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.

System Requirements:

NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.


March 15, 2004 - Message Board is now online!

Winstep now provides a Message Board service for those users who don't like (or don't want to subscribe to) mailing lists.

Feel free to report any problems or suggestions you might have there.

Registered Winstep users can access the Beta Software Discussion forum by clicking on 'User Groups' at the top of the message board and joining the 'Registered User' group. Note that applications must be approved by message board administrators, which might take a while.


February 25, 2004 - WorkShelf v1.4 Public Beta 2 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases WorkShelf v1.4 Public Beta 2!

Imagine no longer having to dig through countless menus and Explorer windows
just to find what you're looking for. Try to visualize NOT having to minimize
all your open windows just to launch a program on your desktop. With Workshelf
running on your computer those time-wasting actions are a thing of the past!
This powerful and intuitive desktop organization tool allows you to arrange, by
simple drag and drop, frequently used files, folders, applications and URLs into
their own groups and categories, providing quick access without disrupting your
work environment. Workshelf also gives you quick access to special system
folders like the Windows Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, Printers, and
much, much more!

The new v1.4 version is a major upgrade with lots of exciting new features: 


* CPU Meter Module with list of current CPU hog(s).
* Multi-Account talking POP3 Email Checker Module.
* Weather Module with comprehensive list of over 5,000 cities in the World.
* Improvements to previously existing Modules.
* Show In All Shelves now works for all Modules.
* Full 48x48 icon support.
* Ability to associate sounds to various events.
* Optional Shelf Collapse/Uncollapse smooth Animation.
* Improved Drag & Drop support between Regular and Folder Shelves.
* Shelf Item Separators.
* Reserved Screen Space support.
* Improved WorkShelf Preferences GUI.
* Docking to top screen edge without having to invert WorkShelf.
* Automatic Tab selection even when WorkShelf is not collapsed.
* Improved Keyboard support.
* MSI Shortcuts now resolved properly.
* Easier access to Backup and Restore WorkShelf functions.
* Many more other improvements and fixes!

Read the history-ws.txt file included in the beta upgrade pak for a complete
list of changes, fixes and additions.


System Requirements:

WorkShelf will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

January 10, 2004 - WorkShelf 1.3 Released!
Winstep Software Technologies releases WorkShelf 1.3!

Imagine no longer having to dig through countless menus and Explorer windows just to find what you're looking for. Try to visualize NOT having to minimize all your open windows just to launch a program on your desktop. With Workshelf running on your computer those time-wasting actions are a thing of the past! This powerful and intuitive desktop organization tool allows you to arrange, by simple drag and drop, frequently used files, folders, applications and URLs into their own groups and categories, providing quick access without disrupting your work environment. Workshelf also gives you quick access to special system folders like the Windows Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, Printers, and much, much more!

WorkShelf can be attached to the top or bottom of the screen or simply left floating on the desktop. To save valuable screen space, Workshelf can be hidden from view or collapsed down to a simple tab display. Quickly moving the mouse to the associated screen edge is all it takes to make it fully visible again, even when covered by other windows.

Workshelf fully supports drag & drop, making it simple to manage applications, files, printers, etc... With drag & drop you can move, copy and re-arrange items from one location to another, both inside and outside WorkShelf. Dropping a document onto a Workshelf item will open the document in the target application, while dropping an .ico file will customize that item's icon.

WorkShelf features useful modules like an animated Recycler bin and a speaking Digital/Analog Clock that synchronizes the time with time servers on the internet, with more forthcoming... Modules can be displayed 'in-shelf' among other items or as free-form/free floating objects on your desktop! 

WorkShelf is fully customizable, with hundreds of different themes freely available online. Best of all, it integrates perfectly with NextSTART, Winstep's Start Menu and taskbar replacement: changing a theme in NextSTART will automatically apply it onto Workshelf and vice-versa.

New features in WorkShelf 1.3 include: 


* New Internal Commands:

Hybernate
Standby Mode
Quick Exit WorkShelf
Show Volume Control
Rebuild Icon Cache

* Windows File Browser:

WorkShelf can now optionaly use the Windows standard file dialogs if you don't like the built-in NeXT Style Browser.

* New WorkShelf base options!

Workshelf can now display a shelf base when docked but not when in floating mode.

* Many more improvements and fixes, ensuring that WorkShelf continues to be one of the most powerful and flexible desktop organization tools currently available!

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.

System Requirements:

WorkShelf will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.

December 9, 2003 - NextSTART 3.0 Final Released!

Winstep Software Technologies is proud to announce the immediate availability of NextSTART 3.0 Final.

WARNING: Previous 3.0 betas expire after January 1st, 2004. You MUST download the final version in order to continue running NextSTART past this date.

NextSTART 3.0 builds upon the incredible success of earlier NextSTART versions, providing an extremely powerful custom interface to replace or extend the Windows Start Menu, System Tray and Taskbar – and giving Windows a brand new face in the process.

With NextSTART you can conveniently access all your programs and files using a highly structured and completely customisable menu tree system. Menu configuration is a breeze with full support for drag & drop. Tear off sub-menus can be conveniently left open and placed anywhere on your screen while you work on related tasks. Winstep’s hotspot technology allows you to quickly open menus and launch programs by bumping screen edges and corners with the mouse cursor or by clicking anywhere on the desktop and other application windows. Above all, NextSTART is very easy to configure, providing a full-blown GUI Preferences screen.

As with earlier versions, NextSTART 3 is fully skinnable. Changing looks is a one-click process, with no need to reconfigure menus and hotspots every time the theme is changed. A wide range of themes are supplied with the package and many hundreds more are freely available online. NextSTART 3 is also fully compatible with all previous NextSTART 2.x themes.

Installing NextSTART 3.0:

Previous NextSTART 2.x or 3.0 Beta users should download and install the NextSTART Upgrade Pak. Previous Winstep Full Pak users should download and install the Winstep Upgrade Full Pak. Do NOT uninstall any previous NextSTART or Winstep Full Pak installations to install the new NextSTART 3.0 version. Please make sure that NextSTART 3.0 shares the same installation folder as the previous Winstep installation.

New users should download and install the NextSTART v3.0 Full Pak - or the Winstep Full Pak if they wish to try out WorkShelf and Fontbrowser as well.

Important note for registered NextSTART 2.x users:

NextSTART 2.x has been discontinued. Due to growing support costs, the price of NextSTART has been raised from $19.95 to $24.95.

Although v2.x registration keys do not work with NextSTART 3.0, you can still try the new NextSTART 3.0 version at no cost for 30 days. NextSTART 3.0 will not interfere with current NextSTART 2.x installations, you can go back to NextSTART 2.x at any time simply by running nextstart2.exe instead of nextstart3.exe.

New features in NextSTART 3.0 include:

* Startbar

An optional floating ‘Startbar’ that can contain the Start button, Quicklaunch Hotspots, the Tasklist and the System Tray. The ‘Startbar’ is dockable to any screen edge, either at full width or any size to suit the user. It is also collapsible a la KDE/Gnome bar, or optionally just like the normal Windows taskbar.

* Improved Task Management Handling:

Multi-row, re-sizable tasklist - now with optional text labelling. Tasks can be grouped in Windows XP-style, sorted by application or filtered off the tasklist. The new task manager offers keyboard shortcuts to quickly minimize, close and restore similar tasks and all mouse-click actions are fully customisable. The system tray button, used to toggle the system tray between collapsed and un-collapsed states, now features an optional clock. Semi-transparency is also supported in Windows 2000/XP systems.

* Redesigned NextSTART Preferences Panel.

The NextSTART Preferences panel has been completely redesigned, conveniently separating per user settings from skinning settings and making configuration far more intuitive. Also new to NextSTART 3 is an enhanced theme manager which includes a handy preview function.

* Full multiple monitor support.

Users are now able to position their menus, hotspots and startbar on specific monitors.

* WinAmp control

New internal commands have been added to control Winamp directly from NextSTART menus and hotspots.

* New skinning features

Maximum menu titlebar text width, more text justification and offset options, any-size hotspot buttons with text labels and mouseover/pressed settings, independent icon size for Quick Launch buttons, and much, much, more!

* Many more improvements and fixes, ensuring that NextSTART continues to be the most versatile, functional and easy-to-use GUI enhancement product ever conceived.

For a complete list of changes and additions, please click here.

System Requirements:

NextSTART will run under Win95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP.




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 News

December 1, 2009

Nexus dock v9.12 and Winstep Xtreme 9.12 beta 6 Released!

The new releases offer better support for 3rd party dock backgrounds.

[Details]


November 23, 2009

Nexus dock v9.11 final Released!

The Winstep Nexus Dock is a FREE professional dock for Windows.

[Details]


November 23, 2009

Winstep Xtreme 9.11 Public Beta 5 Released!

The WorkShelf component in this first public beta release proudly features a new User Interface with multi-language support that will soon make its way to the NextSTART component.

In addition, the new beta adds full support for Windows 7 and all 64 bit versions of Windows, also fixing serious issues such as Skype 4.x becoming unresponsive when accessed via the systray icon, and an incompatibility with Logitech's 64 bit version of Setpoint that caused docks, menus and the Shelf to become blank and unresponsive.

[Details]


November 12, 2009

Start Menu Organizer v1.2 Released!

The Winstep Start Menu Organizer is an application designed to help you organize and clean your Windows Start Menu.

This new release improves multi-user support and adds support for four new languages: Farsi (Persian), Norwegian, Spanish and Turkish.

[Details]


September 16, 2009

Nexus dock v9.8 beta 3 Released!

The Winstep Nexus Dock is a FREE professional dock for Windows.

This new release fixes a MAJOR bug that caused the tab headers in Nexus Preferences to become unresponsive after 35 days!

[Details]


July 30, 2009

Nexus dock v9.7 beta 2 Released!

The Winstep Nexus Dock is a FREE professional dock for Windows.

This new release adds a ton of new features, including icon spacing, running indicators, optional full right-click context menus and much more!

[Details]


June 13, 2009

Nexus dock v9.5 beta 1 Released!

The Winstep Nexus Dock is a FREE professional dock for Windows.

It's every bit as powerful as the Nexus dock in Winstep Xtreme, except that it does not support multi-docks nor multi-level subdocks.

The new User Interface (coming soon to Winstep Xtreme too!) provides a nice intuitive configuration environment - and it has multi-language support!

[Details]


May 21, 2009

Winstep Xtreme 9.5 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v9.5, WorkShelf v9.5, Start Menu Organizer v1.1, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

Winstep Xtreme is now 100% compatible with both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 7.

Among the many new features, check out the new Glass Blur and Colorize effects!

[Details]


December 9, 2008

Winstep Xtreme 8.11 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v8.11, WorkShelf v8.11, Start Menu Organizer v1.1, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

Among Windows 7's features, the taskbar overhaul is probably the feature in Microsoft's upcoming OS that has aroused the most interest.

Well, you won't have to wait for Windows 7 anymore - Winstep Xtreme 8.11 has just been released, and brings with it the most interesting and useful features of the new Windows 7 "Superbar" into the XP and Vista world!

[Details]


November 18, 2008

Things just around the corner...

So you've seen all those videos of the new Windows 7 Beta taskbar and you can't help but Wish that the new "Superbar" was available for your trusty copy of Vista and XP?

Well, you won't have to wait for Windows 7 anymore. Winstep Xtreme 8.11 is going to be released this month... and guess what it features?

Click Details to watch a video of the new Winstep Xtreme "Superbar" in action.

[Details]


September 26, 2008

Winstep Xtreme 8.9 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v8.9, WorkShelf v8.9, Start Menu Organizer v1.1, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

This release features, among many other additions, new dock and shelf mouseover effects plus the inclusion of a brand new application to the Winstep Xtreme family of products.

Click Details to find out what else is new and watch a video of Winstep Xtreme in action.

[Details]


May 30, 2008

Winstep Xtreme 8.5 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.6, WorkShelf v2.6, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

Restores the Weather Channel feed and brings Apple Dock style icon reflection to Windows.

[Details]


April 23, 2008

Things to come...

Sneak preview of the new icon reflection effect available in the next Winstep Xtreme release.

[Details]


February 20, 2008

Winstep Xtreme 8.2 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.5, WorkShelf v2.5, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

Winstep Xtreme is now 100% Windows Vista compatible.

[Details]


November 26, 2007

Winstep Xtreme 7.11 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.4, WorkShelf v2.4, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

[Details]


September 28, 2007

Winstep Xtreme 7.9 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.3, WorkShelf v2.3, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

[Details]


June 27, 2007

Winstep Xtreme 7.4 reviewed in Computer Shopper!

Winstep Xtreme got an Editor's rating of 8.2 out of 10. Click details to read the review.

[Details]


April 16, 2007

Winstep Xtreme 7.4 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.2, WorkShelf v2.2, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

[Details]


February 6, 2007

Winstep Xtreme 7.1 Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.1, WorkShelf v2.1, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS!

[Details]


November 24, 2006

Winstep Xtreme 6.11 Final Released!

Winstep Xtreme includes NextSTART v4.0, WorkShelf v2.0, FontBrowser v1.0 and NeXuS, the new entry to the Winstep family of products!

[Details]