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Winstep Xtreme v15.7 Released!

July 27, 2015




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

Winstep Xtreme runs on the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7, 8.x and Windows 10.

Full compatibility with Windows 10 is here!




Windows 10 Ready v15.7 makes Winstep Xtreme 100% compatible with Microsoft's Windows 10.

Fixing a couple of nagging issues, such as Winstep Xtreme hanging for a couple of minutes when running for the first time and the Windows Start Menu button being disabled when showing the Windows taskbar, v15.7 also adds support for Windows Apps and the new Windows 10 Virtual Desktop Manager.



Important note to currently registered Winstep Xtreme users:


To make up for the fact that there were no new releases for a while, this upgrade - making Winstep Xtreme applications fully compatible with a brand new Windows version - is FREE to you provided your license key is valid for updates released until November 22 2012 or later.

If you are updating via the Winstep Update Manager, the Updater itself will let you know if your license key is NOT valid for v15.7, in which case you will have to either renew your upgrade subscription or stay with the version you already have.

You can find more details about your license key at the bottom of the About tab of NextSTART or WorkShelf Preferences. You can also renew your upgrade subscription from that tab if necessary. For more information about Winstep Xtreme's Upgrade Policy please click here.


What's New? Highlighted Features:


  • Full Windows 10 support.
  • Improved the experience of running Winstep Xtreme for the first time.
  • New 'Task View' internal command to invoke the Windows Virtual Desktop Manager (Windows 10 only)
  • Users can now quickly go back to their previous Windows wallpaper after switching themes via the new 'Restore Wallpaper' internal command.
  • Improved the way Xtreme behaves when the user presses 'Show Desktop'.
  • Always on Bottom docks are no longer allowed to come forward on mouseover even if 'pop up dock on mouseover' is enabled.
  • Live preview thumbnails of running applications can now range from 64 to 512 pixels.
  • New context menus make it easier to add new items to the Quick Launch section of the NextSTART taskbar.
  • The Theme Browser now displays the name of the theme author, where available.
  • Fixed problem in the Update Manager that could cause downloads to fail randomly with a 'File may be corrupt' error.
  • Various other misc. improvements and bug fixes...


WorkShelf v15.7 complete change log:


  • On Windows 8/10 Glass Blur settings are now enabled to allow for 3rd party glass blur applications but the blur feature itself is disabled by default.
  • Added new internal command 'Task View' to invoke the Virtual Desktop Manager (Windows 10 only).
  • Windows 10 Metro Apps in the list of running applications now display a customized icon instead of the default system icon.
  • The size of mouseover window preview thumbnails can now range between 64 to 512 pixels.
  • The Quick Launch tab in the Shelf now includes items pinned to the taskbar (Windows 7 and above) and is also monitored for changes.
  • Desktop modules now properly position themselves on the screen when open for the first time.
  • Improved the way WorkShelf behaves when the user presses 'Show Desktop'.
  • The Tip of the Day is no longer displayed when being run for the first time.
  • The default Main Shelf tab now has a 'Show Tip of the Day' icon.
  • The Check for Updates dialog no longer pops up when being run for the first time, and a check for updates is performed immediately in the background.
  • Added new 'Restore Wallpaper' internal command to restore any Windows wallpaper changed when switching to a Winstep theme.
  • Added a 'Restore Wallpaper' internal command icon to the default dock.
  • The balloon tooltip of dock items with thumbnails now also displays the thumbnail.
  • Added a 'Icon Labels' sub-menu to the Shelf context menu to quickly set the number of lines used by icon labels in the Shelf.
  • Added new 'Busy' animation to replace the hourglass animation.
  • Always on Bottom docks are no longer allowed to come forward on mouseover even if 'pop up dock on mouseover' is enabled.
  • The Update Manager Window showing new versions available now appears in the taskbar and can be minimized.
  • The Theme Browser now displays the name of the theme author, where available.
  • Enabling both the Rain Drop effect and the 'Hide Dock at Startup' setting would cause several glitches until the dock was activated for the first time, such as the rain drop audio immediately playing, animated icon reflections being visible and dock activation animation not playing properly for the first time.
  • The application would crash if the user answered No to any of the confirmation dialogs in the Troubleshooting Options dialog.
  • Updated the URL used for displaying 'Detailed Weather conditions' for Weather.com, which was no longer correct.
  • A hidden dock would pop up (but inactive) immediately after exiting a full screen application when using the fade hide animation.
  • On Windows 10 the Winstep service would silently crash when trying to install new fonts and would become unavailable until the next reboot. This caused, among other things, the application to hang for a couple of minutes when running for the first time as it tried to install the default theme fonts.
  • Under Windows 10 the tasklist no longer displays multiple windows for each Metro app or for Metro apps that are no longer visible.
  • Windows 10 apps would always display a black thumbnail in the list of running applications, so we now display an icon instead.
  • Under a clean Windows 10 installation the dock now tries to add a default shortcut to Internet Explorer instead if the default browser is a Windows App.
  • Removed 'Start Flip3D' internal command from Windows 8.x onward since it is no longer available.
  • Under Windows 8 and Windows 10 the Windows Start Button did nothing when clicked on after restoring the visibility of the Windows taskbar.
  • Sub-docks with an opening animation set to None would not appear until the time required to play an (invisible) animation had elapsed.
  • All modules captured into the NextSTART taskbar would disappear when Peeking the desktop except Wanda.
  • Desktop modules open for the first time now show up aligned to currently open desktop modules.
  • Image thumbnails no longer pop on and off when browsing a network folder on a menu.
  • Fixed the 'Peek Desktop' internal command which wasn't working properly (Windows 7).
  • Thumbnails in Delete File Confirmation dialog are now displayed with the correct aspect ratio.
  • When pinning an application to the dock in which the executable does not have a Version Info block, the executable filename is used instead.
  • Auto-Complete was not working properly on several configuration dialogs.
  • Icons of URL shortcuts were not being resolved properly.
  • Made the desktop swiming Wanda fish a bit easier to catch (i.e.; click on).
  • Tooltips of pictures or taskbar preview thumbnails appearing at the very top of the screen would not be visible.
  • A tooltip would not display for the first picture preview thumbnail on a menu.
  • If a picture or taskbar preview thumbnail could not change position when switching then the previous thumbnail was not being erased and the thumbnail appeared instantly instead of fading in.
  • The application would sometimes crash when executing certain shell functions (such as 'Set as Desktop Background' for an image item) from a context menu.
  • Fixed issue with the Winstep Update Manager which could cause it to mis-report the size of the file download so far and even terminate with a 'Download may be corrupt' error.


NextSTART v14.11 complete change log:


  • On Windows 8/10 Glass Blur settings are now enabled to allow for 3rd party glass blur applications but the blur feature itself is disabled by default.
  • Shortcuts can now be added to the Quick Launch section of the taskbar even when dropped outside the Quick Launch area.
  • Added a new default Quick Launch icon that opens the Windows Start Menu.
  • Added new internal command 'Task View' to invoke the Virtual Desktop Manager (Windows 10 only).
  • Added new default Quick Launch icon to invoke the Virtual Desktop Manager (Windows 10 only).
  • Windows 10 Metro Apps in the taskbar now display a customized icon instead of the default system icon.
  • The size of mouseover window preview thumbnails can now range between 64 to 512 pixels.
  • Improved the way NextSTART behaves when the user presses 'Show Desktop'.
  • The Tip of the Day is no longer displayed when being run for the first time.
  • The Check for Updates dialog no longer pops up when being run for the first time, anda check for updates is performed immediately in the background.
  • Added new 'Restore Wallpaper' internal command to restore any Windows wallpaper changed when switching to a Winstep theme.
  • The 'Add New Quick Launch Item' context menu option for the taskbar now opens a sub-menu from where you can quickly select the item type (or add via the Quick Launch Item Properties Editor as before).
  • When pinning an item to the taskbar, the label of the new quick launch item now properly displays the application name instead of 'Hotspot x'.
  • Added new 'Busy' animation to replace the hourglass animation.
  • Updated the NextSTART application icon.
  • The Update Manager Window showing new versions available now appears in the taskbar and can be minimized.
  • The Theme Browser now displays the name of the theme author, where available.
  • NextSTART now uses Regional Settings to display the correct date format in the system tray button.
  • The 'Task Manager' context menu entry in the Taskbar wasn't opening the Task Manager under Windows 10.
  • On Windows 10 the Winstep service would silently crash when trying to install new fonts and would become unavailable until the next reboot. This caused, among other things, the application to hang for a couple of minutes when running for the first time as it tried to install the default theme fonts.
  • When restoring NextSTART settings from a backup using the Preferences screen, all hotspot configuration would be lost when clicking Ok in Preferences.
  • When manually collapsing the startbar, it would uncollapse immediately if a window is flashing or was flashed and not yet made the foreground window.
  • Under Windows 10 the tasklist no longer displays multiple windows for each Metro app or for Metro apps that are no longer visible.
  • Removed 'Start Flip3D' internal command from Windows 8.x onward since it is no longer available.
  • Under Windows 8 and Windows 10 the Windows Start Button did nothing when clicked on after restoring the visibility of the Windows taskbar.
  • Deleting a Quick Launch hotspot pointing to a virtual shell item would show an 'unknown item' icon in the confirmation dialog.
  • Dragging a Quick Launch hotspot pointing to a virtual shell item outside the Quick Launch area would result in an invalid shortcut.
  • Image thumbnails no longer pop on and off when browsing a network folder on a menu.
  • Fixed the 'Peek Desktop' internal command which wasn't working properly (Windows 7).
  • Thumbnails in the Quick Launch area and the Delete File Confirmation dialog are now displayed with the correct aspect ratio.
  • Any hotspot associated to a 'Running Applications' menu displayed a blank description in the left hotspots list of the Hotspots tab in Preferences.
  • When pinning an application to the taskbar in which the executable does not have a Version Info block, the executable filename is used instead.
  • Auto-Complete was not working properly on several configuration dialogs.
  • Icons of URL shortcuts were not being resolved properly.
  • Tooltips of pictures or taskbar preview thumbnails appearing at the very top of the screen would not be visible.
  • A tooltip would not display for the first picture preview thumbnail on a menu.
  • If a picture or taskbar preview thumbnail could not change position when switching then the previous thumbnail was not being erased and the thumbnail appeared instantly instead of fading in.
  • The application would sometimes crash when executing certain shell functions (such as 'Set as Desktop Background' for an image item) from a context menu.
  • The Hotspots Properties Editor was corrupting Internal Commands assigned to hotspots.
  • Fixed issue with the Winstep Update Manager which could cause it to mis-report the size of the file download so far and even terminate with a 'Download may be corrupt' error.

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Welcome to our new web site!

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The Winstep web site gets a brand new face to match the quality of our products.

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