The Winstep Nexus dock is a FREE dock for Windows. Every feature you’d expect from a dock, including widgets, mouse-over effects, skins, drag-and-drop, and many others not available in most other docks, such as live icon reflections, in-dock system tray, blur-behind effects, and much more. Completely customizable, with thousands of different backgrounds freely available online, Nexus is fully compatible with skins for all 3rd party docks.
Nexus runs on the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8.x and 10.
v20.10 fixes some issues with the system tray pop ups on version 2004 of Windows 10, adds several internal commands to directly access Windows 10 settings such as Windows Update, docks can be docked and undocked by dragging, adds compatibility with Stardock's OD tabbed dock skins in Nexus Ultimate, plus many other new features and stability improvements!
Thank you for your preference and for your help in making Nexus one of the best docks for Windows!
Nexus v20.10 complete change log:
Updated Portuguese language file.
Updated Hungarian language file.
Added Pause, Play, Stop, Next and Previous commands to the right click context menu of the Media Player internal command.
The application's invisible main control window is now monitored to make sure it's not made visible again by 3rd party applications.
Added new 'Windows Settings' internal command to open the Windows 10 UWP Windows Settings panel.
The Most Active Programs History dialog now automatically adjusts font size to make up for very large process names.
Added new 'Show decimal place for processes' option to the settings of the CPU Meter module. When enabled, any list of running processes - like the one shown in the Most Active Programs dialog - will display a decimal place in the percentage of CPU usage for that process (e.g.; 1.3% instead of just 1%, or 1.8% instead of just 2%).
Added several new internal commands for accessing Windows 10 settings dialogs: Windows Settings, Apps, System, Network and Internet, Devices, Gaming, Time and Language, Accounts, Personalization, Ease of Access, Phone, Privacy, Windows Update, Search Settings and Power Options. These new Internal Commands are all grouped under 'Internal Commands - Settings' in the insert new item right click context menus.
Sunrise and sunset times are now correctly calculated for the MSN weather feed, which allows choosing whether to display a moon or a sun icon with nearly 100% accuracy.
An icon pointing to Explorer.exe in the dock now only displays a running indicator if there are Explorer windows open.
The dock can now be docked to and undocked from any screen edge and monitor by simply dragging it (users can press the ALT key while left clicking to make it easier). When docked it will show some initial resistance to being undocked by 'shaking' when about to detach. When docking or undocking by dragging, the Detach event sounds to give the user some audio feedback. To dock an horizontal dock drag it so the top edge touches the top screen edge or the bottom edge touches the bottom screen edge. To dock an horizontal dock to the side of the screen so it changes orientation, slowly drag it until the mouse pointer nearly touches the desired screen edge. To prevent the dock from accidentally docking when moving it from one monitor to another, the auto-docking mechanism is speed sensitive: move across monitors rapidly to prevent the auto-docking mechanism from kicking in. The auto-docking/snap-to feature can be disabled in the 'More Options' dialog of the Behavior tab of Preferences.
The width of checkboxes in the User Interface is now automatically cropped so that clicking on a blank space right after the setting description no longer toggles the setting.
Added 'Disable simulated ALT key press when forcing windows to the foreground' setting to the More Options dialog in the General tab of Preferences. This should be checked only if having trouble with ALT+TAB or the ALT key getting stuck.
The Winstep Update Manager will now report hidden updates if the user performs a manual check for updates.
Increased the transparency of the non-lit LCD digits for better readability in full screen alarms/clock/sleep time
Under Windows 10 viewing the Change Log could freeze the application for a long time or even crash it with an out of memory error.
The 'snap mouse pointer to default button' feature only worked when using the 'Standard User Interface' mode.
Disabling or Enabling icon reflections in the dock via the right click context menu would cause icons of UWP apps to show as question marks.
Disabling the "Do not launch multiple sessions on the same application" setting would still require the user to double click on an icon to launch another session if the 'Combine dock icons with running applications' setting was also enabled.
The sub-menu drop down delay setting in the Behavior tab of Preferences had no effect.
On modern systems running more than 256 simultaneous processes, the CPU hog list might not accurately reflect the applications using the most of the CPU at the time. This was fixed in the Winstep service by doubling the limit to 512 simultaneous processes.
Themes with no name on the INI configuration file would appear on Theme right click context menus as blank entries. They now appear labeled as 'Untitled'.
Certain SYSTEM processes were not being enumerated properly and/or always returned 0% CPU and RAM usage.
METAR weather information retrival is now automatically disabled if the application crashes when using a 3rd party DLL to access NOAA's website via HTTPS.
The MSN weather feed was not reporting the correct observation time for locations outside the GMT timezone.
The first forecast day of the MSN weather feed sometimes pointed to the previous day, which caused the 5 day forecast to be out by one day (e.g.; the forecast for Fri would appear on the Sat slot).
Albany Airport, Australia had the wrong METAR code and was showing the conditions for Albury, Australia.
The 'Repeat every (x) years' option for alarms was not working properly.
Dropping a folder into the left panel of the Media Player Settings dialog would create a playlist with the name of that folder and all the mp3 files in it, but it would miss the very first file.
Version 2004 of Windows 10 changed the default initial dimensions of system tray pop ups which now caused them to appear off screen.
Nexus Ultimate v20.10 complete change log:
Updated Portuguese language file.
Updated Hungarian language file.
Added compatibility with ObjectDock tabbed dock skins. To see the available OD tabbed dock skins you have installed, select 'Shelf Themes' in the Themes tab of Preferences. This will show both native Winstep skins as well as OD tabbed dock skins.
Added Pause, Play, Stop, Next and Previous commands to the right click context menu of the Media Player internal command.
Shelf theme colorization settings are now independent of Global theme colorization settings.
The Fonts dialog in the Appearance tab of Shelf, Drawer and Grid Stacks now only displays the fonts used for those objects instead of the fonts used in the whole theme.
Reorganized the Appearance tab of the Shelf, Drawer and Grid Stack Property dialogs.
The application's invisible main control window is now monitored to make sure it's not made visible again by 3rd party applications.
Added new 'Windows Settings' internal command to open the Windows 10 UWP Windows Settings panel.
Removed the "and all its contents" phrase from the confirmation dialog that pops up when trying to delete a dock, drawer or shelf in the Dock and Shelves tab in Preferences, as this could be misleading for folder type shelves and drawers because no actual files are ever deleted.
The Most Active Programs History dialog now automatically adjusts font size to make up for very large process names.
Added new 'Show decimal place for processes' option to the settings of the CPU Meter module. When enabled, any list of running processes - like the one shown in the Most Active Programs dialog - will display a decimal place in the percentage of CPU usage for that process (e.g.; 1.3% instead of just 1%, or 1.8% instead of just 2%).
Added several new internal commands for accessing Windows 10 settings dialogs: Windows Settings, Apps, System, Network and Internet, Devices, Gaming, Time and Language, Accounts, Personalization, Ease of Access, Phone, Privacy, Windows Update, Search Settings and Power Options. These new Internal Commands are all grouped under 'Internal Commands - Settings' in the insert new item right click context menus.
Sunrise and sunset times are now correctly calculated for the MSN weather feed, which allows choosing whether to display a moon or a sun icon with nearly 100% accuracy.
An icon pointing to Explorer.exe in the dock now only displays a running indicator if there are Explorer windows open.
Docks, Shelves and Drawers can now be docked to and undocked from any screen edge and monitor by simply dragging them (users can press the ALT key while left clicking to make it easier). When docked they will show some initial resistance to being undocked by 'shaking' when they are about to detach. When docking or undocking by dragging, the Detach event sounds to give the user some audio feedback. To dock an horizontal dock or shelf, drag so the top edge touches the top screen edge or the bottom edge touches the bottom screen edge. To dock an horizontal dock or shelf to the side of the screen so it changes orientation, slowly drag it until the mouse pointer nearly touches the desired screen edge. To prevent docks, shelves and drawers from accidentally docking when moving them from one monitor to another, the auto-docking mechanism is speed sensitive: move across monitors rapidly to prevent the auto-docking mechanism from kicking in. The auto-docking/snap-to feature can be disabled in the 'More Options' dialog of the Behavior tab of the Properties dialog of Shelves, docks and Drawers.
The width of checkboxes in the User Interface is now automatically cropped so that clicking on a blank space right after the setting description no longer toggles the setting.
Added 'Disable simulated ALT key press when forcing windows to the foreground' setting to the More Options dialog in the General tab of Preferences. This should be checked only if having trouble with ALT+TAB or the ALT key getting stuck.
The Winstep Update Manager will now report hidden updates if the user performs a manual check for updates.
Increased the transparency of the non-lit LCD digits for better readability in full screen alarms/clock/sleep time
Opening the Appearance tab of a Shelf Properties dialog and pressing the OK button would make all temporary folder Grid Stacks from that Shelf open in a 1x1 icon grid.
Under Windows 10 viewing the Change Log could freeze the application for a long time or even crash it with an out of memory error.
Displaying icon labels in alternate lines in Shelves, Drawers and Grid Stacks was not displaying the labels in the correct position.
The 'snap mouse pointer to default button' feature only worked when using the 'Standard User Interface' mode.
Disabling or Enabling icon reflections in the dock via the right click context menu would cause icons of UWP apps to show as question marks.
Disabling the "Do not launch multiple sessions on the same application" setting would still require the user to double click on an icon to launch another session if the 'Combine dock icons with running applications' setting was also enabled.
The sub-menu drop down delay setting in the Behavior tab of a Dock Properties dialog had no effect.
On modern systems running more than 256 simultaneous processes, the CPU hog list might not accurately reflect the applications using the most of the CPU at the time. This was fixed in the Winstep service by doubling the limit to 512 simultaneous processes.
Themes with no name on the INI configuration file would appear on Theme right click context menus as blank entries. They now appear labeled as 'Untitled'.
Certain SYSTEM processes were not being enumerated properly and/or always returned 0% CPU and RAM usage.
Fixed some issues related to a Shelf's theme no longer being the same as the 'global' theme.
METAR weather information retrival is now automatically disabled if the application crashes when using a 3rd party DLL to access NOAA's website via HTTPS.
The MSN weather feed was not reporting the correct observation time for locations outside the GMT timezone.
Setting the position or orientation of Shelves and Drawers in the associated Properties dialog was no longer doing anything.
The first forecast day of the MSN weather feed sometimes pointed to the previous day, which caused the 5 day forecast to be out by one day (e.g.; the forecast for Fri would appear on the Sat slot).
Albany Airport, Australia had the wrong METAR code and was showing the conditions for Albury, Australia.
The 'Repeat every (x) years' option for alarms was not working properly.
Shelves and Drawers with 3rd party themes might stop responding to clicks on the tabs after collapsing.
Dropping a folder into the left panel of the Media Player Settings dialog would create a playlist with the name of that folder and all the mp3 files in it, but it would miss the very first file.
Version 2004 of Windows 10 changed the default initial dimensions of system tray pop ups which now caused them to appear off screen.
Archived News
Winstep Xtreme v23.11 Released!
December 8, 2023
v23.11 adds per monitor taskbars and tasklists and mitigates Windows 11 22H2 changes and bugs, plus many new features and stability improvements!
Just in time for Christmas, v18.12 is a massive release featuring the new Grid Stacks and Search Filters (Nexus Ultimate), multi monitor profiles and much more!
After nearly 20 years providing the best products at competitive prices, Winstep is increasing the prices of all its applications for the first time - just to make up (barely) for inflation.
Major release featuring the ability to access docks directly from NextSTART, new Delete Effect with 22 different animations, alarm overlays and much more!
Major release featuring new Delete Effect with many different animations, enhanced Media Player functionality and playlist handling, alarm overlays and much more!
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information of individuals within the European Union (EU).
New alarm options, full dock keyboard support, power saving modes and media player internal command, plus many other performance and stability improvements!
New Fast Boot option, running Universal Windows Apps in Windows 10 now display the proper icon and can be pinned to docks and the taskbar, and much more!
High DPI compatibility, combined dock shortcuts with running applications, Weather module Geo location, better Windows 10 integration and much more in this release!
With Windows 10 just around the corner, many users have been wondering if Winstep applications (Nexus, Nexus Ultimate and Winstep Xtreme) will work correctly with it.
In an effort to force you into using Metro, Microsoft stripped the familiar Start Menu out of Windows 8. In the process it also stripped your ability to chose for yourself what is best for you.
Major release featuring nine new incredible dock mouseover effects, five new menu opening animations, Windows 7 "Superbar" ability with window previews and aeropeek capability on docks, horizontal sub-docks, and much more!
Major release featuring nine new incredible dock mouseover effects, Windows 7 "Superbar" ability with window previews and aeropeek capability, and much more!
Version 1.4 fixes an issue in which the Pro version of the program could stop when expanding the Administrative Tools group and adds support for 23 languages.
Nexus runs on the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8.x and 10.
