::Build::

The current version of the geOShell Beta build is: 4.7.

::Date::

This beta was last updated on 26/07/2001.

::Download::

Installer	~315K
Source	~713K

::Changes in the build - 26/07/2001::

1. Added language support. The first step in configuring this is to set HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\Language to whatever language you want to use, for instance "French". Note that this is a free format text field so you can specify anything you like. Next run geOShell and it will create a file called Language.ini in it's run directory. The file will contain a section which looks like this:
   [Your language]
   some text=
   some other text=
   Each time geOShell displays translatable text it looks in the language file and either uses the entry it finds or adds a new entry.
   You simply add your translation after the "=" sign on each line of the file then recycle.
   In the near future, I will create a default ini file containing all valid entries for download from this site, and ultimately I will add language files to the distribution.
   Note that I may of missed some text strings, so let me know if you find any which don't seem to have an entry in the ini file.

2. Added the ability to stop individual bars from fading when win_Z is used. Control this using:
   HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\Services\Plugins\geOBar(n)\Fade This Bar
3. The "Always on top" functionality for each bar has been improved.
4. Icon loading has been changed. Icons have been removed from the main program and instead are loaded from disk. Icons are stored in the icons directory beneath the main geOShell directory. The idea is that only the icons which are used actually get loaded which should be more efficient. The trade off is that loading from disk is slower.
   This seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that it has been implemented I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference. Your comments on this are welcome.
5. A "new" geOVWM plugin has been added. This is based on a cut down version of the lsvwm code and seems to work pretty well. Documentation is here.
6. Some new hotkeys have been added: thanks to Thomas Pfaff who contributed the changes (note that I have changed some of the actual hotkeys from those suggested by Thomas, to avoid clashes, particularly when running geOShell over Explorer). The new hotkeys are:
   win_J    give geOShell focus.
   win_K    display the task menu in mid screen.
   win_P    display the app menu in mid screen.
   

::Changes in the build - 06/06/2001::

1. geOAmpList is now included in the build. This is the latest version from rattboi's site with some minor mods by yours truly, including the ability to change the font.
2. geOAmp has a minor fix to ensure that Winamp is started correctly.
3. There is a new option to control the use of Alpha Blending to get round problems people were having with Windows Media Player. Look here for details. Note this aspect has not been very thoroughly tested, so let me know if there are any problems.
4. There has been a general reduction in the size of the executables.
5. Various other small fixes and mods.

::Changes in the build - 21/05/2001::

1. geOShell now features auto-refresh. This is currently limited to directories accessed via geOShell's internal services (FlexiMenus use this mechanism). It can be turned on/off via the 'HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\ShellUI\Auto Update' registry item.
2. geOMail has been substantially improved and now features support for multiple accounts and dialup. See the plugin page for here details.
3. The geOShell "About" box now shows the build date.
4. The hotkey service has been expanded to allow virtually all keys to be mapped as hotkeys. See the hotkey page here for full details.
5. Shutdown can now be protected by a pop-up "are you sure" dialog. This is controlled by the 'HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\Ask before shutdown' registry entry.

::Changes in the build - 30/03/2001::

1. Win Z now works for non transparency OS's (shows / hides geOShell).
2. Right click context menus work within menus and on FlexiMenu bars. (Note that this functionality is dependant on your OS - if context menus don't work in Explorer on your machine, then it probably won't work in geOShell either).
3. The "Common Desktop" default menu has been expanded so that it now includes the default desktop items, such as "My Computer" and "Recycle Bin".
4. The default registry setup in the installer had an incorrect entry for geOFlexiMenu1_1; the "Common Desktop" default menu entry appeared as "CommonDesktop". This has been fixed but if, in the past, you performed a complete installation you should check your registry and modify this entry if it is incorrect.
5. The individual recycle feature for those plugins which support it is now triggered by shift-right-dbl-click (previously it was just right-dbl-click).
6. geoTasks now supports individual recycle.
7. The problem in which the "hidden" bitmap did not display correctly in Win2K has been fixed.
8. The background to the mute button in geOVol now matches the bar.

::Changes in the build - 06/03/2001::

1. One more step closer to fixing the Win95 shutdown problem (PostQuitMessage(0) removed).
2. Improved support for the Cyrillic character set (tried to do this before but missed a crucial element :( )
3. Improved handling of special folders (you probably won't notice any change)
4. Improved focus handling in relation to geOTasks
5. Use Explorer style dialog for Install Plugins
6. Implement alpha-blending. See here for details.
7. Enable standard edit keys in geOXCommand
8. Optionally enable/disable arguments in geOXCommand. See here for details
9. Added geOVol plugin.
10. geODateTime updated to include Jaykül's improvements and enhancements. Config has changed, so check here for details
11. Added ability to control a geOFlexiMenu using hotkeys. See here for details
12. Added ability to initiate a hotkey using the mouse. See here for details
13. Style (inset/non-inset) now updates on individual recycle

::Changes in the build - 21/02/2001::

1. Reworked the code dealing with LiteStep support. Check the documentation here.
2. Installer now puts geOWharf in the plugins directory (cos it's a plugin!)

::Changes in the build - 19/02/2001::

1. Win95 redraw problems fixed.
2. Relative path handled in the 'Plugins Directory' registry entry.
3. If you set a .cpl file as a geOFlexiMenu 'SingleApp' (i.e. to launch a control panel entry) you can now add parameters to specify the required panel (e.g. intl.cpl,,2).
4. If you set a .cpl file as a geOFlexiMenu 'SingleApp', the default caption is now the title of the control panel entry.
5. Various plugins added - geOAmp, geOTile, geOSpacer and geOMail. Note that I haven't tested geOMail, so tread carefully.

::Changes in the build - 05/02/2001::

1. The installer does not install the registry entry to start geOTraySpy. This must be done manually. Note that you should only add this if you are running geOShell over the top of Explorer. See here for details.
2. Bug in geOTasks which crashed geOShell has been fixed.
3. Loss of focus bug improved. Still seems to happen occaisionally but nowhere near as often.
4. Splash screen works in Win95.
5. Possible fix for Win9x shutdown problems included.
6. geOTasks modified to work with languages based on non-English character sets.

::Changes in the build - 25/01/2001::

1. geOShell now uses the Nullsoft Pimp installer.
   This provides a customisable installation with two default modes - full install for new users and upgrade for existing users.
The full installation includes the shell, the core plugins, some useful commands for default shell manipulation, a default skin and default registry settings - basically a plug'n'play solution.
The upgrade installation just covers the shell and the plugins
2. Improved tray support. Check here for details.
3. Some bug fixes. geOTasks in particular seems to be more stable.

::Changes in the build - 15/12/2000::

1. The FlexiMenu bug limiting Folder path to around 60 characters is fixed
2. The problem with geOTasks icons not refreshing has been fixed. Note that I'm aware of a couple of outstanding problems with geOTasks, both of which result in a blank entry on the bar. In one instance the button continues to work, but in the other clicking on the button will crash geOShell. In the crash scenario the background does not get drawn properly, so the button looks incomplete. If you see this you should recycle the shell.
3. You can configure geOTasks to always display a menu in Combined mode, even for single applications. See here for details
4. Resource handling has been streamlined. geOShell used to load all it's internal icons, pens and brushes at startup. It now loads each one the first time it's used. Resources which are not used are not loaded.
5. I have reworked icon loading. The "load icons" and "load menus" registry entries in HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\Services\Launch have been replaced by an item called "Icon Loading". Possible values are:
   
   

   None

   menu icons are not loaded (icons still appear on the bars)

   PreLoad

   menu icons for all menus are loaded and cached at startup

   OnDemand

   menu icons are loaded and cached just prior to display

   
   The "OnDemand" option is the one to try, since it offers significant savings on resource usage (you don't have to store icons which you don't use) without a significant performance hit.
   
   Note that the config changes (deleting the old registry entries and adding the new one) will take place automatically when you first run this version of geOShell.
   
   

::Changes in the build - 4/12/2000::

1. Icon extraction and display improved - icons are now generally much sharper
2. Icons for control panel and printer menu items now display correctly
3. You can specify more than one folder for a FlexiMenu (this functionaity was lost in the initial 4.7 builds but is now back). This means you can put CommonPrograms and Programs on the same menu by specifying them as Folder1 and Folder2
4. You can now specify an offset for the LockTo feature. You can put in things like "bottom-30,left+20" to position your bars. All offsets must be relative to a side and you can't position off the screen - so "bottom+10" won't work. Also, spaces in the LockTo string are ignored
5. Registry menus now refresh correctly using the geOFleximenu doubleclick mechanism
6. geOTasks has a new feature: you can configure it to display multiple instances of an application using a single icon. When you click the icon you get a menu listing the application instances from which you can choose one to show or hide. See here for details
7. Fixed a few more bugs

::Changes in the build - 27/10/2000::

1. The first geOFlexiMenu now appears correctly.
2. Menus launched via hotkeys should now have focus.

::Changes in the build - 19/10/2000::

1. Support for a different bitmap for hidden bars, which you can specify per bar. This is called hidden.bmp
2. Improved handling of the plugin dir.When you open the install dialog it comes up in the plugin dir by default. If you then load a plugin from a different dir you get a warning
3. geOXCommand no longer crashes geOShell
4. Plugins Directory reg entry now defaults to "plugins"
5. Changed the splash screen code back to the way it was in 4.6.4. This should solve recent problems with the splash screen under W98, but won't resolve the W95 problems
6. Improved the Task Service code and fixed the Install Plugin dialog focus bug (it always lost focus, doesn't any more)
7. geOFleximenu, geODateTime and geOLabel can be individually recycled - just right double click on them
8. Menus have been smartened up a bit. You can now define a menu in the registry, on disk or use a default menu, and access that menu from a fleximenu, the mouse or a hotkey. See here for details
9. On startup geOShell now saves it's home directory in HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\Location
10. Added default vertical skins. The global skin registry entries under HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\ShellUI are now "Skins - Horizontal" and "Skins - vertical". Your existing "skins" registry entry will be renamed automatically when you run this version of geOShell for the first time
11. Added option to stick bars to screen sides. The entry is HKCU\Software\geO\geOShell\Services\Plugins\geOBar (X)\LockTo. Valid values are any sensible combination of "top", "bottom", "left" and "right", comma separated
12. Fixed a few bugs along the way, including (possibly) the one that caused large menus to crash the shell