Windows 7

wasker · Post by **wasker** » 2009 May 05, 14:22

fgagnon wrote:For win7 anomalies, we should be careful about assigning strange behavior bugs to the app vs. w7 itself. Besides being pre-release, there are issues with upgrade installation performance vs "clean install" performance. Microsoft recommends a clean install for each build. Upgrade installations are easier for the user (settings and apps are retained intact) but due to forked builds they can fall victim to the odd bug. Bottom line: If an issue cannot be reproduced with a "clean install" it may not be a real issue.

For core features like path item resolution (drive bar problem) this doesn't matter: those are always being reconfigured right no matter which installation path user had chosen.

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2009 May 05, 14:34

Not sure how to show something that's not there, but try this ...

for reference, the XP Toolbar with QuickLaunch segment on left:

Part of my win7 desktop with Taskbar and x2 not pinned:

Part of my win7 desktop with Taskbar after manually pinning x2:

Win7 taskbar with 2 instances of x2 running, but with focus on Firefox:

Win7 taskbar with 2 instances of x2 running, with hover display of instances

I do not consider the bahavior to be a "problem". Just illustrating how things are in win7.
However, most folks will expect x2 to automatically pin itself to the task bar when that option is checked in the installer.

@ wasker, & core features -
Of course, but many folks cannot make the distinction. Hence the caveat.

Post by **nikos** » 2009 May 05, 17:48

thanks for the technicolor explanation
this report i got said that there's a problem with the icon when you pin xplorer2 but from what you're saying this isn't reproducible

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2009 May 05, 19:14

My understanding of the report was only that the installer didn't put a shortcut/icon on the taskbar,
and that changing the icon didn't help (of course not).

The win7 behavior to not pin shortcuts/icons to the taskbar for quick launch is completely
reproducible. The user must manually pin them there if he wants the quick launch feature.

I thought initially that the installer's failure to pin it to the taskbar was a matter of the
destination folder for the quick launch function being different in win7 (it is).
But wasker's post earlier in this thread suggests that it is also a win7 feature
to keep installers from from doing this automatically.

Cosmo · Post by **Cosmo** » 2009 May 07, 09:56

New problem: On 32 bit W7 RC build 7100 German.

This problem will probably not so incident on an English Windows, so I try to explain it in details; I am not sure, if this reproducible on an English system.

Example: The folder program files is named Programme in German. On a German XP the folder with the name Programme exist as a physical folder, a folder named program files does not exist.

In W7 this has been changed obviously. In the folder pane I see the folder "Programme", but it seems to be an virtual folder. If I switch to raw content I find, that all the content of this folder is in a folder named "program files", an additional "Programme" folder is there, but as an empty folder with attributes H & S. Things get more confusing, because the tree pane always and only shows "Programme" (quite logical, as it does not show raw content), but if I enter the said folder in a pane I see "Programme" as the title in the tab bar (and in the title bar of x2), but in the pane header it says "program files". That means, a totally confusing mix of raw content names and virtual content names.

(BTW: no remaining x2 process after closing)

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2009 May 07, 12:10

I have seen similar confusions/duplications between real and virtualized folders;
but I expect that much of this will be sorted out before the RTM.
Likewise, fixing regionalization issues is one of the areas that MS is said to be focusing on during the RC phase.

As for 32-bit x2 process remaining after closing, I noticed that right away: the RC build 7100 has fixed that issue. :)
[btw, I have read that the w7 beta had the same issue with other 32-bit apps also.]

fuxs · Post by **fuxs** » 2009 May 08, 21:53

Cosmo wrote:New problem: On 32 bit W7 RC build 7100 German.

This problem will probably not so incident on an English Windows, so I try to explain it in details; I am not sure, if this reproducible on an English system.

Example: The folder program files is named Programme in German. On a German XP the folder with the name Programme exist as a physical folder, a folder named program files does not exist.

In W7 this has been changed obviously. )

..

Isn't this just the same as in Vista? (I have an English Win7 at hand only)

Cosmo · Post by **Cosmo** » 2009 May 09, 00:07

This is very likely, but I have XP, so I can't tell about Vista. But it would be interesting to know, how this works on a non-English Vista.

Thracx · Post by **Thracx** » 2009 May 11, 23:37

I figured that I'd chime in with my experiences with Win7 & Xplorer².

Thus far, I've noticed 4 issues:

1. Empty Drive Bar: I've never used this but would be happy to help debug the problem. Note that clicking on the 'Drive button' yields nothing (almost certainly the same problem, just a different way of seeing it).
2. Incorrect Library Names: Win7 libraries are named differently than in Explorer. Likely a simple fix for Nikos, but I don't code with shell extensions so I'm no help.
* Update: The Incorrect Library Names issue seems to have been with the Win 7 Beta - Xplorer² shows the correct names in RC1. It does show the funny names in the titleBar, but that's always been the case with X² (such as showing CLSIDs).
3. Compatibility Option - Larger Fonts (150%):
3a. MenuBar Gets Drunk: Xplorer²'s menuBar doesn't work when you increase the size. Seems like it's using a fixed height which doesn't adjust for the larger font? I'll try to reproduce it...
* Update: I was able to get the funky MenuBar on RC1, see screenshots here. This seemed to occur at the same time that the file list changed font size (added as #3b).
3b. List's Font Size Changes on New Tab: The list's font is normal, but then when I open a new tab, such as via Ctrl + Ins, the new tab has a larger font size. See screenshots here.
4. Can't 'Open' Control Panel Applets: I can navagate to the Control Panel in X², but when you 'open' an item, it actually opens like an empty folder. I can rightClick and select the default action, Open, and the applet opens. It does sound more like a Win7 issue than a X² issue though.

I can look into the QuickLaunch issue, but I think that has to do with the fact that the old 'quicklaunch toolbar' is not the same thing as the new 'pin to taskbar' feature of Win7. fgagnon explained this reasonably well. Also, go here and look for item #13, "I Want My Quick Launch Toolbar Back!".

Nikos,

these lines indicate the problem: drive C:\ disabled through admin policy
somehow windows 7 won't name drives as c:\ etc under my computer
when i get hold of windows 7 i'll double check it, thanks

I'd be happy to lend you a TS login session for my Win7 computer if you think that would help. PM me if you think that would help and I'll reply with the connect info.

Post by **nikos** » 2009 May 12, 04:43

thanks thracx i'm trying to make a dual boot laptop for win7 this week so i'll do my own tests.

the font issue, how are you changing the size? from windows control panel or from within x2?

ps all win7 users: can you download this new manifest file and put it in the installation folder and see if it makes any difference?
www.zabkat.com/xplorer2_UC.exe.manifest

MegaZapFan · Post by **MegaZapFan** » 2009 May 12, 11:47

Updated manifest - control panel items seem to work fine, drive bar still blank.

Thracx · Post by **Thracx** » 2009 May 12, 11:55

nikos wrote:thanks thracx i'm trying to make a dual boot laptop for win7 this week so i'll do my own tests.

OK, but let me know if that changes or if you need another test bed.

nikos wrote:the font issue, how are you changing the size? from windows control panel or from within x2?

Control Panel -> Display
New screenshot here.

nikos wrote:ps all win7 users: can you download this new manifest file and put it in the installation folder and see if it makes any difference?
www.zabkat.com/xplorer2_UC.exe.manifest

Will do.

Post by **nikos** » 2009 May 12, 12:01

can anybody else see the menu font problem that thracx has when the windows font increases from control panel? If anything this is 100% a windows bug since xplorer2 menu bar is very standard. Do you see it in any other program?

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2009 May 12, 12:22

I cannot see the problem on my 64-bit win7 RC in any combination I tried.
not with my classic theme, not with aero, not with basic view.
not with 125% nor with 150% sizes. (I tried most combinations.)

Thracx · Post by **Thracx** » 2009 May 12, 17:32

nikos wrote:can anybody else see the menu font problem that thracx has when the windows font increases from control panel? If anything this is 100% a windows bug since xplorer2 menu bar is very standard. Do you see it in any other program?

It is probably an issue with Win7-RC1, not X², although I haven't seen it any other apps yet. Firefox does have a similar issue with the larger font size, but that has to do with it using fixed-size dialogs and doesn't affect it's MenuBar (the file download confirmation dialog no longer fits into the space allowed and you can't resize it, heh...).
I'll try to figure out exactly how to reproduce the MenuBar issue and post details.

However, the font size inside the ListView was easily reproducible. Tabs opened along with X² are normal, but tabs opened later had the larger font. It seems like when a new Tab is created, it's getting the font size from the system where-as when a Tab is 'restored', it's probably getting the font size from X²'s saved configuration. Although I'm sure this is related to the increased font size, I'll still test that by disabling the font increase for X² and seeing if the issue goes away or not.

All in all it's good to know that Xplorer² works well with Win7. If these are the only issues we'll be having with the move to Win7, then I'm quite happy

. My #4 was the only one which actually affects me, the rest are just aesthetics.

Also, it's worth noting that this might also be related to DirectX/OpenGL fullscreen applications. I'll try testing this theory soon, but idea is that perhaps the MenuBar issue won't normally occur, but it will occur after a DX app has started and exited, or perhaps only if the app is still running but minimized, etc. As background, my Win7 computer is my new HTPC which is outputting 1080p to an HDTV. XBMC for Windows is a great app, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's messing with something.

zabkat support forum

Windows 7

Win7x64 RC1 (Build 7100) with Xplorer² v1.7.2.4 x64 Unicode