Recommended Posts

Hey there guys I made a small and interesting program for you guys, read on for more info :D:

Neowin NewsTray v1.0 (build: 23) BETA

for Windows ME/2000/XP

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

This little program will display the latest news on your system tray, and it will check news on the Neowin. Incase it finds new content it will

pop-up a windows 2000/xp style balloon notifying you. You can select which type of content (news or forums) you

want by right clicking on the tray icon and by clicking on the desired type and the pressing refresh to save

your changes, so next time it starts up it will load your preferences.

If you double click on the icon it will go to the latest headline listed. If you click on a headline in the menu

it will open the selected headline you requested.

I hope you guys enjoy this program!!! E-mail me if you find any bugs. I will add more features time by time.

Stop by the thread in the forum for any suggestions or comments:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?s=&a...=0entry579042

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

Known Bugs:

Some people reported that the pop-ups and tooltips appear behind the taskbar or program, it is

not the programs fault it is some other program stealing away the focus from it.

If you click on a headline it will popup in the same browser window (if you have one open).

Sorry if I can't fix everything quickly since I am working and doing other errands while I

make this program, I just made it for fun and to experiment with some features that win2k/xp has.

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

P.S. Please let me know who made this Neowin icon I am using so I can give credit

to the person since I didn't make it.

Changelog:

1.0 Build 23:

? First release, might have bugs, please notify me!

Future Updates:

Will add submenus for each news listed, add a start-up option, installer package, verify the memory

hog issue (it really isn't, since its a feature of the compiler, lol), and other suggestions are welcome!

-----------------------URL to Download:b>

http://www.infraredpr.com/neotray_1.0.23beta.zip

Edited by codezero
Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/57546-neowin-newstray-v10/
Share on other sites

Some things you might like to take a look at and maybe change:

- Disable single left clicks on the icon (just because it can get annoying if you accidentally click it)

- Have an option to change the rate at which it refreshes (maybe introduce and Options form)

- If I select Forum Updates and I refresh it it says in the balloon "Latest News". You need to change this title to suit whatever the user has selected to update... so it should be "Latest Posts" etc...

Also you should change "Refresh News" to "Refresh" in the menu, because the user might not have selected News

- The program takes up 10mb of memory. That's quite a lot for a such a little program in the system tray. Maybe look through your code and take out what you don't need. Also make sure you unload forms or code from memory when they're not needed

- It may look better and be more effecient if you remove most of the menu options and stick them inside a form called Options. Then you can stick the option for update time in there and also move the option to select what type of News to update in there as well

Michael Lerner Posted on Jan 2 2003, 13:08

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

I spotted a bug, when I click refresh news the yellow balloon pops up with the second news item on the list.  

Ive spotted that too :cry:

Ok this is a great program- which is why im going to be really critical - to make it even better.

When you click refresh news- it should do it for all of them - not just the one you are on.

Also - i think a better way of doing it would be in 4 seperate menus for news, software, gamers and forum. That way you dont have to click out of it each time you want to change category.

I really hate the way it scrolls through all of the things each time it refreshs - i.e every 20 mins. It really ****es me of in that way...!

Can you make an options tab? I think a great few options would be to choose whether or not :

- when you refresh the news it pops up all of the news items in a box or just the latest

- whether when you click on a news item it opens in a new window or in an existing one- this severly ****es me of atm btw- i hate it when you click a link and you loose what you were just looking at

- You could put a start up option into this options tab also

OK - if you do that- it will be a sweet program!

omg :woot: i never knew this would even get posted in the software news :laugh: lol

Ok this is a great program- which is why im going to be really critical - to make it even better.

When you click refresh news- it should do it for all of them - not just the one you are on.

Also - i think a better way of doing it would be in 4 seperate menus for news, software, gamers and forum. That way you dont have to click out of it each time you want to change category.

I really hate the way it scrolls through all of the things each time it refreshs - i.e every 20 mins. It really ****es me of in that way...!

Can you make an options tab? I think a great few options would be to choose whether or not :

- when you refresh the news it pops up all of the news items in a box or just the latest

- whether when you click on a news item it opens in a new window or in an existing one- this severly ****es me of atm btw- i hate it when you click a link and you loose what you were just looking at

- You could put a start up option into this options tab also

OK - if you do that- it will be a sweet program!

Ok those suggestions are very welcome, but can you clear this up for me: I really hate the way it scrolls through all of the things each time it refreshs - i.e every 20 mins. It really ****es me of in that way...!

I am kinda confused with that :huh:

- Have an option to change the rate at which it refreshes (maybe introduce and Options form)

- If I select Forum Updates and I refresh it it says in the balloon "Latest News". You need to change this title to suit whatever the user has selected to update... so it should be "Latest Posts" etc...

Also you should change "Refresh News" to "Refresh" in the menu, because the user might not have selected News

- The program takes up 10mb of memory. That's quite a lot for a such a little program in the system tray. Maybe look through your code and take out what you don't need. Also make sure you unload forms or code from memory when they're not needed

Yeah in the next release I was figuring out to add those options, ok about the 10MB of memory I gotta check if there is any other code I can clean up. There must be something wrong since yep it is a very simple program lol

I spotted a bug, when I click refresh news the yellow balloon pops up with the second news item on the list.

Ok but I just tried that right now, I see a second person experienced the same problem, did anybody else had this same problem?

Stay tuned for the next release today or tommorow, I might make an installer package for it, not sure tho yet :)

Thanks guys I will investigate the memory hog leak (I guess I might port this program to C++ :D),

I added the current features in my private build:

  • Update Interval (5 mins, 15min, 30min, 1hr [good for forum updates])
  • Added a Sub Menu for the Content type (Main News, etc)
  • Fixed the balloon for the new forum posts, now if selected it will say "Latest Forum Post"
  • Fix that 2nd headline refresh bug, I found it I guess :unsure:

Anybody interested if I added an animated neowin icon when there is new content? Anybody

have an animated icon? It has seperate icons per animation frame.

Hope to release it this night :ninja: .

Kevin

Edited by codezero
Thanks guys I will investigate the memory hog leak (I guess I might port this program to C++ :D),

I added the current features in my private build:

  • Update Interval (5 mins, 15min, 30min, 1hr [good for forum updates])
  • Added a Sub Menu for the Content type (Main News, etc)
  • Fixed the balloon for the new forum posts, now if selected it will say "Latest Forum Post"
  • Fix that 2nd headline refresh bug, I found it I guess :unsure:

Anybody interested if I added an animated neowin icon when there is new content? Anybody

have an animated icon? It has seperate icons per animation frame.

Hope to release it this night :ninja: .

Kevin

Hey man, what about a taskbar 'Bar' that shows the latest news? I dunno if that's hard to do...

Lemme give an example, jic you don't get it :)

WMP9, when u minimize it, makes a 'Taskbar' in your start bar, I talkin bout that :)

Personnaly I almost flood Neowin, I go there every 5 mins, so that would be sweet ;)

O and if bandwidth does an issue, tell me we can do an arrangement ;) I know that that lil proggy goes to read a file on Neowin, what about we put that file elsewhere? :)

That would reserve all the Neowin Bandwidth... for Neowin ;)

O and if bandwidth does an issue, tell me we can do an arrangement I know that that lil proggy goes to read a file on Neowin, what about we put that file elsewhere?

Actually the program reads the Neowin XML Backend, which is basically text file (an XML File), but I dunno if that uses alot of bandwidth, any admins reading this thread? Let me know if its alright with you :happy: or if there is another way to do it.

I really wanted to display the comments near the news posts like for example

Neowin NewsTray v1.0 (7 comments), but the xml file doesn't have that information. Even tho I really don't know if thats useful for you guys :)

O and if bandwidth does an issue, tell me we can do an arrangement ?I know that that lil proggy goes to read a file on Neowin, what about we put that file elsewhere?

Actually the program reads the Neowin XML Backend, which is basically text file (an XML File), but I dunno if that uses alot of bandwidth, any admins reading this thread? Let me know if its alright with you :happy:y: or if there is another way to do it.

I really wanted to display the comments near the news posts like for example

Neowin NewsTray v1.0 (7 comments), but the xml file doesn't have that information. Even tho I really don't know if thats useful for you guys:))

no prob, it's a lil proggy, I wouldn't mind putting it somewhere I know there'S a fast line...

EDIT: I think the comments record on the MySql dbase, which is normally unaccessible elsewhere than 'localhost'......

Edited by aStRaLgOd
and plz change it from a config file to a registry key, perhaps HKCU\Software\Neowin\, current user because a machine might have several neowinians, one that likes software news and one that likes gamers news.
Ok I finished adding that into the program, works like a charm, now more neowinians in the

same computer can have there own prefrences. :yes:

Working on making an installer package.... :blink:

Have you considered making something like this for other news sites, too? We'd never have to visit the frontpage again...

I could make some others, just PM me with a site that has XML content so I can check it out.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • About bloody time. I have got PRs with hundred of files and the Web UI just struggling to even load the pages.
    • I wonder if it was applying secure boot certificates/dbx files?
    • I recently tried edge. It seems a lot better. A lot of the junk in it is gone. It seems less bloated and snappy.
    • Lethal fake phone chargers are still being sold on Amazon and eBay, UK watchdog warns by Paul Hill Credit: Pexels The UK consumer rights organization, Which?, is claiming that “potentially lethal knock-off chargers” are still being sold on online marketplaces seven years after it exposed the danger of these chargers. In its latest investigation, it bought 15 USB phone chargers from several online marketplaces and found they were missing key information, meaning they cannot be legally sold in the UK. Which? bought the 15 chargers from seven online marketplaces. These were Amazon (including Amazon Haul), AliExpress, B&Q Marketplace, Debenhams Marketplace, and eBay. It said that the chargers were so badly made that anyone using them was at risk of electric shock. Over half the chargers also posed fire and explosion risks. Of the chargers purchased, one was a fake Apple USB-C 35W power adaptor charger. To confuse buyers, the box was branded with an Apple logo, but testing found it to be a fake. Further testing picked up arcing sounds after 10 seconds of use, where a current jumps between two parts of the electrical circuit, which can cause fires, explosions, or electric shock. The manufacturers of this particular charger also put modeling clay inside it to make it feel more weighty, robust, and genuine. Not all of the chargers were technically faulty; however, some were missing key packaging, markings, and documentation, meaning they can’t be sold in the UK legally. Which? said that it is now campaigning alongside a coalition of safety groups and businesses for new laws that make online marketplaces responsible for ensuring the safety of products that they choose to list on their websites. It also said the government needs to start using powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act, which was adopted last July, to impose safety requirements on online marketplaces via secondary legislation, but so far, there have been delays. No matter what country you are in, be sure to properly research what you are buying and only buy authentic chargers to prevent fires. You can read more about Which?’s research here.
    • Visual Studio finally gets long-awaited feature that developers will love by Usama Jawad Visual Studio Code is Microsoft's popular, lightweight, open-source code editor, it is actually Visual Studio that is the company's flagship integrated development environment (IDE). Although the IDE already offers a boatload of useful features for developers, Microsoft has finally introduced a long-requested capability that will be loved by many. While developers have already been able to create Git pull requests (PRs) directly within Visual Studio for the past couple of years, it had not been possible to review a PR without switching to the browser, until now. Microsoft revealed in December 2025 that it is working on UX that enables developers to do just that, and fast-forward to June 2026, and Visual Studio finally has native capabilities to open and inspect a PR, discuss feedback, and wrap up the review, all without switching to the browser. This integration works for both GitHub and Azure DevOps (including on-prem). Developers have access to multiple surfaces to open a PR, including Git Repository, Git Changes, and the Git menu in Visual Studio. Once you open a PR, all the important details will be immediately visible to you, from where you can navigate to various levels of granularity and branch states, depending on the reviews that you are engaged in. As you would expect, you also get a diff view that enables you to see code changes inline or side-by-side in a separate panel. You can also review commit-by-commit. Additionally, this UX fosters collaboration as you can leave comments, reply to threads, and resolve conversations easily. Naturally, you can also leverage Copilot to apply a code suggestion to fix a potential issue. When you are done, you have the ability to approve, complete, and merge the PR. This is a pretty major feature as it has been requested heavily for the past few years. You can try it out in Visual Studio 2026 version 18.7, made available here recently. Microsoft plans to enhance this experience further in future releases with comment filtering, a timeline of PR activity, and more.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Timaximus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Timaximus earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Rookie
      FBSPL went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      davidbazooked earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      davidbazooked earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      499
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      174
    3. 3
      +Edouard
      160
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      84
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      75
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!