Winstep Nexus dock 10.3 released

[LiquidSolstice]

I just wanted to stress that my opinion was jsut that, my opinion based on how this dock works. If you are truly looking for a Dock-like replacement for your Taskbar, I'm positive this is what you're looking for. It just didn't suit mu purpose. Well done to the dev and best of luck on your app.

[JcRabbit]

As interesting as this was, I'm afraid I just don't find it usable. The dock itself works alright, I suppose. I feel it's much slower compared to Rocketdock.

I suppose you didn't try fine tuning the magnify animation, of course?

It's always a trade-off between speed and smoothness, which is why you can set it to be as smooth or as fast as you want it. What is a smooth animation for some will be interpreted as 'slow' by others - which is precisely why you can configure it to your liking (Nexus Preferences -> Effects tab -> Effect Settings).

Anyway, Nexus 10.4 is about to be released and it makes the magnify effect up to 3-4 times faster (especially noticeable on very large docks) and the blurring of semi-transparent dock backgrounds about 25% faster too.

See, here's my situation.

I don't need live reflections. Why would I want them when the dock is hidden most of the time?

I don't need or want my taskbar replaced.

I don't need access to 80 commands from my dock.

I don't want access from my dock to shut down/restart/log off my system.

Sounds more like you don't need a dock at all. :p

Sorry, won't be using it. At least, not right now. Thanks anyway.

Not a problem. It only proves you can never satisfy everyone. :)

[LiquidSolstice]

I suppose you didn't try fine tuning the magnify animation, of course?

It's always a trade-off between speed and smoothness, which is why you can set it to be as smooth or as fast as you want it. What is a smooth animation for some will be interpreted as 'slow' by others - which is precisely why you can configure it to your liking (Nexus Preferences -> Effects tab -> Effect Settings).

Anyway, Nexus 10.4 is about to be released and it makes the magnify effect up to 3-4 times faster (especially noticeable on very large docks) and the blurring of semi-transparent dock backgrounds about 25% faster too.

Sounds more like you don't need a dock at all. :p

Not a problem. It only proves you can never satisfy everyone. :)

To be fair, I really was only looking for a separate stylish launcher for folders and Applications that couldn't or didn't want to pin to the taskbar. My needs were just very minimal. If I ever am looking to replace my taskbar, I'll give it a go.

[JcRabbit]

one bug is setting the taskbar (superbar) to hide in the nexus settings to use the button within the dock for the start menu, I noticed that when the start menu pops up from the dock and I hover over the right panel of the start menu, the buttons turn white one by one as I hover over them. This could just be the theme I'm using for windows 7, but I can't see why.

It's not a bug - at least not with Nexus - but more of a limitation imposed by Windows 7. Our dear Microsoft programmers changed the Start Menu in such a way that:

1. It tries to go back to it's anchor position near the Windows Taskbar whenever you open the All Programs menu or search for something.

2. It won't repaint properly, as you've noticed, unless it is *exactly* where it expects to be! That one really got me puzzled! Microsoft's motto must be 'why make it simple when we can make it complicated (and make life harder for those pesky customizers at the same time!)'

I could either have removed the Start Button from the Nexus dock under Windows 7, make the Start Menu pop up in it's default position, or try to work around the issue. I chose the latter since I felt it was still more convenient, even though it had the visual glitches - but perhaps I shouldn't if this is going to be interpreted as a bug in Nexus.

[LiquidSolstice]

In the spirit of free software, I decided to give this a closer look. I think I'm going to have to eat my words, the animation speed certainly needed tweaking. Before I explore this too far, My question is how can I run multiple docks?

[JcRabbit]

Avlor, could you please download Nexus 10.4 from HERE and let me know what you think (unless you are now running Xtreme 10.3, of course, in which case a new beta will soon be forthcomming too)? It has a few surprises for you. :D

I found it a bit annoying when it lags a second before switching to another page.

Although I didn't agree with you in terms of switching between Preferences tabs (except for the Themes tab, in which a small delay is expected due to the 'live' previews) I did find out that Nexus, having built-in multi-language support, was performing a needless English to English translation of the User Interface (Doh!). If that was your issue, you should find Preferences to be more responsive now.

One of the critical points is that I can't move the dock off the screen (set a negative screen edge offset).

Nexus v10.4 now allows you to specify a negative efge offset down to -16 pixels. :)

However, when I set my Win 7 to hide everything in that small window you can trigger by clicking on the arrow on taskbar, the arrow on the dock disappears entirely.

Issue has been fixed on Nexus v10.4. :)

If I leave one or two icons with "icon and notification" setting, I get a blue arrow I can't change. Since my setup is BW, that's kinda unacceptable.

Nexus v10.4 now allows you to customize the System Tray Expand button (the blue arrow) by an icon of your choice - just right click the arrow and select 'Dock Entry Properties' from the context menu.

Anything else? ;)

[JcRabbit]

In the spirit of free software, I decided to give this a closer look. I think I'm going to have to eat my words, the animation speed certainly needed tweaking.

:) Glad you decided to give it another shot - make sure you upgrade to v10.4 (just out of the oven, not yet officially released) by downloading it from HERE.

Before I explore this too far, My question is how can I run multiple docks?

By upgrading to Winstep Xtreme, which also gives you an infinite number of nested sub-docks, among a ton of other features. :laugh:

You have your job - this is what I do for a living.

[Neoauld]

looks interesting, the entire suite does in fact

Will have to explore this. I tend to like things minimal, and right now the way windows 7 is, its very clean. Will see if i can get used to using this though. That being said, i can tell the dock is really well made.

[Avlor]

Oh man, this sounds delicious! I'm downloading the update as soon as o get home and will post some feedback

[JcRabbit]

Oh man, this sounds delicious! I'm downloading the update as soon as o get home and will post some feedback

Looking forward to that feedback. Complete list of changes is available in the history text file located at C:\Program Files\Winstep\

[Avlor]

You absolutely made my day with this update!? :yes: ?Menus are very smooth, and the systray works exactly as I imagined it should! Thank you so much??

[e2zippo]

If you're running 10.3 (and, if you are not, you should! ;) ), there is a BIG checkbox right at the top of the Taskbar configuration tab in NextSTART Preferences: 'Allow NextSTART to replace the Windows taskbar'. Disable that and then use WorkShelf to hide the Windows taskbar (General Preferences tab).

I can't find it? The only settings i can get into are the regular settings where you change the themes and so on?

Otherwise it looks really sweet, just have to learn how handle it!

[JcRabbit]

I can't find it? The only settings i can get into are the regular settings where you change the themes and so on?

In that post I was referring to the NextSTART component of Winstep Xtreme (not Nexus) which can replace the Windows taskbar with its own, skinnable, version. Also, it's the public beta version with the new UI (v10.3), not the official version (v9.5).

[e2zippo]

In that post I was referring to the NextSTART component of Winstep Xtreme (not Nexus) which can replace the Windows taskbar with its own, skinnable, version. Also, it's the public beta version with the new UI (v10.3), not the official version (v9.5).

So with just nexus i can't replace the windows taskbar?

[Inklin]

It's not a bug - at least not with Nexus - but more of a limitation imposed by Windows 7. Our dear Microsoft programmers changed the Start Menu in such a way that:

1. It tries to go back to it's anchor position near the Windows Taskbar whenever you open the All Programs menu or search for something.

2. It won't repaint properly, as you've noticed, unless it is *exactly* where it expects to be! That one really got me puzzled! Microsoft's motto must be 'why make it simple when we can make it complicated (and make life harder for those pesky customizers at the same time!)'

I could either have removed the Start Button from the Nexus dock under Windows 7, make the Start Menu pop up in it's default position, or try to work around the issue. I chose the latter since I felt it was still more convenient, even though it had the visual glitches - but perhaps I shouldn't if this is going to be interpreted as a bug in Nexus.

Well that's a bit of a farce on Microsoft's part :(

I agree, people, especially new users to Nexus Dock may see it as a bug, as I did, but I also stated it could be the theme I'm using for windows, but it's a limitation with windows 7 itself :crazy:

Must be a case of, "Like it or Lump it unless it's in it's default positions" on Microsofts part.

Anyways, keep up the good work, it's certainly the best dock I have seen for Windows.

[JcRabbit]

So with just nexus i can't replace the windows taskbar?

You can - a Nexus dock is able to display the tasklist *and* the system tray. But it's main purpose is to be a quick application launcher, while NextSTART specializes in Task Management (as well as Menu Management).

For Nexus to replace the Windows taskbar you need to do the following:

1. Open Nexus Preferences.

2. In the Effects tab enable the system tray and the list of running applications (you can also fine tune the latter in the Tasks tab).

3. In the General Preferences tab enable the setting to hide the Windows taskbar.

If your dock is docked at the bottom of the screen, you might then also want to disable the 'Respect space reserved by other docks...' setting in the Position & Behavior tab, so Nexus can use the screen space reserved by the Windows taskbar (which stays reserved even though the taskbar is hidden). Alternativelly set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide before hidding it via Nexus.

[bagpiper]

You can - a Nexus dock is able to display the tasklist *and* the system tray. But it's main purpose is to be a quick application launcher, while NextSTART specializes in Task Management (as well as Menu Management).

For Nexus to replace the Windows taskbar you need to do the following:

1. Open Nexus Preferences.

2. In the Effects tab enable the system tray and the list of running applications (you can also fine tune the latter in the Tasks tab).

3. In the General Preferences tab enable the setting to hide the Windows taskbar.

If your dock is docked at the bottom of the screen, you might then also want to disable the 'Respect space reserved by other docks...' setting in the Position & Behavior tab, so Nexus can use the screen space reserved by the Windows taskbar (which stays reserved even though the taskbar is hidden). Alternativelly set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide before hidding it via Nexus.

I have just downloaded NEXUS DOCK.

It looks great.

I am a grandfather new to this forum and not overly comfortable with computers, but I would like to use NEXUS DOCK.

Could you point me to "beginner directions" as to how to use the dock?

Thank you

[JcRabbit]

I am a grandfather new to this forum and not overly comfortable with computers, but I would like to use NEXUS DOCK.

Could you point me to "beginner directions" as to how to use the dock?

Well, start by reading the included documentation (click the Help button in Nexus Preferences) - that ought to give you an idea of what Nexus can do. :)

Then just use the application, should be pretty intuitive - and if you run into any issues, there's always Winstep support and the Winstep Forums.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I would like to make 2 points:

1) I will install and trial your dock sometime soon. I like what I am seeing thus far.

2) Your attitude... Refreshing! Seen a dev on here recently who took every comment as criticism and tried to be a big shot. You admit you have things to work on, work on them and then release them with a great attitude!

:)

[UnhappyUser]

I'm not happy with Nexus Dock, though I downloaded it with great enthusiasm. I'll list the problems:

1. Context menus. How do you activate them? Say for MSWord I want to open a new document on clicking, but with a right click I want options for shut down existing doc, etc.

2. If I prevent windows from overlapping with the dock, it leaves a huge space which I can't reduce.

3. The right click menu is just too long. I want to eliminate some options, but that's just not possible.

Nexus Dock looks great and has some great features, but unless these problems are fixed, I'll be sticking to Rocket Dock.

[JcRabbit]

I think NJLouch is going to re-think his opinion about me now, hehe: :D

1. Context menus. How do you activate them? Say for MSWord I want to open a new document on clicking, but with a right click I want options for shut down existing doc, etc.

Are you by any chance referring to jump list menus as found in Windows 7? And don't you then complain further down that context menus are too long? And does RocketDock do this? :p

2. If I prevent windows from overlapping with the dock, it leaves a huge space which I can't reduce.

The space reserved by the dock should be equal to the height of the dock, but some themes, like Leopard, have a huge transparent part at the top - just use a different background. RocketDock doesn't even allow you to reserve screen space, by the way.

If what you are seeing is hugely disproportional, on the other hand, then you have Windows set to use high DPI (Personalize -> Display -> Set Custom Text Size (DPI) ). In such a case Windows Vista/7 will actually 'lie' to the application about the current screen resolution - great Microsoft hack for most applications, causes tremendous problems when running apps such as Nexus.

Reduce the DPI back to the standard 100% and your problem will go away, otherwise you can right-click on the Nexus executable and set the Compatibility Mode to disable display scaling on high DPI settings.

3. The right click menu is just too long. I want to eliminate some options, but that's just not possible.

The right-click menu of *what* is too long? Since the contents of context menus change according to the current item selected, I can only assume you are talking about the right-click menu of the dock's control icon. Are you seriously saying that you would trade all the new features in Nexus vs. RocketDock because you refuse to adapt to a new context menu?! ;)

And what options would you eliminate?

[e2zippo]

You can - a Nexus dock is able to display the tasklist *and* the system tray. But it's main purpose is to be a quick application launcher, while NextSTART specializes in Task Management (as well as Menu Management).

For Nexus to replace the Windows taskbar you need to do the following:

1. Open Nexus Preferences.

2. In the Effects tab enable the system tray and the list of running applications (you can also fine tune the latter in the Tasks tab).

3. In the General Preferences tab enable the setting to hide the Windows taskbar.

If your dock is docked at the bottom of the screen, you might then also want to disable the 'Respect space reserved by other docks...' setting in the Position & Behavior tab, so Nexus can use the screen space reserved by the Windows taskbar (which stays reserved even though the taskbar is hidden). Alternativelly set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide before hidding it via Nexus.

Thanks for that, love is so far!

[UnhappyUser]

Are you by any chance referring to jump list menus as found in Windows 7? And don't you then complain further down that context menus are too long? And does RocketDock do this? :p

Yes. Like that. Those would be awesome. But no, RocketDock doesn't offer it.

The space reserved by the dock should be equal to the height of the dock, but some themes, like Leopard, have a huge transparent part at the top - just use a different background. RocketDock doesn't even allow you to reserve screen space, by the way.

Nope, not working. The space is just too huge.

The right-click menu of *what* is too long? Since the contents of context menus change according to the current item selected, I can only assume you are talking about the right-click menu of the dock's control icon. Are you seriously saying that you would trade all the new features in Nexus vs. RocketDock because you refuse to adapt to a new context menu?!

And what options would you eliminate?

No, any item really. It's insane. I don't want to change every tiny design feature on the Dock on the fly. But for example, RocketDock has little convenient menus, which don't take up the whole screen.

I'm not beating on Nexus. I think it's a great dock. It's just that my expectations were too high.

[JcRabbit]

Yes. Like that. Those would be awesome. But no, RocketDock doesn't offer it.

Nor does any other dock! Windows 7 comes out and suddenly everybody falls in love with jumplists. Fine by me, I'll be re-organizing Nexus task management in a future version anyway to include features such as this, but then don't call the current lack of this feature 'a problem'. In that case, all current docks and program launchers have this 'problem'!

I was tempted to include jump list menus on this release, but, IMO, this only makes sense if I add a new task management mode to Nexus so the dock is able to act more like the Windows 7 taskbar (e.g.; not launch multiple sessions unless you press SHIFT, not duplicate running items that already exist on the dock, etc...). Adding all these features would take too long, so I decided to leave them for a future release.

Nope, not working. The space is just too huge.

And exactly what isn't working? Did you try a different, non-3D, dock background? Did you try the DPI method I wrote about? I have no idea what the problem in your case might be unless you start providing more details. :p

It's like those replies to the Nexus uninstall survey: "It crashed". That's it. Not a drop of extra info of any kind, no email address so I can contact them. It's extremely frustrating - if I knew that it crashed and why it crashed, I would have fixed it already so it didn't! lol So now I know Nexus might be crashing for some users but have no way of fixing it because it doesn't happen to me and I have no data that would allow me to reproduce the problem here so I can identify the causes!

On a similar vein, perhaps the most frustrating uninstall survey replies are from users stating that Nexus doesn't do something or that they had an issue with it, when I know that Nexus *does* support the feature they want (if only they had bothered actually looking at Preferences) or how easy it is to solve their issue. Unfortunately they leave no contact address. It's like if people didn't believe in technical support anymore and therefore don't even bother sending a message to the Winstep support address asking for help or clarification.

No, any item really. It's insane. I don't want to change every tiny design feature on the Dock on the fly. But for example, RocketDock has little convenient menus, which don't take up the whole screen.

You know, I spent a very long time re-organizing Nexus menus for the 10.3 release.

I right click on a IE shortcut on the dock and I get exactly *7* menu items: Properties, Rename, Remove, Insert, Show Container, Browse Container and Nexus, the latter allowing access to the dock control menu. Yet you call this 'insanely long'.

Perhaps if I remove context menus altogether? :D And when was the last time you right-clicked a file in Explorer? ;)

This is also another case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Most people will love that they can access the most frequently used effects and features directly from the dock's control menu without having to open Preferences. Not only that, this actually brings awareness to the existence of such a feature (people were having trouble finding a way to enable the dock's system tray until I added that option to the Insert sub-menu).

Unfortunately the bottom line is that you can't please everybody. And some will never be pleased no matter what you do. :D

I'm not beating on Nexus. I think it's a great dock. It's just that my expectations were too high.

Thanks. :) I just don't think this is a case of 'high' expectations, though, more a case of a certain unwillingness to change which causes you to find fault in little details and overlook the general positive picture. ;)

[UnhappyUser]

Way to go. Ok, I have a couple of questions on what Nexus can do.

1. Instead of separating the programs running and the options in the Dock, can I just combine them into one, with a running app indicator, and the ability to open up the tab just by clicking on it (and it doesn't open a new window)?

2. If yes, is it possible to shut down the app without opening up the window, just by right clicking on it? And can you start up an app without interrupting your current window?