JcRabbit JcRabbit

Winstep Nexus dock and Nexus Ultimate v18.8 released!

Winstep Nexus dock and Nexus Ultimate v18.8 released!


Windows 10 Ready The Winstep Nexus dock is a free dock for Windows. Nexus has everything you’d expect from a dock, including widgets, skins, drag-and-drop support, plus many others exclusive to it such as live icon reflections, over 30 different mouse-over effects, in-dock system tray, built-in support for animated icons, full Windows 10 UWP app support, multi-monitor and high DPI support 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 Ultimate is the commercial version of the free Nexus dock, adding support for multiple docks, categorized sub-docks, multiple tabbed docks (Shelves), Drawers (dock + single tabbed Shelf hybrid) plus even more widgets and cool looking mouseover effects.

Supported Languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Farsi (Persian), Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brasil), Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish.

Nexus and Nexus Ultimate run on the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8.x and Windows 10.

100% Windows 10 compatible with full UWP (Universal) app support.

Over 30 amazing mouse over, attention, launch and delete effects!

Built-in battery, calendar, clock, cpu, email, moon, net, ram, recycler, wanda and weather modules/widgets.

Built in support for system tray icons plus running applications with live window preview thumbnails

Multiple built-in docklets such as a compact media player, alarm manager, sleep timer, language bar, cd control, GeoIP location, screen capture....

...and much, much more!

More Information:

Winstep Web Site:
http://www.winstep.net

More information about Nexus/Nexus Ultimate:
https://www.winstep.net/nexus.asp

 

530,534 views 212 replies
Reply #151 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 149
Do you have to wait for the thumbnail first because I didn't.

Fixed it, thanks. Nothing to do with the thumbnail: it had to do with the tab getting unexpectedly refreshed while playing the delete animation (which is why you saw the icon re-appear when it should not do that) and that being the last icon in the list.

Reply #152 Top

New beta is out, by the way. Click the Check for Updates button if you don't want to wait for the Update Manager to pick it up.

Reply #153 Top

What version is the Nexus Dock? Mine says 18.11 and when I click on the update it says I have the current version or is that just for beta testers?

Reply #154 Top

Quoting ALMonty, reply 153
What version is the Nexus Dock? Mine says 18.11 and when I click on the update it says I have the current version or is that just for beta testers?

If it says v18.11 you are already running a beta (latest official version is v18.10).

The 'Notify me of beta (test) versions' setting in the Advanced tab of Preferences is probably unchecked, select it, press Ok to close Preferences and save the setting, then re-open Preferences and Check for Updates again.

 

Reply #155 Top

Did the update to the beta and after it installed and the weather module came up there was a green border around it and other dialogues I had open. Unfortunately they did not show up when I took a screenshot yet were there if I minimized the screenie I had open in paint. Go figure. So I exited Winstep Xtreme then opened it again and no more green borders. I'm waiting for the next weirdness to add to my collection. Stay tuned for the next installment. Lol

Reply #156 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 155
So I exited Winstep Xtreme then opened it again and no more green borders.

Didn't you have that problem last page already, and didn't that turn out to be an issue with WB or one of WB's themes? :)

I can assure you that Winstep applications do not sprout green borders out of the blue. :grin:  

Reply #157 Top

I did and that WB I removed from the folder and the green theme from the winstep folder so neither one is the issue. The update initialized nextstart and it started after it came up (nextstart). I don't use nextstart so its not in the startup folder. I right click on it to exit nextstart and the borders persisted until after I restarted xtreme. I don't get them when I first boot up my laptop and the workshelf initializes.  

Reply #158 Top

Could be a video driver problem then.

Anyway, in relation to this beta I forgot to say what's new (besides the obvious fixes and all the other fine tuning):

Icons in Grid Stacks are now cached, so the second time you open them should be much faster.

You can now set folder type Shelf Tabs, Drawers and even other Grid Stacks to open folders in them as Grid Stacks by default (You can do that in the Tab Properties dialog or in the Contents tab of Properties).  You can now also right click a folder and select 'Open as Grid Stack' to open it in a Grid Stack instead of as an Explorer window.

 

Reply #159 Top

Quoting JcRabbit, reply 158

Could be a video driver problem then

Probably. So we'll consider it done and done. Now for the good stuff...

Open as stack works nicely but should it stay on the screen or close when the workshelf closes because it stayed on mine. It closed when I clicked on the start button to open paint and paste the screenie. Should create a montage of everything happening all at once. I wonder if I got enough real estate. Lol

Reply #160 Top

Oh...forgot to ask. What is the Bridge?

Reply #161 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 159
Open as stack works nicely but should it stay on the screen or close when the workshelf closes because it stayed on mine.

It should close, obviously. Or rather, the Shelf should not have closed automatically while the Stack was still open.

Still fine tuning little issues like this, which is why this is still a beta. Thanks for keeping reporting them in, Ross. :)

Quoting Uvah, reply 160
Oh...forgot to ask. What is the Bridge?

Eh? Bridge? What Bridge?

Reply #162 Top

Quoting JcRabbit, reply 161

h...forgot to ask. What is the Bridge?
Eh? Bridge? What Bridge

See reply 142. You have to click on it because the text in the image is small.

Reply #163 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 162
See reply 142. You have to click on it because the text in the image is small.

Oh, I have no idea. That part of the context menu is provided by Explorer and the context menu extensions you have installed on your system. You should be able to see those same options if you right click the same file in Explorer.

Reply #164 Top

You're right 'cause I figured out what it is. The bridge comes with photoshop. When I did the system restore it uninstalled PS and that particular link vanished. No problems here. Now back to the debugging. :P  

Reply #165 Top

Here's a new one for next beta to help boost your productivity:

New Search Filter:

As you know, the Shelf, Drawers and the new Grid Stacks can display the contents of folders in your hard drive.

Folders, in turn, can have hundreds or even thousands of files. Locating the file you want can thus become time consuming, and this is where the new search filter comes in: simply start typing and the contents are automatically (and immediately) filtered by what you just typed.

Say you want to see only the JPEG files in a folder. Just click on the Shelf/Grid Stack and type jpg - the search box pops up (so you know a filter is currently being applied and also can see what you are typing) and only files with jpg in the filename are shown. The search box (and the filter) can be dismissed by pressing ESC and mistakes when typing can be corrected by pressing the backspace key.

As you type, the first item matching the filter is automatically selected, and can be launched by pressing ENTER. This makes it very easy - and very quick - to locate and launch/open a specific file in the midst of thousands, without even having to use your mouse: just type the beginning of its filename and press ENTER once the file becomes selected. You can also use the arrow keys to navigate items on the Shelf/Drawer/Grid Stack.

The search box was designed never to be on the way: it only remains visible while the owner has the focus - click somewhere else and the search box automatically fades out. Click on the owner again and the search box fades back in - and, of course, the search box is only visible when a filter is currently being applied.

Detachable Grid Stacks:

Something else that will be in the next beta is detachable Grid Stacks. This works in pretty much the same way as the detachable sub-menus in NextSTART: if you move a Grid Stack with the mouse, it becomes detached from the parent (and a sound effect plays for you to know this just happened) - i.e.; it will no longer close automatically when you click somewhere else, instead remaining on the screen until you explicitly close it using the right mini-tab symbol or click again on the parent icon.

As you can see from the above, one of the greatest focus of Winstep applications is enhancing productivity, not just eye candy. :)

Icon Grid:

And since I'm talking about eye candy, here's something else which actually ALREADY is in the beta you guys have but I didn't want to mention until now:

The Shelf allows you to optionally display a grid around the icons. One of my pet peeves (and something I complained about multiple times here) is that many skinners do not properly define the colors of this grid - the grid should be subtle with a nice 3D effect obtained by using two different colors (one lighter, one darker) that match the Shelf background, otherwise it just becomes an ugly mess of thick solid squares.

Many skinners, perhaps because they don't use the grid themselves, use the same color for both the darker and lighter settings, and to make matters worse even use a color that contrasts strongly with the Shelf background instead of blending in as it should (for instance, solid black or solid white).

Because of this the Shelf now automatically detects when grid colors have not been properly defined and auto-corrects them. Here is the before and after (and the Before is not even the worst example of colors not properly defined for the icon grid):

Before:

http://www.winstep.net/images/SearchFilter.jpg

After (auto-corrected):

As you can see, the auto-corrected version not only ensures the subtle 3D effect that was always intended for the icon grid, as it also uses colors that actually match the Shelf background.

You be the judge as to which version looks better. :)

Reply #166 Top

Quoting JcRabbit, reply 165

Detachable Grid Stacks

My grid stacks stayed open even after closing the drawer and I was able to not move them around. Now I can. |-)  

Quoting JcRabbit, reply 165

After (auto-corrected)

To me it looks like a bevel/emboss turned down instead of up. I use that same technique as dividers. Good show dude. :thumbsup:  

Reply #167 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 166
To me it looks like a bevel/emboss turned down instead of up. I use that same technique as dividers. Good show dude. :thumbsup:  

Thanks! That's the idea. :)

Reply #168 Top

Can you change the Grid Stack icon?

Reply #169 Top

Quoting ALMonty, reply 168
Can you change the Grid Stack icon?

Of course. Just like any other icon: either drop a PNG or ICO file directly into it or right click, select Entry Properties from the context menu that pops up and then change the icon in the Properties dialog.

But... but... does that mean you don't like my icon? :'(  :P  

Reply #170 Top

I didn't see the Entry Properties, I was looking in the Grid Stacks Properties.

Love the icon. It's just when you have a bunch of them together it gets confusing.

Thank you 

Reply #171 Top

Don't forget: the quickest and easiest way to customize icons in the dock and Regular Shelf tabs (especially if you want to customize a bunch of icons at once) is NOT by going through each of those items in turn clicking Entry Properties but by opening the folder with all your custom icon images in Explorer and then dragging and dropping those images, one by one, into the icon in the dock you want to customize.

If you are doing it right, the icon will start glowing when you hover over it with a PNG, TIF or ICO file.

I already mentioned this above, but it's such a time saver that it's worth mentioning again. :)

Reply #172 Top

Just a mention. The Atmospherica theme has three buttons on each dialogue...green which does nothing, amber which is a rollup and red which closes it. This would be an interesting feature I think. Add them to the grid stack and when you move it you can also roll it up. What you think?

Reply #173 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 172

Just a mention. The Atmospherica theme has three buttons on each dialogue...green which does nothing, amber which is a rollup and red which closes it. This would be an interesting feature I think. Add them to the grid stack and when you move it you can also roll it up. What you think?

Green does nothing, eh? ;) It actually toggles the menu between always on top and normal z-order. :)

Anyway, no can do for the Grid Stack, since it's based on the Shelf, the theme itself only has space for two controls. This said, you can grab the tab header (click the tab text) and drag the tab down (or even up). It won't shrink beyond a single row of icons though.

Reply #174 Top

New beta released. Give the new Search Bar a try and let me know what you think - useful for quickly locating items in Grid Stacks/Drawers/Shelf tabs with many files/items.

Reply #175 Top

Quoting JcRabbit, reply 174

New beta released. Give the new Search Bar a try and let me know what you think - useful for quickly locating items in Grid Stacks/Drawers/Shelf tabs with many files/items.

Ok umm.. how do you turn it on? I don't want to sound stupid, but there's a lot going on in the settings.