v2.4.4 release candidate

• new Lock, Sleep and Hibernate options for "Exit Windows" menu (#121)
• new command line options: /exit-explorer & /restart-explorer (#118, #24)
  including "Restart Explorer" menu item for the advanced context menu (hold either Shift of Ctrl when opening T-Clock's menu)
  Note: these options try to properly exit Explorer.exe but will kill it if it takes more than 15 seconds. Desktop icons etc. should be saved anyway, but it might have side effects. (if so, report them please)
  Note for Windows 2k/XP users: it'll always kill your Explorer.exe but icons etc. should be saved anyway.
• fixed ISO week number format Wi (#128)
• fixed numeric weekday format wi (#120)
• fixed multi-monitor support on Windows 10 CU ("Ink Workspace" button issue, #126)
• fixed some Clock positioning issues on all versions of Windows (#87, #113)
• Watch List sort indicators now work on older version of Windows (#82)
• fixed Calendar keyboard focus when tabbing in/out of Calendar (#69)
• fixed "Display Properties" on Windows 10 (from the DC forum)
• fixed file browse dialog within T-Clock from messing up T-Clock's command execution (#84)
• some miscellaneous corrections

What's that _vc2010 build?

• As of 2018, all new releases will be build with GCC instead of the Visual C++ 2010 compiler. So the previously known _static builds are used instead and for compatibility reasons, _vc2010 archives will still use the old compiler and are meant for advanced users.
• Requires: Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (install both 32bit vcredist_x86 + 64bit vcredist_x64 on 64bit OS)

v2.4.3 minor bug fixes and improvements

• dynamic update check period based on age of release, checks:
  • every 3 hours within the first 24 hours after release
  • daily within the first week,
  • every other day during the first 21 days,
  • weekly for the first 90 days
  • and every 14 days after that
    This change not only reduced network traffic, but also makes sure that a faulty release gets fixed in a timely manner.
• "turn off monitors on workstation lock" got improved. (#57)
  It now waits 5 seconds before turning the monitors off and also continues to turn off the monitor if interrupted.
• the calendar can now also be closed by pressing ESC (#62)
• improved Windows 10 calendar detection
• update checker supports UTF-8 now (time to use fancy smileys and stuff 🙃)
• fixed "skip version" not working for beta versions (#63)
• downgrading T-Clock from a newer version which converted some settings, is now possible without a bogus warning about settings loss.
• fixed portable mode being unable to convert/create the settings file with UTF-16 (thanks Dmytro)
• fixed crash on context menu calling on 32bit Vista+ (thanks a lot Dmytro)

P.S. v2.4.2 wasn't announced by the update checker, so feel free to look at the changes from v2.4.2 below.

v2.4.2 bug fix

• added UAC shield icon to "Synchronize time" menu item
• stop-watch's export dialog and SNTP options are now on-top while active
• improved auto-hide taskbar support on Win10 (the real one, not just the Anniversary update) to be able to unhide the taskbar by moving the mouse to the clock (reported by email, thanks Peter)
• added numeric day-of-week format (numeric weekday) #53
  • wi is 1-7 (Monday through Sunday)
  • wu is 0-6 (Sunday through Saturday)
• fixed "Synchronize time" elevation broken since always (reported by Dypsis on DonationCoder.com)
• fixed first-start behavior when settings couldn't be saved due to insufficient permissions
• fixed message box focus issues
• fixed API unloading if another instance is about to start (failed semaphore release)

v2.4.2 Improved Watch List, extended Windows 10 support

• + Watch List (Timer Watch) got lots of new stuff (#55)
  • a new context menu with timer specific actions such as:
    • Restart
    • Stop
    • Hide
    • Edit
  • global actions such as:
    • Cleanup expired
    • Restart list
    • Restore hidden
    • Start all
    • Stop all
  • new customization options like:
    • Click through when inactive (an overlay-like mode to always keep track on running timers)
    • Slightly transparent
    • Half transparent
    • Barely visible
  • most important actions have a specific hotkey such as R to restart and S to stop a timer
  • running timer list can be sorted by name or remaining time
  • also fixed a few previous inconsistencies that could arise when new timers were added or removed
• * tooltips support corrected to work on Win2k/XP and Windows 10 (default tooltip)
• * tooltips are now positioned more unified across multiple monitors and try to fit into the clock area
• * taskbar transparency setting now supports previewing (and is less intrusive)
• * improved performance when setting-up multi-monitor clocks (regression from Win10 anniversary update)
  And should no longer mess with your desktop icons
• ! improved API unloading procedure to be more reliable and properly restores the clock on exit
• ! fixed #54 (initial clock size on auto-hide taskbars)
• ! fixed crash on Win2k/XP when using the uptime format
• ! fixed XP calendar size calculations
• ! fixed upgrading from older version pre v2.2.0
• * sound selection boxes now prefer the "< no sound >" entry when empty

v2.4.1 Windows 10 Anniversary support (Beta2)

if you're upgrading to v2.4.1 and you've been using T-Clock.ini (portable mode), please create a backup first!!!

• fixed colorization bug when hovering the clock
• added padding support to week number format (W), just use "WWi" or "WWWWi" as you please ;)

See initial release for all changes in v2.4.1: https://github.com/White-Tiger/T-Clock/releases/tag/v2.4.1%23414-beta

P.S. AppVeyor failed to register the tag, so there's no MSVC build for this release... sorry about that. But the builds are usually compatible with each other anyway, so for those who prefer non-static builds, the next release will include it once again ;) (hopefully)

v2.4.1 Windows 10 Anniversary support (Beta)

if you're using portable mode / T-Clock.ini, please create a backup before updating!!!

This version fixes most stuff broken by the Windows 10 anniversary update (exception: default tooltip)
It's probably not as stable as previous releases so watch carefully and report any bugs you may encounter.

changes

• ! clock working once again on Windows 10 with anniversary update applied (#39, #41)
• + now fully supporting Unicode! Use all those fancy smileys for your clock text, or tryout other languages like Japanese ;)
• + added update checker checkboxes to about page
• + added link to forums to about page
• * we now call our options, "Options" and no longer "properties" (since that would only apply to single items / files)
• * "removed" Stoic Joker from about page by replacing his logo with mine.. :/
• * context menu slightly reordered
• * hooking is now slightly more safe (when using other 3rd party apps)
• * update checking on first start can be disabled before it triggers
• ! fixed issue on API / DLL shutdown (it didn't correcly wait for DLL to unhook)
• ! fixed .pcb file support. will now play smoothly on Windows 7+
• ! fixed storing of 64bit registry values (thanks B00ze64, #30)
• * other misc changes, tweaks and fixes

for those who like stats

The move from "ANSI" to Unicode increased T-Clocks overall memory usage by about 0.67% with GCC and 0.90% with MSVC.

• GCC: ~5.28 kB (.67%) increase (from 781,311 to 786,590)
• MSVC: ~8.61 kB (.90%) increase (from 959,977 to 968,588)

what this also shows is that our static GCC builds actually use less memory than our MSVC builds (ok I cheated a bit, I've used my local GCC (5.2.0) for testing, which is a lot newer than the one used by Travis (4.6.3) and also "newer" than our MSVC builds (2010))
anyway.. a 5-8 kB increase in memory usage (when it isn't paged) is still quite a lot, yet it's less than 1% of the remaining usage. If paged out memory is also brought into play, the actual increase might be relatively higher but in the end the Unicode build uses not as much of your CPU as it doesn't require Windows to do translations all the time because almost every other app is already using Unicode... It should also increase compatibility with 3rd parties and Windows itself.

To-Do for final release:

• new format option to add "st, nd, rd, th" to current day number eg. September 1st, September 2nd and so forth (requested here)
• import/export tools as well as converter to/from portable
• settings converter should create a backup before converting; less annoying when downgrading (eg. testing a beta build)
• set timezone format?

T-Clock Redux v2.4.0 (beta 3, build 384)

v2.4.0 beta3!

This is a release candidate and is about to be finalized soon.

Following bugs / regressions were fixed:

• fixed issue #14 (Calender opens at the lower-CENTER of the screen; regression from previous build)
• fixed "TIME" format not properly refreshing once a second

Following features were added or improved:

• added SNTP options to menu and mouse actions
• slightly improved hotkey UI by using Windows' common controls
• some minor Coverity fixes

To-Do for final release:

• new format option to add "st, nd, rd, th" to current day number eg. September 1st, September 2nd and so forth (requested here)
• import/export tools as well as converter to/from portable
• settings converter should create a backup before converting; less annoying when downgrading (eg. testing a beta build)
• set timezone format?
• use of Unicode window hooks internally (improved performance, possible fix for bugs)
• full Unicode support

T-Clock Redux v2.4.0 (beta 2, build 369)

Note: if anyone else experiences issue #13, please report back

v2.4.0 beta2!

This is a release candidate and is about to be finalized soon.

Following bugs / regressions were fixed:

• fixed issue #10 (Win10 calendar not closing on 2nd click)
• fixed major bug in static builds (they shouldn't even work.. my Win2k implementation of strcpy_s wasn't finished)
• fixed "copy to clipboard" mouse action UI (didn't save changes; regression; reported by email)

Following features were added or improved:

• added new mouse-click-actions: empty/open recycle bin, execute command
• multi-monitor support extended for standard tooltip
• UI: colorbox and mouse click action adjustments
• removed hooking delay (lets see how it goes)

To-Do for final release:

• new format option to add "st, nd, rd, th" to current day number eg. September 1st, September 2nd and so forth (requested here)
• import/export tools as well as converter to/from portable
• settings converter should create a backup before converting; less annoying when downgrading (eg. testing a beta build)
• fully resurrect SNTP client and allow to be called from within T-Clock
• set timezone format?
• use of Unicode window hooks internally (improved performance, possible fix for bugs)
• full Unicode support

T-Clock Redux v2.4.0 (beta/rc, build 351)

v2.4.0 beta is out!

This is a release candidate and is about to be finalized soon.

Following bugs / regressions were fixed:

• issue #1 might be fixed, needs further testing (time update didn't work after T-Clock was running for a while)
• issue #2 (Calendar's "past-months" option didn't always work depending on month)
• issue #3 (Alarms between 0am and 1am triggered at pm)
• enhancement request #4 (made "first day of week" user setting configurable from within T-Clock options)
• issue #6 (Calendar on Win10)
• issue #7 (multi-monitor didn't support more than 2 monitors)
• issue #8 (TIME format always used 24h option and not the true default values for current locale)
• fixed by user reported "hourly chime" issue (chimed once too often and Alarms used some odd implementation); Thanks to Benjamin
• fixed by user reported clock hover issue on 2000, XP and Vista; see forums
• fixed by user reported "Display Properties" context menu option on Vista+; see forums
• fixed Clock size calculation
• fixed parsing of sound / file to execute on alarms
• fixed first time setup on XP and made some improvements (v2.3.0 regression)
• T-Clock now passes Coverity scan
• fixed Drag&Drop memory leak
• fixed MSVC builds (using MSBuild / Visual Studio)
• lots of other code changes / improvements

Following features were added or improved:

• added basic update checker, now you don't have to search for updates manually anymore.
  (to disable update checking, check for updates once and remove the check marks)
• again supporting Windows 2000 (static / GCC builds)
• new internal API that drastically reduced our binary size and should reduce memory usage
• reduced CPU usage due to improved Alarm logic
• portable mode is here (back), enable by executing the .reset_portable script in T-Clock's folder
• Format: added distinct 24h and 12h format (old formats will be converted automatically; requested by mail and forums)
  • "h" is now 12h only; Use "H" for 24h
  • "w±" is now 12h only; Use "W±" for 24h
• Format: new Week-of-Year format "Wu" for U.S. like week numbers (used by some corporates)
• it's now possible to show the current time above the date which is default on Vista+ ("New line" setting has 3 states now)
• UI: color selector now supports copy&paste and displays transparency
• UI: links support hover effects
• UI: added link to T-Clock Help.rtf for advanced format options
• UI: added font selection dialog (besides our tried and true dropdown list)
• UI: remember previous Alarm sound / action
• UI: various improvements (such as proper caps and control sizes)
• UI: now allows to enable fractional .beats
• T-Clock's calendar will receive focus if opened "twice" and will be on top of other Windows while having the focus
• T-Clock's calendar now supports basic custom colorization as requested here
• adjusted calendar positioning to use the platforms default
• inbuild SNTP client improved (supports dynamic UAC elevation, added default servers, IPv6 support, etc.)
• added failsafe against permanently crashing and restarting Explorer (in case T-Clock ever crashes yours ;))

To-Do for final release:

• new format option to add "st, nd, rd, th" to current day number eg. September 1st, September 2nd and so forth (requested here)
• Windows' tooltip fully usable on multi-monitor setup
• import/export tools as well as converter to/from portable
• settings converter should create a backup before converting; less annoying when downgrading (eg. testing a beta build)
• fully resurrect SNTP client and allow to be called from within T-Clock
• set timezone format?
• use of Unicode window hooks internally (improved performance, possible fix for bugs)

v2.4.0#340-rc

use the corrected release above: T-Clock Redux v2.4.0 (beta/rc, build 351)