LauncherX v2.1.1

LauncherX v2.1.1 is a minor update for LauncherX, featuring bug fixes and some new features.

Changes:

New Features:

• LauncherX can now be launched in fullscreen, which can be enabled in LauncherX's Settings. Closes issue #9.
  

• Icons in LauncherX are now anti-aliased for smoother rendering. Closes issue #10.
  Before:
  
  After:
  

• Folders can now be added as "Linked folders", which will add the contents of that folder to LauncherX, then automatically reflect any changes made to the contents of that folder in LauncherX. Contents of a "linked" folder are indicated by a small icon at the bottom left. Closes issue #11.
  
  

• LauncherX's main grid can now be aligned to the center instead of being aligned to the left. You can configure this in LauncherX's Settings. Closes issue #12.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where some file icons would have their icons rendered too small. Closes issue #14.
  Before:
  
  After:
  

• Fixed a bug where hidden folders could not be added to LauncherX.

• Fixed a bug where the "Error adding items" window would cut off file paths that were too long.

Things to note:

• LauncherX is now based on the WindowsAppSDK framework with WinUI 3. As such, there is no longer any need to install the .NET Framework 4.8 runtime. However as a result, LauncherX is no longer compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
• Furthermore, there are now different installers for different CPU architectures, unlike previous versions of LauncherX. Please download the correct installer for your machine:
  • For x86 64-bit CPUs, please download LauncherX_2.1.1_x64_Setup.exe.
  • For x86 32-bit CPUs, please download LauncherX_2.1.1_x86_Setup.exe.
  • For ARM 64-bit CPUs, please download LauncherX_2.1.1_arm64_Setup.exe.
• If you encounter problems updating LauncherX, try uninstalling the previous version of LauncherX first. Don't worry, your data will not be deleted.

LauncherX v2.1.0

LauncherX v2.1.0 is a major feature update for LauncherX.

Changes:

New Features:

• Create Groups to categorise your files, folders, and websites that you have added to LauncherX. Closes issue #2.

Groups-compressed.mp4

• Add launch arguments to files added in LauncherX. Closes issue #7.

LaunchArgs.mp4

• Edit the display name, icon, and launch arguments (if applicable) of an item already added to LauncherX. Closes issue #4.

EditItem.mp4

• LauncherX now actively tries to use high quality icons to display files, folders, and websites. You can see a simple comparison between the icons of PDF files added to LauncherX v2.1.0 vs LauncherX v2.0.1 below. Closes issue #3.

• For Windows 10 users, LauncherX now automatically falls back on using the Acrylic material to render the window's backdrop when the Mica window backdrop is unavailable, instead of simply rendering a grey background. Closes issue #5.

• Performance improvements due to migrating from WPF to the WindowsAppSDK and WinUI3. Below is a simple comparison between the time taken by LauncherX v2.0.1 and LauncherX v2.1.0 to add 1024 files. Both versions of LauncherX were ran on a virtual machine with 4 GB of RAM and Windows 10 32-bit installed on it.

Technical changes

• The auto-update system is now based on checking if there is a new GitHub release, rather than a Pastebin link that had to be manually updated.
• All user settings are now stored in .json files in a single directory, %appdata%\LauncherX.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where snap layouts would not show for Windows 11 users.
  

Things to note:

• LauncherX is now based on the WindowsAppSDK framework with WinUI 3. As such, there is no longer any need to install the .NET Framework 4.8 runtime. However as a result, LauncherX is no longer compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
• Furthermore, there are now different installers for different CPU architectures, unlike previous versions of LauncherX. Please download the correct installer for your machine:
  • For x86 64-bit CPUs, please download LauncherX_2.1.0_x64_Setup.exe.
  • For x86 32-bit CPUs, please download LauncherX_2.1.0_x86_Setup.exe.
  • For ARM 64-bit CPUs, please download LauncherX_2.1.0_arm64_Setup.exe.
• If you encounter problems updating LauncherX, try uninstalling the previous version of LauncherX first. Don't worry, your data will not be deleted.

LauncherX v2.0.1

Changes:

New Features:

• Added a link to LauncherX's privacy policy in the 'Settings' window

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where the 'Settings' window and the 'Add a website' dialog could be maximised by double-clicking on the window titlebar.

Things to note:

• Included in this release is also an installer for the .NET Framework 4.8 runtime, which is required for LauncherX to run correctly. If .NET Framework 4.8 is not installed on your computer, you can use the attached installer to install it.
• If you encounter problems updating LauncherX, try uninstalling the previous version of LauncherX first. Don't worry, your data will not be deleted.

LauncherX v2.0.0

Changes:

New Features:

• Redesigned user interface: LauncherX's design is now more in line with the design language of Windows 11, with new controls and materials. (Mica backdrop only available on Windows 11)
• LauncherX now sports a more modern and simple icon
• LauncherX now remembers the user's last window position
• Crash protection - items added to LauncherX are now saved every 10 seconds instead of only being saved when LauncherX is closed
• LauncherX now supports AnyCPU instead of only x64
• When adding folders, LauncherX now uses the more modern CommonOpenFileDialog to allow the user to choose a folder instead of the legacy FolderBrowserDialog
• LauncherX now supports dragging and dropping files, folders, and websites directly into the window
• Users can now change their icon scale to a precision of 2 decimal places.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed most graphical glitches that occur in LauncherX
• Fixed an issue where the user was experiencing a lot of lag when moving windows around
• Fixed an issue where LauncherX would not save user settings if an older version of LauncherX was also installed on the same computer
• Fixed an issue where you could not add folders with names that contain non-ASCII characters

Other improvements

• Fully migrated LauncherX from XAML Islands to pure WPF controls for faster rendering of controls with less graphical glitches

Things to note:

• Included in this release is also an installer for the .NET Framework 4.8 runtime, which is required for LauncherX to run correctly. If .NET Framework 4.8 is not installed on your computer, you can use the attached installer to install it.
• If you encounter problems updating LauncherX, try uninstalling the previous version of LauncherX first. Don't worry, your data will not be deleted.

LauncherX 1.0.1

Changes:

• Fixed an issue where LauncherX was unable to load the website icons
• Updated NuGet packages

Things to note:

• LauncherX is compatible with Windows 10 version 1903 and above, and Windows 11. As such, you need to be running 64-bit Windows 10, version 1903 and above to run LauncherX (includes Windows 11).
• Included in this release is also an installer for the .NET framework 4.8 runtime, which is required for LauncherX to run correctly. If .NET framework 4.8 is not installed on your computer, you can use the attached installer to install it.
• If you want to uninstall LauncherX or manually update LauncherX, please remember to uninstall the previous version of LauncherX first. Don't worry, your data will not be deleted.

LauncherX version 1.0

This is the first version of LauncherX. LauncherX is compatible with Windows 10 version 1903 and above, and Windows 11. As such, you need to be running 64-bit Windows 10, version 1903 and above to run LauncherX (includes Windows 11), and need to have at least 20MB of free space to install LauncherX. If you have any problems or would like to feedback to us, please leave your response on GitHub.