Release Notes 2006-09

12.0.81 (9/29/06)

1. Fixed: Track info visualizations would crash.
2. Fixed: Pressing 'Enter' on a "Back" command on the right of Theater View didn't work.
3. Changed: Spinning picture cube doesn't spin as fast when entering Theater View.
4. NEW: Theater View lists roll, but require two up or down clicks (instead of one) to initiate the roll.
5. Fixed: When Theater View encountered a Direct3D error, it would appear missing instead of drawing an error screen.
6. Changed: Core drawing engine provides nicer results with alpha on alpha drawing. (effects font smoothness in some Theater View skins)

12.0.80 (9/28/06)

1. Fixed: When running multiple versions of MC at once, they could collide when using some plugin types.
2. Changed: Removed a few obsolete settings from Plugin Manager pages.

12.0.79 (9/28/06)

1. Changed: Video thumbnailing runs at a lower priority so it has less performance impact.
2. Fixed: Video thumbnailing could show a crash message in rare cases where a video thumbnail could not be built.
3. Fixed: If "Slim" was entered the first time while MC was maximized, it could fill the screen.
4. Fixed: Edit drop lists for disc number could sort empty and 1 out of order. (remember that emtpy and 1 sort equally in a file list so tracks without a disc number have an implied disc number of 1)
5. Changed: Menu transparency will not be used if the menu overlaps a hardware accelerated window. (3D visualizations, G-Force, new Theater View, etc.)
6. NEW: MP3 (Internet) streams are buffered to allow seeking anywhere as the stream is received.
7. Fixed: iPods not ejecting correctly after sync or on close.
8. Fixed: Some bad image files could cause the player to hang.
9. Fixed: Not able to recognize non-WMDM handheld devices on operating systems that don't support WMDM.
10. NEW: A new WAVE input plugin that handles uncompressed WAV files, including http:// files and files with UNICODE characters in the path. Compressed WAV files will continue to be handled in DirectShow.
11. Fixed: Audible files not tranferring to iPods.
12. Fixed: Shift-End, Shift-Ctrl-End, Shift-Home, Shift-Ctrl-Home now honored in lyric edit control.
13. Fixed: Not reading Audible tags correctly.
14. Changed: Removed "All" items when browsing in Theater View.
15. Changed: Several improvements to the Noire Theater View skin.
16. NEW: New animated Theater View returns -- many performance improvements from previous release.
17. Changed: Once Theater View gets to a "Files" list, pressing Enter will show a menu instead of replacing Playing Now.
18. Changed: When navigating in Theater View, going into a list with only one item will go in to the next level.
19. Fixed: Possible dead-lock with multithreaded skinning.
20. Changed: Reworked how customization is applied to web browser controls to be more reliable.

12.0.78 (9/26/06)

1. Changed: Double-click on the header while in Slim mode returns to Standard View.
2. NEW: Mouse-wheel works to operate the thumbnail size slider.
3. NEW: View header is shown in library views when filtering using the tree.
4. Changed: Tooltips don't show an image when in a thumbnail mode. (since it's redundant)
5. Fixed: When clicking a tree item with no children, it'd scroll down unexpectedly.
6. Changed: For Quicktime video (such as mp4) that is played in DirectShow, we try DirectShow method for thumbnailing before trying Quicktime method.
7. Changed: Time-out for testing whether a file can be played in DirectShow is increased (to avoid unnecessarily hard-killing a DirectShow graph).
8. NEW: Slim skin Mini View has its own window position instead of being a windowshade of the main position.
9. Fixed: Show Start option now honored.
10. Fixed: Action Window pages wouldn't always set the cursor properly. (hopefully fixed -- please let us know)
11. NEW: Introduced new video thumbnail generation system -- please test if you have had video thumbnail problems in the past.

12.0.77 (9/25/06)

1. Fixed: Not all library watch folder settings were being saved as library specific.
2. Changed: Added portable device information to the system information dump.
3. Changed: Lyrics field allowable with videos.
4. Fixed: Media Editor could have an error when pasting regions of a file.
5. Fixed: Some QuickTime audio files would incorrectly show as having an internal image causing issues.
6. Fixed: WAV (and other DX playback type files) would be slower than expected.

12.0.76 (9/22/06)

1. NEW: New art in many areas of the program -- splash, about, icons, etc. (still a work in progress)
2. Changed: Video thumbnailing takes shorter time for some video types. Also, a little more error logging for video thumbnailing and importing.
3. Fixed: The "Debug Viewer" link in the logging dialog was broken.
4. NEW: There is now an "email" link on the logging dialog for sending log files.
5. Fixed: Mouse movement could cause some areas of the program to be overly blinky. (introduced a few builds back)
6. NEW: Gapless playback support for iPods added.
7. Changed: Removed 3D Theater View. (to return at a later date)
8. Changed: After resetting the current log file, a message is displayed.

12.0.75 (9/21/06)

1. Changed: Editing of TV station names and deleting TV channels can now be done on TV Configuration -> TV Channels page (whereas previously they are available only on the "Scan Channels" dialogs).
2. Optimized: Some internal database operations are faster.
3. Changed: Fullscreen bars only show when the mouse moves into the border area.
4. NEW: Update view header images.
5. Changed: Manually expanding a tree item will scroll the tree if necessary to make children visible.
6. NEW: Thumbnails for images that use alpha will look better.
7. Fixed: Cover art not working on new 2nd generation Nanos.
8. Fixed: Fields that had not been changed / saved for a long time could fail to load. (introduced in build 74)
9. NEW: Internet code no longer skips trying to connect when a connection isn't currently alive -- hopefully improving usability for wireless LAN, etc. users.

12.0.74 (9/20/06)

1. Changed: Log entries for DirectShow video thumbnailing threads all carry thread IDs.
2. Fixed: Checking for changed / missing files could go slower than expected if the database contained CD or DVD files.
3. Fixed: Windows Server 2003 could (still) report a Windows Media error during installation.
4. Changed: The entire audio branch (instead of just the audio renderer) is removed from the DirectShow graph for video thumbnailing.
5. Fixed: Some extended file types (JMX, etc.) would always be considered "externally changed" during an import, causing slowdowns.
6. Optimized: Loading of media files database over twice as fast.
7. Changed: Audio, images and video are loaded into the tree before other items.

12.0.73 (9/19/06)

1. Fixed: Windows Server 2003 could report a Windows Media error during installation.
2. Fixed: WAV (or other DirectShow) audio playback types wouldn't stop as fast as expected.
3. Fixed: Video playback could fail on some machines.
4. Changed: Cross-fade length can't be longer than half the length of the file that just played. (for playing very short files)
5. Fixed: When playing very short files, the player could stall and stop playing more files.
6. Fixed: Double-clicking a file in Playing Now with "Always jump to Playing Now" selected could cause a crash.
7. Fixed: The status below a video while it was loading did not support translation.
8. Changed: Tweaked how grabbing a handle of a slider works so only non-alpha regions are grabbable.
9. Fixed: Otto could wrongly see a Media Center tagging action as an external change in certain cases.
10. Fixed: Possible rare crash with multi-threaded skinning.
11. Changed: When saving tag changes, the status bar will say "Saving tag changes (playing file remaining -- stop playback to finish)" to clarify this scenario.

12.0.72 (9/18/06)

1. Fixed: Image caption no longer being bozoed when zooming.
2. Fixed: Vista was causing a crash when browsing for folders.
3. Fixed: WMV playback would fail on some systems.
4. Changed: Artist is flagged as "all media types". (instead of audio specific)
5. Fixed: Integer-style fields would be a drop-list instead of a combobox when editing.
6. Fixed: Empty playlists would use image columns instead of audio columns. (switches automatically when adding files)
7. Changed: More fields are available in the Tag window.
8. Fixed: Right-clicking without moving the mouse first in fullscreen mode wouldn't show the mouse cursor.
9. Changed: Resizing the window no longer moves the camera position of 3D visualizations to a random spot.
10. Fixed: Black portions of images in the 3D visualiztions could show as transparent.
11. Changed: Sample Grabber method of thumbnailing is not used when FFDShow video decoder filter is detected.
12. Changed: Video playback doesn't prevent video slideshows on single file double-click.
13. Changed: Display resizes when borders appear in fullscreen.

12.0.71 (9/15/06)

1. New: Added option "Avoid WMV Acceleration" for WM video playback.
2. Fixed: Some WM video files with DirectSubVob subtitles would not play (introduced in 12.0.70).
3. Fixed: Playlist alarm not working on iPods.
4. Changed: Added recognition of some of the new iPods.
5. Fixed: Ratings not getting synced back properly from some iPods running newer firmware.
6. Changed: Some tweaks in Video Playback Options.
7. NEW: Menus support typed-key navigation. (when underlines are showing (Alt+[Key]) pressing a key will still do selections)
8. Fixed: Showing a submenu with scroll arrows multiple times from the same parent could cause a dead space to appear below the menu items.
9. Fixed: After some series of menu / mouse clicks, the auto-show menus in the view header could stop working.
10. Changed: People, places, and events are flagged as "all media types". (instead of image specific)
11. Changed: Captions on slideshow are cleared after new image load and displayed at the end of the transition.
12. NEW: Getting cover art from the internet is fully threaded so it doesn't block using the program.
13. Changed: "DirectShow audio/video playback settings ..." has been renamed "DirectShow playback settings..."; and likewise "DirectShow Audio Video Playback Options" renamed "DirectShow Playback Options".
14. NEW: Added previous / next display buttons in display view when viewing images, visualizations, etc.

12.0.70 (9/14/06)

1. Fixed: In some cases, deleting a folder from the "My Computer" area of the tree could cause a crash.
2. Fixed: Doing a "Locate > On Disk (inside Media Center)" could crash when performed on a missing folder.
3. Fixed: Rating stars no longer react when the mouse is over a scrollbar or popup dialog.
4. Fixed: Podcast view headers wouldn't properly update to show a changed status like "failed to download", etc.
5. Changed: If a Podcast has no description, the title of the podcast will be used as the description.
6. Changed: Podcasts with no update date specified are now accepted. (previously they would be considered invalid)
7. Fixed: View header subtitle and notes were offset from one another slightly.
8. Fixed: Seeking problem when playing certain DRM protected Windows Media videos.
9. Changed: Running a second Media Center while a Media Center was minimized would not restore the first program as expected.
10. NEW: Send To > External Tools allow full expressions to be used to build the command line to send to the external program. (so artist, album, if statements, etc. can be used)
    NOTE: Media Center no longer automatically adds quotes around the filename, so you will need to add them manually if the external program needs them.
11. Changed: Splash screen is no longer shown when the program starts in Media Server or external SDK mode.
12. Fixed: At some player window sizes the status text in the player window could show up incorrectly after a text change.
13. Changed: Image captions updated after decode.
14. Fixed: Switching away from G-Force using the right-click menu could cause a crash.
15. Changed: Simplified how menus and keypresses are forwarded from display plugins. (please report any strangeness)
16. Fixed: In certain cases, the Tag window could still say "no files selected" when switching views.
17. Changed: The "Sort" menu under View Settings doesn't appear when in Playing Now.
18. Changed: Menus will never use more than half of the monitor's height before scrolling.
19. Changed: Made the scroll arrows on the top and bottom of long menus more subtle.
20. NEW: In-place editing of "clear only" type fields is now supported. (last played, number plays, replay gain, etc.)
21. Fixed: Pressing "Enter" while editing a field in a list could start playback.
22. Changed: Editing large values like Lyrics in-place in the list requires Shift+Enter to be used for enter. (since Enter saves)
23. NEW: New "Start" and "Podcasts" pages in the player.

12.0.69 (9/12/06)

1. Fixed: Media Center would not run on some Win9x systems.
2. Fixed: Thumbnails could blink when holding the mouse over them.
3. Fixed: Deleting a file from Playing Now could leave the file's tooltip.
4. Changed: Tag window better auto-sizes label column. (by design, very long field names will show ... instead of pushing everything right)
5. Fixed: On systems with CD 'auto-run' turned off, the restart button in the rip action window was not working.
6. NEW: Stopping (or playing a new selection) when TV is time-shifted more than one minute behind live will show a confirmation dialog.
7. Changed: Clicking "Unassigned" in tagging mode for a list-type field will remove all values.
8. NEW: Updated the German translation. (thanks Bytestar and Daniel2k)
9. Changed: Made clearing the rating using graphical stars more intuitive.
10. Fixed: A wave file (and some others) could be listed as taggable even if there was not input plugin.
11. Changed: Folder watching will only wait up to 5 minutes for inactivity (during continued activity) before reconciling the database with the disk.
12. Fixed: Problems identifying some grayscale photo iPods.
13. Fixed: When the Display action window appeared in a minimized state, it wouldn't properly resize the action windows.
14. Fixed: Theater View could crash in some cases.

12.0.68 (9/8/06)

1. NEW: Theater View built on top of Direct3D 9. (experimental)
2. Changed: Renamed "Other Tags" to "More Tags" in Tag Action Window.
3. Changed: Removed the "Tag: " header from the title text of Tag Action Window pages when zoomed into a field.
4. Changed: "Add New Tag" button is at the bottom of a check list instead of the top in the Tag Action Window.
5. Changed: Tags get broken into columns in the Tag Action Window so all values are left aligned.
6. Changed: Mini View "Slim" skin shows a close button instead of a maximize button. (it exits to Standard View)
7. Fixed: Some Tag window tag changes did not properly support undo. (ctrl+z)
8. Changed: Tag window updates nicer while scrolling.
9. Fixed: Invalid translation entries for strings with formatting (like %s, %d, etc.) could cause a crash.
10. NEW: Theater View uses image stacks instead of 2x2 grids when showing a grouping of files. (like standard view)
11. Fixed: Clicking the image in the Tag window while editing a different field could cause a crash.
12. Fixed: Incomplete Shutdown Detected warning dialog wasn't getting translated.
13. Fixed: Newly inserted CD's were not always detected correctly during auto-rip sessions.

12.0.67 (9/5/06)

1. Changed: Canon RAW (and other RAW) images loaded at full resolution by default. (instead of half-resolution)
2. Changed: Thumbnailing of RAW images faster in some cases.
3. Fixed: "Acquire Images" Action Window was crowded on its bottom edge.
4. Changed: The "Display" Action Window won't minimize other Action Windows when being shown.
5. Fixed: Closing MC while it was tagging could cause a dead-lock.
6. Fixed: Deleting a playing image could cause a dead-lock.
7. Changed: When viewing a playlist, the "Seq" column shows that it's the current sort order.
8. Changed: Playlist views support user sorting (and remember the sorting). (pick "Default" from the sort menu to revert to sequence sorting)
9. Changed: Album art upload and download works better with international characters.
10. Changed: Submitting art to the internet only uploads files where a better copy doesn't already exist. (making it much faster)
11. NEW: After submitting art to the internet, a summary is shown to reflect how many images were added, alredy in the database, etc.

12.0.66 (9/1/06)

1. NEW: Middle mouse button smooth scrolling is supported in file lists and the left navigation pane.
2. NEW: "Build Missing Thumbnails..." works in a background thread instead of blocking the program.
3. Optimized: Thumbnail stacks get cached during scrolling so they aren't rebuilt as often.
4. Changed: Stack views do a nicer job of filling in their stacks as thumbnails are being built.
5. Changed: Thumbnails of single files no longer draw larger than the original image.
6. Fixed: Closing the program while an email of files was being sent by Media Center could cause an error.
7. Fixed: Problems identifying iPods connected via firewire.
8. Changed: Clicking 'Rip CD' (or 'Rip Tracks') will open the ripping action window, if the ripping action window is already open the rip will start.