W3bbo
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Posts posted by W3bbo
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I've completed the string table for English. If I ever make any changes in future it's likely they'll be minor and I'm sure Babelfish will be able to fill in the gaps.
I'd like this done within a few days, if possible.
You can download the updated English XML string table from the Anolis wesite:
http://anol.is/misc/StringTable2.txt
The latest partial translations into other languages are available here. Note that StringTable2.txt is the most recent and considered authoritative. If there are any strings in the partial translations that aren't in StringTable2.txt remove or ignore them. StringTable2 contains a lot of strings that aren't in the partial translations so you'll need to copy and paste a fair bit.
http://anol.is/misc/partialTranslations/
The localisation system falls-back on to English if the translations tables don't contain a string.
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I've made a list of all my remaining tasks for xpize 5 before it reaches final. The next release will be a "true" RC build in that if no-one complains it'll be the final release, it will contain no "beta" marks but will instead simply be called "xpize 5 - Release 4" (but heavily advertised as final).
I'll be speaking with the people behind RyanVM to see if I need to make any changes to my I386 patching system (which will also support the AMD64 directory on x64 CD images).
Here's a quick list of features that will be in the final that I haven't mentioned before:
- x64 CD image slipstreaming
- Full Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 support
- Authenticode-signed installer
- The "Downloadable Tools" will include a simple package creation tool for nontechnical users to play around with
- CD slipstreaming will include visual styles and uxtheme patches and other files including WinNT.sif generation
- There will be a webpage displayed to the user after rebooting after installation
- First-class uninstallation (from the Add/Remove Programs control panel)
I'm going home for the summer holiday on Saturday, taking my work on xpize with me, but I'll lose my x64 abilities, so I'll try to get all the x64 stuff done before then.
0 - x64 CD image slipstreaming
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I'm working on extending Zedox's work on an xpize'd Internet Explorer 7 (and now, IE8).
He basically used IE6's bitmaps to make equivalents for IE7 which includes the back/forward buttons, but only for 24x24 (the "small" size). There also aren't any for the "Pushed" button state.
I need someone to make some original art for a 32x32 button size for the back and forward buttons as well as a "Pushed" button state for these 32x32 and the 24x24 button images.
I also need it done within a few days. Ta!
I've attached the relevant original IE7 files. Note they're 32-bit BMPs. You'll need Photoshop or some other program that supports 32-bit BMPs.
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I've just been doing some extensive testing of xpize 5 on x64 systems with IE8 and I'm pleased to announce it's pretty much ready to go-for-gold.
Users of XPize 3.x will be pleased to hear that the "Energy Blue" style that was XPize's unique wizard bitmap style is now included in xpize 5, as is the "Luna Royale" (confusing name, I know) visual style, officially rendering XPize 1.x, 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x obsolete.
The only work that remains is in the installer features. Here's the things that need to be implemented before I release xpize 5 final and then move on to working on Vize (which I want to get done in a day):
(If an item is scratched out then it means I've completed that task since I made this original posting)
- xpize package work:
- I need to re-integrate the WinRAR theme and come up with a nice theme for 7-Zip. I will not be integrating the eMule theme though, but no-one's complained about it so I assume it's okay
- I need to make further adjustments to support IE8 which adds some new resources, right now IE8 looks a bit half-mashed.
- TaskSwitchXP (it's included, but isn't installed)
- I need to define more file operations for I386
- I need to make a new Tablet PC edition msgina image, the yellow one is hideous (but no-one has the PSDs to the image)
- I'll also make a series of msgina images for x64 (right now on x64 you get the x86 version of the bitmaps; whilst they look good they don't advertise your x64 awesomeness)
- I'm looking into making IE7 and 8 use XP-style tabs, but as the bitmaps are resources and not dynamically rendered they'll only look good with their matching Visual Style. Since 70% of all xpize.net visitors use Firefox I don't believe this is a priority.
[*]Installer work
- I need to reorganise the whole Update checking system, it's a bit of a mess. It checks for updates to the package, but not the installer software, but packages aren't always forwards-compatible so I need to check the package schema in the installer.
- After rebooting from the installer I'll display a window explaining what's been changed in the system and to expect the system to run slow for a few hours whilst it recreates the icon cache. A lot of people have emailed me saying that xpize made their system slower so they uninstalled it straight away.
- x64 needs some more work done. It patches both x86 and x64 versions of all files found under System32 and SysWow64 but doesn't do the same for Program Files and Program Files (x86), there's also some files that aren't correctly dealt with. This is why WMP's on x64 isn't patched.
- xpize 5 patches both mstsc 5 and 6 since 5 comes with XPx64SP2, however the patch doesn't seem to be applied, I'm investigating.
- The installer doesn't clean up after itself, it leaves extracted files strewn around your HDD. The final release will delete these files, leaving only the log.
- It also doesn't leave an Uninstallation entry in the Programs control panel. This will also be remedied.
- Apparently Visual Styles can be I386-integrated, so I'll work on that too
- File type icons
- I'm also looking at getting a code-signing certificate so you'll get an official "Developed by Anolis" message pop up and everything when Windows asks you. This is especially important for dealing with UAC on Vista.
- Screensavers are correctly installed and activated, but the Display control panel doesn't show them. I don't know why.
- And I need to add an option to not install 128x128 icons (although I haven't heard of any problems of anyone having with 128x128 icons with xpize 5)
- I need to re-integrate the WinRAR theme and come up with a nice theme for 7-Zip. I will not be integrating the eMule theme though, but no-one's complained about it so I assume it's okay
And I'd like to remind you of my call for translations/translators: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=135810
Thanks.
0 - xpize package work:
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I'm just gearing up for the final (yes, you heard, final) release of xpize 5.
I'd like to request that all those who submitted their translations earlier be available for a new round of translations since there have been a lot of changes from the original string tables I sent out.
I would especially like to ask for translators who can do English to Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. The costs of doing it commercially come to about £60 per language which is outside of my budget (of £0).
Thanks
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UPDATE 2009-07-10:
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I've completed the string table for English. If I ever make any changes in future it's likely they'll be minor and I'm sure Babelfish will be able to fill in the gaps.
I'd like this done within a few days, if possible.
You can download the updated English XML string table from the Anolis wesite:
http://anol.is/misc/StringTable2.txt
The latest partial translations into other languages are available here. Note that StringTable2.txt is the most recent and considered authoritative. If there are any strings in the partial translations that aren't in StringTable2.txt remove or ignore them. StringTable2 contains a lot of strings that aren't in the partial translations so you'll need to copy and paste a fair bit.
http://anol.is/misc/partialTranslations/
The localisation system falls-back on to English if the translations tables don't contain a string.
There's about 300-400 words to be translated, it should take a person fluent in both languages anything from 30 minutes to an hour to translate the lot. If anyone has any questions about the definition of certain technical words/phrases or has questions regarding context post in this thread.
Previous translations were: French, Italian, Dutch, German, and Russian. If the same people (or those who speak the language) could contribute towards getting it done that'd be great.
As before, you get attribution for your translation work. Feel free to PM me or reply in this thread if you have any questions.
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UPDATE 2009-07-13:
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These languages have been completed:
- ar - Arabic
- cy - Welsh
- de - German
- en - English
- es - Spanish
- fa - Persian
- it - Italian
- pl - Polish
- ru - Russian
- zh - Chinese
The following languages are currently being worked on:
- da - Danish
- nl - Dutch
- si - Slovenian
- fr - French
- pt - Portuguese
Which just leaves:
- ja - Japanese
- ko - Korean
- tlh - Klingon
I've made a tool which makes localisation easier. You can download it here:
http://anol.is/misc/LocalTool.zip
Instructions for use:
a ) Extract
b ) Rename local.resx to the two-letter ISO 639-1 code for your language (English = en, Spanish = es, Chinese = zh, etc) with a *.resx extension
c ) Run Sfcd.Localizer.exe
d ) Press the Load button and select en.resx, then when the second dialog appears select your renamed resx file
e ) The text will be displayed in the main window. Double-click a cell to edit it. Changes made to the English file won't be saved when you click the Save button
f ) When you're done, send the completed local.resx file to me somehow or post a link to it in this thread
0 - ar - Arabic
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As title,
I want to Silently Apply the XPize WinRAR Theme after Slient Installing WinRAR,
But don't know how to do it, any idea?
To install a WinRAR theme just copy the files over to the WinRAR theme directory then set the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinRAr\Interface\Themes\ActivePath value to the name of the theme folder you created.
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W3bbo: what do you think about my suggestion? - Is this something, what you could bring into being?
I'm thinking about it.
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Beta 4 will introduce dynamically generated bitmap resources to drastically reduce the size of the xpize distribution, but these bitmap resources are 24-bit (earlier they were 256-color) which makes them much larger.
I'm not anticipating any problems, but some of you have reported issues with 128x128 icons which are double the size of earlier icons.
If anyone has had problems with 128x128 icons, or problems with xpize 5 in general let me know so I can resolve or prepare for them.
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Very good. I'll include it in the next release.
Also, do you know anyone who has the PSD sources to the msgina.dll Windows banners? XPero gave me a name "klasa"; I sent him an email but have received no reply yet.
I ask because I want to change the TabletPC one back to blue and change the Embedded to yellow/orange to match the Windows CE.net boxart: ( http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/images/...dows-ce-net.jpg )
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Umm...I have a log-on screen that is black and grey, a wee little green short-cut arrow on my short-cuts, the taskbar and start menu properties menu has turned to Zune and I have an embedded theme, I also have an Anolis folder in program files with a Xpize back-up folder in it.
That's what happens when you check all the options without considering what it does
I'm thinking of a way to make the process more user-friendly, but it's difficult. Until then I think the treeview to select a colour scheme works... for now.1. How do I change the log-in screen theme back.If you load the uninstallation package as an installation package then uncheck everything except logonui.exe, your Welcome Screen will be restored.
2. How do I remove the Xpize package.Run the xpize5B3.exe program again and choose the Uninstall/Undo option, then select the backup directory. Alternatively to have a more granular control over what's restored run the backup package as an installation package and choose the items to restore.
I ask this as there is no Xpize anything that I can remove with Revo or similarRevo won't help you.
, or is it that I can utilise the Anolis installer to re-install from the Xpize back-up folder...The backup folder is used to restore your system to the state it was in prior to installing the package. It pretty much does the same thing as System Restore, except it's slightly safer (since it checks if the files have been modified after installing xpize) and also covers all changes, not just those to Windows' system files.
and if that is the case, can I also use the Anolis installer to install other non genuine themesOnly if you define an Anolis Package for it. Otherwise just drop any unsigned themes into your %windir%\Resources\Themes directory. Anolis Installer is not a theme manager, but a "transformation pack" system. Although I might expand its remit in future. Watch this space.
but most of all I want to change the log-on screen and the taskbar menu back.Oh, and I find that the embedded theme is very hard on my eyes.Blame Microsoft, they developed it
You'll find other visual styles installed besides Embedded. I'm personally quite partial to Royale Noir and Luna Element.
Ps, if any icons apart from the short-cut arrow have been changed, then they are hiding from me.You're not looking hard enough. There are 1139 icons updated in xpize 5 Beta 3, such as the icons that appear in the Internet Explorer control panel, or the tools in MSPaint. This is in addition to the 148 bitmaps that are updated to remove the Windows 2000 look.
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I'm going to work on optimising the distribution for size at the cost of installation speed:
Since it includes the Blue, Black, MCE, Luna Element (and now Energy Blue) resource bitmaps which are pretty much identical spare for their background image, I've decided to get it so that the bitmaps are procedurally generated during installation. This will probably shave about 6MB from the total download size, getting it down to around 11MB. Then with further optimisations I'll get it even lower (maybe even down to below 10MB).
Furthermore, I'll add an installation option that prevents the addition of the 128x128 icon size for compatibility with localised Windows installations that became unstable with 128x128 icons.
And of course, first-class x64 support.
From the statistics front: various figures added together report about 12,000 attempts at downloading the software over the past 2 days, yet only about 2,000 were actually complete downloads, but only about 100 (if not less) seem to have been installed (because when you install it it'll try to download the package update info). So unless 1,900 people have skipped the update check (unlikely) don't trust any download figures you see.
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Install went smoothly on my SP3 x86, except that the uxtheme lib doesn't seem to be patched. MS-signed themes do work (Embedded, Zune), but I don't have access to any of my custom themes.
Yeah, I think the reason the UxTheme patches are failing is because I forgot to actually tell it to patch it
Can you open up the generated logfile? Near the bottom there should be an exception report.
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Another update:
I've found the reason why the condition check was failing on some systems: I programmed it to identify numbers using your local computer's number format. So if you're on mainland Europe or Russia then a decimal number looks like '5,1' rather than '5.1' which is why it doesn't recognise your system as being the right version.
I'll fix this in the next release.
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A word on x64 support:
I've just done some preliminary testing on an x64 VM (hurrah for Sun's VirtualBox). And I'm pleased to announce that it works acceptably well if you're after a stopgap solution. Please note the following errata:
a ) MSTSC.exe and a few other files aren't patched as it has a different version in NT5.2SP2 compared to NT5.1SP3.
b ) A few bitmaps in Shell32.dll aren't patched, nor is the photo wizard patched
c ) UxTheme.dll is not patched. I'm investigating. Note that the Microsoft-signed themes do work.
d ) Only the 'true' x64 files under C:\windows\system32 are patched. The x86 files under C:\Windows\SysWow64 are not patched. I'll correct this in the next release.
To install it on x64, just add the /ignorePackageCondition switch when launching from the command-line.
Happy x64 computing
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For all of those having problems with error messages about "This package can only be installed..." please download and run this from the command-line:
http://anol.is/misc/ConditionTest.zip
Paste your results here or to Pastebin.
Instructions: Open up cmd.exe, go to the Options page and enable Quick Edit mode, then type the name of the program to run it. When the results are printed to the screen drag a selection rectangle and right-click (this will copy it to your clipboard), then paste it here or on Pastebin: http://pastebin.com/
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Hmm, I'm getting a strange problem.
The installer showed me an error where it says that the package can be installed only on XP x86 SP3... But I AM installing it on an XP SP3 VM!
PS For the translation, there are some parts which actually I remember I translated but I see they're in english... Will look into it.
EDIT: here's a screenshot.
That is bizarre. I'm working on a little program that should help solve the problem, until then you can use the /ignorePackageCondition command-line switch to bypass the condition check.
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This supports 2k3 x86, correct?
No, 2K3x86 is NT5.2 which uses a slightly different resource arrangement.
The next release, compatible with NT5.2 I hope to release this week, maybe even later today.
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Oh wow, XPize with x64 support! Thank you W3bbo!
Uh, it doesn't support x64 yet, read closer
That's coming in the next release, which should be a few days away since I've streamlined everything.
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Okay, I've compressed it, then packaged it, then turned it into an EXE.
Download it whilst it's hot. Total size: 17.6MB, but it's worth it.
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I've made the thread for Beta 3 ( http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=135479 ). This thread is now closed.
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I'll begin with the Known Issues list:
- Installer Issues
- The "Download Tools" feature doesn't work because I haven't configured the server yet, you'll notice the error is 404.
- Not all strings have been localised. If a localised string is missing the English equivalent will be used as a fallback. I'll need to get the translation volunteers to finish off the tables when it hits final. Let me know of any mistranslations.
- There is no way to opt-out of checking for updates, which means your IP address will be logged by my server. This is used only for geostatistical purposes and never used to identify you personally.
- Progress is not shown for the extraction of the package beyond "LZMA".
- The installer is not customised with xpize banner and watermark images.
- The "Show Log" button doesn't keep the log window up-to-date.
[*]Installation Issues
- For some reason screensavers aren't being applied. I'm setting the registry key right, but the Display control panel just isn't picking it up. I'm actively investigating.
- Custom file type icons aren't being set. This is because the code to work with file types hasn't been finished.
- The UxTheme patcher (based off DeepXW's Universal-patching heuristics-based approach) has not been tested. All but two of the included visual styles are compatible with the original unpatched UxTheme.dll. Let me know if it doesn't work or causes any kind of system error.
[*]I386 Installation Issues
- The installer will refuse to handle the package if its condition="" doesn't match your system (i.e. if you're running XPx64 and want to patch an XPx86 ISO on your computer). Until the next release is out you can bypass this by adding the /ignorePackageCondition command-line switch (note that it is case-sensitive)
- Custom Windows setup artwork is not applied.
[*]Uninstallation Issues
- Wallpaper files aren't removed, but the wallpaper setting is reset.
- Cursors aren't removed nor reset to their original setting.
- The "Download Tools" feature doesn't work because I haven't configured the server yet, you'll notice the error is 404.
After installing the package, a logfile will be saved to the directory the package was extracted to (find it under %you%\Local Settings\Temp). If it's larger than 29KB then something went wrong. Let me know.
Enjoy.
0 - Installer Issues
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I was going to get the release out tonight, but I hit a problem with the code used to fix up the checksum values in PE executables (that's what modifype.exe was used for in older versions of xpize). I've no idea what the problem is though.
It's not a critical problem, just one of those things that need to be done in order to do things "properly". But it does impact on I386 patching though.
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Mad props to Rafael Rivera, who just patched the 3D Windows Logo screensaver for me to allow it to run on XPx64 and WS2003.
The screensaver made a call to GetVersionExA and only ran if the result matched Windows NT 5.1, so it won't run on Windows XP x64 or Server 2003 (which is NT5.2) or anything else be it Windows 2000 (NT5.0) or Vista (NT6.0).
The patched screensaver will be making an appearance in the upcoming third xpize 5 beta.
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Hell 50 megs and I still wouldn't care!
Please just NOT a lot of third party crap!
The only third-party stuff is TaskSwitchXP. The UxTheme patcher is my own, derived from the source code to DeepXW's Universal heuristic patcher (which patches uxtheme from XP through to Win7 accross all service packs and languages).
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I'm thinking of a way to make the process more user-friendly, but it's difficult. Until then I think the treeview to select a colour scheme works... for now.
Call for Translations - Part 2
in XPize
Posted
An "Anolis distribution" is what Busty said it is: an installer program with at least one package embedded in it. There's probably a better way to describe it but it's in the same spirit as "Linux distribution" (which is the Linux kernel with a bunch of other stuff, such as a windowing system and desktop environment).