[Newsletter] Announcements from Alchemy Mindworks
Alchemy Mindworks
alchemyreply0991 at mindworkshop.com
Sat Dec 9 10:25:34 EST 2017
_______________________________________________________________________
THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC POSTING FROM
THE ALCHEMY MINDWORKS UPDATE MAILING LIST
UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mindworkshop.com/mailman/options/newsletter
_______________________________________________________________________
Contents:
1. Announcing Screen Saver Construction Set 8
2. Announcing Presentation Wizard 8 (Second Notification)
3. Graphic Workshop Professional 8 Revision 3
(Additional Notification)
4. Graphic Workshop Professional - The Book (Second Notification)
5. Replying to this Message and List Removal
_______________________________________________________________________
A tale more terrifying than last-minute seasonal shopping!!!
http://www.stevenwilliamrimmer.com/lizardland.html
(The paperback edition also makes a perfect gift for friends and family
members who gave you socks last year.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
1. Announcing Screen Saver Construction Set 8
_______________________________________________________________________
Screen Saver Construction Set 8 has been released.
We've refined the internal architecture of Screen Saver Construction
Set 8 to make it faster, more memory-efficient and better able to take
advantage of the functionality of Windows 7, 8 and 10.
While most of the seriously cool changes embodied in Screen Saver
Construction Set 8 are "under the hood," users of the latest release
will notice that it's noticeably quicker, especially for functions that
call for significant system resources, such as building extensive
screen savers.
The updated architecture will also allow us to add new features to
Screen Saver Construction Set 8 that were impractical or genuinely
impossible under version 7.
........................................................................
WHAT'S NEW
The changes in version 8 include:
- Improves the solid color selection buttons throughout the application
with a quick palette selection window - just hold down the Shift key
on your keyboard when you click to select a color to see it. There's a
complete discussion of this window and how it interacts with the
primary Colors window in the section of the Reference document that
deals with Color Selection.
- Updates the runtime to make it quicker and more memory efficient.
- Adds some new functionality to the ANIMAL language.
- Screen Saver Construction Set 8 will optionally import most of the
configuration items of an existing Screen Saver Construction Set 7
installation, if there's one on your system, eliminating the need to
restore your preferences by hand.
It will also remove your earlier software for you if you like.
- Hardens the library interface underlying Screen Saver
Construction Set 8 to make it more resistant to tampering. Sadly,
the tampering in question appears to originate with some third-party
security applications... which our lawyers would really prefer we
didn't name.
- Addresses a number of GDI and performance issues that software
developers never really stop meddling with.
- Updates the documentation.
We'd like to take this opportunity to express our sincere regrets for
the minor bump in the price of Screen Saver Construction Set 8. In our
defense, it's been about a decade and a half since it last changed.
Bookkeepers may not be the most irresistible force in the universe,
but they are the most relentless.
You can download Screen Saver Construction Set 8 from:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/scspro.html#download
........................................................................
UPGRADES
If you registered or upgraded a registration for Screen Saver
Construction Set 7 on or after April 1, 2017, you’re welcome to a free
upgrade to Screen Saver Construction Set 8.
If you registered or upgraded a registration for Screen Saver
Construction Set 7 prior to April 1, 2017, you can upgrade to Screen
Saver Construction Set 8 for half the cost of a new single-user license.
When you first run Screen Saver Construction Set 8, it will check to see
if you have a registration for Screen Saver Construction Set 8 on your
system. If it finds one, it will display a window to tell you which of
the foregoing upgrade options is applicable. Click on the Upgrade
button to visit our web page and request or order an upgrade.
The upgrade window can subsequently be accessed through the Help >
Upgrade Manager > Upgrade from Previous Version item of Screen Saver
Construction Set 8's menu bar.
You can also visit the no-cost upgrade page directly at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/scskey.html
and the upgrade order page at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/upgrade.html
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Announcing Presentation Wizard 8 (Second Notification)
_______________________________________________________________________
Presentation Wizard 8 has been released.
We've refined the internal architecture of Presentation Wizard 8
to make it faster, more memory-efficient and better able to take
advantage of the functionality of Windows 7, 8 and 10.
While most of the seriously cool changes embodied in Presentation
Wizard 8 are "under the hood," users of the latest release will notice
that it's noticeably quicker, especially for functions that call for
significant system resources, such as building extensive applications.
The updated architecture will also allow us to add new features to
Presentation Wizard 8 that were impractical or genuinely
impossible under version 7.
........................................................................
WHAT'S NEW
The changes in version 8 include:
- Adds the logic to build electronic greeting cards.
Long, long ago when the world was new and personal computers weighed
about as much as the people who used them, Alchemy Mindworks created
an application called Electronic Greeting Card Construction Set. As
its name no doubt cleverly implies, it created electronic greeting
cards, which could be e-mailed to your friends and family, or
downloaded from web pages and other on-line media.
For reasons too eldritch and arcane to deal with here, Electronic
Greeting Card Construction Set never made it into the new millennium.
We've always liked the idea of what it did, however, and with a bit of
slightly tricky object manipulation – that you'll never have to deal
with directly – you can enjoy all the functionality of Electronic
Greeting Card Construction Set and none of its original limitations
through Presentation Wizard itself.
See the discussion of Electronic Greeting Cards in the Reference
section of Presentation Wizard's manual. Also, be sure to click on the
example electronic greeting card in your Programs -> Alchemy
Mindworks -> Presentation Wizard 8 menu.
Keep an eye out for Hazmat, the twenty-five-pound monster squirrel.
- Improves the solid color selection buttons throughout the application
with a quick palette selection window - just hold down the Shift key
on your keyboard when you click to select a color to see it. There's a
complete discussion of this window and how it interacts with the
primary Colors window in the section of the Reference document that
deals with Color Selection.
- Updates the runtime to make it quicker and more memory efficient.
- Adds some new functionality to the ANIMAL language.
- Presentation Wizard 8 will optionally import most of the
configuration items of an existing Presentation Wizard 7 installation,
if there's one on your system, eliminating the need to restore your
preferences by hand.
It will also remove your earlier software for you if you like.
- Hardens the library interface underlying Presentation Wizard 8 to
make it more resistant to tampering. Sadly, the tampering in question
appears to originate with some third-party security applications...
which our lawyers would really prefer we didn't name.
- Addresses a number of GDI and performance issues that software
developers never really stop meddling with.
- Updates the documentation.
We'd like to take this opportunity to express our sincere regrets for
the minor bump in the price of Presentation Wizard 8. In our defense,
it's been about a decade and a half since it last changed. Bookkeepers
may not be the most irresistible force in the universe, but they are
the most relentless.
You can download Presentation Wizard 8 from:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/prspro.html#download
........................................................................
UPGRADES
If you registered or upgraded a registration for Presentation Wizard 7
on or after April 1, 2017, you’re welcome to a free upgrade to
Presentation Wizard 8.
If you registered or upgraded a registration for Presentation Wizard 7
prior to April 1, 2017, you can upgrade to Presentation Wizard 8 for
half the cost of a new single-user license.
When you first run Presentation Wizard 8, it will check to see if
you have a registration for Presentation Wizard 8 on your system.
If it finds one, it will display a window to tell you which of the
foregoing upgrade options is applicable. Click on the Upgrade button to
visit our web page and request or order an upgrade.
The upgrade window can subsequently be accessed through the Help >
Upgrade Manager > Upgrade from Previous Version item of Presentation
Wizard 8's menu bar.
You can also visit the no-cost upgrade page directly at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/prskey.html
and the upgrade order page at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/upgrade.html
_______________________________________________________________________
3. Graphic Workshop Professional 8 Revision 3 (Additional Notification)
_______________________________________________________________________
Graphic Workshop Professional 8 has been updated.
This release:
- Addresses a few more issues that crept into the initial release of
Graphic Workshop Professional 8.
- Improves the solid color selection buttons throughout the application
with a quick palette selection window - just hold down the Shift key
on your keyboard when you click to select a color to see it. There's
a complete discussion of this window and how it interacts with the
primary Colors window in the section of the Reference document that
deals with Color Selection.
- Addresses an issue which prevented the Abort button in the Progress
window from being recognized when Graphic Workshop was processing
large numbers of high-resolution JPG files under some builds and
configurations of Windows (if there was a penguin within 1500 meters
of your house, possibly.)
- Fixes a bug in e-Paint UltraLight that caused the floating tool and
settings palette windows to become unselected during drawing in
some circumstances - see the above reference to the proximity of
a penguin.
- Improves the JPG reader.
- Updates several functions in the GWS Camera screen capture application.
- Updates Archive Manager.
- Addresses a potential security issue.
We urge all users of Graphic Workshop Professional 8 to install this
upgrade, and any users of earlier versions to consider upgrading as
quickly as possible.
You can download Graphic Workshop Professional 8 from:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/gwspro.html#download
........................................................................
UPGRADES
If you registered or upgraded a registration for Graphic Workshop
Professional 7 on or after March 1, 2017, you’re welcome to a no-cost
upgrade to Graphic Workshop Professional 8.
If you registered or upgraded a registration for Graphic Workshop
Professional 7 prior to March 1, 2017, you can upgrade to Graphic
Workshop Professional 8 for half the cost of a new single-user license.
When you first run Graphic Workshop Professional 8, it will check to see
if you have a registration for Graphic Workshop Professional 7 on your
system. If it finds one, it will display a window to tell you which of
the foregoing upgrade options is applicable. Click on the Upgrade button
to visit our web page and request or order an upgrade.
The upgrade window can subsequently be accessed through the Help >
Upgrade Manager > Upgrade from Previous Version item of Graphic Workshop
Professional 8's menu bar.
The Graphic Workshop Professional no-cost upgrade key offer ends on
November 30, 2017.
You can also visit the no-cost upgrade page directly at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/gwskey.html
and the upgrade order page at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/upgrade.html
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Graphic Workshop Professional - The Book (Second Notification)
_______________________________________________________________________
We've been contacted frequently of late to ask if there was a hard-copy
reference available for Graphic Workshop Professional.
This is the sort of thing that makes the people responsible for the
Alchemy Mindworks web pages certain they should have used much larger
type, possibly with blinking text enabled.
We'd prefer they didn't get any funny ideas like this into their heads.
For everyone who missed the initial announcement about the Graphic
Workshop Printed Reference - an absolute brick of a book with everything
there is to know about Graphic Workshop printed, bound, indexed,
illustrated and distributed by Amazon - we'd like to take this
opportunity to announce it again.
Please see:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/gwsprint.html
For everyone who's ever encountered the existential horror of a web page
with blinking text, we'd like to reassure you that the HTML blink
attribute is now deprecated, and is supported by few if any current web
browsers.
_______________________________________________________________________
5. Replying to this Message and List Removal
_______________________________________________________________________
This message has been sent from an unmonitored address - please do not
reply to it.
To remove your address from this mailing list or to change your
address, please visit our web page at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/update-list.html
Removal requests will be processed instantly.
.......................................................................
If you have questions about this list or any Alchemy Mindworks
products, please contact us at:
http://www.mindworkshop.com/email-alchemy.html
You can contact us by telephone at (705) 789-5238, and by snail-mail
at Alchemy Mindworks, L10 C8 Brunel, Huntsville, ON P1H 2J3, CANADA.
****************************************************************************
Copyright (c) 1998 - 2017 Alchemy Mindworks.
All rights reserved. Use no hooks.
More information about the Newsletter
mailing list