Vista Preview/TaskBar Thumbnails, 3D Rolodex Preview

For some reason DOpus doesn't work correctly with some of the new Aero features in Windows vista... unless you've just had the window open in front of you, the rolodex application switch doesn't show the actual current contents of the windows, and same with the taskbar thumbnail when you mouseover the taksbar button. If you look at the window, and try again, it works, but until then, it just shows a generic DOpus icon.

Is this something that can be improved in future versions of DOpus?

I'm not sure what you mean here. The preview shows the correct windows content anywhere that vista shows a preview - regardless of which application/window is in front. Even using the preview pane and slideshow works properly. The images update in the vista thumbnail/preview as they change in the lister.

Opus has always worked properly with the preview/thumbnail stuff in Vista for me. (Only "issue" is that the progress dialogs don't update when minimized (an optimisation which made sense pre-Vista but should probably be turned off now), but they still show a thumbnail rather than just an icon.)

Some applications only show an icon for the previews when they are minimized but Opus doesn't seem to be one of them -- it always shows the actual window contents here -- so I doubt that's it.

Are your graphics drivers up to date? Could it be something like the system being low on graphics memory and disabling previews of some windows to avoid running out? (I don't know if Vista does that but it seems possible.)

If it isn't any of those things then it might help for you to post some screenshots showing exactly what happens, and what the window in question looks like when viewed normally. Maybe using a certain feature (e.g. an ActiveX viewer) triggers the issue or something.

This (minor) issue doesn't happen constantly, but it seems that if I've got several DOpus listers open at once, some of them don't show up with a proper preview. I'm not sure specifically how to repeat it, because of course, it's working good at this moment.

It might be only after something changes (i.e a directory shown in that lister is created or something like that).

Let GPSoftware know if you can track down something that's reliably reproducable.

I tried creating folders in the directory that was shown by minimized listers but their previews got updated to show the new folders so it doesn't seem to be that.

I'm running with three monitors right now... perhaps it has something to do with that?

I noticed that the latest beta of the Palm Desktop software exhibits this behaviour as well. I'll make another post in this thread if I can determine specifically when this happens...

Well, I'm running with two and I know someone else is running 3 and he can't reproduce it either so it would seem number of monitors isn't related.

Well, I can't seem to find a way to make it happen on command - if I leave some listers open and use my computer for a long time, and come back, they'll show up that way. I've got screenshots to demonstrate what I'm talking about.




Are the listers minimized or normal?

Does it matter which monitor they are on?

You mentioned that it happens with another program. Does it happen to any program you leave running for a while or just that program and Opus?

Do you have the latest drivers for your graphics card(s)?

I don't notice any correlation beween the monitor that they're on and this behaviour, no...

This issue doesn't seem to happen to every program - but those two (Palm Desktop Latest Beta and Opus) so far. And I do have the latest drivers - I'm using a pair of NVidia GeForce 8600GTs.

I think I've noticed this on other computers, however... but I'd have to double check. I thought it was just something with Opus before, but... it might be more Vista's problem. Sometimes it can't "see" what the program window looks like for some reason.

In the Opus windows where the preview stops working, is there anything "special", like a viewer plugin being used? Some like PDF/Movie/ActiveX might complicate the painting process and confuse Vista, although I've never seen this myself and am only speculating on what might be a factor.

Nope. If you look at the screencaps, you'll see that one is (currently) working, and the other doesn't. They are practically the same configuration.

I wonder if maybe windows can only "remember" so many windows at once, so if you have, like, two dozen windows open, it forgets the contents of the ones that were used the longest time ago. (Just another wild guess)

hi how to toggle 3d/flat thumbnail via command(a certain button)

This ancient thread is about a Windows Vista feature which no longer exists in current versions of Windows.

Already am using win7 on my pc yet

Win7 is also ancient...

as you'd read it i said f@@king "YET"

This is a forum about Directory Opus but you seem to be asking about a long-removed Windows feature in a 15 year old thread.

If the question is about Opus, please explain what you want to do in more detail.

If it’s not about Opus and is about how to get the 3D stack of applications in Windows, the answer was Win+Tab in Vista but, on any current version of Windows, it will look different because Microsoft replaced it with a different UI which is not 3D.

Yet... why then asking for it?! :thinking: