Win64: Serious Problems

Hi,

I've been a registered user of DOpus since version 5 and have never felt the need to complain before but I've just paid for an upgrade to version 9 and actually regret it. :frowning:

At no point was a warning given to me that this version of DOpus is incompatible with Windows Vista x64. The download/buy screens simply specify "Vista".

The issues I'm having have been described on this forum elsewhere and thankfully seem to be pretty easy to fix or at least workaround so I hope that my continued support over the years will be valued and a fix released in the immediate future... waiting for a x64 version is not an option. :frowning:

Double clicking on desktop icons does not work (even with explorer mode turned off and the computer restarted). However, right clicking on these icons and selecting the appropriate "Open" option results in the correct action taking place (e.g. the recycle bin opening in the normal explorer mode, which then allows access of the "proper" control panel etc.).

Can a new version of DOpus be released that, on x64, defaults to letting the normal action for these icons taking place? I feel that would be a more than sufficient stop gap solution to having DOpus co-operate and work well with Explorer on Vista x64. Since I can already achieve this desired functionality by manually choosing an option other than "Open in Directory Opus" this must be easy enough to implement? If so, please, please release an update for those of us who are stuck in this situation! :slight_smile:

This might not be as easy to fix but, I was running DOpus 8 in compatibility mode and was able to see the TortoiseSVN status icons in my listers and to make use of the TortoiseSVN context menus. With the upgrade to version 9 these icons and context menus are no longer available.

Every other context menu for software on my computer is working okay, it's just the most important one, TortoiseSVN that isn't working. That's a show stopper for my work and my usage of DOpus! Does anyone know if this can/will be fixed soon (I've switched off generic icons)?

I'm very grateful for the work GPSoft have done over the past many years I've been a customer as DOpus has always made my day to day computing experience that bit better. The only feature I actually needed from version 9 was Vista compatibility so I'm very disappointed that that hasn't been achieved as yet. I hope that the above issues can be sorted soon!

Thanks!

All the best...

Conor

If you turn off Explorer Replacement mode then Opus 9 should generally work on Vista 64-bit. I agree that it would be good if the installer did this automatically (assuming the installer is able to change the default configuration after detecting 64-bit).

If the TortoiseSVN menus aren't there at all -- not just missing icons but the entire menus -- do they come back if you hold shift when right-clicking the files?

Problems with TortoiseSVN's icons in the file display are usually due to configuration.

It's also possible that you've got the 64-bit TortoiseSVN shell extension installed, in which case it won't work in 32-bit Opus at all (but if it worked in Opus 8 it must be a 32-bit shell extension so this probably isn't it). I see on the TortoiseSVN site that "you can install both the 32 and 64-bit version side by side," which is good.

Opus is Vista compatible, it just isn't fully 64-bit compatible. Same as Opus, and many other programs, are XP compatible but were never fully XP64 compatible. It's just that not many people used 64-bit XP so the distinction didn't come up before but now it seems a lot of people are jumping on Vista 64-bit and noticing problems, not just in Opus but in a lot of things. I have read many stories from non-Opus users who went for 64-bit Vista in order to get more system memory but, after a few weeks, reinstalled with 32-bit because they found so many things didn't work and the things which did work couldn't take advantage of the extra memory.

It will take the industry as a whole a while to get up to speed with 64-bit support. Because Opus interacts with and integrates with many parts of the OS, and because of the way 64-bit Windows more or less segregates 32-bit and 64-bit applications, there will be a few more problems with Opus than your average standalone application.

Having said that, Opus should generally work fine on 64-bit Windows so long as you disable Explorer Replacement mode and are aware that Opus, as a 32-bit process, will be showing you "virtual" views of folders like System32.

Hi nudel,

Thanks very much for the reply! :smiley:

That's exactly what the problem was... thanks so much for letting me know about this, it may have taken me a while to figure out that the shell extensions had to be 32bit since DOpus is 32bit!

Using the 32bit version (after having removed the 64 bit version), has restored the TortoiseSVN functionality on my system and things are working well once more. DOpus is once again useful for day to day use (well - that's not quite right - it's practically essential to someone who has been using it daily for about 11-12 years!) :slight_smile:

I'm really grateful for your help in getting things working and this isn't really something worth splitting straws over but I doubt the legal definition of Vista compatible excludes 64bit compatibility (at least by UK trading standards). Either way, I'm not worried now, things are working well enough that I'm satisfied that my money was well spent (I assume there'll be a free upgrade to the 64bit version in the future). Thanks again for your help! :slight_smile:

Only two applications haven't worked fully for me as yet, Phatnotes Pro and DOpus... I'm quite a heavy program user so I guess these people must be using very odd software, I get the impression that x64 is a lot more compatible than people who don't use it think! :wink:

To be honest I didn't pick the x64 version of Vista for any other reason than my processor is 2 years old and it wasn't even cutting edge when I bought it, so it seemed natural that I should choose to use the 64bit version. There was no concept of "jumping on 64bit" or trying to be first, most processors in new machines have been 64bit for a long time now so with a new OS I think many will instinctively pick the most appropriate option.

I've had to adjust the way I use my computer slightly but after a day it has become completely natural to right click on the desktop icons. I only have four though so that was never going to be too much of an inconvenience! :slight_smile:

Now that you've got me sorted with TortoiseSVN functionality once more I can get everything I need done in the quick/fluid manner that only DOpus allows.

Which is just great!

Thanks again!

By the way, don't feel any need to bother replying to this, you've got me sorted and hopefully the information will be of use to others as well.. save your time for helping others! (Guess who has to reply to lots of support requests himself :wink: ).

All the best...

Conor