Binary Fortress Software » DisplayFusion

New Beginnings

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:51:20 +0000

Sometimes life throws interesting things your way. How you deal with those things is up to you, and unexpected things can be both a blessing and a curse. I was let go from my job yesterday, and after having 24 hours to reflect I can safely say that I think this was meant to happen. I have always been a believer that things always happen for a reason, and it’s best to just go with the flow of life. Always learn from past experiences, but don’t dwell on them or regret them. I enjoyed my time with my employer, learned a lot and met some fantastic people. People I’m sure I’ll stay in touch with for years to come.

My wife and I have been tossing around the idea of moving to a new city, one that has a stronger IT job scene. After looking at the London (Canada) job boards it looks like it’s a real ghost-town for C# developers. So, with no jobs in sight, it looks like the decision to move has been made for us. We brainstormed possible cities that we might enjoy living in, and then narrowed it down to a short-list of just 4 locations. I won’t talk anymore about the locations until I’m back from my trip though… my wife and I still need more time to think things over.

DisplayFusion has been selling quite well since version 2 was released in February, but not well enough to support my family and I. Now that I have been given this opportunity I want to see if that can change. I need to support my family while the job hunting and house moving takes place, so why not do it with something I love. This means that I’ll finally have some time to put some serious effort into getting DisplayFusion v2.1 out the door. This new version has some long-needed features added, and includes multi-language support. I have decided to adjust the price to better reflect the time and effort it takes to create and maintain this large collection of software I have. Don’t worry, it will still cost less than half as much as nearest competition. Starting September 1st the price will be changed to $15 CAD, which works out to be roughly $14.50 USD, £7.50 GBP or €9.50 Euros. I decided not to adjust the price immediately so that people who are currently trying DisplayFusion can purchase it for the current price, $10 CAD. If you have any questions or comments about the upcoming changes I would love to hear them. You can contact me directly, respond to this post or post in the DisplayFusion Support Forum.

DisplayFusion in the July 2008 issue of Maximum PC

Jon Tackabury — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:35:08 +0000

I would like to send out a big thanks to about a dozen people that found DisplayFusion included in the July 2008 issue of Maximum PC. As a result, they all received shiny new DisplayFusion Pro licenses. If you would like to find out how you can take advantage of this great offer, just visit the In the News page for more information.

DisplayFusion in the May 2008 issue of PC World Norge

Jon Tackabury — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:25:54 +0000

I would like to send a big thanks out to Rolf Beev from Norway. He discovered DisplayFusion in the May 2008 issue of PC World Norge. He was able to send me scans of the cover and article, and in exchange I sent him a shiny new DisplayFusion Pro license. If you would like to find out how you can take advantage of this great offer, just visit the In the News page for more information.

DisplayFusion in the May 2008 issue of PC Pro

Jon Tackabury — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:28:34 +0000

I would like to send a big shout out to Ian for finding DisplayFusion in the May 2008 issue of PC Pro in the UK. It’s always exciting to see my software being published, especially outside of North America. Ian was able to send me scans of the cover and article and for his effort I was more than happy to send a DisplayFusion Pro license his way. If you would like to find out how you can take advantage of this great offer, just visit the In the News page for more information.

Update: An observant reader (Keith) pointed out that this is the same article that appeared in the PC Authority magazine. I’m guessing that David has his column published in more than magazine. But, that’s cool with me as it was published in the UK and Australia, both places I have never been published in.

DisplayFusion in the June 2008 issue of PC Authority

Jon Tackabury — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:24:12 +0000

Two savvy DisplayFusion users have informed me that they discovered DisplayFusion while reading the June 2008 issue of PC Authority in Australia. Both were able to send me copies of the article and both received free DisplayFusion Pro licenses. I’d like to send out a big thanks to Ian Neale and Tim Burns for making this discovery, and I hope both are enjoying their complimentary licenses. If you would like to find out how you can take advantage of this great offer, just visit the In the News page for more information.

DisplayFusion v2.1 Released

Jon Tackabury — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:43:22 +0000

After 2 months of coding and testing I am very pleased to announce the release of DisplayFusion v2.1! This version represents a lot of hard work by a lot of people. It has a substantial number of new features and bug fixes - more than any of the previous releases. The interface has been cleaned up in a number of key areas, it now has full Windows Vista compatibility and is fully signed for friendlier Windows Vista UAC prompts.

You can take a look at the change log for the complete list of changes, but here are some of the bigger new features:

Pro users can now auto-update without having to visit the website - DisplayFusion will download and install the new version automatically (after prompting you)
Pro users can now have random Flickr images set as their desktop wallpaper - just specify the search settings to use and let DisplayFusion take care of it for you
Added the ability to “snap” windows to the edges of your monitors - it can be configured to snap windows within a 1 to 100 pixel range
DisplayFusion and it’s installer are now fully signed using a certificate from a trusted CA - this means DisplayFusion now has full Windows Vista support and will work significantly better under Windows Vista

We can’t forget about bug fixes and little changes. There are a pile of those as well - here are some of the highlights:

Desktop Wallpaper preview window is now much faster when previewing changes
Flickr image search has been enhanced and the Flickr Group Finder is much improved
The “window spanning” hotkey now works much better, especially with Microsoft Office windows
Now has all new high-resolution icons for the Desktop, Start Menu and System Tray
No more 1 pixel gaps when applying a custom wallpaper is rare situations
Maximized Window Dragging now works with virtually all Windows applications and is completely seamless

I would encourage everyone to upgrade to the latest version by visiting the DisplayFusion download page. Also, for only $10 you can unlock the full set of Pro features. Visit the version comparison page for more information on included features and how to order. Help support future DisplayFusion by purchasing a Pro license today!

The beta testers and I have worked as hard as we can to ensure that this release is as polished as possible, but if you experience any issues at all please feel free to contact me by email or you can simply post in the discussion forum and someone will be happy to help.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this release the best one yet!

DisplayFusion Pro Trial Licenses Now Available

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:15:35 +0000

Are you using the free version of DisplayFusion and want to try out some of the Pro features? Well, now you can! Just head over to the DisplayFusion Trial License page and fill out the unbelievably short form. My hard-working server will email you a 15 day trial license, and presto, you’ll be a Pro user for 2 weeks. For a complete list of the features that DisplayFusion Pro has, check out the handy version comparison page. If haven’t tried DisplayFusion yet and you have more than one monitor, what are you waiting for? Get in on the action today and give DisplayFusion a try right now!

LifeHacker: Top 10 Ways to Trick Out Your Desktop

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:10:43 +0000

Just a quick word to send out a big thanks to the LifeHacker crew for putting DisplayFusion 2nd in their Top 10 Ways to Trick Out Your Desktop list. DisplayFusion has been covered by LifeHacker twice before, and both their reviews and the user’s comments have always been positive. Here’s an excerpt from today’s article:

Dual monitors boost your productivity by simple virtue of the fact that they offer more screen real estate to get things done, but let’s get real - who doesn’t want to show off their side-by-side screen setups? Grab a copy of DisplayFusion, and easily split your epic/panoramic/super-cute wallpaper across two monitors.

DisplayFusion v2.1 Testing

Jon Tackabury — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:49:08 +0000

If you are using DisplayFusion Pro and you are interested in helping me test the upcoming v2.1 release, I have now started final testing. Just drop me a line and I’ll send you the download link. Please make sure to contact me using the same email address you used to register DisplayFusion, as this is a private beta currently only open to Pro users. This is just one of the many benefits to becoming a Pro user. I am planning to release the new version this weekend, unless any showstopping bugs are found, so any feedback you can provide this week would be fantastic. Thanks everyone!

DisplayFusion in the April 2008 issue of PC Magazine

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:08:49 +0000

I’m very pleased to mention that DisplayFusion has received a mention in the April 2008 issue of PC Magazine!

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Multiple monitors of different sizes on your computer may not always provide the best visual setup. DisplayFusion assists by placing different wallpapers on each screen, even a contiguous background across displays with different resolutions. It helps controls windows, too, dragging them from screen to screen.

Special DisplayFusion Pro Offer

I’d like to send a big thanks out to Gilles Reichert from Belgium for bringing this article to my attention! Having Gilles point out this article to me has led to the creation of an exciting offer for everyone. If you find any Binary Fortress Software applications (iTunes Sync, DisplayFusion… etc) mentioned in a print publication (newspaper, magazine or anything else) just let me know and you’ll be the recipient of a shiny new DisplayFusion Pro license. If you’re already a Pro user then I’ll refund the cost of your Pro license to you. Additionally, if you can arrange to have the article shipped/mailed here I will cover the cost of shipping and send another DisplayFusion Pro license to anyone you would like. A co-worker, your spouse, a friend or just a random person. It’s up to you. If you have any questions about this offer please feel free to contact me.

Thanks everyone!

Updates and Musings

Jon Tackabury — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:20:58 +0000

I haven’t posted in a couple weeks, so I thought now would be a good time to update everyone on the status of a few of my projects. I get many emails everyday asking about new features, release dates… etc, so I thought I would collect up the most common questions and post the answers here. It’s a hefty update, so buckle up and let’s get down to business.

iTunes Sync

iTunes Sync v2.0 is well on it’s way to being completed, but there have been a number of stumbling blocks along the way. The next version of iTunes Sync has support for MTP devices, completely customizable folder structures using free-form tags and a ton of bug fixes and interface updates. It has been given a complete overhaul in order to support MTP devices and as a result development has taken some time. So far, the biggest obstacle for completion has been the lack of MTP devices to test with. I have been borrowing devices for testing off and on, but it has not been constant enough to make steady progress. Rest assured that v2.0 will be released this year, I just want to make sure it’s as polished as possible before release.

ASP.NET ViewState Helper

Anyone that is a user of ASP.NET ViewState Helper (and I know there are more than a few ) should make sure to grab the newly released v1.1 from last week - it includes some important fixes. The biggest change is the addition of chunked ViewState support, but there are little fixes as well to improve Internet Explorer polling reliability.

DisplayFusion

The DisplayFusion v2.0 release has been met with fantastic success, and I have received an incredible amount of feedback - both good and bad. I have tried to clear up most issues in the minor releases but any of the remaining issues should be addressed in the soon-to-be-released v2.1. The new version also includes some new functionality as well, most importantly is addition of random Flickr image changing. This is by far the most requested feature, so voilà, here it comes. The new DisplayFusion version should drop sometime in the next 2 weeks, I just need to do some more testing and polishing to make it the strongest release yet.

General Updates

Over the last few weeks I have made some subtle, but important changes to the home of Binary Fortress Software. The first change is the removal of almost all of the Google advertising. I hate advertising, but for a long time it has helped me cover the cost of hosting. The introduction of DisplayFusion Pro has helped to offset this cost, so I’ve been able to cut back the ads quite a bit.

The second change is the removal of any requests for donations, including the donation page itself. If someone enjoys a Binary Fortress application and would like to show their support, I would encourage them to purchase a DisplayFusion Pro license. For the low-low price of $10 Canadian you can show your support and get a fantastic application. It’s a win-win for everyone.

I think that covers everything for now, but if you still have any questions please feel free to drop me a line.

DisplayFusion with Windows Vista x64 and nVidia Drivers

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:13:19 +0000

I have received 2 reports so far of people suspecting issues with DisplayFusion and Windows Vista x64. So far, both reports have been regarding nVidia video cards using the 169.25 ForceWare drivers and only on the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. I don’t have a 64 bit machine right now to test on so if you are using Windows Vista x64 and you are using DisplayFusion I would love to hear from you. I’m not sure what combination of drivers and/or Windows updates is causing this issue but if you have been affected by it, or you are using Windows x64 successfully please let me know. I’d like to get to the bottom of this. Thanks everyone!

DisplayFusion v2.0.2 Released

Jon Tackabury — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:38:21 +0000

DisplayFusion v2.0.2 has been released! I’d like to thank everyone who helped me over the last week to nail down the last couple of issues. This new version fixes a number of issues that have appeared and a number of long-standing issues. Here are a couple of the highlights:

Added an option to enable/disable maximized window dragging
Added a new image sizing option: “Best fit and maintain aspect ratio (clip edges)”
Added the ability to paste images from the clipboard (ex: copy and paste from Firefox or Internet Explorer)
Fixed wallpaper applying to only 1 monitor in very rare situations
Fixed a problem that caused windows to sometimes un-maximize when used with the hotkeys

If you would like to see the complete list of changes please check out the Change Log. I would encourage everyone to upgrade to the latest version, and as usual, if you encounter any problems please let me know in the DisplayFusion Forum.

Thanks everyone!

DisplayFusion v2.0.1 Released

Jon Tackabury — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:44:28 +0000

I’m happy to announce that DisplayFusion v2.0 was a huge success! On it’s first day after being released it chalked up over 8,000 downloads within the first 24 hours. With this flurry of downloads came a number of bug reports as well, most of them relating to minor issues or issues that were hardware specific. I have done my best to keep on top of the issues over the last 4 days and I’ve bundled all of the fixes into the latest release, v2.0.1. I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who has reported the issues so far, and to those who helped me with testing this new release. DisplayFusion wouldn’t be as solid as it is today without everyone’s help.

Now, down to business. The change log shows over a dozen changes in this release, so I won’t list them all here. Little things like grammatical mistakes, tab order and control focus issues have all been addressed. Along with bigger things like window spanning now working in all situations, and DisplayFusion properly detecting resolution changes so it can automatically adjust your wallpaper. Some new things were added as well, like the ability to rename custom hotkeys and 2 new system tray menu items for going to the next random image or “freezing” the current random image if you are using the random wallpaper option. If you are interested in reading about all the changes included I invite you to take a look at the full change log.

Thank you all for your continued support, and I hope you enjoy this new release of DisplayFusion!

DisplayFusion v2.0 Released

Jon Tackabury — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:00:37 +0000

After over a month of development I am proud to announce the release of DisplayFusion 2.0! This new version represents a major change for both DisplayFusion, and the way I am supporting future development of the project. DisplayFusion 2.0 includes some fantastic new functionality, like wallpaper changing on a timer and fully customizable hotkeys, but the single biggest change is the addition of a Pro version. The Pro version contains features that go above and beyond basic hotkeys and desktop wallpaper. For example, in the Pro version you can have your wallpaper change automatically ever few minutes or hours. It also includes the ability to fully customize your own hotkeys. For example, if you’re a developer you could create a hotkey that centred a window and resized it to 800×600 for testing webpage layout. Or you could create a series of hotkeys for tiling windows to the 4 corners of the screen. Your imagination is the limit! If you would like more information on what features are included in the Free or Pro versions I invite you to check out the version comparison chart. If you would like a full rundown on the changes included in 2.0 please take a look at the change log.

Something new that I’ve decided to try for this release is a flash demo. If you head over to the DisplayFusion page you will see a flash video demonstrating most of the functionality of DisplayFusion, including both Free and Pro features.

Re-designed Desktop Wallpaper Manager

Completely re-written Flickr image browser

One last note: Anyone who has previously donated any amount towards any of my software development should find a DisplayFusion Pro license key in their email. If you have previously donated your time or money to help with any of my projects and you didn’t receive your license key please contact me and I’ll get it sorted out as soon as possible.

Thank you everyone, and happy downloading!

DisplayFusion: Now and the Future

Jon Tackabury — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:57:43 +0000

I’m very happy to report that DisplayFusion has passed a significant milestone this week: it has now been downloaded over 100,000 times! This far exceeds any expectations I had, as this averages more than 20,000 downloads per month since it’s release. Party time!

Now for some future news. Significant progress has been made on v2.0, which will be the next release. It has some spiffy new features and a pile of bug fixes. There are also some other big changes that I’ll announce once v2.0 gets released. I’d like to send out a big thanks to everyone that has donated over the last few months as I have been able to cover the hosting costs for DisplayFusion. This has allowed me to not worry about hosting costs or paying bills, and instead let me focus my attention elsewhere. v2.0 is nearing completion and should be ready for release in the next couple of weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

DisplayFusion v1.5.0 Released

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:13:40 +0000

Hot on the heels of being featured in the latest issue of CHIP Magazine, I am pleased to announce the release of DisplayFusion v1.5.0! This is a significant release, as it addresses (hopefully) many of the Active Desktop issues that appeared in previous versions. These Active Desktop issues include everything from wallpaper being shifted incorrectly to wallpaper not appearing on 1 or more monitors. I have done a lot of reading regarding Active Desktop and have completely re-written all the code that interfaces with it. This new version also introduces a new feature called wallpaper shifting. Now you can “shift” your wallpaper on a per monitor basis, to ensure that spanned wallpaper lines up correctly, or just so you can tweak what parts of fitted wallpaper get trimmed. Here is an abbreviated list of changes that are included in this release:

Wallpaper shifting for each monitor
Significant memory usage improvements
Now detects a change with Active Desktop and prompts to adjust your wallpaper (if you have the wallpaper check enabled)
Added an “Apply” button to the Desktop Wallpaper window

I have also updated the online help and screenshots (which weren’t updated since v1.1) so it should reflect the current feature set. If you have any questions about usage, or just want to see what it looks like before you try it out, head over to the DisplayFusion page. As usual, if you are running a version prior to v1.5.0, DisplayFusion will prompt you to upgrade next time it starts up (if you have update checking enabled). If you don’t have update checking enabled, head over to the DisplayFusion page right now to grab the new version. A big thanks to everyone who submitted feature requests, bug reports and helped with testing. I wouldn’t be able to release these improved versions without everyone’s help. Thanks!

DisplayFusion Bundled with CHIP Magazine

Jon Tackabury — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:17:15 +0000

For those of you that speak German I invite you to pickup the latest issue of CHIP Magazine. DisplayFusion has found a home amongst it’s pages, and comes bundled on the DVD as well. As an added bonus, CHIP Magazine has titled DisplayFusion as the “Tool des Monats”, or in English, “Tool of the Month”. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it, thank you CHIP! This is my second time being included with CHIP Magazine, so I think it’s time I learned German so I can figure out whether it’s a good review or not.

DisplayFusion v1.4.2 Released

Jon Tackabury — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:10:49 +0000

I am very happy to announce the latest release of DisplayFusion! This new version fixes a number of very important issues, including images appearing on the wrong monitors. With help from Keith and Erik Lammers I was able to trace the problem to Active Desktop. I was unaware that selecting the option “Hide Desktop Icons” enables Active Desktop, which causes the wallpaper offsets to change and mess everything up. Well, with this new version all of this is now fixed and working like a champ. Here is a quick rundown on some of the changes in this version:

Fixed wallpaper getting applied in reverse order when Active Desktop is enabled
The error “DisplayFusion is already running” doesn’t happen anymore when using multiple sessions
Bolded the default system tray menu item, “Desktop Wallpaper”
Increased the proxy settings fields to 1000 characters

Some of these changes and fixes were reported many, many times, especially the wallpaper appearing on the wrong monitor. The proxy characters issue was an oversight on my part and is now corrected, so anyone with long server names or usernames make sure to grab this update.

You can download the latest version on the DisplayFusion page, which I would advise everyone to do. As always, if you have any issues please report them on the Discussion Forum and I’ll do my best to help you out. Thanks again to everyone who submitted feedback and to everyone who helped to test this new version.

Thanks!

DisplayFusion: Still Ticking

Jon Tackabury — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:22:43 +0000

3 weeks ago I announced that DisplayFusion had passed 10,000 downloads. Well, in less than 3 weeks it has added on another 10,000 downloads to pass a total of 20,000 downloads in just 7 weeks since it’s release at the end of August.

It’s cool to see something that started out as a pet project blossom into my most popular application. What started out as a great way to learn part of the Win32 API has turned into something useful. A couple of weeks ago Lifehacker ran a “System Tray Show and Tell” article, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that DisplayFusion appeared in more than a few of the screenshots.

Thanks everyone!

Thanks Everyone!

Jon Tackabury — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:45:31 +0000

I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who has sent in a donation! As a result of your donations I was able to cover my September hosting bill, without having to explain to my wife why hobbies cost so much. As an added bonus, I as able to upgrade my development PC from 1gb of RAM to 2gb. What a difference! I can have multiple virtual machines for testing, along with multiple instance of Visual Studio for development and not have to worry about the hard drive going crazy and dragging my system down.

Now for a quick development update. I have been hard at work lately on iTunes Sync v2.0 which will include some big new features, like multiple playlists per device, and MTP device support. I have also been plugging away at DisplayFusion getting the next release ready. It won’t be a gigantic release, but it will add a few nice things like automatically changing your wallpaper on a timer. As usual I can’t promise any firm release dates, as it mostly depends how busy I am at work and home.

Keep your eyes posted for more news on the next iTunes Sync release, as I’ll be looking for testers in the next few months.

Thanks Everyone!

DisplayFusion Quick Fix Version Released (v1.4.1)

Jon Tackabury — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:15:19 +0000

I have released a quick fix version of DisplayFusion to clear up a few small issues. Here are the biggest changes:

Re-applying wallpaper is now smarter, to allow for people that frequently go from 2 monitors to 1
“Move windows to next monitor and size proportionally” hotkey is now working again

As always, you can find the complete list of changes in the DisplayFusion Change Log. To download this new version just head over to the DisplayFusion page.

DisplayFusion Party Time: BYOB

Jon Tackabury — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:04:10 +0000

That’s right, let’s party! You provide the beer, I’ll provide the party. Yesterday DisplayFusion passed 10,000 downloads, less than 1 month since it’s release in late August. Hurray! Thanks to everyone who helped with testing, and to everyone who has submitted feedback. You’ve all helped shape DisplayFusion into what it is today.

On that happy note, I’m pleased to announce the latest version, 1.4. This new version fixes some important bugs that have popped up and adds some new features. Here is an abbreviated list of list of changes:

Now stores the last used wallpaper folder, for easier access
Added option to not prompt when the wallpaper changes and just fix it automatically
Added option to disable the HotKeys
Fixed a rounding error that caused windows to move up/left 1 pixel each time they are moved between monitors
Corrected an issue where some windows wouldn’t drag if you tried to drag them from the very top while they are maximized

To download this new version head over to the DisplayFusion page. To view the complete list of changes check out the Change Log.

Thanks everyone!

DisplayFusion v1.3 Released

Jon Tackabury — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:23:09 +0000

I have built and released the latest version of DisplayFusion, version 1.3. This updated release contains a few quick fixes, and adds some extra functionality:

Added: New hotkey to centre the window and size it to 100% (basically maximized without actually maximizing it)
Added: Option to watch if any other programs (or computer policies) change your wallpaper, then prompt you to restore it
Added: Option to search Flickr images by Group name/description as well, not just by a Person’s name
Changed: Moved the folder that web images get saved to from AppData to the “My Pictures” folder for easier access
Changed: Changed the default filenames of web images from random IDs to the image’s title for easier access

For the complete list change of changes take a look at the Change Log.

Check out DisplayFusion today!

DisplayFusion v1.2.1 Released

Jon Tackabury — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:46:25 +0000

I have released a quick update to DisplayFusion tonight that corrects a couple of smalls bugs. The first fix helps people who had their wallpaper offset incorrectly, causing gaps in the wallpaper. The second was something I forgot to include in the initial release, proxy settings for internet access (auto-update, Flickr images… etc). Well, you can now configure a proxy server in the “Settings” window.

Check out the latest version of DisplayFusion today!