Apex DC++ 1.3.1 won't minimize to system tray on Minimize

[yurolex 0]

After I installed new version of ApexDC++ I noticed that it doesn't minimize to system tray when pressing Minimize button, the icon is there but it's also on the toolbar. I checked settings and got it minimized on start only, but when you open the window and try to minimize it to tray again - nope! Do I miss something in settings, or it's a bug? I don't mind it being in toolbar, but when I don't want it to be on screen, I prefer it to be in tray only. Any suggestions?

[Crise 26]

Well there is a bug here but not the one you are expecting...

ApexDC is not supposed to minimise to tray on Win7, at all .

Because tray icons in windows 7 are primarily there for notifications.. ie. balloon popups and the like. If you look at other apps, say Windows Live Messenger no longer has tray icon at all with Win7 (we still have it since we use balloon popups, but since it is hidden by windows as default on Win7 it makes sense to change the minimise behavior to never minimize to tray on it).

As far as saving space on screen goes, whether the app is in taskbar or in tray the difference is minimal especially with the new kind of taskbar of Win7 where even the taskbar buttons are more like icons by default. Yes, I know that can be changed... and if I could I would have adapted the minimize behaviour to take this into account, however, at present there is no way to do it (not at least a documented one).

This is in other words an intentional change introduced by 1.3.1 for all Win7 and future systems. The bug that is there though is that it still minimizes to tray on Win7 at app start if minimize on startup is on.

[yurolex 0]

Well there is a bug here but not the one you are expecting...

I see. Well, I'd prefer this bug never be fixed... I like more when on startup ApexDC++ minimizes to tray. I wish it did so when pressed Minimize, but you're the bosses.

[Antilles 0]

I can confirm it. On Win 7 x64 the new version of Apex DC++ 1.3.1 will only minimize on taskbar and not in tray near clock. The previous version 1.3.0 worked just fine on the same windows 7 with the same settings.

For me, that i use many windows at once this is very annoying. I even checked on settings > Appearence > and in options I make sure the "minimize to tray" option is checked; still it will minimize only on taskbar.

I have no other choice then to stick with Apex DC++ 1.3.0 till this problem will be fixed.

[Antilles 0]

OK, only now I read the changelog:

"Change: Always minimises to taskbar in Windows 7 (Run in Compatibility mode if you want to revert)"

Apex DC++ is the best DC client in my opinion, congrats for the nice work, but this "CHANGE" really s**k. I hope it will be reverted in the next version. I will use the compatibility mode till then.

[dsorc 2]

The thing is... some people do not like (or find useful) the new "combine and hide labels" behavior of windows 7. I have a 24" screen and can fit 10 running programs in the task bar, so I don't need to condense or group windows... less confusion, faster task switching.

I consider the system tray to be for programs that you keep constantly on and rarely interact with. (messenger, apex, utorrent, fraps, steam). I don't see why apex should constantly be in my taskbar when it's running (next to firefox and total commander) . This change also makes apex persistent in task switching... extra alt tab.

Close to tray would also be an option...

It would be nice if you could leave the choice to the user. Hope you'll take this into consideration, thank you.

Oh, how do I use the compatibility mode?

[Crise 26]

Apex DC++ is the best DC client in my opinion, congrats for the nice work, but this "CHANGE" really s**k. I hope it will be reverted in the next version. I will use the compatibility mode till then.

This change won't be reverted... that's why the bit about compatibility mode was documented in changelog (and it actually needed some research to get the compatibility mode to do it like that).

In other words... if I was planning to revert the change I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of making sure compatibility mode can be used that way with 1.3.1.

The thing is... some people do not like (or find useful) the new "combine and hide labels" behavior of windows 7. I have a 24" screen and can fit 10 running programs in the task bar, so I don't need to condense or group windows... less confusion, faster task switching.

Here is another post about this: It's for people like you that the compatibility mode was made to be able to revert the behavior. The rest I could say here would just repeat what I have already said in this topic and in the topic I linked to.

Edit: about compatibility mode... right click on ApexDC.exe click properties and choose the compatibility tab... rest should be obvious.

[dsorc 2]

Compatibility mode seems to work just fine. (chose vista sp2)

Any drawbacks in using it?

[Crise 26]

Compatibility mode seems to work just fine. (chose vista sp2)

Any drawbacks in using it?

None that I know of... well of course windows on windows execution will do some other things differently as well (so it's not the same as an on/off in settings would be).

But as far as I am aware in ApexDC's case that will have no noticeable impact on anything.

[Antilles 0]

Crise, what about a poll to find out how many Apex Dc users leave their client running on taskbar, and how many have them running on system try? Because none of my friends leave their DC clients on taskbar to mess it with the other windows they are working with. In previous versions all was clear, you want it on taskbar, you change the option in settings, I do not understand why this needed to be changed for Win 7. If you do that I am sure all Windows 7 users will run their Apex on compatibility mode.

[Crise 26]

Crise, what about a poll to find out how many Apex Dc users leave their client running on taskbar, and how many have them running on system try? Because none of my friends leave their DC clients on taskbar to mess it with the other windows they are working with. In previous versions all was clear, you want it on taskbar, you change the option in settings, I do not understand why this needed to be changed for Win 7. If you do that I am sure all Windows 7 users will run their Apex on compatibility mode.

Now, now... it's bad to generalize so much .

Because I am on Windows 7 and do not happen to minimize my Apex to tray, not even before this change was made... why? Because the tray icon gets hidden by windows by default, and it is bothersome having to click the "Show hidden icons" (especially since that opens upwards rather than sideways now) to get to it. Just for the record when I was still on Vista/XP I used to minimize to tray as well.

I am well aware that the taskbar can be changed to one that looks and functions lot more like the taskbar on earlier versions of windows but I also happen to primarily be on a smaller screen (a laptop), so in my case this new behavior of the taskbar (and Apex) is much more compact and faster to use.

Also we have to consider how Windows 7 comes out of the box, because many less advanced users do not even know how to adjust the taskbar look. It is also a matter of things working the same way. I have Apex pinned to taskbar and when it was still minimizing to tray I used to click the pinned shortcut and get the "An instance of..." dialog at times because I had already gotten used to the shortcut becoming the taskbar button with other apps I use.

While right now many apps do not yet make use of the new features of the taskbar in windows 7, over time that will increase and the phenomena I described above will become more common.. right now apps that use the new taskbar features will stick out but eventually it will be the other way around.

[dsorc 2]

Thanks for implementing the compatibility settings.

Working with windows' new default settings is a good idea since most users don't bother to change them.

Just a thought though, once you click the arrow in the tray, you can drag icons into the always visible part of the tray. The settings will stick (apex is always visible in my tray when it's running). More drag and drop support is a major ui improvement in win 7.

[Crise 26]

Thanks for implementing the compatibility settings.

Working with windows' new default settings is a good idea since most users don't bother to change them.

Just a thought though, once you click the arrow in the tray, you can drag icons into the always visible part of the tray. The settings will stick (apex is always visible in my tray when it's running). More drag and drop support is a major ui improvement in win 7.

Hmm, I didn't know of the drag and drop.. I knew that it could be made always visible though the settings though. I also realized that I should have just changed the Minimize to Tray default value to be off rather than code the behavior for win7 static though.

The only drawback with that though is that people that just upgrade to Win7 will still have the enabled so they might have hard time finding the tray icon at first, since windows likes to hide them.

Oh well now all I need to figure out is why I didn't just change the default to begin with...

[Antilles 0]

Thank you for your answer, you are the boss, I still keep my opinion.

[DjArtas 0]

I will stay at the 1.3.0 version until it is defective

Option "minimize to system tray" don't work

[Crise 26]

Easy with the font size... also is there any point in telling us what you are going to do .

I already stated in this topic that in next version the behavior would be back to "normal" so your post holds no value in my eyes. Also it is wrong to call it defective since the change was intentional but oh well...