SamLogic
CD-Menu Creator 2010 - News

News and improvements
in SamLogic
CD-Menu Creator 2010
Below you find a list of
some features that have been added to the new SamLogic CD-Menu
Creator 2010:
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Windows 7
is now fully supported. With CD-Menu Creator 2010 you can create
menus that can be run in Windows 7 and the CD-Menu Creator editor
can also be run in Windows 7.
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Support for 64
bit Windows. Both the CD-Menu Creator editor and created
menus can be run in 64 bit Windows, for example 64 bit versions
of Windows Vista and Windows 7.
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A menu can be partial
transparent. The transparency level can be adjusted.
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Fade effects have
been added. A menu can "fade in" from nowhere on the screen.
You can specify how fast the menu will fade in to the screen.
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Files can be encrypted
and protected with passwords. When a user clicks on a button
linked to a protected file CD-Menu Creator will ask for a password.
The user can only proceed if he/she enters a correct password.
This new function in CD-Menu Creator 2010 can be used to protect
programs, documents, spreadsheet, databases etc.
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A new variable,
%ENTEREDPASSWORD,
has been included. This variable co-operates with the password
functions described above. The variable can for example be used
to send the password to a program linked to a button as a command
line parameter.
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A user's guide in
PDF format is included. A navigation tree and hyperlinks in
the text makes it's easy to navigate among the pages in the
manual. You can preview the user's guide by
clicking here.
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News and improvements
in SamLogic
CD-Menu Creator 2008
If your version of CD-Menu Creator is 2007 or
older you can read below what was new in the 2008 version of the
program:
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Supports now
Flash animations. Adobe Flash animations can be played in
a window in CD-Menu Creator. No external program or web browser
need to be run or distributed with the menu. Same Flash animation
that is shown on the Internet can also be shown in a menu.
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The size of the
menu window can now be set to the size you wish by using the
mouse. Buttons, pictures, logotype etc are automatically moved
when you size the menu. So you can now find, quick and easy,
the most appropriate menu window size.
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A lot of new button
styles has been added to the 2008 version of CD-Menu Creator.
For example these:
- Buttons with cylindrical color blend. Read more
on this page.
- Button with rounded corners that contains different kinds
of color blends.
The number of button styles has been increased from 14 to 24
since CD-Menu Creator 2007. Read more
on this page.
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Light effects can
be used with buttons. By using this new effect you can create
buttons that seems to be made of blank metal, for example gold
and silver buttons.
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Now you position
a button, and a picture, where you want in a menu window.
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Instead of a text
title you can now have a graphical title (a picture as a title),
if you want. You can for example create a cool title in a drawing
program, with lot of effects, and then use it as a title in
a menu created with CD-Menu Creator. You can also place a background
picture behind a text title created with CD-Menu Creator.
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Supports now Asian
script languages like Japanese, Chinese etc.
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Now you can choose
if you want to play a movie in Windows Media Player or play
it directly in a menu.
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A new variable,
%SRCDIR,
has been included. This variable contains the full path to the
folder where the menu shell program is run. This parameter can
for example be used when calling another program and the path
to the menu program folder must be passed to the program that
is started.
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News and improvements
in SamLogic
CD-Menu Creator 2007
If your version of CD-Menu Creator is 2006 or
older you can read below what was new in the 2007 version of the
program:
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Adaptions
to Windows Vista
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Microsoft has removed
the support for Word files (.DOC) in WordPad in Windows Vista.
If you have linked a Word file to a menu button, CD-Menu Creator
2007 always tries to use Microsoft Word or compatible program
in Vista to open the document, although you have instructed
the menu shell to use WordPad. In Windows XP everything functions
as before, the new behaviour only occurs in Windows Vista.
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Some graphical effects
as glass effects, shadows and transparent bitmaps didn't worked
as expected in Windows Vista because of changes in Vistas graphical
environment. CD-Menu Creator 2007 has been updated so these
effects also function in Windows Vista without problem.
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If you tried to
start a program that requires administrator privileges (as most
installation program requires) an error information box with
the message "The program can not be run..." was often showed.
The reason to this was that CD-Menu Creator couldn't handle
the new User Access Control dialog box that is shown in Windows
Vista when a program must be started with administrator privileges.
The new CD-Menu Creator 2007 now handles this in a proper way.
An other method is used when programs are executed.
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Non-standard fonts
that was used to text in menus couldn't be shown in Windows
Vista. The reason was that CD-Menu Creator didn't had necessary
rights to install the fonts. The CD-Menu Creator menu shell
runs with standard privileges and installing fonts requires
administrator privileges. In the CD-Menu Creator 2007 an alternative
method is used, the fonts are installed temporary and only local.
This is allowed in Windows Vista also for programs running with
standard privileges. So with the new CD-Menu Creator 2007 you
can use your own fonts also in Vista.
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The Show a menu
only one time option (chosen via Window - Advanced
button) has been updated to co-operate with programs that is
run with standard privileges in Windows Vista.
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A manifest file
is always placed in same folder as a menu. The manifest tells
Windows Vista to run the menu with correct privileges and prevents
Windows Vista from believing that the menu shell program is
a setup program. The manifest also gives some of the controls
that is used in a menu a "Vista look".
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If the VirtualStore
handling was turned off in Windows Vista some of the features
in CD-Menu Creator 2006 or older didn't worked. For example,
preview of menus didn't worked and options couldn't be remembered
to next program start. The new CD-Menu Creator 2007 has been
updated so all features function also when VirtualStore handling
is turned off in Windows Vista.
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You can add your
own action item (your own text row) to the AutoPlay dialog box
in Windows Vista. If the user chooses your item, the menu is
launched. It is also possible to add your own title to the AutoPlay
dialog box.
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The help documentation
in CD-Menu Creator 2006, and older, didn't function in Windows
Vista. The reason to this is that Microsoft has removed the
support for the WinHelp system that was used in CD-Menu Creator
before. In CD-Menu Creator 2007 a new format is used: compiled
HTML help. All help documentation in CD-Menu Creator 2007 now
uses this new system. Compiled HTML help can also be shown in
Windows XP and older Windows versions.
General
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A new button style,
with the name Windows Button, has been added. It replaces
the old Gray Button, that has been removed. This new
button is painted using a graphical design that is typical for
the Windows were the menu is shown. For example, in Windows
Vista the active graphical effects that is typical for Vista
buttons is used. In Windows XP, the buttons is painted using
the smooth color blend that is typical for Windows XP buttons.
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Five new variables
have been added. They can, for example, be used in titles and
sub titles:
%DATECREATED
: Outputs the date when the menu was created.
%COMPANY
: Outputs company name (the text is retrieved from the Version
tab).
%PRODUCTNAME
: Outputs product name (the text is retrieved from the Version
tab).
%PRODUCTDESCRIPTION
: Outputs product description (the text is retrieved from the
Version tab).
%VERSION
: Outputs version number (the text is retrieved from the
Version tab).
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A menu for a USB
flash drive can now be created. It works in similar way as menus
for CD/DVD. When the user inserts the USB flash drive in a USB
port the menu is shown immediately after that the user has confirmed
a start by pressing OK or Enter. In Windows Vista it is possible
to have the USB drive menu completely autostarting.
Read more about this new feature
on this page.
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CD-Menu Creator
2007 is adapted to function in systems where Internet Explorer
7.0 is installed. The new Internet Explored 7.0 affected some
functions in CD-Menu Creator in a negative way, for example
the character interspace function, but the new CD-Menu Creator
2007 has been updated so it can co-exists without problem also
when Internet Explorer 7.0 is installed in a computer.
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The help documentation
is now in the HTML format. A tree based index makes it very
easy to find a specific chapter or page in the documentation.
But the local help (press F1 to get help in a dialog box etc)
is still there, as before.
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| A list of features that was added
to CD-Menu Creator 2006 and earlier can be read on
this page. |
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