7+ Taskbar Tweaker for Windows 8.1 Update 1: early alpha version

An update for Windows 8.1, called Update 1 or the Spring Update, was officially released by Microsoft a couple of days ago. This update broke compatibility with 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. I’ve published a post, 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and Windows 8.1 Update 1, explaining the reasons for the breakage.

Today, I’m happy to announce that the first pre-release alpha version is available for testing! If you have donated for the effort, you can get the link here (May 10: link removed).

Currently, only the 32-bit version is available. I hope to get the 64-bit version done within the following week. Stay tuned!

Update (April 17): The 64-bit version is available as well! Please try it, and report any issues you stumble upon.

Update (April 26): A new version is available, which fixes a couple of issues. Also, this is the first alpha version which can be installed, unlike previous alpha version which were available as portable versions only.

Update (May 2): A public beta version is available here.

Update (May 10): 7+ Taskbar Tweaker v4.5, a stable version with Windows 8.1 Update 1 support, was released.

Posted in Software, Updates by Michael (Ramen Software) on April 13th, 2014.
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105 Responses to “7+ Taskbar Tweaker for Windows 8.1 Update 1: early alpha version”

  1. immo says:

    Thank you for the fast work on this and thanks to the ones that donated, too!

    Looking forward to the 64-bit version and not wondering anymore, why my usual taskbar-actions have different results than they used to have for the past 2 or 3 years. 😀

  2. PacMani says:

    Very nice! Even though I’m out of luck with 64-bit, good to see it going. Meanwhile my hate towards the default taskbar behavior increases 😀

  3. Anon says:

    Why oh why did I pick now to upgrade to Windows 8. Oh well, great work so far anyway. Good luck on finishing a 64-bit version!

  4. Leon says:

    donated, awaiting 64-bit ver to test for Win 8.1 Update 1 🙂 nice work.

  5. Pablo says:

    It works like a charm for my needs, thank you very much! 😀

  6. Mike says:

    Thanks for all the great work so far! Waiting for the 64-bit as well

  7. Nicola Farina says:

    7+ Taskbar Tweaker middle click app close is totally a must. I’m waiting 64 bit version too.

    Thank you for your effort!

  8. Ben says:

    Maybe RaMMicHaeL should have started with 64-bit first! I kiiid, I kiiid! (Kind of.)

  9. Drew says:

    If the designers at Microsoft were smart at all, they’d take a page from your book and implement some of the options you’ve given us. Or, better yet, just hire you. Then maybe Windows 9 would actually be good out of the box.
    7+TT has been an essential tool for me since the very first few versions. Now that Update 1 messed it up, it’s just downright painful to use my computer.
    Keep up the good work, and I hope you’re getting a good amount of donations.

  10. Adaz says:

    I can only repeat what Drew said!
    I’m using it since the beginning, and now I cannot live without it!
    I was a translator, but I could not donate money unfortunately, so now I’m with broken wings without it.

    I’m waiting for the x64 version eagerly too…

  11. charlychew says:

    hahah your option (remove extra space) makes this a mandatory donation 😛 long live RaMMicHaeL!

  12. MartinB says:

    Just downloaded the 64-bit version. So far it’s working great! Thanks!

  13. HJL says:

    Thank you
    8.1 UPDATE can be used now

  14. immo says:

    64-bit version is working perfectly as ever, thank you very much!
    I’ll report bugs if I find any, but most likely that won’t even be necessary.

  15. Nicola Farina says:

    A must donation.

    Please send me the 64 bit version to test.

  16. 0rca says:

    This is awesome. Is there any chance to integrate swipe gestures into something like this? It would be really handy to be able to hide and show the taskbar with a swipe. This makes sense only on a touchscreen naturally, but there it would change the whole desktop experience.

    On the other hand that would additionally open the need for an ARM version of taskbar tweaker… 😉

    • I don’t know, I’ve never used Windows with a touchscreen. Doesn’t auto-hiding the taskbar support touch events?

      • 0rca says:

        Unfortunately not. MS has thougt a lot about how to improve touch experience on the Metro side of things, but didn’t really “touch up” the desktop. On a tablet (Surface at al) things like Outlook work reasonably well with touch and if we could hide the taskbar, but show it via swipe again, this would make it almost perfect.

        So I thought “Who knows most about the taskbar?” and came here 😉

  17. facldo says:

    Bonjour comment puis je avoir la version car depuis 2 jours 7tt fonctionne plus depuis la mise a jours de windows 8.1

  18. ludo says:

    Hello how can I get the version for two days since 7TT longer works since the days of Windows 8.1 was

  19. Wil says:

    The new alpha seems to work fine on my 64bit 8.1 Dell XPS 8500. I’ve only just installed it though. I will install on my core i3 laptop soon to test. After I update it to the newer 8.1.

  20. Matt says:

    You rock! Working great on Update 1!

  21. LenInSD says:

    Thanks for getting that 64-bit version out so fast! I can barely get my work done on a Winbox without your software running. It just drives me absolutely crazy when I can’t UNGROUP the programs in the taskbar.

    BTW, alpha 64-bit version seems to be working fine, after one full day of use.

  22. BT says:

    Just to chime in; all working fine here with 64 bit Windows 8.1 Update 1 with all the latest updates installed. Thank you!

  23. RJG says:

    So far this version works great on my W8.1 U1 64 bit laptop. Thank you.

  24. Andy says:

    When will the updates be available for non-payers? I don’t mind testing it even if it isn’t a complete version yet. Or when will the full versions be out if alphas are restricted to payers? Does anyone know of a freeware that allows us to do the middle-click reorganization of taskbar items besides this one? Thanks

  25. Simon says:

    Thanks for getting the 64bit alpha out!

    I’ve installed update 1 and everything seems fine except for one issue – I have ‘Buttons on other taskbars’ set to ‘Always combine, hide labels’ but the labels are shown on the secondary taskbar. The primary taskbar does not have this issue and there is no issue if I close 7+TT.

    I’ve seen this on another machine that has update 1 too.

  26. Olad says:

    As everyone says, once you are used to 7+TT (and Unchecky, so silently useful), you can’t do without them. Will await the improved 7+TT. It will be worth waiting for.

  27. Black_Ps` says:

    When can we get a beta version?

  28. Claudio says:

    Truly useful tool, specially to be able to “live” with windows 8.1 (Please bring back MS-DOS 6.22 where everything worked as it should no crap for idiot users).

    Just donated

  29. Paul says:

    I am probably the least-technical person here, so:

    1) What do I need do install for my Windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64-bit OS? The .zip file says 32_bit_only. The .rar file doesn’t say 64-bit and is a .1 higher release level than the 32_bit_only file.

    2) Since there appears to be no installation file for either the .zip or .rar file results after each is exploded, how do I install the proper exploded file and directory contents given my current 7+ 4.4.6 code (which was installed from your 7tt_setup.exe installation file)?

    For example, do I just copy the exploded .exe file over the existing one in my 7+ directory under my Roaming directory?

    And what do I do with the exploded bin directory–I don’t see a bin directory in my 7+ directory under my Roaming directory?

    Thanks for helping out a mostly non-tech guy.

  30. Ron says:

    It’s not recognizing my donation.

  31. where is download alpha version 64bit ?

  32. Max says:

    Hello!

    Is donation still possible? i’m missing the addon so much..

    Thank You for a short reply!

    Cheers Max

  33. Donatas says:

    I have one issue with this alpha version. 64bit.

    Basically Visual Studio 2013 taskbar buttons always stay on the first (main) taskbar.
    I have several document wells dragged out (i.e. some files/tabs are opened in different windows). If I drag this VS window into another monitor the taskbar button stays on the main taskbar. This doesn’t happen with Skype, Explorer, etc.

    My settings: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bejcofxgx67ezyd/2014-04-22%2012_04_38-7%2B%20Taskbar%20Tweaker.png

  34. John says:

    Seems to be working fine for me on Windows 8.1 64-bit.
    One minor issue is that I had been using the following registry key to prevent minimisation when clicking on a taskbar icon. It no longer works, but that may have changed in an earlier version? Thanks a lot for the good work.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\7 Taskbar Tweaker\Mouse Button Control
    DWORD called taskbaritem|lclick set to 1

  35. Arnaud says:

    Thank you very much for your work !

    I just donated but I cannot access to the alpha version… On http://rammichael.com/misc/_w8u1_alpha_versions.php, next to “Donor email” I have a Submit button but it does not work…

  36. Wouter says:

    Too bad I can’t donate because I don’t have PayPal account and I’m not willing to make an PayPal account because it’s a bitchie company…

    To bad you let people pay to be a tester, I would pay for final versions for sure IF it was possible with creditcard (without the use of PayPal)

    • asd says:

      Just for your information, Wouter, you can pay with a credit card via PayPal without having to make a PayPal account.

      • Wouter says:

        Just for your information, asd

        When i try to donate I just get to a page that says “Create a PayPal Account or Log In”

        There is no option to donate without a paypal account…

  37. domjant says:

    Thank you for your effort!

    The 64bit alpha version working fine for me. I would like to ask when do you plan to release a open beta? And/or a installer based version of closed beta?

  38. me says:

    hello,
    I would like to mention that I hope that there will be an option to deactivate those stupid preview popups of windows, that appear when one hovers over a taskbar button.

    And thank you for working on the 8.1 U1 version! I think you should make it more explicitely donationware, if there were a donation page before the download link, I think I would be more likely to paypal.

    Also, with win 8 there is a contrast problem with taskbar color/taskbar font color, and window title bar color/font color. If it is possibly to hack the taskbar’s color/font color, this would be great too.

  39. Stanislav says:

    Hi, RaMMicHaeL! If i can’t make a donation through Pay Pal, what should i do?
    Can I pay via another system? Sorry for my bad english, i’m from Ukraine.

  40. Oh god how good it feels to have this back, I missed it!

    x64 version does everything I need, thanks!

  41. Paul says:

    Major settomgs of 7+ that I use work great! Using Windows Pro 64-bit, 8.1 update 1.

    I don’t use all 7+ features, but here are 2 problems I’ve found:

    1) When the main 7+ window is displayed and I click the Settings button, there’s a checkmark by “Check for updates”

    When I uncheck it, I get the message “Error occurred while saving configuration” After I clear the error message by clicking “OK”, the check mark has disappeared (but the original setting has not changed when I exit & relaunch 7+).

    2) When I right-click on the 7+ icon and click “Advanced options” and try to change “tray_icons_padding” “Data” by right-clicking it to click “Modify” to change default of 0 to 2, the 2 appears but I get the same error message as in 1) above when I try to click “OK” [or “Apply”]. Thus I can only exit the “Advanced options” by clicking “Cancel”, losing any changes that might have been made.

    Hope this helps. Thanks for all your work! This program is indispensible to me.

  42. Adrian Horton says:

    I can’t seem to get to the link for the 64bit version? I’ve submitted my email address twice, but nothing has happened? No replies, nothing in my junkmail box. Any ideas?

  43. Adrian Horton says:

    Hi Michael.

    I must have been a little too impatient, not waiting long enough! All working brilliantly now.

    Very many thanks.

  44. J.D. says:

    4.4.9.3 works fine on two of my computers but on the third I get the following error: “7+ Taskbar Tweaker: Could not load library (205)”. Running Windows 8.1 Update 1 x64. I tried uninstalling (including removing settings and verifying that all files/registry entries were gone) and reinstalling but it didn’t help. 4.4.9.2 actually works though! Installed in AppData\Roaming in both cases.

  45. imcx says:

    I have problem with downloading alpha version, I get this message

    “Seems like you didn’t make a donation. You can make one here.
    If you believe that this is an error, please contact me.”

  46. sttto says:

    When will be alpha version public? I’m 12 and I can’t donate.

    PS. Best tweak softwer ever

  47. Scott Gartner says:

    Thanks! Works Great! Well invested.

  48. Alex says:

    Could I make a feature request? Is it possible to show labels of windows that only have multiple instances open?

    In other words, for programs like Firefox its useful to see the label to know what’s inside, but for programs like Filezilla or iTunes there’s no need to see the label because you’ll only have one instance running.

    Thanks!

    • There’s not such feature, but what you can do is choose manually which groups will show labels and which won’t from the Taskbar Inspector.
      Also, as a shortcut, if the “Drag within/between groups using right mouse button” option is enabled, you can hold your right mouse button over the desired group and scroll the mouse wheel to show/hide labels.

  49. Ramon says:

    RaMMicHaeL : any Chance of a puplic release todey May 1st ???

  50. Vinay says:

    Why are you behaving just like dumb BigMuscle, why don’t you just put this tool on Home Page, what are you trying to prove because we all already know the value of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and respect you. you wanted 1000 bucks and you got that, Then what the shit are you doing with your “early alphas versions drama” ???

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