I do think that was a bit unwarranted for, I think he meant to help, especially those folks unbeknownst to us that might have stalled using Nexus until it's fully working again. Now there is a little workaround that could ease us through the time we're waiting (and hoping, not praying ).

Little did I know about the common meaning of 'Fink' in English. It's the German translation of 'finch', the bird. Plus, the artist name of a well-known British musician living in my home town Berlin. And I think it's an uncommon first name in some part of the world. It just has a resonance of beauty to me.

Yes, workaround - of sorts - acknowledged, for Windows 11 users. (Doesn't apply here as running Win 10 when using Windows, and Xtreme.)


Ah well, that explains it, thank you for that. Alas, my knowledge of modern High German is virtually nil, almost as much as that of French which I speak like a Spanish cow as the saying has it. (I did learn a little of Old Saxon - aka Old Low German - and a bit of Old North Frisian, but those are old medieval languages and bear little resemblance even to their contemporary Old High German, and Old North Frisian is probably the nearest relative of Anglo Saxon/Old English. I found modern High German something of a nightmare as it's such a mix of non-Germanic, probably mainly Slavonic, influences and really weird vocabulary, etc. - esp. of course the colloquial, idiomatic version.) Anyway, lovely family of birds, finches but getting pretty rare here because of cats killing all the birds.

As an aside, prior to your post you just missed Jorge briefly logging into this forum. Probably just checking if there was anything urgent/important needing his attention.

You mean, you lost your systray as well, but can't 'restore' it by ExplorerPatcher, as it's probably not running (well) on Windows 10, due to it being designed to bring back Windows 10 functionality to Windows 11?


I'm no little impressed by your obvious rich tapestry of language skills, which are oozing out of your every line and what's in between - on a forum about software of all places . That being said, my girlfriend - and here we are, deep in off-topic talk as if we couldn't help it - is a German teacher, and knows a thing or two (more) about German and how difficult it is to master. So I do understand your quarrels . Rest assured, German is also deteriorating at more or less speed and in proper continuity, as already in the Middle Ages, people have been complaining about German youth wasting our language to soulless bits. I'm still pretty much convinced (British) English is, albeit easier to learn, in parts more poetic in everyday use than typical German.


I'd safely assume he isn't much up for banter the way we are, but good to hear he supposedly made sure the world didn't turn to dust when he wasn't present here .

No, no, no - sorry, I should have made it clear that there is no problem with the sys tray under Win 10, and I have it perfectly placed in the Nextstart Taskbar. The problem only applies to Win 11. (Which I will never touch with a very long barge pole.) And with that, having been very much on topic, we move towards greener pastures....


I'll reply to this in the other thread HERE.



And so we're - more or less - back on topic in a way. Yeah, just checking it's all still there I'd guess. Jorge's probably far too busy to engage in any kind of banter. And speaking of banter, although we've not entirely stayed on topic, this kind of banter is exactly what Jorge always wanted to see in these forums, the way things were when we were just using a mailing list back in the day (plus IRC!). Alas, few people can really be arsed. I've always tried my best to encourage it since at least when I became a moderator, but it usually seems to fail miserably.

The thing is, there are other software-based boards where it does happen, including some Linux ones which can be quite lively, and also (non-software) forums that I'm on but which are private ones, some of which I still admin or mod, and with hardly ever having actually to do anything. So why it's not happening here, I really don't know.

My Windows 11 updated today and I have the same problem as all others. I use the system tray all the time for my work, especially when I am changing audio outputs and unplugging external disks.

This is very frustrating because I've paid for the ultimate version on my 2 computers and there is still no fix for this problem. Especially considering that some of the users reported the problem a long time ago.

I also have the problem where the bottom dock switches and pops up on the top and I have to shut down the nexus and turn it back again to fix it....very frustrating.

This is really terrible. If you sell something to the customers then you should provide support, and it seems like there is none.

IMPORTANT!!
Another thing also. The support for this software is the worst. I know that there is info that the "SUPPORT MAIL" does not work anymore, but I had some problems and questions a long time before "support mail" stopped working and I never got a single reply....what a joke. If you charge people for something then you should provide customer service too, or hire someone to do it.

I was the first one to report the problem in December. I figure you're referring to this when speaking of 'a long time ago'. I'm using a Beta version of Windows, and the problem didn't surface in the regular version until very recently. Windows Beta versions deliberately include changes and features that are likely to be released, but often also discarded, so it's not a given a feature or a change of the scope of this is actually going to make it to production.
We haven't heard from the man himself, but please let Jorge inspect and hopefully find a fix for this problem. This bug is caused by something Microsoft changed on the code base, and all Jorge can do is try and play catchup with Windows and what they're coming up with next.

Get your facts straight! The latest release of Windows 11 is only days or maybe a week or so old. Read about the system tray problem and the problems in fixing this in this thread and the other thread.

Winstep is a one-man operation, not a some feckin' big software company with dozens of employees. Demanding that someone should be employed to do support is not going to win you any friends here - it would more than double prices of Winstep apps and just isn't feasible for a one-man software developer. The email support is not a case of not working any more but there is a request to avoid using it for the time being, except perhaps in dire emergencies, as there is still some backlog and the developer needs all the time he can find to work on a fix - if indeed it is possible at all - for the system tray problem in Windows 11, and other problems with that abomination. Support is provided in this forum also, and the developer will chip in when he sees urgent need for it and can find the time to do so, but in the meantime it's up to *volunteer* moderators like myself and other ordinary users.

At the very least the tone of your post comes across as aggressive and abusive, and I'm tempted to issue a second warning. In order to avoid trouble and problems in posting, you should have studied the Board Rules and Guidelines in the first place and certainly should do so now. It could have helped you avoid making duplicate posts in two threads, among other things.

If you have any complaints regarding problems under Windows 11, you should address them to Microsoft, not Winstep. They are entirely MS's doing.

So, some extremely abusive clown and probably imbecilic inbreed has deemed fit to ask whether he could get a refund if the Win 11 system tray problem isn't fixed!....

In case anybody else would like to know, I'm pretty certain the answer to that would be a definite 'No'. In the first place, it is only a very small part of the app that is affected anyway. And anybody wanting a refund should get it from Microsoft as they are responsible for the problem, not Winstep.

Now, anyone else posting again something about their system tray not working, and/or demanding an instant or quick fix, may possibly face an instant ban. I've had enough of this bovine manure.

I’m just chiming in to report that I just tried a different dock system called 'MyDockFinder', and it in fact is still able to display the system tray on the current Windows version. Whatever it is, the developer found a way (or never lost it) to still utilise the system tray, so here's to hoping Jorge will also succeed.

On another note: I find it perfectly reasonable to ask for support when you paid for software (Nexus Ultimate/Extreme) that advertises a feature which then doesn't work (anymore). With all sympathy and understanding involved, Jorge not responding to support requests is far from an ideal situation. I neither judge nor complain, but I understand if someone gets impatient when all of a response is two clowns (that's you and me ) bantering away in a support forum. Any person buying a license isn't responsible for Jorge running it all on his own and not being able to cope with all sides of his business. Again, I'm absolutely pro-Jorge, just wanted to put a perspective on things for people that are not as innately kind as most people are here .

I just had a quick glance over its website front page. It is definitely written in a different language than Winstep apps, possibly [the] .net [abomination], or something like C++. Furthermore, it only supports Windows 10 and 11 so was written for 10+ from the ground up. Winstep apps support from Windows 2000 up, and much of their core code started life around 1998/9, making them much more complex. And let's not forget that there actually are still users out there running Windows 2K and XP, and backwards compatibility has always remained high on the list of priorities. Aside from that, MyDockFinder seems to be a very different beast from Nexus. It certainly wouldn't tempt me, system tray or no system tray. Besides which, I never could see myself using the system tray in a dock (or even shelf), and in fact personally I've stopped using the dock altogether and just use a Workshelf and the Nextstart taskbar plus custom menus. And if need be, I'd live without the system tray but then it's still working fine in Windows 10.


Support for what concerns a very minor part of Nexus and Xtreme under Windows 11 has been provided in this forum, more than extensively, in fact exhaustively. And support in the forums has always come not only from Jorge himself but also other users, and especially also the moderators, so when that happens surely there is little reason for Jorge to waste precious time that could be used for fixing problems and adding important features perhaps when an issue has already been appropriately addressed. (Quite ignoring for a moment that Jorge already responded in relation to the Windows 11 system tray issue himself earlier on!)

Also, there is the principal issue of support per se. A small developer, especially a one-man operation such as Winstep, will never be able to provide the kind of support level that a larger developer can provide - and even there support can be and often is very flaky - especially not at the kind of bargain prices charged by Jorge (and some other small developers). If you want a full-time, 24/7 email support, Jorge would have to employ (and train!) at least two or three people full time. I hardly need to paint you a picture of the cost involved in this Froschfinger, and it would of course mean very substantially higher prices. (Also ignoring the fact that there are a large number of users of the free version of Nexus who, although they haven't contributed a penny, still expect the same level of support as everyone else and indeed seem to be some of the most frequent seekers of support. OTOH, possibly many eventually move on to the paid version I expect.)

Anyway, no, I don't have an ounce of sympathy or understanding for people getting impatient when the issue has been covered to death in the forum. Although it might be helpful if Jorge could chip in himself, he evidently considers the issue covered sufficiently, or more than sufficiently, and I certainly have to agree with that. Also, sorry Froschfinger, I most definitely have to disagree with your assertion that "Any person buying a license isn't responsible for Jorge running it all on his own and not being able to cope with all sides of his business." Responsible, no, but as I've pointed out several times before, a small, one-man developer can never provide the kind of level of support that you might be justified to expect from a larger one - you get whet you pay for. Should we perhaps run a poll and see how many people would be happy to pay for 24/7 email support and the consequent and proportionate high prices for Winstep apps? I am sorely tempted to do it now!

Hey nexter,

I understand Nexus is very different, and has a more mature code base and tries to cover more bases than MyDockFinder OS-wise. This rather new app is still in its infancy, as far as I can tell, and tries to faithfully recreate the MacOS experience with all of its four parts: A dock (like Nexus, incl. systray support), a Finder (incl. systray support), a launchpad (more apps) and a Stage Manager, which handles open windows. It's a very different beast, and to be honest, I was surprised how feature-intense it is, and how snappy with little performance footprint it is. That's not saying much about Nexus, which is why we are here .

As for support: I think it's not evident when you hit the Winstep website and eventually buy Nexus or any other of Jorge's apps that this is only a one-man band developing and supporting the software. The Support section on the website even evokes a company with multiple employees, given the usage of the plural form ('Contact us', 'E-mail us' et al.), pointing out multiple different e-mail addresses and avoiding hinting at a one-man operation. You know I understand the situation and don't complain, I'm always with you and Jorge and am a freelancer myself. I just understand that buying the software with a variety of features offered, and then realising one (at least for me it is) crucial feature doesn't work at all, and not much support is given except for some blokes babbling away (that is us ), I would understand a bit of frustration. I understand that Jorge's prices are very affordable, and that quicker development and full-scale support would cost a ton more. It's just not evident when you BUY any of the Winstep products—and it's still money being exchanged for something in return, which invokes some support. Not everyone takes the time to click through to a forum; I've learnt that this often yields best results, and sometimes direct contact through e-mail is more efficient.

You don't have to convince me, I just wanted to paint a different perspective on the whole situation. I feel very well-treated myself, and except for 'the man' once disappearing for a very long period of time, I remember Jorge being absolutely responsive and overall positive and helpful once a few issues arose in the past, including my bug report in December.

Absolute understand though that you don't want a problem already reported clogged up with useless me-too posts demanding swift bug fixing, which will do no good in any possible way. We can now possibly rest this case and wait for Jorge to hopefully surface soon with a bright future that is a working system tray .

I sadly have to agree that the Winstep website can easily give the misleading impression of a multi-employee outfit, and that is most unfortunate indeed. My thinking about the website as a whole for some time has been that it has long been overdue a major or even complete overhaul. This should include information about Winstep being a small, one-man band and a more appropriate description of support, pointing people to the board in the first instance as the preferred method and also making it clear that any issues concerning the non-delivery of licence keys and related issues is a matter that has to be taken up with the actual re-seller, i.e. BMT Micro. It should also be made clear that what you are paying for is essentially the software itself, and support will be provided as best as possible and can go through slow periods such as when major issues - as here with Windblows 11 - have to be resolved.

Even so, anybody contemplating possibly 'buying into' any app would be well advised to look for a board and explore its forums thoroughly, study any rules and guidelines equally thoroughly, and if there isn't a board, any wiki/s or community groups and such like. If there aren't any of these, the app should be approached with extreme caution. This is a policy I've been practising myself ever since going on t'internet way back in the 90s, before 'the great unwashed' were let loose upon't.

That said, sadly the forum is nothing like as helpful as it used to be in its early days (let alone the mailing list plus IRC, and Yahoo groups before that where just about everybody used to chip in to help others) when there was a reasonably sized group of core members who'd try to give help and advice, in addition of course to Jorge and then active moderators perhaps. As things stand at the moment, I seem to be the only one holding the fort, as it were, and the only moderator trying to keep order and help where I can and when I have time, with the only other active moderator having been inactive for the last six months and Jorge momentarily otherwise tied up as previously clarified. Even though we seem to be going through a relatively slow period for a while now, that is a real struggle - especially given the very limited powers of moderators on this board - and I cannot possibly address all support queries either. (Besides, I admit I don't have all the answers - heck, I probably have forgotten more about Winstep apps than most people will ever know, having been around since inception around 1997 or 98! )

Even as little as a year or two ago some more regular users logged in a lot more and helped others with their queries. There are still quite a few very long term users that I sometimes see still logging in, but few seem to participate actively more recently, more's the pity.

As for endless 'me too's' - no, nobody wants to see those unless they have something substantial to add to the conversation. And 'demanding' swift bug fixes is an absolute no-no - it's a sign of utter arrogance and ignorance, and totally inappropriate for any user of any programme. Besides, in this particular case we're not even dealing with any kind of bug in the Winstep software but rather, a problem caused by Microsoft's completely changing the code of the system tray. I rather suspect that it's part of their deliberate strategy to force developers to switch from Visual Basic to either the .net abomination, or the even bigger one of UWP and the MS Store (which creams off 30% of the developer's price!). So you can also see why trying to find a fix or even a way around the sys tray problem could potentially take quite while and a hell of a lot of head scratching. So it could potentially always result in the absence of a rainbow at the end of this process due to a fix proving impossible in this case, alas. Let's hope that won't be the case.

As for Jorge disappearing for a good long while in the past, well, he's had his reasons. One of them is that, usually working extremely hard - often burning the candle at both ends and in the middle as well! - at coding Winstep, often not even coming up for air, he does sometimes suffer from burn-out. Which is not only totally understandable but almost inevitable for anybody intensely creative. I have experienced it myself, too.

N.B. - I'm still - almost sorely! - tempted to initiate a poll to see if anyone wants to pay a lot more for better support!

I would think, if Winstep apps, with their moderate pricing, create so much effort in terms of support and development, that raising prices to keep up with the workload would only be natural. Everyone can decide if it is worth it to them, but heck, why not charge a reasonable price and have someone take care of support? I'm in no way an app developer, very decidedly so, and as a freelancer, I have high-current and low-key times, but I can somewhat manage my time for myself. Selling a well-built product is completely different and entails a lot of tasks that are not developing the actual app, but everything around it: Promotion, support, sales, you name it. From my far-away perspective, this looks like Winstep needs someone to take over support, or at the least have a well-built FAQ and/or database with known problems and possible solutions.

In terms of studying forums and websites, I'm not so sure the average buyer is interested in investing hours into investigating who the company is that sells a software, and wants to study board rules for hours. It's certainly doable, but not the most convenient way if you just want a quick idea of what you are buying. And I would wholeheartedly agree that the website could need a fresh bucket of paint and restructuring.

I think forums are a very revolving-door phenomenon. I myself appear on some for a period of time, only to disappear because I don't use something anymore or not as much, or my life has changed in some way that leads me to move onto new places. Many smaller-scale developers/companies now switched to Discord for support and have a place there, and there I see quite a bigger community in the sense that people help people on a constant basis. Discord though is more of a real-time communication tool, which makes it prone to be even more stressful if you're trying to keep up with questions and requests.

Jorge has my deepest sympathy for having his reasons for disappearing. I was never really close, but close enough to a burn-out to understand how it comes to it, and how it must feel. All the more reasons to put the weight on more shoulders!

For everything that they offer, I think Winstep apps are more than merely moderately priced. You and I may agree that it would be reasonable to raise prices to pay for an increased level of customer support, Froschfinger. However, just to prove a point - i.e., that a) hardly anybody can be arsed to vote, and b) that none or almost none would vote for increased prices - I did yield to temptation and set up the poll. (I can resist everything but temptation - with apologies to Oscar ) So far, with over 20 views, only one person actually voted, and that was a 'no' to higher prices. The poll's active for 14 days, so we shall see what we shall see.

I do agree, a technical support/customer service person/s would be ideal, but they'd want to eat and eat reasonably well.

Sales are taken care of and were farmed out to BMT Micro from the beginning. (Of course, they take a cut as well, they're not a charity. ) Writing for the website - which Jorge hates - inc. 'News', is another thing that definitely needs delegating. And that should definitely include a better FAQ, or rather, FAQs, as well as ideally decent, downloadable as PDFs, User Guides. Promotion is a rather vexed issue - it's not easy (nor cheap!), and the scope for a suite of apps like Winstep is really quite limited I would suppose. Currently, the only 'promotion' there is, if you want to call it that, is the free version of Nexus.



Personally, I do want to get to know as much as possible about everything surrounding any app I might consider using, i.e., things like what form/s of support is/are offered and what is the community like - if there is one of any sort - and just about anything else that might tell me more. Yes, it takes a little time but I consider that well worthwhile as, in the case of a paid-for app, it could save me money, and above all it could possibly save me from making a big mistake and wasting my time. As for board rules, well, although almost always much the same from one board to another (although I have kept ours to a bare minimum and extremely liberal, IMO), they're always worth checking out as it helps stopping one from stepping on anyone's toes. Furthermore, they might tell me I may not want to know the board more intimately if e.g. they keep with PCism and 'Newspeak', and other such divisive 'thought police' nonsense.


Oh I think it needs a lot more than just a fresh bucket of paint and restructuring. It also includes opening up Winstep's own (in 'beta') themes repository, even if it can't be changed and brought fully up to scratch with a redesign immediately, as it works alright as it is if not in the most elegant way.



Alas, I have to agree that largely forums have become this. It never used to be thus in their early and earliest days (going right back to the BBSs of earliest personal computing days ). One major factor in this also is so-called social media - which I personally regard as decidedly anti-social.


I whole-heartedly agree! And that should also include at least one added administrator for the board. And incidentally, while I like the custom theme of the board, it really is long past time that the board as such should be migrated to phpBB3.x - to a half-decent php coder carrying forward the existing custom theme would be child's play! (I used to do the odd bit of php web coding myself many, many moons ago but alas have forgotten just about all of it.)

Hi peeps,
So, I have Extreme. Was working perfect for months, suddenly it decided i don't want icons in my system tray. They're all there in the regular windows 11 tray. (Could be related to a recent Win update?). I've restarted the app, computer, changed themes, reinstalled Extreme, tried all sorts of configurations in nexus for the tray.. Nope, notta, ziltch. Anyone have a clue how to fix this? Hope someone can help me figure this out. Thanks.