Update checks on Windows work again & Config errors no longer block applications

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Tue, 2020-11-17 19:19

Today new versions of all Mountain Utilities applications (except DF) were released.
These updates feature two small but important improvements:

Most importantly, the update check mechanism works again on Windows 7, Windows 8 and older (i.e. pre-TLS 1.3) Windows 10. (This got broken recently when the Mountain Utilities webhost stopped supporting TLS 1.2.)

Secondly, the applications have become more user-friendly concerning data errors in ".stp" and ".mru" configuration files (as reported by several people on macOS for BC Manager and for FCB1010 Manager):

  • On startup, when an application encounters a data error in a configuration file, the application now mentions the exact name of the offending file, and no longer refuses to start. Hence it is no longer necessary to delete corrupt configuration files manually.
  • On exit, an application reports any errors while saving configuration files.

Improved user interfaces of all applications

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Mon, 2020-09-14 18:11

Today new versions of all Mountain Utilities applications (except DF) were released.
These updates mainly feature improved user interfaces, though in totally different ways for the macOS and Windows editions:

macOS:

  • The applications no longer use the 32-bit Carbon interface, but the 64-bit Cocoa interface. Thus, they run on any macOS version from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) onward, including macOS 10.15 (Catalina) (which doesn't support Carbon). And of course the applications no longer suffer from any Carbon-related problems; on the other hand, they may now suffer from a few Cocoa-related problems.
  • A few MIDI-related problems have been fixed.

Windows:

  • All applications now come with manuals.
  • Skins: 39 alternative user interfaces (mainly color schemes).
  • Support for Windows 10's "Per Monitor v2" DPI awareness protocol, providing razor-sharp text characters at any resolution, on any monitor.
  • Some layout and scaling problems have been fixed.
  • The installers allow you to deselect non-essential files, such as the manuals and the skins.
  • Some applications feature application-specific improvements. See the pertinent download pages and manuals.

All editions:

  • The applications run slightly faster due to the disabling of some debugging safeguards.
  • The update check mechanism should now work again on any operating system capable of running these applications, including Windows XP and all versions of macOS from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) onward.