Long awaited Image Uploader 5.5 is about to be released

Long time passed since we released the last version of Image Uploader 5.1.

Being released 5.1 solved the problem with security in ActiveX version that had high priority at that moment. After that we had time to stop and think in what direction to move the product. We carefully analyzed the customers feedback and found that the product suffers from some specific problems, especially Java version. You all know about these problems: "out of memory" problem, problem with generation thumbnails for some specific images, instability on Mac platform and so on.

So while working on version 5.5 of Image Uploader Dual, we were focusing on two major objectives: stability and performance. This version almost does not include new functionality, nevertheless we did huge work. Some modules of the product have been refactored, some of them have been written from scratch. New fresh view of the product and some new approaches allowed us to make Image Uploader faster and overall better.

ActiveX Version Specific Improvement

Speed of adding items to upload pane in details view has dramatically increased.
Handling files on network drives works faster.
Progress events for "prepare to upload" and "upload" operations have been improved. Now ZIP compressing causes progress events.
The problems with the support of cameras directly connected to a computer have been fixed.
Rotation operations have been improved. Now upload pane displays rotated images correctly.
The problem with cancelling the addition of a whole folder to upload pane has been fixed.
The problem with displaying subfolders in Windows 2000 has been fixed.
Now adding and removing files in the upload pane works correctly.
ShellComboBox synchronizes the path with ImageUploader control now.
The GoToFolder method accepts paths containing back slashes now.
The problem with displaying the detailed information about files in detailed view has been fixed.
A number of minor improvements and bug fixes.

Java Version Specific Improvements

Java version of Image Uploader has been deeply refactored. In this version we were moving in three main directions: increase the speed of the applet, decrease memory consumption, and improve support of the Macintosh platform:

Applet performance has dramatically increased. Now folder browsing and thumbnail preparation works faster.
Memory consumption has greatly decreased, reducing the probability of getting the "out of memory" exception.
Thumbnail generation module has been refactored. Now the probability of uploading icons instead of thumbnails greatly reduced.
Improved support of Safari and Firefox browsers on Macintosh computers.
New upload control events added:
- PackageBeforeUpload – raised right before the package is to be uploaded,
- PackageError – raised if an error occurred while uploading the current package,
- PackageComplete – raised upon successful package upload completion.
Resize quality can be changed again.
Problems with ShellComboBox control have been fixed.
The GoToFolder method works correctly now.
The Action property treats relative paths correctly now.
The problem with multiple displaying of restriction dialogs has been solved.
The SaveUploadList and LoadUploadList methods work correctly now.
The problem with AdditionalFormName is fixed.
A number of minor improvements and bug fixes.