7+ Taskbar Tweaker: experimental version with partial Windows 8.1 Preview support

Here is an experimental version of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker which mostly works on Windows 8.1 Preview:

Removed. 7+ Taskbar Tweaker now officially supports Windows 8.1.

Options that currently do not work:

  • Thumbnails: Left click on the active thumbnail minimizes the window.
  • Combining: Combine grouped buttons.
  • Other: Don’t show jump list when dragging a taskbar item towards the desktop.

Technical information

So, why did the options above stop working? Not much was changed about the taskbar in Windows 8.1, after all.

Short answer
Because Microsoft uses better code optimization, it became more difficult to control the code functionality.

Long answer
The tweaker heavily uses a technique of replacing function pointers in the vtable (virtual function table) of the taskbar’s classes.

Until now, all virtual calls were made using late binding (i.e. the function pointer was read from the vtable before every function call is made), which allowed easy hooking of virtual functions by replacing the corresponding pointer in the vtable.
But in Windows 8.1 Preview, some of the virtual functions are called directly, making them unaffected by the vtable.

Possible solution
One possible solution is to use a different hooking method.
While replacing the function pointer in the vtable might have no effect, it’s still possible to read the original pointer, and use a Detours-style hook.
One possible issue that comes to mind is inlining. If the compiler is smart enough to get rid of the late binding in some situations, it might as well inline the function. I’m not sure whether it happens in practice. Let’s hope it doesn’t.

Anyway, I do not plan to fix that until a more stable version of Windows 8.1 is out, preferably RTM, because things might change in the final version.

Posted in Software, Updates by Michael (Ramen Software) on July 10th, 2013.
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24 Responses to “7+ Taskbar Tweaker: experimental version with partial Windows 8.1 Preview support”

  1. A says:
    July 11, 2013 at 8:18 am  (Quote)

    Thank-you!!!

    Reply
  2. khvtrnc says:
    July 11, 2013 at 10:59 am  (Quote)

    Thanks a lot for your hard work.

    Unfortunately volume control with media buttons (Cherry G85 Keyboard) is broken when 7+TT is running. Volume indicator is showing up on the top left but nothing happens. After disabling 7+TT everything is back to normal.

    Windows 8.1 x64

    Reply
  3. LafinJack says:
    July 13, 2013 at 12:32 am  (Quote)

    Thanks, you’re the bestest!

    Reply
  4. xpclient says:
    July 13, 2013 at 4:12 am  (Quote)

    Wow thanks. 457,233 downloads of 7+TTT when I last checked. 😀 If only MS gave more options.

    Reply
  5. Brandon says:
    July 15, 2013 at 3:24 pm  (Quote)

    Awesome job keeping on top of the Windows updates.

    Microsoft really should have consulted you before making changes. 😉

    Reply
  6. Jamill says:
    August 16, 2013 at 4:25 am  (Quote)

    When you change an item’s application id, is it possible to make these effects permanent so that when i close and reopen the application it’ll appear on the same application id i set it to rather than its original one? If not, could you make that possible?

    Reply
  7. David says:
    August 20, 2013 at 11:14 am  (Quote)

    I think one more feature is gone.
    Middle click on taskbar item and scroll down/up -> hide/show labels.

    Reply
  8. xpclient says:
    August 27, 2013 at 4:57 am  (Quote)

    In Taskbar Inspector, can you please make Ctrl+C copy the AppID to the clipboard?

    Reply
  9. wtt says:
    September 5, 2013 at 10:48 am  (Quote)

    Would be great have such option: open list preview when clicking on grouped item.

    Reply
  10. John L says:
    September 8, 2013 at 7:59 pm  (Quote)

    Thank you so much for providing windows 8.1 support–now I can upgrade 😀

    Reply
  11. Chris says:
    September 19, 2013 at 7:54 am  (Quote)

    thanks man. it works on server 2012 R2 too!

    Reply
  12. Pablo says:
    September 21, 2013 at 2:57 pm  (Quote)

    Using it with no problems on Windows 8.1 RTM.

    Thank you for this awesome software.

    Reply
  13. Gray says:
    September 30, 2013 at 3:49 am  (Quote)

    Is it possible to make this a portable install (like the standard non-experimental version)? Or if not, then will this be updated once you release an updated one with full support for 8.1 once its done?

    Reply
  14. Frenz says:
    October 4, 2013 at 6:54 am  (Quote)

    Great job with 7+

    One feature I would very much like to see for Win 8.1 is the option to disable that useless start button that just takes up space on the taskbar – will this be possible to include – or is it already included?

    Thanks

    Reply

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