Hello, we’re glad to announce that the new version of WinCatalog was just released. The version number is 2020.5. The new update will mostly contain bug fixes.
The new features are the ability to recreate the external (fast) search index initially by clicking a button in the Search Index Options dialogue.
Another new feature is the blue color for files inside archives. So now WinCatalog uses three color codes and displays files located inside archives using blue font color, cloud-on-demand files using green color, and files in the file operation queue in gray color (as previously).
The new update fixes incorrect behavior of the thumbnails view: it wasn’t possible to browse tags when the right view was switched to thumbnails.
The search logic was fixed: previously WinCatalog incorrectly reported the “search syntax error” if the NOT operator was used more than once or after AND/OR operator. Now it works as expected.
The double-click action was fixed for non-file items: when the “open in explorer” option was selected as the double-click action, WinCatalog tried to open non-file entries in File Explorer which wasn’t correct because they do not have any file system object relations (custom items, locations, tags, virtual folders). Now this behavior was fixed and WinCatalog acts correctly.
A new command-line option for rebuilding the search index was added “-SearchIndex Rebuild”. All instances of WinCatalog using the catalog file should be closed before running the command. Some other search index-related logic was fixed and/or adjusted.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.5 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: May 20, 2021
Hello, we’re glad to inform you that WinCatalog 2020.4.1 was released.
This is a maintenance release fixing a bug of inability to drag&drop entries from the right-hand pane (grid view) to the left-hand tree view, or inside the tree view in some cases, mostly on monitors with a custom scaling factor set.
This update is optional and if drag&drop works in WinCatalog 2020.4 on your computer, you may skip this update.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.4.1 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: March 29, 2021
Hello, we’re glad to inform you that WinCatalog 2020.4 was released.
The new version fixes bugs and adds several new features: it adds new columns to the Grid view (that is why the installation will reset the column set you have). The new columns are duration (for video and audio files), dimensions (for video and pictures), audio and video codecs, and date taken (for photos). More columns will be added in the next major upgrade (the 2021 version) later this year.
The other addition is the option to use only system icons. From the early beginnings, WinCatalog used custom icons for archives, video files, and photos if it was able to parse the files and grab additional information. Custom icons were a kind of marker indicating that additional information was grabbed for files.
Now this feature can be turned off and WinCatalog will display system icons for all files independently from the fact if it grabbed Exif tags, media information, or parsed the archive contents.
Another new feature is the ability to change sort logic by switching between natural and ordinal (i.e. computer) string comparison.
The default option is the natural string comparison (a1→a2→a3→a10→a11→a20→a30→a100), that is how WinCatalog sorted strings previously. Turning off the natural comparison feature means the sorting decisions are based on simple byte comparisons (a1→a10→a11→a100→a2→a20→a3→a30).
The second addition to the search logic is the ability to enable or disable showing folders and drives above files (when sorting alphabetically). Displaying folders above files is the default behavior and that is how it works in File Explorer. Turning this option off will cause displaying folders and files sorted by names ignoring types (Mac OS Finder style).
The ability to select multiple tags in the Tags tree view by holding the CTRL key and clicking was added.
The support of .MXF files (a container format for professional digital video and audio media) was added, now WinCatalog can grab thumbnails and media information from .MXF files.
Better handling of optical drives: Now when WinCatalog parses EXIF tags from photos burned to optical drives, it performs a sequential reading to the memory and performs the parsing and thumbnail generation in the memory. This approach helps to avoid excessive head movements of optical drives. WinCatalog automatically detects optical drives and turns this feature on if needed.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.4 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: March 2, 2021
Hello, we’re glad to inform you that a new update of WinCatalog 2020.3.1 was released.
This is the maintenance update fixing the Portuguese (Portugal) UI translation and updating Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Slovak, and Turkish translations.
If you don’t use any of these translations, you may skip the update.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.3.1 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: January 21, 2021
Hello, we’re glad to inform you that WinCatalog 2020.3 was released.
The new update introduces the Saved Searches feature - the ability to save search parameters and restart frequently used searches with just two mouse clicks. The Saved Searches functionality resides under the down arrow of the Search button. The new feature comes with a set of pre-defined searches, you can delete the existing searches and save others on your own.
The support of CR3 raw image files from modern Canon cameras was added.
Slovak UI translation added to WinCatalog.
Other minor improvements. A new Dark template was added for HTML reports. Layout menu entries were added to the View menu for the Main and Search tabs. The loading of the Tags tab was moved to the background (previously the loading was noticeable on large number of tags). Some minor issues were fixed.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.3 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: January 18, 2021
Hello, we’re glad to inform you that WinCatalog 2020.2.8 was released.
The new update adds the Album field from ID3 tags to the external search index (needs the Search Index to be rebuilt) and the ability to copy names, paths, and other fields to Clipboard directly from the main grid view.
The following issues were fixed.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.2.8 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: December 18, 2020
Hello, we would like to inform you that WinCatalog 2020.2.3 was just released.
The update fixes two issues of the previous version: the internal search (when WinCatalog works without creating the external fast search index) did not understand complex search queries correctly and could find fewer results than the external fast version. Now both versions (internal and external) work identically.
The second issue appeared as an incorrect panel displaying (the thumbnail panel or properties panel) in the search view when just one of two panels was hidden.
Slovenian UI translation added to WinCatalog.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.2.3 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: November 26, 2020
Hello, we’re glad to announce that WinCatalog 2020.2 (version 2020.2.2) was just released.
The update fixes the issues when the -ExitWhenDone command-line option caused the search index to rebuild. Changing the column autofit (Outlook-style) option required program restart, now it is applied on the fly.
The new update adds the ability to switch between Horizontal and Vertical layouts for the Properties and Thumbnail panels or hide the panels to save screen space. Click the Catalog button, then Options, and then Layout to configure these options.
The Report generator adds the Associated Tags column.
The Italian UI translation was actualized.
Download
To download WinCatalog 2020.2 please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog. Just install the latest version over the existing one.
Posted on: November 25, 2020
Hello, we’re glad to announce that a new major upgrade of WinCatalog was just released. The version number is 2020.1.
Faster Search
As we announced earlier, one of the key features of the new update is the Fast Search feature. We completely redesigned the way WinCatalog uses the search index and now it works five times faster in comparison to the latest version and results appear immediately when WinCatalog finds them.
Each modern computer has several processors, and now WinCatalog uses them all when searching. The best performance may be achieved when the catalog file is stored on an SSD drive, however, regular hard drives can also show high performance.
This feature is optional and turned on for all catalog files. Catalog files created with a previous version of WinCatalog will be automatically adjusted on the first run. Click to expand or collapse video.
Multiple Main Tabs
Another cool feature of the new update is the ability to open more than one Catalog tab at a time. Previously any number of search tabs could be open, but only one catalog tab was allowed. Now you can open the same or different catalog folders in different catalog tabs. If you didn’t see it in action yet, please watch a short video or just download the latest version and try it by yourself!
Click to expand or collapse video.
Search rules updated
The new version brings the updated search rules, the search now is more natural than previously. Try one or a few word search terms without any search operators or wildcards to see how easier it is now to find your files, or use quotes and search operators to refine your searches. The full explanation of the search rules is located in the manual (here).
A lot of UI improvements
The new update contains a lot of small UI improvements: highlighting alternate rows in the grid view, the ability to adjust sizes of the columns by double-clicking the column divider, highlighting duplicated groups in search results when searching for duplicates, and others.
The size of the new catalog files was decreased
Previously WinCatalog uses the UNICODE characters for storing data in the catalog which required 2 bytes per each character. All catalog files created in WinCatalog 2020 use the UTF-8 encoding. It still allows having all the national characters in the catalog but allows to reduce the size of the catalog file because most of the filenames consist of Latin characters (and UTF-8 requires twice less space to store Latin characters).
And since the search feature was redesigned, WinCatalog does not maintain an internal search index anymore. Getting rid of the internal search index may decrease the catalog file size to 7-15% or in some cases up to 30% depending on the content type.
Upgrading to WinCatalog 2020
WinCatalog 2020 is available as a free upgrade to everyone who purchased a license to WinCatalog 2019 (meaning a full 2019 version, not an upgrade from a previous version), or a Lifetime Major Upgrades option, or the upgrade to WinCatalog 2019 within the last 6 months from the release date (starting from May 1st, 2020).
Others can purchase an upgrade to WinCatalog 2020 at a special upgrade price with a 50% discount. To check your upgrade status, please click here.
Downloading WinCatalog 2020
To download the latest version, please click here. You do not need to uninstall a previous version of WinCatalog before installing the update, just install WinCatalog 2020 over any older version you have and it will continue smoothly.
We’d love to hear from you!
All the new features and improvements were implemented by collecting your feedback: you asked for it - we implemented it!
Please don’t hesitate to share your feedback thoughts with us, we’re always happy to receive positive feedback and constructive critique. Please use the feedback form to contact us!
Posted on: November 19, 2020
This week we celebrate the 19th birthday of WinCatalog. It’s time to add a candle, cut a cake, and say thank you to all of you who supported us during all these years!
For today we also have a couple of announcements.
First, WinCatalog 2020 will be released until the end of the month.
One of the key features of the upcoming 2020 update will be the improved search speed.
We moved the search index outside the catalog file, so now WinCatalog can use the full power of your computer when using the search index.
If the catalog file (and the search index) is located on an SSD drive, the search may be up to 5 times faster on an average computer and results pop up immediately without a need to wait until the search is finished.
The second major improvement is the ability to open more than one Main tab at a time. Currently, you can open several Search tabs at a time, but only one Main tab is allowed. The new version removes this limitation.
Below you may find two short videos showing the mentioned features in action:
Everyone who purchases (or who have already purchased) WinCatalog 2019 until the release will get WinCatalog 2020 for free when it will be released.
Second, until the end of the week, we reduced the price. Buy WinCatalog 2019 now and the 20% discount will be applied automatically to your purchase.
Happy birthday, WinCatalog!
Posted on: October 12, 2020
