Paint.NET v2.6 Alpha 1 is now available

[Rick Brewster]

You can get it from our download page, http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/download.html

Or, if you already have v2.5 installed, you can get it through the built-in updater. First make sure that the menu item "File -> Updates -> Also check for Betas" is enabled. Then click the "File -> Updates -> Check Now ..." menu item. Don't worry if you don't have .NET 2.0 installed -- it will be downloaded and installed automatically if necessary.

Here's what's new:

Now uses .NET Framework 2.0
Full support for 64-bit processors, both x64 and Itanium (32-bit also supported, of course)
UI has been aesthetically upgraded (new icons, toolbars, etc.)
Layer ordering has been flipped "right side up" in the UI
Layer composition engine is now correct, and also much faster
Seven new layer blend modes: Color Burn, Color Dodge, Reflect, Glow, Overlay, Negation, and Xor
Checkerboard "transparency" background is now rendered in screen coordinates so that it does not scale with the zoom level
Pixelate effect is now much faster
Ability to choose language during setup

If you have a 64-bit processor and are running a 64-bit edition of Windows, I think you will really like this release. Performance in 64-bit mode is greatly enhanced in many areas, including a 300% boost to the Gaussian Blur effect.

[Keith]

Business Contact Manager from Office 2003 Pro will not run when .net 2.0 is installed

Is Paint.Net 2.5 the final version to have .net 1.1

[Rick Brewster]

After upgrading I'm getting this error quite frequently:

...

It's occured when I was attempting to move some text I added and also whenever I paste from the clipboard. I've downgraded for now but thought I'd let you know.

Try uninstalling, then making sure that the Paint.NET installation directory is empty -- in particular, that ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll is deleted. Then install the 2.6 Alpha 1. Tell me if that works.

[Rick Brewster]

Business Contact Manager from Office 2003 Pro will not run when .net 2.0 is installed

Is Paint.Net 2.5 the final version to have .net 1.1

I would guess that BCM should be fine if both .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0 are installed. They are designed to be installed together like that, although there may still be things that prevent it from working correctly (versioning is a tricky business). Hopefully they'll have a patch or something for BCM at some point (I'm just venturing a guess here -- I have no inside info or anything).

And yes, Paint.NET v2.5 is the last version to use .NET 1.1.

[Rick Brewster]

BTW, the black dots in the orbs are gone, just from upgrading! Cool!

Black dots? Orbs?

I like the idea for Esc though. I find myself trying to use Enter for the same thing. Both make sense to add, really.

[Crazy Man Dan]

Well well, that was a quick version turnaround!

I must say, I likes it! It looks like the toolbar images are either smaller or have less padding, because I now have a 32px gap between my toolbar and the color selector where with the last version they were always running into each other.

Also, the fixed layer stack order rocks! Less extra explanation for tutorial-making.

And it looks like you've reorganized the horizontal toolbars, adding an unconditional break before the Fill Style option. Once I get used to the object outline/fill mode buttons being on the second line, it'll be nice that they won't be moving on me depending upon my screen size. :wink:

I'm on a 32-bit architecture, so I won't be able to take advantage of the huge speed increase, but it's nice to see all the checks you guys put into the installer. I didn't have .NET 2.0 installed on my computer, so I decided to let Paint.NET do it for me. It took forever to download (Broadband - Cable) but it worked wonderfully. It'll be very simple for the end-user, even unexperienced ones.

Well, that's all for now. Great work,

Dan

[Keith]

XP Home with Office XP Pro will install .net 2.0

XP Pro with Office 2003 Pro and business contact manager will not

I guess that's progress for you

[poundsmack]

hey i just wanted to say thanks for suporting Itanium. this makes me happy