24 September 2010

Quick View Plus and Opus

Quick View Plus (QVP) is a product which can view hundreds of file formats without the need for any additional software. For example, it can display Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect documents without having either program installed.

Quick View Plus 11 includes a preview handler that works within Directory Opus (and newer versions of Windows Explorer and Outlook).

Simply installing Quick View Plus 11 Standard (or above) will add its viewing abilities to Directory Opus if you are on Windows Vista, Windows 7 or above.

Notes & Caveats (correct at the time of writing, September 2010):

  • Windows XP: Quick View Plus 11 does not install its preview handler on Windows XP, although it may do if you have Outlook 2007 installed (this has not been tested).
  • 64-bit: Avantstar, who make Quick View Plus, do not officially support using it on 64-bit versions of Windows; however, from brief testing it appears to work fine.
  • QVP editions: Quick View Plus 11 comes in two editions: Standard and Professional. The Standard edition is all you need if you just wish to view files within Directory Opus.
  • QVP Trial version: The current Quick View Plus trial version does not correctly install its preview handler, meaning it will not work within Directory Opus. Avantstar are aware and will hopefully fix this in the future. The problem does not affect the full version of Quick View Plus. You can still use the trial version's standalone QVP application to test how well it views certain files.


(Thanks to Michael Kenward, Jon Potter and Avantstar themselves for their help discovering the info above. Thanks also to Ron Hirsch whose quest for a way to view Word Perfect files in 64-bit Opus led us here.)

8 September 2010

Directory Opus version 9.5.5.1 (Beta)

This is an Opus Beta release only. If you aren't comfortable running the very latest version of Opus then you may like to wait for the next stable/public release.

To download the new beta version, visit the Directory Opus 9.5.5.1 thread.

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

  • Fix for the 'Open in Directory Opus' folder context menu item not working in Windows 7 if Explorer Replacement mode was disabled in some cases. This also fixes the 'Open folder to view files in Directory Opus' AutoPlay option if Explorer Replacement mode disabled.
  • Fixed crash when using the Print Folder command without any printers installed (or with print service disabled).
  • Fixed problem that prevented custom Folder Colors from working reliably in the tree.
  • Fix for FTP sites that claim to support UTF-8 but return non-UTF-8 encoded directory listings.