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The new Visual Studio 2017 will be released on March 7

Visual Studio 2017 Logo

According to Microsoft, the new Visual Studio 2017 will be released on March 7. Visual Studio 2017 is the latest version of Microsoft´s powerful suite of development tools. The first version of Visual Studio was released 1997, so Microsoft will also celebrate Visual Studio’s 20th anniversary when the new version of Visual Studio is released.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 includes enhancements to code navigation, IntelliSense, refactoring, debugging, Azure etc. And Xamarin is now integrated in the product which means developers can build Android, iOS and Windows apps directly from Visual Studio. The installation of Visual Studio is also faster and you only need to install the features that you need. Microsoft has also added new features to the C#, C++ and VB languages.

A detailed list of all new features and improvements in Visual Studio 2017 is available here:

> What’s New in Visual Studio 2017
> Visual Studio 2017 Release Notes

Visual Installer 2017 is compatible with Visual Studio 2017
Visual Installer 2017, that we released last week, is fully compatible with Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Basic 2017 (VB 15). This means you can import solution files and project files, that is saved with Visual Studio 2017, to Visual Installer.

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Visual Installer 2017 has now been released

We have now released a new version of our setup tool SamLogic Visual Installer. The name of the new version is SamLogic Visual Installer 2017 and the version number is 11.0. Some new features in the new version are:

• The support for Windows 10 has been improved.
• Supports Visual Basic 2017 / Visual Studio 2017.
• Supports AutoCAD 2017.
• Supports Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2.
• Supports Microsoft Edge.
• The file information window now displays info about digital certificates. Read more.
• Line breaks can now be included in message boxes that are opened via script. Read more.
• You can specify your own default folder for your Visual Installer project files. Read more.

A detailed list of new features in Visual Installer 2017 is available on this web page.

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The file information window now displays info about digital certificates

Today it is important to code sign binary files (for example .EXE and .DLL files) before distribution. We have therefore updated the file information window in Visual Installer so it is easy to check if a file in Visual Installer’s file list is code signed or not. The picture below shows the updated file information window:

The File information window in Visual Installer

To the right of the Code signed? text field there will be a Yes if the file is code signed (has a digital certificate). Otherwise there will be a No.

The name of the organization that the digital certificate is issued to is displayed to the right of the Organization text field.

How to open the file information window
You can open the file information window by choosing the Show file information menu item in the List menu in Visual Installer’s editor, or by right-clicking over a file in the file list and choosing the Show file information menu item in the local menu that is opened.

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You can now specify your own default folder for your project files

You can now specify your own default folder (start folder) for your Visual Installer project files (.VIP files). Normally is the Documents\Visual Installer\My Projects folder used as a default folder for Visual Installer’s project files, but now you can have your own default folder; for example D:\My VIP Projects, or whatever you want to have.

File - Open projectThe default folder is used as a start folder when you have no project file opened in the Visual Installer editor, and want to open an existing project file (.VIP file), for example via the File – Open project menu item. The start folder is opened first. Thereafter you can browse to another folder on the drive if your project file is not located in the start folder.

(If you already have a VIP project opened in the editor, the folder where this project file was last saved in, will be used as a start folder.)

How to change the default folder for projects
You can set a new default folder via the Editor Options dialog box in Visual Installer. This dialog box can be opened by choosing the Editor options menu item in the Special menu in Visual Installer’s editor. A new default folder can be entered in the Project folder textbox (in the Miscellaneous tab). See the picture below for an example.

The Editor Options dialog box in Visual Installer

You must enter a full path to an existing folder in the Project folder text box. The drive letter must be included in the path.

If you want to use Visual Installer’s built-in default folder (Documents\Visual Installer\My Projects) as a start folder for your projects again, you can erase the contents in the Project folder text box. You only need to specify a folder in the Project folder text box if you want to use your own start folder.

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CD-Menu Creator 2017 has now been released

A new version of our menu designer tool CD-Menu Creator has now been released. The name of the new version is SamLogic CD-Menu Creator 2017 and some of the new features in the new version are:

• The support for Windows 10 has been improved.
• All binary files in CD-Menu Creator are now SHA-2 code signed. Read more.
• You can now create button groups with titles. Read more.
• We have added more symbolic icons for the menu window.
• New menu interface examples have been included.

A more detailed list with the new features is available on this page.

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CD-Menu Creator: You can now create button groups with titles

We have added a new function to CD-Menu Creator 2017 that allows you to place buttons in groups and add a title to each group. If you have many buttons in a menu this will help your user find the correct button faster. Below are two menu examples that show how it may look like:

Example 1: One column with buttons + two groups with buttons + Exit button
Menu example 1

Example 2: Two columns with buttons + four groups with buttons
Menu example 2

It is easy to create button groups and add titles to the groups. In this new tip on our website we will show you how to create button groups with titles.

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All binary files in CD-Menu Creator are now SHA-2 code signed

All binary files in CD-Menu Creator 2017 are now code signed using a SHA-2 certificate instead of the older SHA-1 certificate. This will improve the security and reduce the risk for annoying warning messages in Windows. Starting with 2016, Microsoft Windows and web browsers like Chrome, Internet Explorer, Edge etc. started phasing out the support for the older SHA-1 certificate. In February 14th, 2017 the support for SHA-1 will be reduced even more, and in 2020 the support will end.

SHA-2

All binary files in CD-Menu Creator from year of 2015 and older uses the old SHA-1. In 2016 we updated some files to SHA-2 and in this new release all binary files uses SHA-2. If you plan to distribute a menu during 2017, we recommend you to upgrade to CD-Menu Ceator 2017 first and create the menu using the new version of the tool.

See also
> What is SHA-1 and SHA-2 and what’s the difference between them?

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Is it possible to create a menu for a SD memory card using CD-Menu Creator?

SD memory cardWe got this question a while ago: is it possible to create a menu for a SD memory card using CD-Menu Creator?

The answer is Yes.

You can consider the SD memory card as a USB flash drive and create a USB flash drive project in CD-Menu Creator. When you plug in a SD memory card into your computer’s port, it will usually get a drive letter, and you can create your menu directly on the memory card (on the drive) in the same way as you do when you create a menu for a USB flash drive.

If you want the SD memory card to support AutoRun, you can use our USB AutoRun Creator tool. For details, read this article:

> Add AutoRun to a SD Memory Card

The menu that you have created and placed on the memory card can be opened in all computers that uses Windows as its operating system. It can not be opened in a Mac or Android device.