An integrated workspace environment, Winstep Xtreme is a powerful suite of applications that merge incredible usability and performance with breathtaking eye candy.

Version 26.6 adds a new Window Dodge auto‑hide mode, full PWA integration (Chrome, Brave, Edge), an edge‑to‑edge dock mode that spans the entire screen, a major weather system overhaul with new backup feeds and fully up-to-date User Guides.

It also brings a long list of usability enhancements, visual refinements, localization updates, and important reliability fixes. Please read the complete change log below. Winstep Xtreme runs on the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 7, 8.x, 10 and 11.

What's New? Highlighted Features:

• Completely Rewritten User Guides (Major Update)

A brand‑new set of fully rewritten, modern User Guides is now available for all Winstep applications. These guides provide clear explanations, updated screenshots, and step‑by‑step instructions to help you get the most out of every feature - whether you’re a new user or a long‑time power user.





The User Guides for all Winstep applications have been fully rewritten and modernized for this release. The previous guides had not been updated in years - dating back to before the introduction of the current UI - and bringing them up to date with the latest versions was a mammoth undertaking.

The new guides feature:

• Clear, reorganized explanations of every feature
• Updated screenshots matching the current UI
• Step‑by‑step instructions for both new and advanced users
• A cleaner, more readable layout

You can access the new User Guide at any time by clicking the Help button in the Preferences window.



• Full Progressive Web App (PWA) Support.

Added full support for Chrome, Brave and Microsoft Edge Progressive Web Applications (PWAs).

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are web applications that can be installed and launched like native desktop apps, while still being built using standard web technologies. PWAs run in their own window, can appear in the Start Menu and taskbar, support notifications, and often work offline, providing an app-like experience without requiring a traditional software installation.





Previous versions treated Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) as ordinary browser windows, limiting integration with the desktop and grouping them with other browser windows. Version 26.6 introduces full support for Chrome, Brave and Microsoft Edge PWAs, allowing them to be pinned, launched and managed just like native desktop applications.



• Edge-to-Edge Dock Backgrounds.

Although initially reluctant to add this feature - after all, docks are docks, not taskbars - it had been one of the most frequently requested enhancements for quite some time. Version 26.6 therefore introduces optional edge-to-edge backgrounds for docked, non-tiled docks.




When enabled, the dock background can span the entire width of the screen for horizontal docks, or the entire height of the screen for vertical docks. The dock icons can be aligned to the left, center, or right on horizontal docks, or to the top, center, or bottom on vertical docks, while otherwise behaving exactly as before. This creates a cleaner, more integrated appearance reminiscent of modern desktop layouts, while preserving the flexibility, magnification effects, and visual identity that make docks different from traditional taskbars.

This option applies only to docks attached to a screen edge and using a non-tiled dock background, so floating docks and docks using tiled backgrounds retain their normal appearance.



• New Dodge Windows Auto-Hide Mode.

Traditional auto-hide keeps the dock hidden most of the time, requiring you to move the mouse pointer to the screen edge whenever you want to access it. While effective at saving screen space, it also means the dock is often out of sight when it isn't actually getting in the way.




Version 26.6 introduces a new Dodge Windows auto-hide mode. When enabled, the dock remains visible and readily accessible until the active window would overlap it. Only then does the dock automatically slide out of the way, reappearing again as soon as it is no longer covered.

You can make the dock reappear at any time by bumping the mouse pointer against the corresponding screen edge, just as you would with normal auto-hide, even if a window is still occupying its screen space.

The result is the best of both worlds: maximum screen space when you need it, while keeping the dock visible and readily accessible most of the time.



• Massive Weather System Overhaul.

Version 26.6 introduces the most significant weather-system overhaul in years, replacing the old provider‑specific architecture with a new coordinate‑based, provider‑independent foundation.




Nearly 70,000 locations were converted from proprietary Weather.com codes to latitude/longitude coordinates, and the entire worldwide weather database was rebuilt around this new model.

A new coordinate lookup infrastructure now handles location matching, timezone detection, and daylight‑saving‑time rules automatically. This enables accurate sunrise/sunset calculations, correct local timestamps for forecasts and observations, and consistent day/night icon handling across all locations.

The update also restores multi‑provider resilience. The primary MSN feed remains in place, but the system can now fall back to Open‑Meteo or Weather.com when needed. Location matching is performed using geographic proximity, allowing the module to recover gracefully even when an exact match is unavailable.

By removing all dependence on Weather.com’s legacy codes and introducing a fully coordinate‑driven backend, the weather module becomes more accurate, more robust, and far easier to extend with additional providers in the future.



• WebP icon support.

WebP images can now be used directly as item icons, just like PNG, ICO, and TIF files.




Please note that WebP support depends on a compatible WebP image decoder being installed on the system. On systems without WebP decoding support, installing Microsoft’s WebP Image Extensions or another compatible decoder may be required.



• Windows Moved the Trash. We Found It Again.

The June 2026 Windows update appears to have changed how Recycle Bin file-system notifications are delivered, which would sometimes leave the Recycle Bin module showing stale information. Winstep now uses an additional detection method to catch Recycle Bin changes more reliably and keep the module in sync.






• Improvements to Usability, Integration and Reliability.

Version 26.6 also introduces a wide range of smaller usability improvements, interface refinements and compatibility enhancements designed to make everyday use smoother and more intuitive.





The Item Properties dialog now opens faster, making day-to-day configuration more responsive, while the default dock magnification span has been increased from three to five icons for a smoother and more natural feel.

Several modules have also received usability enhancements. The Disk Meter now provides quick access to detailed drive information and a new engraved drive letter style, Sunrise and Sunset times have been added to the Weather Settings panel, and the Clock module includes a new Change Timezone command in its right-click menu, making multi-timezone clocks easier to discover and configure.

Additional improvements include support for using WebP images as item icons, better organization of dock settings, enhanced compatibility with applications that use non-standard window ownership behavior, and optimized network tray updates under Windows 11 to reduce overhead and improve responsiveness.



• Fixes and Stability Improvements.

This release also contains a substantial number of bug fixes and reliability improvements.





• Invalid Launch Pad items prevented — Fixed an issue where invalid items could be added to a Launch Pad via the Insert New Item option in another item's context menu.
• Clock hand color customization fixed — Resolved an issue affecting custom clock hand colors.
• Code-page compatibility warning corrected — Fixed an issue where the code-page compatibility warning dialog could display garbled text when the system locale and Windows UI language used incompatible code pages.
• Context menu contamination resolved — Fixed an issue where items from a previously opened context menu could appear in newly opened menus.
• Dock shifting during magnification fixed — Eliminated slight dock movement during magnification by keeping the dock width stable when the full magnification span is active.
• Taskbar-window detection improved — Improved compatibility with applications using non-standard window ownership behavior by more accurately distinguishing between parent and owner windows.
• Desktop tab refresh corrected — Fixed an issue where Desktop tabs on shelves, drawers and grid-stacks might not refresh after changes to the underlying folders or files.
• Persistent object duplication fixed — Resolved an issue where modules configured to appear on all tabs, or other special tab-related items, could briefly appear duplicated during searches or refresh operations.



• Many other features plus performance and stability improvements! Please see complete change log below...

WorkShelf v26.6 complete change log:

• For a smoother experience the default dock magnification span is now 5 icons instead of 3.
• To optimize performance the tray network info under Windows 11 is now only refreshed every 10 seconds unless there is an IP address change.
• The Exception Handler dialog now lists the application's version and build number in the title of the error dialog.
• Added option for non-tiled docks to span the full screen width (horizontal docks) or height (vertical docks) when docked.
• Added new Open-Meteo backup weather module feed.
• Restored the Weather.com feed but this time as a backup weather module feed.
• Weather.com codes have been deprecated and replaced by latitude and longitude coordinates.
• Weather database has been updated to remove weather.com codes and add latitude and longitude coordinates to each location.
• Removed weather.com field and added latitude and longitude fields to the Weather Settings panel.
• Added a ‘Get Coordinates’ button to the Weather Settings panel. It attempts to retrieve the latitude and longitude for the specified country and city.
• Added full support for Chrome, Brave and MS Edge PWAs (Progressive Web Applications).
• Day 1 forecast icon now displays a day icon if local time is before sunset.
• New dock auto-hide option: hide dock only when covered by the active window.
• Added Sunrise and Sunset times to the Weather Settings panel.
• If GeoIP cannot determine an exact location during automatic weather module setup, the module searches for an alternative entry in the database within a 40‑km radius of the user’s coordinates.
• Added "Drive Information" button to the Disk Meter settings dialog.
• Improved weather time handling by applying the target location’s timezone and DST rules to sunrise/sunset, day/night icons, forecast dates, and observation timestamps.
• Added a "Change Timezone" option to the right-click menu of the iconic Clock module, making multi-timezone clock support easier to discover and access.
• Improved the opening speed of the Item Properties dialog.
• Balloon tooltip of the weather module now shows sunrise and sunset times if available.
• Added a new Drive Letter style option for the drive-style of the Disk Meter module, allowing drive letters to use either the default appearance or a new engraved style.
• Added new Windows 11 icon for the "Show Start Menu" internal command.
• Added support for using WebP images as item icons.
• Added option to left, center or right justify icons in full screen width docks.
• Added a Reserved Space Gap setting to the Position tab of Docks, allowing reserved screen space to be slightly expanded or reduced as needed.
• You can now press the DEL key to delete the currently selected item in a dock, provided the dock has the focus.
• Settings are now saved atomically, helping prevent corruption if the application is interrupted while saving.
• It was possible to add an invalid item to a Launch Pad using the Insert New Item right‑click menu from any other item.
• Fixed issue when modifying the clock module hand colors.
• Fixed an issue where the code page compatibility warning dialog could itself display garbled text when the system locale and Windows UI language used incompatible code pages. The warning is now also shown in English to ensure it remains readable even when localization data cannot be decoded correctly.
• Fixed issue where items from a previous context menu could appear in a new context menu.
• Fixed slight dock shifting during magnification by keeping the dock width stable when the full magnification span is active.
• Moved the "Prevent dock from being moved by dragging with the mouse pointer" setting from the Behavior tab to the Position tab in the Dock Properties dialog.
• Improved detection of taskbar-visible windows by distinguishing real parent windows from owner windows more accurately, improving compatibility with applications using non-standard window ownership behavior.
• Fixed bug where a Desktop tab on a shelf, drawer or grid-stack might not refresh itself after changes to the actual folders/files.
• Fixed bug where persistent objects on certain tabs (like modules set to appear on all tabs or special tab related items) would briefly show up repeated when searching the tab and something caused it to refresh the contents.
• Fixed a bug that prevented inserting items between pinned dock items when those items were currently running.
• Changed text of Advanced button in the Position tab of the Properties dialog for Shelves and Drawers to "Reserved Space Gap" to better describe what the dialog it opens actually does.
• Moved "Prevent shelf/drawer from being moved by dragging with the mouse pointer" setting from the Behavior tab to the Position tab in the Shelf/Drawer Properties dialog.
• Fixed Recycle Bin change detection after recent Windows Shell notification changes.
• Removing an item from the dock while the Preferences window was open on the Dock & Shelves tab disrupted the delete animation.

NextSTART v26.6 complete change log:

• To optimize performance the tray network info under Windows 11 is now only refreshed every 10 seconds unless there is an IP address change.
• The Exception Handler dialog now lists the application's version and build number in the title of the error dialog.
• Added full support for Chrome, Brave and MS Edge PWAs (Progressive Web Applications).
• Improved the opening speed of the Item Properties dialog.
• Added new Windows 11 icon for the "Show Start Menu" internal command.
• Added support for using WebP images as item icons.
• Improved detection of taskbar-visible windows by distinguishing real parent windows from owner windows more accurately, improving compatibility with applications using non-standard window ownership behavior.