1. New Features:

1. WinPaletter Vault:

Overview:

Vault serves as a fallback mechanism designed to re-apply the user's selected Windows accent and personalization settings whenever session-change events incorrectly reset them to default values.

Functionality:

It ensures visual preferences are consistently restored following Windows logon or unlock events.

Recommendation:

Users should enable this feature exclusively when experiencing applied accents reverting back to default during active session changes.

Bug Fixes:

Helps resolve GitHub issues (Certain WinPaletter classic colors do not remain after a lock screen) #247 and #231.

Accessibility:

In Settings → Theme Applying Behaviour → Vault. Quick links and controls are also accessible directly from the Windows Theme, Classic Colors, and Metrics & Fonts troubleshoots tabs.

Screenshot 1	Screenshot 2

2. System Restore Points Manager

System Restore Points UI Integration:

Added a form to manage system restore points created by WinPaletter directly within WinPaletter.

Restore Point Overview:

Displays a detailed list of restore points including name, sequence number, and creation date/time.

Create Restore Points:

Ability to manually create new system restore points with custom names.

Delete Functionality::

Either individual selected or all restore points created by WinPaletter.

Screenshot 3	Screenshot 4

3. Classic Colors

Minor design refresh

Screenshot 5	Screenshot 6

Fix visual bug: WindowFrame color controls tooltip borders

Screenshot 7

Troubleshooter Relocation:

The troubleshooter has been moved from Settings → Theme applying behavior → Classic Colors directly into the Classic Colors form for easier access. It updates HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard to resolve the Ctrl+Alt+Del color reset issue (addressing GitHub issues #247 and #231), which is also addressed by the WinPaletter Vault feature.

Screenshot 8

New schemes:

High Contrast: Crimson Red, High Contrast: Solar Flare, High Contrast: Neon Orange, High Contrast: Retro Amber, High Contrast: Amber Terminal, High Contrast: Neon Yellow, High Contrast: Lemon Lime, High Contrast: Neon Green, High Contrast: Toxic Green, High Contrast: Terminal, High Contrast: Green Phosphor CRT, High Contrast: Neon, High Contrast: Cyberpunk, High Contrast: Arctic White, High Contrast: Electric Blue, High Contrast: Proton Purple, High Contrast: Neon Violet, High Contrast: Synthwave, High Contrast: Neon Pink, High Contrast: Magenta, High Contrast: Cherry Blossom, High Contrast: Plasma, High Contrast: Plasma Burst, High Contrast: Solarized, Volcanic Eruption 3D, Spice Market 3D, Autumn Forest 3D, Sahara Sunset Hybrid, Lemonade Stand Flat, Carnival Hybrid, Watermelon Fresh Flat, Fruit Basket Hybrid, Tropical Punch Hybrid, Sunset Boulevard Flat, Midnight Jazz 3D, Desert Mirage Flat, Golden Era 3D, Alien Biome Hybrid, Neon Tokyo Hybrid, Neon Synthwave 3D, Neon Noir, Electric Storm Hybrid, Bubblegum Pop 3D, Miami Vice Flat, Deep Space 3D, Ocean Sunset Hybrid, Frost Bite Flat, Mountain Mist Flat, Mermaid Lagoon Flat, Enchanted Forest 3D, Cyberpunk 2077 3D, Galactic Core Hybrid, Retro Arcade 3D, Cerulean Sky 3D, Crimson Flat, Forest Canopy Hybrid, Sunset Orange 3D, Lavender Mist Flat, Golden Hour Hybrid, Ocean Depth 3D, Mint Frost Flat, Berry Hybrid, Charcoal Smoke 3D, Peach Sorbet Flat, Slate Storm Hybrid, Emerald 3D, Amber Glow Flat, Plum Velvet Hybrid, Solarized Light, Ice Blue, Baby Blue, Arctic, Steel Blue, Denim, Summer Ocean, Winter Frost, Executive Navy, Midnight Blue, Ocean Depth, Deep Sea, Jade, Mint, Mint Cream, Sage Serenity, Fern, Forest Executive, Forest, Pine, Sage, Olive, and Hacker Green.

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4. Windows Version redirection

Accessibility:

Settings → Theme Applying Behaviour

Aim:

This allows WinPaletter to apply customization rules based on a selected Windows edition profile. This is useful for Windows mods and transformations that make Windows 11/10 look and behave like older versions such as Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP.

5. Settings new options:

- Limit update checks to once daily when WinPaletter is opened instead of checking every time WinPaletter is opened

- Automatically log in GitHub saved account when WinPaletter starts.

6. Windows XP LogonUI:

• Change logonUI.exe path for Windows XP

2. Application Improvements:

1. Winget Installation Support:

• Installing WinPaletter via Winget will no longer require the -l "unzip path" argument. Users will be able to simply run winget install Abdelrhman-AK.WinPaletter and use the alias winpaletter to launch the application directly (note that this feature will become available shortly after release, pending the Winget package upload).

2. Performance improvements:

2.1. Improve WallStudio memory usage and performance

Before	After

2.2. Making clicking "Load from Current Preferences" loads only the open aspect

And this is instead of loading a whole theme instance in memory, for lesser memory usage and better performance.

2.3. Exporting language JSON files is now significantly faster (almost immediate)

And this consumes less memory compared to the legacy method, which took over 10 seconds and had high memory usage.

Before	After

3. UI Improvements:

3.1. Native TaskDialog & Dark Mode: Fully implemented native TaskDialog support (removing the Ookii dependency) with complete dark mode integration, utilizing DarkTaskDialog-Native by @memoarfaa.

Before	After

3.2. New navigation animation (fade with zoom in\out)

3.3. Enhanced Tooltips:

Added extended guide tooltips to the main bar buttons on the primary form to improve user onboarding and navigation.

Screenshot

3.4. Tab Enhancements:

Minor redesigned tab interface, introducing smoother animations and overall behavioral improvements, and added drag tab to detach it from tabs list.

3.5. Startup Experience:

Fixed a visual glitch that caused a large white flash when launching the application.

Before	After

3.6. Dark Mode Refinements:

Fixed dark mode implementation inconsistencies in specific UI controls, such as ComboBoxes and TextBoxes.

3.7. Performance Optimization:

Resolved a significant memory leak related to control painting when validating brush and pen objects, drastically reducing overall memory usage.

3.8. Crash Fix:

Fixed an issue where the application would crash on startup if a Windows Classic theme was currently active on the system.

3.9. Windows 7 DWM Fix:

Fixed a rendering bug where Windows 7 Desktop Window Manager (DWM) dashboards and borders would incorrectly display as a solid black window.

#	Before	After
Black area
Text rendering over aero glass

3.10. Classic Theme Compatibility:

Fixed an issue where tabs would incorrectly render as black when using Windows Classic or Basic themes.

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Basic
Classic

3.11. Link labels fix:

Fixed an issue when links appear white in a light mode background, causing accessibility issue.

4. GitHub Manager improvements:

• Keyboard shortcuts:
• Ctrl+Shift+N → New theme upload shortcut
• Ctrl+F → Search

5. Other improvements:

5.1. Uncompressed WPTH Export:

Added the ability to save themes as uncompressed .wpth files directly from the "Save as WPTH" dialog without needing to manually change global settings first.

Screenshot

5.2. Bug Reports Dialog Improvements:

Enhanced bug reporting tools and diagnostics for better reliability.

5.3. Registry Enhancements:

Implemented minor internal improvements for more efficient registry handling.

5.4. Optimized Logging:

Reduced log file sizes while retaining all essential troubleshooting information unchanged (Reduction in log file size by 50%).

5.5. Windows 7 Regional Themes Unlocking: Applying a Windows 7 aspect theme on Windows 7 now automatically unlocks regional themes, making them visible in the Personalization control panel after logging off and back on.

Screenshot

3. Bugs Fixes:

1. Language JSON creator fixes:

1.1. MDI Child Form State Saving:

Fixed an issue where modifications made after double-clicking a form to edit it were not properly saved into memory when closing the child form (MDI container).

1.2. Language Code Detection:

Fixed a bug where language file code detection failed on certain system configurations (Addressing #250).

2. Simulation Previews fixes:

2.1 Command Prompt Raster Font:

Fixed an incorrect transparency value simulation when applied to raster fonts in the Command Prompt preview.

2.2. Command Prompt Previewer Color Updates:

Fixed a bug where the color schemes ComboBox inside the Command Prompt Previewer form failed to update its colors properly.

2.3. Mica Titlebar Preview:

Fixed a rendering bug where the Mica titlebar preview was not displaying correctly in the Window simulator within the Metrics & Fonts form and other related forms.

Before	After

3. GitHub Manager fixes:

1. Fixed an issue where the properties option in the ListView's background context menu (when clicking the list area rather than an item) failed to open.
2. Fixed an issue where reopening the file properties dialog caused commit details fetching to take an indefinite amount of time.
3. Fixed an issue in the properties window where renaming a directory incorrectly resulted in a file instead of a directory.

4. Other fixes:

1. SystemParametersInfo Return Value: Fixed an issue where SystemParametersInfo called with a ref bool parameter always returned false, causing it to incorrectly fall back to default values.
2. SystemParametersInfo Under Impersonation: Fixed SystemParametersInfo calls during user impersonation within user32.dll to ensure features like cursor shadows, sonar, trails, and Windows effects work properly.
3. Windows Effects Shadow Application: Fixed an issue where Windows Effects required being applied twice to successfully enable shadows when no prior shadow was present (Fixes number 1 and 2 combined does fix number 3).
4. PE Resource Redirection Errors: Fixed catastrophic system errors occurring after recent Ressy PE manager updates, which were caused by resources being redirected to SystemResources\*.mun files. WinPaletter now correctly modifies files within SystemResources to prevent missing resource entry errors.
5. SFC Scan Target Expansion: SFC scans (used to restore PE file health and integrity, such as quickly restoring a patched startup sound in imageres.dll) now target .mun files as well if the target file has a linked resource file in C:\Windows\SystemResources (e.g., scanning imageres.dll now checks both C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll and C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun).
6. PE Dialog Theme Blocking: Fixed an issue where keeping the PE dialog open without closing its glass window would block the theme-applying progress.
7. AnimatorNS Blank Bitmap Glitch: Fixed a visual bug where interrupting a hidden AnimatorNS control with a MsgBox, TaskDialog, or Show() call caused a blank bitmap form to overlay the control or form, blocking user interaction as if the animation failed to finish. If this glitch rehappens, click the blank area and it will fade away.
8. Log Clearing Exception: Fixed an exception error during log file clearing under Settings → Storage details, ensuring the currently active log file is safely skipped and bypassed instead of throwing an error.
9. Wallpaper Thumbnail Retrieval: Fixed an issue affecting wallpaper thumbnail generation (Addressing #245).
10. Updater Version Detection: Fixed an issue where the updater failed to detect new WinPaletter versions correctly.
11. Icon Studio Exception Handling: Fixed an exception error thrown by Icon Studio when picking an invalid icon file.
12. Startup Font Exception: Fixed a startup crash caused by loading non-TrueType fonts early during application initialization.
13. Segoe UI Font Substitution: Fixed a bug where restoring font substitutions for Segoe UI failed to actually restore Segoe UI.
14. Missing Windows 10 JSON String: Fixed a missing "Windows 10" save string in JSON (*.wpth) theme files (Addressing #251).
15. System Restore Points: Implemented stability improvements and fixes for system restore point management (Addressing #242).