Uses a lot less memory.
Two ways to get it
Installer: Aero.Dock_1.2.1_x64-setup.exe. Per user, no admin rights.
Portable: Aero.Dock_1.2.1_x64-portable.zip. Unpack it anywhere and run Aero Dock.exe.
Windows will show a SmartScreen box either way, because the build is not code signed. Click More info, then Run anyway.
The numbers
Measured on the same machine, before and after:
| 1.2.0 | 1.2.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| While you use it | about 240 MB | about 180 MB |
| Left alone for a minute | about 240 MB | about 140 MB |
What changed
Almost none of the old cost was the dock's own code. The Rust side is about 10 MB and the page's script about 7 MB. The biggest single piece was the WebView2 GPU process, and most of what it held was cache.
The dock now renders in software. That halved the GPU process. The transparent window, the glass, and the ripples, launch bursts and ambient scenes all still work, and CPU use while animating measured the same either way.
It drops its caches when idle. After 45 seconds with no interaction the dock asks WebView2 to give memory back, and goes back to normal the moment the cursor returns. A WebView2 runtime too old for this just keeps its caches, the way it always did.
Nothing else about the dock changes. Settings, pins and modes carry across untouched.
Full changelog: v1.2.0...v1.2.1