John’s Background Switcher 4.4 Released!
May 15th, 2011 @ 1:55 pm | Filed under My Own Software
It’s been far too long since I last released a new version of John’s Background Switcher and that’s mostly been as a result of my having precious little free time to work on it. I guess the problem with developing freeware is that working on things that pay the bills (i.e. my normal job) will always be the higher priority. Anyway, my New Year Resolution this year was to dedicate more time to JBS and to build a Mac version so to start making good on that promise 4.4 is now live.
What started out as a bug fix release turned out to include a few new much-requested features and several more languages. Firstly, if you’re running on Windows 7 you can now opt to override the logon screen with your current background (have a look in ‘More Settings’):
You can now customise the fonts on postcards, polaroids, the calendar and anywhere else JBS uses fonts. Since you might want to use different fonts in different places you’ll see font buttons in all the right places in ‘More Settings’. While you’re there take a look at the ‘Montages’ section and the drop-down list highlighted below:
Also you can opt to have the postcards / polaroids placed at random angles (the default) or all straight (although still at random positions). It’s strangely refreshing to have them straight after all the years of them being at different angles!
Since you could choose a random picture mode I thought it would be handy to choose random processing effects, random snapshot scrapbook backgrounds and so on. Look out for the rolling dice – you’ll find it in most places:
In terms of languages JBS is now available in Russian, Finnish and Hungarian in addition to Japanese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese-Brazilian, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Polish and Slovenian. Oh and English!
There are a host of bug fixes and other tweaks and changes so check out the full release notes for details. And then go and download John’s Background Switcher!
60 Comments on “John’s Background Switcher 4.4 Released!”
May 18th, 2011 at 11:09 |
What a fantastic program you’ve made John.
I use it at home and, thanks to the image “safe” mode features, at work too. Just want to let you know I’m delighted by this cool tool!
Cheers,
Jason
May 18th, 2011 at 11:49 |
Cool! You’re most welcome!
May 18th, 2011 at 12:07 |
Hi John,
I also want to add my thanks to you providing this delightfully small but useful tool.
I have a few folders where I’ve collected my favourite wallpapers from all over the place – including from all of the past versions of Windows. It’s great to be able to just have them pop into view every now and then.
And your tantalising line about making a Mac version? I can’t wait!!!
Cheers,
Steven
May 18th, 2011 at 15:41 |
Yeah, I’ve delayed the Mac version for way too long already! I’m even taking a couple of weeks holiday just to work on it (I’ll pick a couple of weeks when it rains – so Summer time in Yorkshire I expect)!
May 18th, 2011 at 15:11 |
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, I recommend this great background tool, to everyone. To me it is more than just a way to make my desktop interesting, I travel all the time for my job and it is how I stay connected with family and friends being able to see all of the pictures makes travel not so lonely.
May 18th, 2011 at 15:30 |
Thanks Doug, you’re most welcome!
And glad to hear JBS helps make the travelling life a bit better!
May 18th, 2011 at 16:23 |
Thank you so much for coding this.
It’s never crashed on me, doesn’t cause any kind of grief, and does exactly what it says on the tin – and does that superbly. My computer would be a much more boring place without it. (Maybe you could put a ‘Made in Yorkshire’ sticker on it as some kind of sign of quality
)
May 18th, 2011 at 23:01 |
Hahaha, ‘Made in Yorkshire’, I like it!
May 18th, 2011 at 20:44 |
Thanks, John, for a great tool! My husband has set up our parents’ computers with the software so they can see all the photos we take of our new baby! It is a really useful, and beautifully designed tool.
May 18th, 2011 at 23:00 |
Thanks Katy, you’re most welcome! And glad to hear JBS is being put to such good use!
May 19th, 2011 at 00:27 |
still one of the most useful tools on my system, in regards to wallpapers, I would strain myself to find a feature that’s not already implemented.
And thank you again for not sucking up my CPU time, my wallpaper folder has about 750.000 Files and JBS handles them very fast.
May 20th, 2011 at 09:37 |
You’re welcome! Glad to hear it’s not slowing your system down with that many pictures – I put quite a bit of work into making sure that even with a large number of pictures to choose from it would keep its impact to a minimum.
May 20th, 2011 at 02:19 |
Great Program John,
May I request though that you allow it so we can bulk select certain picture modes & effects, like I want postcard & Polaroid but not that thumbnail one or greyscale & sepia but not soften colors. (Currently the closest to that is Random Mode but that randomizes all picture modes & effects).
Simple like CTRL + Click modes & effects you want or even just a tick box alongside the modes & effects (not pick one & one only, I hope I make sense).
Besides that this is a great program & is only getting better with updates, keep up the great work!
May 20th, 2011 at 09:35 |
You can exclude the thumbnail mosaic from the random modes (‘Picture Sources’ on ‘More Settings’) however you’re right, it would be better to be able to choose which modes and effects you want available and that’s already on my to-do list for the next major version of JBS. So I’ll get it in there eventually! And thanks!
May 22nd, 2011 at 08:23 |
Bonjour,
Merci pour l’ensemble de votre site. Cela est merveilleux que des images ou photos choisies défilent avec la surprise, laquelle? Vous nous apportez beaucoup de bonheur par la variété possible et infinie des images. Je vais cocher : Avertissez-moi des commentaires suivi par e-mail, mais est-ce suffisant pour recevoir toutes les informations que vous diffusez? A quel endroit faut-il aller ? Y a-t-il une liste de lettres diffusées et peut-on cocher la langue de diffusion. Actuellement j’utilise la traduction de Google. Merci encore pour le bonheur que vous nous offrez, beaucoup de chance et de bonheur pour vous et longue vie, car vous aidez l’être humain.
Mes sincères amitiés Bernard
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:23 |
Thanks for this awesome program, John! The fact that it knows which of my monitors is portrait and which is landscape and applies backgrounds accordingly is the greatest thing ever.
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:54 |
You’re welcome Phill!
May 24th, 2011 at 04:19 |
John,
You’ve done it again. Awesome work. I can’t wait for the MAC version as well. My wife has a Pro and is jealous of my desktop at home with this on it. Great job as usual.
My only suggestion would be for more “wood panel” and “corkboard” type backgrounds. Those are the best. If there were a few more like it, such as a glass table or something, it would be fun to alternate between them.
Thanks again!
-Nate
May 24th, 2011 at 09:50 |
Hi John!
Greeting from Vietnam and thank a lot for your fantastic program. I have tried a lot of similar programs but your is really, really awesome! Most appealing for me is the ability to google around for new wallpapers so over the time, I could collect many beautiful wallpapers and at the same time let me surprise by new ones.
I wish you have plenty of sunshine in Yorkshire as we have here.
May 26th, 2011 at 00:44 |
Great tool John. Cheers and much thanks for providing this.
A satisfied JBS user!
Derrick
May 26th, 2011 at 15:23 |
Thanks so much from a new mommy that can’t stand to be away from her son!!! I have so many pictures on here I get to see him doing something new every few minutes! Truly makes being at work a little more managable. Thank goodness for it being such safe hardware…I work for an aerospace company and we made it through all the firewalls! Thanks again!!!
May 26th, 2011 at 22:45 |
Awww, glad to be of help!
May 27th, 2011 at 13:43 |
your programi is the best for me, grazie amico mio.
May 27th, 2011 at 15:03 |
John,
Your background switcher goes on every computer I own, every computer I setup for friends and I have many co-workers running it at the office.
IT’S FANTASTIC.
Thank you so much for providing this application. I started using it many years ago and it’s always great to see that you are still supporting it.
May 27th, 2011 at 16:25 |
You’re most welcome Damian! And glad you’ve stuck with JBS all these years!
May 28th, 2011 at 16:47 |
John,
I love your program. I have lots of photos on my computer – some are digitized from slides my Dad took back in the 50′s. I LOVE it when my desktop’s postcard pile includes shots of my Mom, me as a kid (I’m now 62), my daughter as a child (she’s 37) and her son, my grandson (who is 4). Thank you for creating a way for me to enjoy the past like this!
May 28th, 2011 at 19:07 |
Hi Linda, glad to be of service! And you’re most welcome!
May 29th, 2011 at 21:35 |
Great program! I recommend this program to everyone I know. I am looking forward to the MAC version.
June 3rd, 2011 at 15:02 |
John, an excellent update, loving the logon-changer.
If your looking for attention from the Windows enthusiast community, have you considered a post on Neowin.net’s Backpage News? (Apologies if you have!).
I am _more_ than happy to drop some kudos there for you if that’s OK?
Cheers!
June 3rd, 2011 at 15:04 |
Cool, glad you like it!
Sure, that would be much appreciated!
June 3rd, 2011 at 15:50
No bother!
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1002238-johns-backgroup-switcher
June 3rd, 2011 at 15:51
Awesome, thanks!
June 3rd, 2011 at 22:14 |
Thanks for this Great software!
so far is the Best of The Best wallpaper changer world wide!!!
June 6th, 2011 at 10:31 |
Hi John,
many thanks for this wonderful piece of software. Is there a way to disable the “admin rights” which Version 4.4. needs? Version 4.3 worked for me due to the lack of admin rights which are necessary to install 4.4.
Can’t upgrade now
June 6th, 2011 at 10:33 |
Are you on XP? In which case you can run the installer as non-admin – just pick your current user from the selector dialog. Check that the installer you have is version 4.4.0 17 or above and you’ll be fine (if you have an earlier version of 4.4 then re-download it from the usual place).
If you’re on Vista or Windows 7 that’s always required admin access so I’m assuming you’re not.
June 6th, 2011 at 10:56
I’m on Windows 7 Enterprise Edition (use it on my work). 4.3 can be installed without admin rights, 4.4 needs it to install. Guess I’m stuck @ 4.3 then
June 6th, 2011 at 11:02
Are you sure? 4.3 should definitely have asked to elevate you to an admin and if it didn’t that was a bug! Things like the Win7 logon screen functionality needs to be able to set some permissions which can only be done as an admin.
Anyway, have a look at this post on my forum to get JBS without the installer – but note that somethings, like the Win7 logon changer, won’t work without running the installer.
June 6th, 2011 at 11:31 |
Thanks for your help! And I’m 100% sure that I’m running 4.3 and wasn’t prompted to enter the credentials which belongs to the admin.
June 7th, 2011 at 13:46 |
Thanks a lot John, I hope some big software company buys it off a few million $ and makes you the product manager with a fat paycheck
Really makes my desktop exciting.. Cheers!
June 7th, 2011 at 13:48 |
Hahaha, thanks Rajeev! That’s somewhat unlikely unfortunately but I can dream!
June 8th, 2011 at 16:50 |
Just hit the donate button. Have a couple of coffees on me. Excellent piece of software.
Well done.
David Smith
June 8th, 2011 at 16:53 |
Thanks! Very much appreciated and I will do!
June 13th, 2011 at 21:09 |
a Mac version?
June 13th, 2011 at 21:14 |
See above!
June 14th, 2011 at 16:34 |
merci, gracias, thank you. I smile everytime I see my fresh desktop and thank John for his free gadget with all these wonderful features. What a marvel it is!
June 20th, 2011 at 01:34 |
Yes awesome software John – great for spanning single background over multiple widescreen monitors. I have it pulling backgrounds from a Flickr HD Panoramas group at work. Gets lots of comments from passers-by.
One suggestion might be to allow adjustable image scaling per display device. I previoulsy tried two monitors – one horizontal and one vertical – was fine but couldn’t line the displays up – If I line up top to the top, the background would be out of alignment at the bottom – If I set the bottom to the bottom, the background would be out of alignment at the top. I worked out is likely the horizontal DPI on one monitor differing from the vertical DPI on the other monitor?
-KENT
June 28th, 2011 at 08:30 |
this is a very cool tool! =) wonderful work!
June 28th, 2011 at 23:48 |
This is the best background switcher, bar none. I have one suggestion though — how about adding support for dreamscenes, or the ability to load *.wmv files as wallpapers?
June 29th, 2011 at 11:23 |
Unfortunately there’s no way to do either of those things so far as I can tell. Dreamscene doesn’t have a programmatic way I can say ‘use this movie for the desktop’ which means I can’t set a movie as your desktop from JBS. If I ever figure out a way I’ll definitely implement it.
July 6th, 2011 at 20:42 |
One of the best programs installed on my computer. Thanks so much for it!
July 10th, 2011 at 17:44 |
Hey John, thanks for a great piece of software! I stumbled upon your program after I used the Automatic Wallpaper changer, the trial period of which expired. Thanks again.
July 10th, 2011 at 17:45 |
You’re most welcome!
July 26th, 2011 at 06:08 |
Hi John. I spent a lot of time trying to find a background switcher and finally discovered THE background switcher -yours!! It’s excellent. Thanks for making it available to all of us. I’m sure I speak on behalf of all users when I say that we really appreciate it and your generousity in making it available for free!
). My wife and I now get to see our collection randomly and often. My workstation has two monitors so I have the added bonus of working and viewing. Many thanks again.
My problem was the several thousand images I had languishing in the My Pictures folder which once taken, seldom saw the light of day again. JBS has solved all that
God bless. Les
August 13th, 2011 at 08:06 |
Hi John. After seeking around for some wallpaper switcher, i definitively stay with your tool. It’s light, nicely design with LOT of feature and FREE !
Without it the tons of wallpaper store on my HD would be really unseful. Thanks for the travel through my wallpaper
August 22nd, 2011 at 08:11 |
Amazing piece of software, i use it constantly for months ! Thanx !
October 13th, 2011 at 22:19 |
Hi,
I really like your app and was an addicted user when I had a PC. (Un)fortunately, I recently switched to a Macbook Air, and I’m really missing my personalized wallpaper… Have you had that summer vacation and Yorkshire you mentioned? Was it rainy enough for you to work on a Mac version of the app?
Frankly, I hope you had a better holiday than that, but I’d be happy if that Mac version was to be released soon…
Keep up the good work,
Arthur
October 15th, 2011 at 19:14 |
Well I’ve used a Mac at home for a few years now and have recently switched to one at work too so there are no more excuses! I did spend some time doing some work on a Mac version during my holiday and I’ll be spending a good portion of those long Winter nights building a version to release. So stay tuned!
And thanks!
December 27th, 2011 at 21:19 |
Wish I had read your wonderful “letters” before I asked the question I asked you a quarter of an hour or so ago on your “why I am removing John’s Background Switcher.” Now I know.
Best to you,
– Joe mcElwee
December 29th, 2011 at 01:09 |
Ah cool, glad you checked it out and should explain what JBS offers over and above the built-in Windows 7 functionality!
January 4th, 2012 at 15:04 |
Hi John,
I’m using your backround switcher for several month and I found it still as enjoyable as after the first installation. I use it at work and at home. On the HTPC ist is used as a means to display the latest family photos on TV. A very, very nice and fine program! Thank you far that!
Er…
, I hope it is not too rude to ask maybe for another _small_ enhancement? I use JBS with the snapshot collection feature, together with a grayscaled random backdrop for the pile. The backdrop however is often chosen from too low resolution, which leaves the resized, greyscaled pictures with nasty artefacts on screen. Can you find it in your heart to bring as witch like ‘use only close to or exactly desktop sized images as greyscale backdrops’ 
Regardless, even without it, it is a very fine program. Again let me thank you for that.
- Dietmar