firace wrote:
Yes this is the correct file: SWV_Demo1_native_x86.zip
Check if the size of the ZIP file is 90344 bytes. If not, please clear your browser cache and try to download it again.
I've downloaded it again using a different browser and now it works — you were right, I was getting a cached version, and the size of the archive differed.
I wonder why so many PB pre-compiled binaries stopped working all of a sudden under Win10. I had to recompile some of my applications that had been working for ages, and all of a sudden started crashing without error, after hanging for a short while. This problem seems to affect binaries compiled with various PB versions.
firace wrote:
Yes, the DLL is written is PB (about 1300 lines of code currently), with a healthy dose of Windows API.
This is good news, having access to the code would empower users/customers to feel safe on the long run regarding using this library for their projects.
Personally, I don't feel that by giving the sources to your customers you'd be exposing yourself to losses due to piracy. To begin with, we are a rather tight and affectionate community, so I would count on loyalty in this respect. As for the "bad apples" (wherever they come from) who would pirate your library, they probably are not missed customers anyways, for they wouldn't buy the library if they didn't find it for free.
In general, I think that software protection is a lost battle that ultimately only harms legitimate customers — crackers always find their ways to get their free ride, and strong software protection tend to create a lot of problems for legit customers (from interferences with antiviruses, to the inabilily to continue using a product after its life-end, due to impossibility to register it).
Buying a software product is not only about getting hold of it, it's also about having real time access to updates, getting support for bug fixes and features request. The whole idea is to entrust a third party product to unburden oneself of some maintainance work, in order to spend more time working on one's code/product. Hence the need (and willingness) to pay for tools and libraries that make our developers life easier.
As a final thought, leaving aside all the pros and cons of the WebGadget (and Trident) compared to other browser engines/controls, I would still think that having a PB library that simplifies creating and managing GUIs with the WebGadget would be of great help in many projects, and I'd probably buy it (even if solutions based on WebView2, etc, were available). Sometimes the WebGadget is more than enough for many projects, with all the limitations of Trident; furthermore, if one has already created many assets designed to target IE7/11, it might not be worth the effort of having to port them to Chromium, not if they serve their purpose well enough.
Of course, HTML5 and CSS3 opened to doors to huge improvements and possibilities, but this doesn't mean that all the CHM Help files (HTML for IE7) should be trashed immediately. A book is a book, and if its contents are good then the book is fine (regardless of whether it could be better presented).