CorelDRAW X4 Neuters Dialog Boxes on Vista
As I've been finishing up my CorelDRAW X4 Unleashed book, I've done screen shots of some dialog boxes in both Windows XP and Windows Vista so users can see the difference. According to Microsoft, Vista is supposed to be an improvement. Corel's marketing tells us that CorelDRAW X4 has added features on Vista. To me, both of those claims are debatable. Does CorelDRAW X4 add some functionality on Vista? Yes it does. What isn't mentioned is that some functionality is also removed when running on Vista.
This is most evident to me in the Open and Save dialog boxes in CorelDRAW. When running on Windows XP, the Open dialog box tells us the version of the file, compression information and more. It also offers to show a preview of the file. The Vista version of the dialog box has none of that. Yes, you could see a preview if you change the file viewing area to thumbnails. The Save dialog box on Windows XP allows you to enter Notes and Keywords. Vista users will have to select File | Document Properties to enter that information before saving. To me, this change in functionality is a major downgrade.
Today I learned of a workaround that will give you the Windows XP versions of the dialog boxes when running on Windows Vista. It is possible this solution will cause other problems, so please proceed with caution. Some users have reported that some other user interface elements change when you run this way.
Go to the folder on your hard drive where CorelDRAW is installed. Find coreldraw.exe. Press Alt + Enter to bring up the Properties dialog box. Select the Compatibility tab. Place a check in the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down list. Repeat the process for corelpp.exe if you want to restore the PHOTO-PAINT dialogs. If you find that these changes are causing problems, you'll have to uncheck the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" checkbox and go back to the normal Vista versions of the dialog boxes. Hopefully you can run problem free and you can have the more useful dialog boxes.
This is most evident to me in the Open and Save dialog boxes in CorelDRAW. When running on Windows XP, the Open dialog box tells us the version of the file, compression information and more. It also offers to show a preview of the file. The Vista version of the dialog box has none of that. Yes, you could see a preview if you change the file viewing area to thumbnails. The Save dialog box on Windows XP allows you to enter Notes and Keywords. Vista users will have to select File | Document Properties to enter that information before saving. To me, this change in functionality is a major downgrade.
Today I learned of a workaround that will give you the Windows XP versions of the dialog boxes when running on Windows Vista. It is possible this solution will cause other problems, so please proceed with caution. Some users have reported that some other user interface elements change when you run this way.
Go to the folder on your hard drive where CorelDRAW is installed. Find coreldraw.exe. Press Alt + Enter to bring up the Properties dialog box. Select the Compatibility tab. Place a check in the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down list. Repeat the process for corelpp.exe if you want to restore the PHOTO-PAINT dialogs. If you find that these changes are causing problems, you'll have to uncheck the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" checkbox and go back to the normal Vista versions of the dialog boxes. Hopefully you can run problem free and you can have the more useful dialog boxes.Labels: box, compatilibility, coreldraw, dialog, vista
posted by Foster D. Coburn III at
10:41 AM
6 Comments
