If you’ve been paying attention to the release history of FileLocator Pro you may have spotted a new feature “Ability to switch to ‘Lite’ mode without installing separate product”, ie you can install FileLocator Pro but switch to FileLocator Lite functionality with just a few clicks.
It’s quite a major change and it’s going to affect the way we develop and distribute the Lite and Pro versions of the product. Rather than have a separate Lite product we’re going to be switching to a unified product that can switch Pro functionality on/off as required.
We’re doing this for several reasons, all of which should help us develop and better product.
Maintaining separate code branches for the Pro and Lite version is not an efficient way to develop the products. Over time the code diverges enough that it becomes harder and harder to apply patches from the Pro version to the Lite version. The loser in this patching battle is invariably the Lite version. Version 8 of FileLocator Pro has received nearly fifty enhancement updates since its release in 2016. The Lite version? Five.
Some recent examples of missing ‘Lite’ features that are now available:
- High DPI support
- Faster file list loading, especially with ‘sticky’ sort.
- Improved PDF searching
- Updated language files
- Dedicated portable installer
- Freely available MSI files for unattended installations
- and many small fixes
Agent Ransack
Of course, when we talk about FileLocator Lite we’re also talking about Agent Ransack. We’ll soon be releasing a new version of Agent Ransack that allows you to run it with ‘Pro’ features enabled. So rather than having to install FileLocator Pro for the enhanced features you’ll be able to access the ‘Pro’ features in Agent Ransack with just a click of a button. Or, if you don’t want the Pro features, it’ll be just as easy to simply switch back to free regular version of Agent Ransack.
Agent Ransack will therefore start receiving many more fixes and enhancements, which benefits everyone.
As always, if you have any opinions on this change please let us know at: support@mythicsoft.com