Appreciate it--progress continues, I've been working on a few backend things and UI improvements. Hopefully I'll have another testing build out soon(™).

I was wondering if you were going to release vysion 2 soon. If not I am interested in being a tester if possible

No, it will not be released soon. Yes, a new test build will be released soon(ish)--keep an eye on the Discord for more updates.

I would also like to be a tester if possible!

See above--join the Discord, there's a test build available there from a while ago, and when a new one is released, it will also be there.

Where do I download newest version of VYSION(yes I do not know)

On the official Discord server

0.1.44

Well you all have been asking for updates, so here's everything that I've done in the last year (!).

Dialogues
Not much support throughout the shell for these yet, but I've made a pretty easy way to create them when various events take place throughout the shell--here's one that pops up when the wallpaper isn't set, and allows the user to choose from the available ones.


New context menu
This is still very much a work in progress and will likely be changed a bit before the next release, but it's a bit better laid out now. The icons on the side indicate some actions (run, cut, copy, paste, delete, etc.), and there is information to the right about the file itself and its properties.


Redesigned windows
I didn't like the look of the windows before, so I went for more of a Windows 9x-inspired look. This applies to the settings menu, file explorer, and any further windows that I make.


Draggable scrollbars
Bit of a small thing, but it is a very nice usability improvement. You can also click the buttons to scroll, although I don't know why anyone would possibly want to do that.


Changelog
As you've (hopefully) already guessed, there was a lot more done than just what I showed above. Most of these major new features required very large architectural changes that took quite a lot of reworking of various things, so there are a lot of supporting updates that I made as well.
[added] ability to show/hide layers
[added] icon mirroring current file explorer selection
[added] text mirroring current file explorer selection
[added] floating panels (centered relative to screen)
[added] basic dialogue structure
[added] basic context menu
[added] translucency effects can be toggled
[added] preview of file when dragging and dropping
[added] current directory text for settings menu
[added] scroll bar buttons
[added] scroll bar caret can be dragged to scroll
[added] dialogue that appears when invalid wallpaper is set
[added] dialogues can have click actions now
[improved] restart now not required when changing from invalid/no wallpaper to a valid one
[improved] menu redraw behavior
[improved] layers can now be individually redrawn
[improved] window opening speed
[improved] dynamic panel layout element placement
[improved] window dragging reimplemented
[improved] OPTIX settings now stored better
[improved] spacing and positioning of window title bars
[improved] maximize button now works
[improved] dragging and dropping now shows the program that will be dropped
[improved] windows now open in the center of the screen
[improved] context menu can be dismissed by clicking outside of it
[improved] scroll bars now can mirror text elements
[improved] non-public facing improvements
[improved] file explorer menus can hide "No files..." message
[improved] dialogues and input dialogues now consolidated
[improved] window manager menu updating
[improved] file explorer menu design
[improved] "No files..." message now appears for root folders
[improved] invisible elements no longer considered in panel size/layout calculations
[fixed] potential incorrect button redrawing
[fixed] buttons could incorrectly render when background is to be preserved
[fixed] window resizing hitboxes too large
[fixed] incorrect right zone panel alignment
[fixed] pressing [mode] while cursor is not hovered over file menu crashes the shell
[fixed] incorrect configuration for file search boxes in desktop layouts
[fixed] default desktop layout menu mirroring icon does not update correctly
[fixed] [mode] does not properly dismiss context menu
[fixed] text sometimes does not properly scroll to last line
[fixed] clicking outside of context menu to dismiss it could cause unwanted click on background
[fixed] selecting a window by clicking it could cause unwanted click on window content
[fixed] incorrect window resizing when min size is encountered
[fixed] context menu options do not properly display
[fixed] cutting does not work from context menu, can result in crash

Conclusion
Thanks to everyone for all of your support! Remember to post feedback and suggestions in this thread or on the Discord server (WHICH ONCE AGAIN, IS WHERE THE TESTING WILL TAKE PLACE, SO JOIN IT IF YOU WANT ACCESS TO FUTURE TESTING BUILDS). Here's a screenshot comparing VYSION 1 and VYSION 2 to tide you all over for the next six months. Stay tuned for more updates!

That's a whole lot of changes, looks like pretty good work

Great work! I like the look of the transparency!

Well done, epsilon5! You've come a long way. Any news on the development of usage documentation for the Shell?

Thanks for the support, everyone!


I'm not sure what you mean by this. If you mean documentation on how to use the shell, yes, I've written some basic things for the testing READMEs. General documentation has not been done, because as the code is not publicly released, and will not be for the foreseeable future, I don't see much of a point in it at this time.

Stay tuned for more updates, as always. I'd like to do another testing phase fairly soon, just have a few things to polish up before that can start (and probably more than a few that I'm forgetting about or am overlooking).

0.2.0

I've started a new testing phase, which is available on my Discord server right now. Most of the work leading up to this testing release was a lot of behind-the-scenes changes and adding dialogues that explain things that the user is doing wrong. However, here are a few screenshots for you to look at. The first is a new lock screen design, and the second is a demonstration of immediate settings change updates for clock text.


A few other exciting features include optional smooth redrawing (courtesy of RoccoLox Programs and TIny_Hacker) and the reimplementation of file/folder creation.

I will be off Cemetech, my personal Discord server, and everything else starting tomorrow and continuing for several months. I will see you all in April--look forward to hearing what you all have to think about the project at that time. It's always a pleasure working on this project, and it wouldn't be possible without support from all of you here. Until next time!

Changelog
[added] file and folder creation dialogues
[added] optional smooth redrawing (using SPI tricks)
[added] optional graphical artifact limiting (draw everything to screen)
[improved] 24-hour clock now works
[improved] clock text immediately responds to settings changes
[improved] input box text clearing
[improved] lock screen layout
[improved] password input box now uses asterisks
[improved] various illegal filesystem actions now properly blocked
[improved] drag-and-drop behavior (less crashes)
[fixed] potential crash when dialogues are automatically opened on program return

Looks great! See you in April.

0.2.6

Little preview of an update to come...


I'll also be continuing development with a renewed focus on academic integrity and security, as the folks over at CEaShell have done.

Looks very interesting! I'm excited to see more in the future.

The moving background is especially intriguing...

0.2.9

Realize I never actually bothered to write up all of the changes I've made since 0.2.0, so here you all are. A lot has changed, especially as I found programming to be a fairly positive outlet during my absence here. Let's get started (note that these screenshots are from slightly different stages of development):

Enhanced wallpapers
Thought this would look pretty neat, especially in the box-based navigation mode. Wallpapers can now be animated (which works using color cycling behind the scenes, check out Mark Ferrari's work if you're interested in some really cool examples of this technique). Eventually, enhanced wallpapers will also be able to have alternate palettes, but that isn't implemented quite yet.


New desktop layout
Created a new desktop layout inspired by the PS3 main menu. This one is intended to be used in box-based navigation mode. Here's a screenshot of it being applied, along with a custom icon pack and one of the enhanced wallpapers (note that this is an older version of it, the newest one is in the screenshot above):


(Another) new lock screen design, improved start menu and context menu
Yep, they all look nicer now.


Task switcher
Works just like alt-tabbing--it'll let you use a shortcut to easily switch between your most recently accessed windows.


Conclusion
Besides these changes, there were a lot more quality-of-life changes, like fixing the flickering cursor, an improved wallpaper picker design, alternate keys, making TI-Basic icons actually work , and many behind-the-scenes changes to desktop layouts to make them more powerful for the future. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates coming soon™.

Changelog
[added] buttons now support alternate keys (again)
[added] partial menus (renders part of a menu in a different style)
[added] start of enhanced wallpapers
[added] ability to specify default selection in box-based mode for windows
[added] ability to specify default selection in box-based mode for desktop layouts
[added] palette cycling
[added] ability to store basic text/sprites within desktop layout appvars
[added] alpha jumping for file explorer menus
[added] task switcher
[improved] context menu positioning
[improved] scroll bar redraw behavior
[improved] up, down, left, right, scroll up, and scroll down now repeat when held
[improved] input box set to inactive when there is a click outside it
[improved] lock screen design
[improved] file explorer state is now saved when running a program
[improved] desktop layout elements can now reference any element regardless of relation
[improved] dynamic menus are now not selectable when they have no options
[improved] [y=] now opens super menu again in default desktop layout
[improved] drag-and-drop behavior (less crashes)
[improved] shell no longer crashes when icon pack is invalid
[improved] start menu design
[improved] wallpaper picker design
[improved] wallpaper switching goes to black between palettes
[improved] box-based cursor mode behavior
[improved] cursor redrawing (no longer flickers when still)
[improved] stop token hook set properly again
[improved] palette cycling is now framerate-independent
[improved] key debouncing is now framerate-independent
[fixed] task switcher redraw leaves graphical artifacts (last selection not properly set)
[fixed] wallpaper picker menu cannot be clicked
[fixed] wallpaper search box inactive text did not work properly in some instances
[fixed] stop token hook not cleared on program start
[fixed] temporary incorrect palette display when changing wallpapers
[fixed] TI-Basic icons do not properly display
[fixed] redrawing broken in box-based mode after restart
[fixed] window manager menu not properly prerendered on initialization
[fixed] sprite rendering causes crash when scale is 0
[fixed] context menu checkboxes display garbage data
[fixed] window visibility not saved on program run
[fixed] incorrect window transform when maximizing from title bar button

Dang.
This is shaping up very nicely!

This looks so cool. Can't wait to try it. Have you implemented [on] hooks yet? I can't remember.

Epsilon, make sure to upload the latest test build to Google Drive for me and everyone else who can't use Discord Thanks.