■ xplorer² v4.3 released, codename Total Eclipse

Welcome to the dark side. Use Tools > Advanced options menu command and turn on the fashionable dark mode (see the Global property page or use the search box lower left). It may be good for your eyes, or it may be just another fad, but you've asked for it and we delivered!

Microsoft didn't make it easy for old school desktop programs like xplorer² to change window colors, so you will discover a number glitches, remnants of the default white-ish system colors here and there (e.g. sorry about the main menu bar). In general things look best for windows 10.

You can tell which pane is active by its slightly brighter dark background. Inactive panes are pitch black. If you need more distinct identification of inactive panes, select a background color from Tools > Options menu, but that is liable to upset the darkness. Alternatively tick the advanced option "Highlight active pane's titlebar as in 2xExplorer".

To make your windows 10 active window titlebar blue (which is better than white) use this tip (accent color setting)

Other additions of note include: (see the changelog for the full list)

Rename with regular expressions. When you set the mass rename dialog into a "search and replace" mode, you can tick the RE box and use regular expressions instead of plain text or xplorer² $-tokens. Using grouping and backreferences it is possible to rearrange parts of the filename. For example:

match replace
(.*)_(.*) $2-$1
new_file.txt file-new.txt

The regular expression matches any 2 groups of characters separated by un underscore _, and the brackets define 2 groups. Inverting the backreferences $2-$1 effectively swaps the order of the words in the filename. See the colors in the above table to help you understand what matches with what. Parts of the filename that weren't matched, e.g. the extension, remain the same. For more information on the regular expression syntax see the documentation and watch the demo video below
Automatic picture rotation. The Draft quick previewer tab reads the JPG picture orientation EXIF tags (if any) to present your photos in the upright direction, even when you zoom in. The same technique allows the duplicate picture detector to find rotated versions of the same picture.

match	replace
`(.)_(.)`	`$2-$1`
`new_file.txt`	`file-new.txt`

Upgrade information

Version 4.3 is a free upgrade for most people that already own v4.x licenses. A small exception is people who got a v4.0 key as a free upgrade using the "free upgrades for a year" policy. So if your unlock key is dated before 1 February 2018 (check your About dialog), then you'd need a new key, but you may be able to get one with a discount. On the other hand if you've already bought a v4.x key or you own the free lifetime upgrades cover, you don't have to pay again.

Please use Help > Check for updates menu command or the equivalent from ribbon's File leftmost tab to get the new version. If you don't have xplorer² installed try the download page for your free trial.