avast! menus color problem (some situations)... Alwil - take a look, please

General Topics
1

I know someone already mentioned this before, but I don’t know if anyone from Alwil actually have noticed this problem, and is there maybe some fix planned for future program updates ?

Ok, let’s start… I was just checking Longhorn Transformation Pack 9.0 (it turns your Windows GUI into Longhorn styled GUI)… however, that’s not so important, but I found few visual styles which changes complete color scheme in Windows GUI. The most important thing is, that those always well known white menus with black text (or any other dark color), in this case are inverted. Of course, that’s completely normal because author of those visual styles wanted to make them exactly the way they are.

But, we have a little problem with avast! menus… and I’m sorry to say, but it only happens with avast! (probably with some other applications as well, that are having the same problem, but I don’t have them installed on my system… there must be some other programs with same problem).

We all know that if we open MENU from avast! program, we’ll get that grey/white panel with black letters on it… see attached screenshoot:

http://img138.echo.cx/img138/8833/xp009ou.jpg

OK, and this is how those menus look like in other windows when some other visual style which inverts those colors is applied (inverted - now background is dark, and letters are white):

http://img198.echo.cx/img198/2963/m5019ap.jpg

Again, it’s completely normal and it’s by design… it’s how it suppose to be… so one would think, same thing should happen with avast! menus, but…

OK, now take a look at this screenshot… this is what happens with avast! menus when some other visual style which inverts those colors in Windows is applied, like for example, in this case, one of those Longhorn visual styles. Color of the text is changed into white, just as it should be with new visual style, but menu background color is not changed into some dark color. See here:

http://img162.echo.cx/img162/2969/m5026xf.jpg

I’m gonna say, that same thing happens no matter which skin we use. It has nothing to do with skins. It happens even when you use skinless interface, so it must be hardcoded into avast! code somewhere.

I’m drawing Alwil’s attention to this problem, because many people like to use those “darker” visual styles for Windows, and all of them will have exactly the same problems… they will not be able to read what’s inside those avast! menus.

What I think (as we all can see from these screenshots) is, that avast! actually “accepts” those color changes, but unfortunately, just for the text part. Background still stays grey/white colored, and it also should change into black (follow the actual current Windows visual style)… or even better, and IMHO much better solution… can you guys (Alwil) make it somehow, so avast! won’t change the color of the text ? And, no matter which visual style (VS) is set as current Windows VS, avast! menus would always be grey/white background with black text.

Any thought on this one? Because, this should be fixed ASAP… it’s not acceptable this way, just because, if nothing else, soon Windows GUI will change into Longhorn styled GUI, most likely with few different variations of default Visual Style, and among them eventually, there will be some VS with dark background and white text inside those dropdown menus. IMHO, it’s better to fix that issue right now, if possible, then to wait last minute…

Thanks in advance !
Sasha

2

avast! must be conforming with the windows desktop settings because my menus aren’t white as I have changed the active window background colour from the default white. So as you say there must be something hard coded to take the windows default settings.

Guess which skin I’m using ;D

3

Could that also be related to my problem with the enitial blank about screen?
This by the way still hasen’t been solved it just seems to have been forgotten.

4

Yes David, you’re 100% right. avast! menu background color is really changing when you change your settings inside DISPLAY PROPERTIES / APPEARANCE / ADVANCED, value for the WINDOWS item (by default it’s set as white, but here you can see I changed it to bright green just for example):

http://img211.echo.cx/img211/4448/untitled28tz.jpg

And this is how avast! menu looks like after that:

http://img78.echo.cx/img78/8995/untitled12gm.jpg

So, I think I know exactly where the problem is… it means, avast! actually by mistake accepts those changes for WINDOW item value (inside window background color), and performs those changes for the avast! MENU item value (inside menu background color) to the same color… and it shouldn’t be like that. MENU background color is completely different and separate item than WINDOW background color. See attached screenshot:

http://img166.echo.cx/img166/3041/untitled33iv.jpg

That’s the valid value that should change the color of the avast! menu, and not the background of the Window item. These are menus, not windows we are talking about…

Alwil, can you doublecheck that please ? I’m sure this is the case. Somewhere deep down in the avast! code, it “says” that avast! should change background color of the menu when in Windows, value for the WINDOW background color item is changed. On the other hand, for the text part, it’s “reading” proper value from the MENU item. That’s not how it suppose to be. Those two actions are causing this behaviour, I’m 100% sure.

So, look at that this way… Some new Windows visual style that uses black color for the menu background value, and white color for the text part inside menus, is applied. In the same time, nothing is changed regarding Window background color, so it remains same - WHITE. What we get ? avast! is reading WHITE value for the background of the WINDOW background item because it’s not changed (and it shouldn’t), and it reads also WHITE value for the MENU text item (that’s how it suppose to be, two completely different values)… so, we get white menu background with white text on it… not good at all.

Conclusion: for it’s menus, avast! must read values for both, the text and for the background color value, from the MENU item inside DISPLAY PROPERTIES / APPEARANCE / ADVANCED, and NOT from the WINDOW item inside DISPLAY PROPERTIES / APPEARANCE / ADVANCED

This sounds complicated, but it’s not… it should be piece of cake to change it in next program update…

@ Bob - Bob, I’m not 100% sure, this issue is directly related to your problem with that window (what we can see from your screenshot), just because it doesn’t look like color of the text is the same as the color of the background… actually, there is no background on that window on your screenshot… it looks like you’re missing whole inside part of the window. Idon’t know, maybe Alwil guys could say something more on this one… but I’m sure if Igor sees this thread, he will give his opinion. For now, I’m sure avast! is not reading those values properly. If I change background value for the Window background in Windows properties to green, I don’t want my avast! MENUS to change to green. I never said I want MENU part to be green, just Window background part…

5

Based on past experience, I’m not sure about it. The menu is handled by a third-party code which is, in my opinion, quite hard to dig in. For example, the small “mouse” gap between two subsequent menu levels was reported by a few people… I know it’s there, I know an approximate “place” where it’s created (there’s probably a reason for it), but was unable to fix it.

6

Igor, first of all, THANKS for the prompt respond, you’re really amazing guy ! :wink:

Second… I want to apologize because “my mouth were faster than my brain” remark I posted in my previous post (…it should be piece of cake to change it in next program update…). I know nothing is piece of cake when it comes to programming and/or changing some parts of the code, especially if it’s some third-party code that you are maybe not quite familiar with.

And regarding this one:

...This sounds complicated, but it's not...

I meant on my explanation of the problem… I wrote so much things up there, so when I looked at it at the end of my typing, it looked complicated even to me, and I was giving that explanation… ;D And I really gave my best to substantiate everything with pictures and screenshots… I didn’t mean that it’s not complicated to “dig” into code… I know, it’s pain in the rear end, but someone has to do it… :-\

With all due respect to other people that reported that Little “mouse pointer” gap in between two subsequent menu levels, in my humble opinion, I don’t think that’s some “rush” issue right now… sure, I agree, it could be very annoying at the times, but it doesn’t prevent you from normal using of the avast! antivirus. On the other side, this “menu-color-issue” thing can inhibit you from normal using of the program in some situations… if people are 100% unable to see what’s inside those menus, because color of the menu is WHITE, and the color of the text inside menu is WHITE, than we have a real problem…

Don’t get me wrong Igor, I never wanted to criticize avast! or their respective programmers, I just want to draw your attention to where the real problem is, just with one goal… to improve this wonderful product if possible. I don’t know much about programming, but when it comes to some cosmetic issues, if I can, I like to help…

I think you already know that there is no bigger fanatic when it comes to avast! than me… ;D ;D ;D I live avast!, I breathe avast! ;D

Cheers !

7

Yes it does look like it is using the incorrect windows desktop value, windows background colour, rather than the Menu colour (which in mine is also white), yet in avast it takes the windows background colour.

Yet other programs (OE in this example) use the correct Menu colour, white. In this image you can see the active window background is blue but the menu colour is as expected, white.

8

Exactly David, exactly… that was my point too, but you know how to explain it much better than me with simple words… And when you posted your first screenshot in this thread, you made me start to think why is this happening. You helped a lot, thank you my friend !

Now, we all have to wait and hope that our Igor and other guys can do something regarding that. I’m sure they will fond some solution at the end. They are fighters, and I know they will not give up just like that…

Cheers !