Author Topic: Tray Management Utilities Mini-Review (Read 105522 times)

Josh · « **on:** February 04, 2006, 11:04 PM »

This mini-review will cover two of the better tray management utilities available for the microsoft windows platform. The two reviewed are XDesk's SysTrayX and PS Soft Lab's PS Tray Factory.

What is a tray management utility?

These program's are designed to alleviate some space in your system tray by replacing many of your less commonly used or accessed icons with a single icon (or none at all). They give your more real estate in your taskbar and can add another very useful function that allows you to minimize any running app to the system tray.

Why use a tray manager?

As stated above, a tray manager can give you more of the much needed real estate in your system's taskbar

The two major fore-runners of this market?

XDesk's SysTrayX ( www.xdesksoftware.com ) and PS Soft Lab's PS Tray Factory ( http://www.pssoftlab.com/ ).

The Reviews:

SysTrayX

The Good

SysTrayX is a well designed application overall. The interface is very simple and easy to use and the options are many. The program has several different ways of detecting when an application is added to the system tray (On Create, On Notify, etc) and does a decent job of finding applications The minimize to tray functionality is nice and easy to use; assigned via a hotkey in the programs options menu.

The bad

SysTrayX's interface is easy to use, but it lacks some polish. The program sometimes misses certain applications being added to the tray (such as WinWall, the windows wallpaper manager). The program's development appears to have halted,

The Cost

$25.52 US

The upgrade policy

Subscription based. You must pay every year in order to get any upgrades to the product. This costs roughly $19.90 per year.

The support

Initially, this author contacted SysTrayX's support asking for help on the minimize to tray feature and recommending a new feature. The reply was received in about 2 days and solved the problem which I encountered. Subsequent emails however, went unanswered after 3 weeks of waiting. The author was very courteous during his replies about the minimize to tray problem, but didn't make a mention of the feature request. The program also seems to have died off in terms of new versions, with its latest version being released in July 2005.

PS Soft Lab's PS Tray Factory

The Good

This application has the best interface in the industry. The easy to use check boxes in the programs main options window allow the user to select which applications should be hidden from the tray under the programs replacement tray icon. The hotkey option allows you to assign different WIN + hotkey's to perform various actions on the tray icon such as clicking, double clicking and right clicking, a very useful function indeed.

The Bad

The application requires the use of the windows key for hotkey configuration, instead of letting the user select from the CTRL + ALT combinations. Not a very major problem, but the option to use the windows logo key should be just that, optional.

The Cost

$24.95 US

The upgrade policy

Pay Once, upgrades for life of product.

The support

This author has contacted the author on numerous occasions and found a reply waiting in his inbox normally within a 24 hour period. The author was very courteous in his replies and also made me feel as if my suggestions for the program were welcome. The development is still active with its latest release coming in January of this year.

What both are missing

Both programs have some features and functionality that this author believes should be included, such as the ability to change the tray icon that is used to replace the other icons in the tray. Another function is the ability to add an option to the right click context menu of the taskbar entry that allows you to select whether or not the application should minimize to tray every time the application's minimize control button is pushed (similar to that of AllToTray).

Summary and Author's Pick

This author, after reviewing both programs, found one major difference between the two programs. After installing and using SysTrayX, I found myself trying to figure out ways to get certain apps to stay in the tray with the appropriate settings being made in the applications options panel, and still have yet to figure out how to do this. The only things I think that needs to be addressed with SysTrayX are A. Its ability to catch ALL applications in the tray, and B. A new UI design. With PS Tray Factory, however, I installed it one morning, and purchased it that same night. The winner here, according to this author, is PS Tray Factory. With its lifetime free upgrades, no sub's here, and its great technical support, PS Tray factory is a clear winner in this category.

Sentinel · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2006, 06:15 AM »

Great review Josh! You are however incorrect on the PS Tray Factory upgrade policy: -

"7. If I already have a registered copy of PS Tray Factory will I be required to pay for a upgrade?
By purchasing PS Tray Factory you are entitled to receive free upgrades by download from our website for one year from the date of purchase. After that you can receive upgrades with a significant discount."

So unless the author has changed his policy and not updated the site, it has the same sort of rip off upgrade scheme as SysTrayX. The only difference for PS Tray Factory is the upgrade cost isn't stated anywhere. Hopefully it will be much cheaper than SysTrayX to upgrade but I doubt it as the two are in such close competition in every area.

Josh · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2006, 10:52 AM »

I have emailed the author and confirmed the upgrade policy for PS Tray Factory, hence my reason for purchasing it. He stated

Hello Joshua,

All upgrades for ANY future versions are free of charge.
We have planned usage of paid upgrades some time ago, but at the
present time such upgrades are free. It is possible that this policy
will be changed in the future, but in any case, all upgrades will be
free for previously registered users.

Hope this helps

Sentinel · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2006, 01:48 PM »

That's great news. I've been a registered user of SysTrayX for a while but am strongly considering converting to PS Tray Factory as soon as there is a DonationCoder discount or my SystrayX upgrade expires ($19 for yearly maintenance is just ridiculous). Frankly the upgrade policy is the one thing that would make or break my purchase of PS Tray Factory.

I'd like to add some of my insights to your review, if I may: -

1. Default Icon. I too would like to change the default tray icon for both programs. That being said, PS Tray Factory has a fairly attractive and up to date icon whilst SysTrayX looks like something from the Win 3.1 days. If you have a fully skinned up version of Windows SysTrayX looks dated and out of place. It is good to see that PS Tray Factory now allows the changing of other icons in the system tray though.

2. Default position for program icon. By Default PS Tray Factory places itself at the far-right of any system tray icons which I would consider ideal behaviour. SysTrayX has a habit of placing itself to the left of any new sys tray icons it encounters until you set 'Special Position' for that icon which can look messy.

3. As I remember SysTrayX has slightly better handling when it comes to settings which icons are displayed in the tray, in its menu, or both. I could be wrong, but at present you cannot set PS Tray Factory to display an icon only in the tray (I haven't tested it in some time).

4. Registered updates. I like the fact that PS Tray Factory can be downloaded and made registered with your existing key. The upgrade to SystrayX is somewhat laborious with the shareware version being released several weeks before the registered version is mailed to registered users (yes, email updates only!). Surely any software author should consider their paid customers as paramount, especially if you are expecting future revenues from upgrade maintenance.

5. I've found the SysTrayX support lacking with emails going unanswered from the author. Never used PS Tray Factory support so cannot comment.

6. I have so many programs configured already I'd like to see some form of migration utility included in both tools to allow me to change to the competing product, should I decide to change.

I'll add to this post if I think of anything else.

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2006, 02:04 PM »

also see this related thread: https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=997.0

BREAKING NEWS:
Author of PS Tray Factory has decided to make a 50% discount available to all donationcoder.com members throughout february. now that's a bargain: https://www.donation...index.php?topic=2339

Sentinel · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2006, 02:08 PM »

Very good point! Thanks mouser.

Josh · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2006, 03:03 PM »

That's great news. I've been a registered user of SysTrayX for a while but am strongly considering converting to PS Tray Factory as soon as there is a DonationCoder discount or my SystrayX upgrade expires ($19 for yearly maintenance is just ridiculous). Frankly the upgrade policy is the one thing that would make or break my purchase of PS Tray Factory.

I'd like to add some of my insights to your review, if I may: -

1. Default Icon. I too would like to change the default tray icon for both programs. That being said, PS Tray Factory has a fairly attractive and up to date icon whilst SysTrayX looks like something from the Win 3.1 days. If you have a fully skinned up version of Windows SysTrayX looks dated and out of place. It is good to see that PS Tray Factory now allows the changing of other icons in the system tray though.

2. Default position for program icon. By Default PS Tray Factory places itself at the far-right of any system tray icons which I would consider ideal behaviour. SysTrayX has a habit of placing itself to the left of any new sys tray icons it encounters until you set 'Special Position' for that icon which can look messy.

3. As I remember SysTrayX has slightly better handling when it comes to settings which icons are displayed in the tray, in its menu, or both. I could be wrong, but at present you cannot set PS Tray Factory to display an icon only in the tray (I haven't tested it in some time).

4. Registered updates. I like the fact that PS Tray Factory can be downloaded and made registered with your existing key. The upgrade to SystrayX is somewhat laborious with the shareware version being released several weeks before the registered version is mailed to registered users (yes, email updates only!). Surely any software author should consider their paid customers as paramount, especially if you are expecting future revenues from upgrade maintenance.

5. I've found the SysTrayX support lacking with emails going unanswered from the author. Never used PS Tray Factory support so cannot comment.

6. I have so many programs configured already I'd like to see some form of migration utility included in both tools to allow me to change to the competing product, should I decide to change.

I'll add to this post if I think of anything else.

-
-Sentinel (February 05, 2006, 01:48 PM)

1. The default icon for SysTrayX is very outdated and win3.1ish as you said. The idea of being able to change the default icon is a minor one to me, but the option would be nice.

2. Again, another option that would be nice. The ability to specify where the icon is positioned would indeed be nice, but for me is not needed since I have only the PS Tray icon in my sys tray (and am considering hiding that as well since I can assign various hotkeys to perform clicking functions on the icons.

3. You can in fact set PS Tray Factory to display an icon only in the tray. In fact, that is the default behavior. If an icon is in the system tray, it will not display in the right click context menu.

4. I agree with you on the SysTrayX upgrade policy. Requiring a user download a customized registered version of an update is a bit of a hassle and the fact that you can simply enter a reg code into PS Tray is indeed an attractive option for upgrading. I understand why XDesk would have such an upgrade policy, in order to prevent piracy, but it can also detract users if an upgrade became available.

6. A migration option, in my honest opinion, wouldnt be a worthwhile addition as there are so many different tray utilities out there. The author would be forced to pick and choose which ones he supported. I think the 5-10 minutes spent reconfiguring PS Tray after a swap from another tool is well worth it since you only have to do it once. However, a nice option would be to have an "Export Settings" option for ps tray so that if you want to migrate to a new windows installation this would make transporting your settings very easy. Although, again, that wouldnt be too necessary if you ask me since the 5-10 minutes, again, isnt very much time to ask for an app like this

Sentinel · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2006, 04:36 PM »

. You can in fact set PS Tray Factory to display an icon only in the tray. In fact, that is the default behavior. If an icon is in the system tray, it will not display in the right click context menu.
-Josh

It was a long time ago since I tried this, but last I remember, PS Tray Factory didn't allow you to prevent a program from being listed in its menu whilst being visible in the normal System Tray. Hopefully that is no longer the case.

4. I agree with the SysTrayX upgrade policy. Requiring a user download a customized registered version of an update is a bit of a hassle and the fact that you can simply enter a reg code into PS Tray is indeed an attractive option for upgrading. I understand why XDesk would have such an upgrade policy, in order to prevent piracy, but it can also detract users if an upgrade became available.
-Josh

It is both a hassle and a frustrating delay, especially if you are waiting for a particular bug to be fixed. I'm of the belief that developers should put paying customers first, prospective second and the rest 3rd. Typically if someone wants to download a crack they probably never had and never will have any intention of paying anyway. At least if you keep existing customers happy, with a yearly subscription model you can be assured of at least a certain level of income and offering excellent benefits will get prospective customers every time.

6. A migration option, in my honest opinion, wouldnt be a worthwhile addition as there are so many different tray utilities out there. The author would be forced to pick and choose which ones he supported. I think the 5-10 minutes spent reconfiguring PS Tray after a swap from another tool is well worth it since you only have to do it once. However, a nice option would be to have an "Export Settings" option for ps tray so that if you want to migrate to a new windows installation this would make transporting your settings very easy. Although, again, that wouldnt be too necessary if you ask me since the 5-10 minutes, again, isnt very much time to ask for an app like this
-Josh

True, but an option to move from the main competitor would be a great feature for myself. Just checking the SysTrayX rules on my server and I currently have 65 in total. That would take me the best part of at least 4 hours to run and reconfigure those programs I reckon, without fixing any human errors introduded. With such close competition I feel a feature like this would be enough to consider a switch. At the moment I think "Yes, this is better, but do I want to spend the time making it work like my existing solution?". It may be my need for this feature is somewhat exceptional though.

Josh · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2006, 07:41 PM »

. You can in fact set PS Tray Factory to display an icon only in the tray. In fact, that is the default behavior. If an icon is in the system tray, it will not display in the right click context menu.
-Josh

It was a long time ago since I tried this, but last I remember, PS Tray Factory didn't allow you to prevent a program from being listed in its menu whilst being visible in the normal System Tray. Hopefully that is no longer the case.

4. I agree with the SysTrayX upgrade policy. Requiring a user download a customized registered version of an update is a bit of a hassle and the fact that you can simply enter a reg code into PS Tray is indeed an attractive option for upgrading. I understand why XDesk would have such an upgrade policy, in order to prevent piracy, but it can also detract users if an upgrade became available.
-Josh

It is both a hassle and a frustrating delay, especially if you are waiting for a particular bug to be fixed. I'm of the belief that developers should put paying customers first, prospective second and the rest 3rd. Typically if someone wants to download a crack they probably never had and never will have any intention of paying anyway. At least if you keep existing customers happy, with a yearly subscription model you can be assured of at least a certain level of income and offering excellent benefits will get prospective customers every time.

6. A migration option, in my honest opinion, wouldnt be a worthwhile addition as there are so many different tray utilities out there. The author would be forced to pick and choose which ones he supported. I think the 5-10 minutes spent reconfiguring PS Tray after a swap from another tool is well worth it since you only have to do it once. However, a nice option would be to have an "Export Settings" option for ps tray so that if you want to migrate to a new windows installation this would make transporting your settings very easy. Although, again, that wouldnt be too necessary if you ask me since the 5-10 minutes, again, isnt very much time to ask for an app like this
-Josh

True, but an option to move from the main competitor would be a great feature for myself. Just checking the SysTrayX rules on my server and I currently have 65 in total. That would take me the best part of at least 4 hours to run and reconfigure those programs I reckon, without fixing any human errors introduded. With such close competition I feel a feature like this would be enough to consider a switch. At the moment I think "Yes, this is better, but do I want to spend the time making it work like my existing solution?". It may be my need for this feature is somewhat exceptional though.

-Sentinel (February 05, 2006, 04:36 PM)

Sorry, I reworded my reply to you, I didnt intend to insenuate that I agreed with SysTrayX's upgrade policy. I think the subscription system only works for certain apps, and a tray utility isnt one of them.

kiwi2b · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2006, 01:54 AM »

Just had to add this caveat...

This is a grab from an email I sent:

QUOTE: Just paid for your PS Tray Factory programme: it looks like a
>> really good way to control my System Tray.
>>
>> But it's hitting problems. Every few hours or so it makes my
>> taskbar and System Tray completely lock up. The window works as
>> normal, but the Taskbar buttons don't work and neither does the
>> tray. When I use Task Manager to close Tray Factory the problem is
>> fixed. I thought of setting up a macro to restart Tray Factory
>> (because I think it's worth keeping) but of course this doesn't
>> work because Tray Factory needs to be started before the programmes
>> it is controlling.
>>
>> I tried Safe Mode too, but the problem still seems to be there.
ENDQUOTE

In the end the problem wasn't resolved. I sent this email:

QUOTE: I have tried out v1.94 and it has the same problem. Also, I have tried out
some other products and they have the problem too! So I tried unloading
everything in my system tray but still the same problem.

I can only suggest it is something with my operating system: I run the
Tablet PC version of Windows XP. This is surprising as I have tested
probably a few hundred programmes and not encountered a problem.

As I said, PS Tray Factory is a really useful programme for me: my tray is
about 7 cms at the last count (even after switching off what icons I can)!
Anything you can think of to make it work on my PC would be great.
ENDQUOTE

Just posting all this to warn anybody who is thinking of using this great looking programme, who also uses a TabletPC.

I decided at the end to use the native XP 'hide unused icons' function (and TrayPilot at http://www.colorpilot.com/ to hide the tray completely if necessary)

Hope this helps ...

brotherS · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2006, 03:28 AM »

Really strange...

Maybe you can help him to fix this Tablet PC edition bug, not many use that OS so far.

mouser · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2006, 03:45 AM »

this should go without saying but just to remind people to always try software for a while before buying it to make sure it works well on your computer.

Josh · « **Reply #12 on:** February 14, 2006, 11:10 AM »

By the way, did you try 2.10? That is the latest release. Perhaps its fixed

Darwin · « **Reply #13 on:** February 15, 2006, 01:51 PM »

Just bought PS TrayFactory myself, after demoing it for about 16 hours. Easier to set up than XP's native method and the settings "stick". What really decided it for me was the restore icons after explorer.exe crashes and the ability to sort the visible icons... I'd say thanks for the review, Josh, but it cost my $16 so we'll call it a draw! Seriously, thanks for drawing this to my attention. It's a small thing but it makes a big difference when you sit in front of a computer for 12+ hours a day.

Josh · « **Reply #14 on:** February 15, 2006, 02:04 PM »

Good to hear my review did some good

Enjoy, I know I do every day!

taichimaster · « **Reply #15 on:** February 15, 2006, 11:16 PM »

Hi Josh,

I have a question about PS Tray Factory. I sent a mail to their support last week but never heard back from them.

I am wondering if there is any way to hide/show a tray icon based on the window text or caption as opposed to the wnd class? There are apps like FeedDemon, PopTray or Gmail Notifier which displays different captions based on the current notification status.

For example, I want to configure my gmail notification icon so that it hides itself when there's no mail but shows itself when there's mail in my mailbox. The tray icon has a caption of "No unread mail" when there's no mail and "1 unread conversation". So I think it would be nice to hide/show a certain systray icon based on some pattern matching.

Do you know if it does that or not?

Thanks,
Kevin

Josh · « **Reply #16 on:** February 15, 2006, 11:30 PM »

I will have to check. I dont think there is currently an option, nor have I seen the option in any application currently available. i will email the author as well and see if he can do this for a future version.

jdmarch · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2006, 01:47 PM »

I'm sending the following comments to the author of PS Tray Factory. Perhaps it will be be of interest here as well.

PSTF is a big help. I just registered it a day or two ago, after trying several alternatives briefly, and then testing PSTF for 2 weeks, with increasing satisfaction. Then today I was browsing the superb donationcoder.com site and saw that PSTF got a very favorable review and is being discounted to members. Excellent! (No, I’m not asking for a retroactive discount; PSTF is well worth full price!)

I do have a few suggestions that would make it even more useful to me (I use Win2K SP4):

1. It's good that there are many keyboard shortcuts, but keyboard usability is still uneven. Here are some sample problems:

1a. In the menu, pressing an alphanumeric key should move the selection to the next entry beginning with that character, as with any Windows-standard menu. It’s too laborious to traverse a long menu with just the arrow keys.

1b. Pressing Enter in the PSTF menu often does nothing, so one must invoke the menu again, navigate to the application’s menu entry again, and this time press Shift+Enter. Very frustrating. The reason of course is that Enter is interpreted as double click, which many applications do not accept on the tray icon.

At the VERY least, pressing Enter on the name of an application which was minimized to the Tray Factory menu should restore it to the desktop.

For many tray-resident applications, the mapping of Enter to double-click is good. For others, the most useful mapping would be left click or right click. So it would be best if the Enter, Ctrl+Enter, and Shift+Enter keys in the menu could be remapped per-application.

Without such mapping of Enter, I’ve mostly given up on using the keyboard with the PSTF menu, which for a mouse-challenged keyboard-centric user like me, is a sacrifice (and therefore a testament to how useful PSTF is overall!!).

1c. You might consider supporting nested menus. These are very handy for traversing long menus by keyboard. But this is not urgent for me.

2. There seems to be a bug when an app which can only have one instance is minimized to the tray, and then restarted (e.g. using a non-PSTF hotkey, or by invoking it with DonationCoder’s ESSENTIAL utility Find And Run Robot). The app tries to restore itself but only partially succeeds. It appears in the Alt+Tab list but not on the taskbar. Its window remains completely invisible, but responds to menu keys (e.g. Alt+F drops down its file menu over the desktop. I know this is not necessary, as it does not happen with TrayIt! (a nice app which I used for many years, whose main job is minimizing to the tray; but which unfortunately does not neaten the tray as PSTF does).

The way I’m working around this is by giving each of the apps which I minimize to tray its own “Left Click” hot key, which I use for bringing it back from the tray. But I’d rather be able to use my normal method (launch hotkey or FARR) of launching or re-launching all apps.

3. It would help if one could specify that a given application is always to be minimized to the tray (or menu) instead of to the taskbar, without having to use the special "Minimize to Tray" hotkey or click. I know it's possible, as TrayIt! does this.

4. The Sort-Tray-Icons hot key does not seem to accomplish anything on my system. I’m probably mis-using it, but maybe more explanation in the docs would help.

5. It would help if the docs explained that explorer’s tray icons (e.g. Power, Volume, Unplug hardware) all stick together so cannot be separated when rearranging the menu. This frustrated me until I figured out what was going on.

6. Please show in the Tray Icon List, some indication of whether "Always show in menu" is checked.

jdmarch · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2006, 04:50 PM »

Another buglet: on my Win2K system, PSTF butchers the application icons which it puts in the tray, sometimes making them difficult to recognize. The application icons which it puts in its menu and dialog are fine.

DanielLanz · « **Reply #19 on:** February 20, 2006, 02:24 AM »

Hi I use "4t Tray Minimizer". Its a Freeware and works very well.

See http://www.4t-niagara.com/tray.html for more informations

brotherS · « **Reply #20 on:** February 20, 2006, 03:10 AM »

Hi I use "4t Tray Minimizer". Its a Freeware and works very well.

See http://www.4t-niagara.com/tray.html for more informations

-DanielLanz (February 20, 2006, 02:24 AM)

While the info on that site sounds promising, http://fileforum.bet...er_Free/1038072092/1 does not

Grorgy · « **Reply #21 on:** April 23, 2007, 10:53 PM »

i know this is all a bit old now, but i use a thing called Trayit! from http://www.teamcti.com/downloads.htm its not real fancy like the ones reviewed, and it doesnt seem to work on all programs, but on most (probably just me lol) and it has the advantage of being free (not sure why they have it there, doesnt really seem to be part of their business). which ya gotta like

I hope this may assist someone looking for such a beast.
cheers

sri · « **Reply #22 on:** April 23, 2007, 11:01 PM »

Grogy: You might want to try WinBoss. TrayIt and many such programs can only minimize each program to an icon in the system tray. WinBoss actually minimizes programs into a single icon in tray.

Here's my blog entry on it: http://www.sridharee...icon-in-system-tray/.

Grorgy · « **Reply #23 on:** April 23, 2007, 11:44 PM »

Thanks sri, i'll get this one for some of those i'd sort of like to hide but be available, the hide options on my tray,, ummm system notification area lol, i are a bit dodgy.

Cheers

Josh · « **Reply #24 on:** July 25, 2007, 06:08 PM »

After talking to the developer of PS Tray Factory, there is a vista supported version available Here for all users that utilize it.

Hope this helps