Enigma CS (Coding Software) / News: Recent posts

Some 2 years have passed since I last worked on Enigma CS. And although I always wanted to restart work on this project I knew that would be difficult. But one final release must be done. So this is a fitting end to a very dear project of mine. I had a great time writing every line of code (not really every line ;-) bugs do take their toll). It has indeed served it's purpose.

I wish to thank everybody who in a way or another helped me!... read more

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files and keys MAY NOT BE compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning could result in corrupt data!

+ v0.5.2 (Build 685) - BETA BUILD
- New pages for donating with direct links to 2 main payment processors - PayPal and Moneybookers. Been helped by Enigma CS? Why not return the favour!
- Icon related improvements
- Minor bug fixes and optimizations
- Important code overhaul
- Updated license to the new GNU GPL v3

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.5.1 (Build 672) - BETA BUILD

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files and keys MAY NOT BE compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning could result in corrupt data!

+ v0.5.1 (Build 672) - BETA BUILD
- EXTREMLY CRITICAL BUG FIXED: On some computers encoding and decoding would result in corrupt data! After very extensive testing that bug is history!
- ADDED FULL PROJECT SUPPORT
* Users can now create, save and load encoding/decoding projects
* Projects support up to 100.000 files for encoding/decoding (no more 5 files limit) --> encode and decode AS MANY FILES as you need!
- ADDED PASSWORD MANAGER
* Use Enigma CS to encode all your passwords making them much more stronger
* When needed you can recreate them just as easily
* Save your passwords (your old one and you new encoded one) and a small description into the Password Manager
* You can view, edit or remove any of the enties from the Password Manager
* For extra security you can encode all Password Manager files and protect them with a master password
- Add/Load options to/from the encoded file features (only in text encoding) have been removed because they generated a huge amount of problems with no important advantage!
- Finally completed the manual! The contents is now up-to-date!
- 11 more hints added (this bring the hints up-to-date with what Enigma CS has to offer)
- Other minor UI tweaks, bug fixes and optimizations

Until August all work on Enigma CS is halted since in June and July I will have some exams decisive for my life. So in case there won't be some really important bugs to be fixed there won't be another update until August. I already have some features I'd like to implement in the future versions, but they'll have to wait.
I hope you enjoy Enigma CS as much as I did working on it. See you in August... ... read more

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files and keys ARE NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.4.1 (Build 571) - BETA BUILD
- CRITICAL BUG FIXED: On some computers the animation from the Progress Window didn't start properly which caused the following error message "Cannot open AVI"!... read more

A critical bug has been found in Enigma CS v0.4.1 (Build 568). On some computers the animation on the Progress Window doesn't start properly which causes the following error message "Cannot open AVI". A bug-free release is expected for tomorrow!
Meanwhile Enigma CS v0.4.1 (Build 568) is now hidden and unavailable for download! Please wait for the new release...

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files and keys ARE NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.4.1 (Build 568) - BETA BUILD
- REWRITTEN THE ENTIRE ENCODING\DECODING SCRIPT:
* Over 30 times faster encoding\decoding! Yes! 30 times, even faster for larger files (>100Mb)!
- Old script: 30 Mb file --> ~ 8 minutes for encoding
- New script: (same) 30 Mb file --> ~ 15 seconds for encoding
* Despite the speed, security has also been greatly improved especially when encoding with a key!
* Key security has also been improved by modifying the key structure (which also makes them incompatible with older versions of Enigma CS)
* Brute force is no longer a viable way of decoding a file without it's key!
- Users can now change the default key folder (so they can save the key in a different location), but only until Enigma CS is restarted (for security reasons)
- Redesigned Progress Window (Step 4 of the Wizards):
* New progress bar and animation added for file encoding\decoding progress
* Cancel button added (enabled only when the 'Create backup' option has been selected in Step 3 of the Wizards to prevent data loss!)
- Other minor UI tweaks and bug fixes

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files are MAY NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.3.4 (Build 504) - BETA BUILD
- VITAL MEMORY USAGE OPTIMIZATIONS
* Memory usage (further) decreased from ~6MB to ~2MB
* All resources are now dynamically allocated
- IMPORTANT CODE OPTIMIZATIONS
- MAJOR BUG FIX: Enigma CS used to freeze while encoding\decoding files and downloading the latest update (only seemed to freeze)
- Enigma CS executable (EnigmaCS.exe) compressed (now ~500kb instead of ~1150kb)
- 'Latest news' section added in the WebUpdate window (you do have to check for updates in order to receive the latest news!)
- Temporary folder (\bin\tmp) emptied at startup
- Changed help file format from WinHelp to HTML-Help (Vista compatible) and updated its contents
- The close button (X) from the Progress Window (Step 4 of the Wizards) has been hidden
- The maximize button from the Main Window has been deactvated
- Other minor bug fixes and optimizations

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.3.3 (Build 475) - BETA BUILD

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files are MAY NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.3.3 (Build 475) - BETA BUILD
- CRITICAL BUG FIXED: In some cases regenerating the key file with the same password would not work in decoding the file(s)!
- Modified key structure in order to improve key security (new keys are NOT compatibile with older versions!)
- You can now backup the files before the encoding\decoding process since a hardware or software malfunction means data corruption
- You can now set a generated key as the default key right from the KeyGenerator wizard
- Help added with detailed descriptions of all buttons and windows (under construction)
- Version checker in the About window turns red when a new version has been found and automatically links to the WebUpdate Wizard
- Statistics position in the About window (bug) fixed
- Other minor memory usage optimizations and bug fixes... read more

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.3.2 (Build 451) - BETA BUILD

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files are MAY NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.3.2 (Build 451) - BETA BUILD
- ENCODED FILES CAN NOW BE PROTECTED USING KEYS!
- IMPORTANT MEMORY USAGE OPTIMIZATIONS
* A smaller (with over 15%) RAM footprint
* Vital when you plan to keep Enigma CS open for a long time
- KeyGenerator Wizard added:
* Generate 2 types of key files (*.eck): password protected and random
* For the greatest level of security use random generated (unique key)
NOTE: For really important files do not transport the encoded file with it's key!
- WebUpdate Window added:
* Update Enigma CS by following 2 simple steps:
1. Check for a new version
2. (if a new version has been found) Download and install it!
* Progress bar added to keep track of the downloading process
- Options window updated to reflect the changes made (with the keygenerator)
- Step 2 from the Encoding\Decoding Wizard has been updated to refrect the options changes
- Minor UI tweaks to Encoding\Decoding Wizards
- Path check added in Encoding\Decoding Wizards (step 3)
- Icons added in the Main window (on buttons and in the main menu)
- Fixed Back button bug in Encoding\Decoding Wizards (step 3)
- Stay-on-top Hints window bug (only for Windows 98 and Me) fixed
- Version checker in the About window turns red when a new version has been found and automatically links to the download page of project
- Statistics position in the About window (bug) fixed
- 5 hints added (better than nothing)... read more

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.3.1 (Build 337) - BETA BUILD

WARNING 1: BETA BUILD! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: BETA BUILD! Encoded files are MAY NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.3.1 (Build 337) - BETA BUILD
- Completly rewritten the encoding\decoding script
*** IT NOW SUPPORTS ALL TYPE OF FILES (PICTURES, SOUNDS, MOVIES, ETC)
*** The old script was kept as a legacy and for additional security when coding text files
- Other huge parts of codes rewritten
- All buttons now display hints and have cool icons
- Main Window changes:
* Report bug & request feature links added
* Layout changed to make room for further changes
* Status bar added for displaying hints
- Options Window changes:
* Layout changed to 3 tabs: General, Script & Security
* New options for general file encoding and text encoding
* Link to request feature added on General tab
- Progress windows now feature a progress bar for showing the status of the entire encoding\decoding process
- Updated the encoding & decoding wizard to reflect the options changes
- Entire About window rewritten (I hope this is going to be the final version! ;-)) with the new features:
* Latest version check
* All time statistics (number of encoded & decoded files, number of times Enigma CS has run)
- Welcome window replaced (as expected) with the hints window
* Shows a random hint every time it is run
* Next & previous hint buttons
- Hints are to be written in the next beta versions (sorry! no time now to loose with hints)
- All files (including the temporary ones) except the actual exe have been moved into the "bin" folder
- Added "license" folder with all icenses in text format
- Fixed that annoying bug in the progress window
- Small bug fixes... read more

I have been working on version 0.3.1 for over three weeks now. Two more weeks and the new version will be ready for release.
I consider the new version the most important update since the very first version of Enigma CS, hence the time needed for development. It will include major UI improvements, redesigned windows, performance tweaks and a brand new encoding engine (comes with a very big surprise ;)).
With the release of this version Enigma CS will hit the beta phase - almost feature complete. Only minor changes and bug fixes will follow with the next beta versions, but nothing major...

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.2.4 (Build 200) - Alpha Build

WARNING 1: Alpha Build! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: Alpha Build! Encoded files are NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

+ v0.2.4 (Build 200) - ALPHA BUILD
- Encoding script tuning (should result in a better encoding performance on large files)
- Additional encoding script tuning for improved security
- More encoding options
* Post-Processing (with 5 levels) added for additional security
* Add/Load Options from encoded file(s) option now fully functional
* Added 'Load Options from the encoded file(s)!' (more of a bug fix)
* Hints tab added for welcome windows and hints control
- Step 2 of encoding\decoding wizard has been changed to reflect the changes in the options
- Welcome window added (only in betas, in final version it will be replaced by random hints)
- Checkbox added to the encoding/decoding wizard for skipping the welcome window
- Link to the homepage of Enigma Cs project added to the main menu
- Fixed Progress window bug (I hope!)
- Fixed Encoding/Decoding Finished window bug ... read more

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.2.3 (Build 149) - Alpha Build

WARNING 1: Alpha Build! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: Alpha Build! Encoded files may NOT be compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning could result in corrupt data!

+ v0.2.3 (Build 149) - ALPHA BUILD
- Critical bug fixed

+ v0.2.3 (Build 147) - ALPHA BUILD
- More encoding options
* For aditional security rewrite and delete any temporary files used in the encoding/decoding process
- Fixed temporary files bug (.temp files will not show in the encoding/decoding folder)
- New Encoding/Decoding Wizard
* Step-by-step encoding/decoding process
* You can now encode/decode up to 5 files in the same time
- Modified About window
- Other small bug fixes

+ v0.2.2 (INTERNAL RELEASE)... read more

A critical bug has been discovered in Enigma CS v0.2.3 (Build 147). It prevents the software from running by requesting the following DLL 'borlndmm.dll'. A new bug fix release is expected soon!
Also Enigma CS v0.2.3 (Build 147) is now hidden and unavailable for download! Please wait for a new release...

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.2.3 (Build 147) - Alpha Build

WARNING 1: Alpha Build! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: Alpha Build! Encoded files may NOT be compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning could result in corrupt data!

+ v0.2.3 (Build 147) - ALPHA BUILD
- More encoding options
* For aditional security rewrite and delete any temporary files used in the encoding/decoding process
- Fixed temporary files bug (.temp files will not show in the encoding/decoding folder)
- New Encoding/Decoding Wizard
* Step-by-step encoding/decoding process
* You can now encode/decode up to 5 files in the same time
- Modified About window
- Other small bug fixes

+ v0.2.2 (INTERNAL RELEASE)... read more

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.2.1 (Build 63) - Alpha Build

WARNING 1: Alpha Build! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!
WARNING 2: Alpha Build! Encoded files are NOT compatible with earlier versions! Disregard for this warning will result in corrupt data!

Enigma CS (Coding Software) v0.1.1 (Build 32) - Pre-Alpha

WARNING: Pre-Alpha Build! Preview release only for testing purpose; do not use it for any other purpose!