Quote from luishp on August 17, 2026, 10:23 am

VisualNEO Win 26.8.8 is now available

We are delighted to announce the release of VisualNEO Win 26.8.8, a major new version that brings together the largest set of improvements made to VisualNEO Win in many years.

This release continues the modernization started with version 26.7.19 while preserving the visual workflow, readable project format and extensive classic plug-in ecosystem that VisualNEO users already know.

A free major upgrade for existing users

VisualNEO Win 26.8.8 is a free upgrade for every licensed user of the immediately previous version, VisualNEO Win 26.7.19.

Although this is a major release, no additional upgrade purchase is required for those users.

One universal, multilingual edition

• A single universal installation now includes English, Spanish, Italian, German and Russian.
• The interface language can be changed from Preferences without installing a separate edition.
• Unicode support has been expanded throughout the interface, object captions, variables, editors, files and project data.
• Existing VisualNEO Win projects and classic plug-ins remain supported.

New modern visual controls

• ModernContainer provides scrollable content areas, nested objects, automatic virtual sizing and programmable scrolling.
• ModernTabs makes it possible to build tabbed interfaces with configurable positions, captions, icons and programmable tab selection.
• ModernCalendar, ModernProgressBar and ModernFileDrop add practical native controls for dates, progress reporting and drag-and-drop file or folder handling.

Animation, transitions and modern messages

• Updated non-blocking animation actions can move several objects simultaneously.
• Animations support duration, easing, delay and completion callbacks.
• Modern page transitions offer smoother movement and more useful speed ranges.
• ModernMessageBox and ModernToast provide Unicode-friendly messages and non-blocking notifications.

A new Modern Plug-in platform

VisualNEO Win 26.8.8 introduces a new Unicode-capable plug-in architecture that works alongside the classic plug-in system rather than replacing it.

• Modern plug-ins can add actions, visual controls, property editors and custom events.
• Custom controls can render their own appearance in both design mode and at runtime.
• Plug-in controls integrate with the tool palette, object list, action editor, clipboard, project files and compiled applications.
• The new Modern Plug-in Manager supports searching, grouping by publisher or collection, activation, deactivation and collection licensing.
• Supports multilanguage plugins.
• Tool-palette collections keep large groups of related controls compact and organized.
• The existing classic .nbp plug-in ecosystem remains available and compatible.

Faster action authoring

• The action catalogue now includes improved search across action names and descriptions.
• Frequently used actions can be marked as favourites.
• A recent-actions view makes repeated work quicker.
• Modern plug-in actions can use richer visual wizards with object, variable, file, folder, colour, list and multiline editors.
• JSON and multiline values are handled more naturally by action wizards.

AI-ready project workflows

The new AI Project Kit export can describe a VisualNEO project, its NeoScript code, core objects and installed plug-ins in a format designed for coding assistants. An AI agent can understand an existing project, help create a new one and propose focused .vnpatch changes without replacing the complete publication.

Improved publishing and licensing

• The publishing workflow can create modern Inno Setup installers with application information, optional license text, readme files, images, dependencies and per-user installation support.
• Project dependencies are collected more reliably when compiling and building installers.
• An optional signed licensing system can protect applications created with VisualNEO Win.
• The VisualNEO License Manager helps create products, issue customer licenses, keep a searchable local history and optionally deliver licenses by email.

Compatibility and stability

• The development environment remains Win32 to preserve compatibility with the large collection of existing VisualNEO and NeoBook plug-ins.
• The readable text-based .pub project format is retained.
• Classic and modern objects can be used together in the same project.
• Many fixes have been made to memory handling, project loading and closing, copying and duplicating objects, resizing, repainting, file encodings, archiving, compiled resources and interface layouts.
• The installer can adapt to administrative or current-user installation, making VisualNEO Win available on more Windows systems.
• New and revised examples help beginners discover both the classic workflow and the modern features.

Four Modern Plug-in Collections are coming very soon

The Modern Plug-in platform is only the beginning. We will shortly publish four curated collections that add ready-to-use controls and actions to VisualNEO Win:

• VisualNEO Essentials — a free collection of useful everyday controls and utilities.
• VisualNEO UI & Data Suite — modern interface, input, charting and data-oriented controls.
• VisualNEO Media Suite — tools for modern images, audio, video and rich media experiences.
• VisualNEO Automation & AI Suite — advanced automation, web services, AI and productivity capabilities.

Each collection will include its own installer, examples, documentation and integrated help. The common documentation portal is already available at pluginshelp.visualneo.com.

Thank you

This release has benefited enormously from the reports, sample projects, translations, testing and ideas contributed by the VisualNEO community. Thank you to everyone who has helped us modernize VisualNEO Win while preserving what makes it unique.

We hope you enjoy VisualNEO Win 26.8.8. Please continue sharing your results and feedback in the forum.

Download VisualNEO Win:
 https://visualneo.com/product/visualneo-win