Is 1.5 necessary?

[william24]

I have version 1.4, I've had no problems and my pc is running smoothly. Therefore, I would much prefer not to upgrade at this time. You know, If it aint broke..... So, do you think it's really necessary to upgrade or not?

[spybotsandra]

Hello,

It is your turn if you want to stay with an old version.

This new version features a lot of improved detection mechanisms (which in parts were already made available through the regular 1.4 updates in the past months), improved Operating System support (Windows Vista integration, restored support for Windows 95, more compatibility with Wine, support for bootable Windows CDs), improved browser support (e.g. for immunization) and much more - you can find an overview of noticable changes and some screenshots here:
http://www.spybot.info/de/spybotsd15/index.html

Changes:
System support

* Restored Win95 compatibility
* Improved Wine compatibility
* Fixed HyperThreading issues
* Improved 64 bit immunization
* Create Portable.txt in main folder to use app folder as data folder as well
* New warnings about missing admin rights on Windows Vista
* Support for multi-line bookmarks (IE 7 / Vista)

Reports

* Added version info to bug report
* Include Errors.log now includes timestamps
* Improved Windows version display

Misc

* "Single excludes" now include filenames to be more unique
* Improved settings retrieval from registry (mixed installations)
* Fixed .reg import bugs
* Added support for automated removal of F/Ps from host lists
* Changed update UserAgent and Referrer
* Improved (Vista-compatible) support for fast user switching
* Updater now in separate executable file
* Vista manifests for assigning required rights to each application
* Deactivated list of active ports per process for Vista (incompatible)
* Fixed support for handle list on 64 bit systems
* Improved disabling/enabling BHOs
* New special error reporting for beta versions
* Support for Windows Error Reporting for public versions
* Fixed update-related crashes on Vista
* Fixed memory leaks (replaced Indy with Synapse)
* Vista-compatible MSI installer for those who like/need that
* Support for alpha tests on services and domains lists
* Added hundreds of new automated tests of internal functionality for prerelease QA
* Added TeaTimer hide icon (disabled) registry value in installer

Detection and removal of threats

* Improved PE detection all over the place
* New 64 bit detection all over the place
* Improved file removal methods
* Added optional custom RecoveryDir setting in Default.ini
* Automatic guessing of "Download Dir" folders
* Added support for renaming services before stopping/killing/deleting them
* Improved plugin support (example: current TCP/IP Plugin)
* Support for regular expressions nearly all over the SBI interface
* Much improved logic connections between files, registry and API detections (others would invent a new TLA for that *g*)
* Speed-ups through improved caches
* File version checking
* Authenticode checking
* Improved archives checking
* Faster fulltext checking
* Improved Sys Internals file location algo
* Improved hosts file location algo
* Added some more Opera 9 detection schemes

User interface changes

* Fixed "show more information" panels
* Implemented workarounds for misarranged buttons (including TeaTimer)
* Improved support for /allhives in tools section (inactive installation support)
* Fixed flag shown on shortcut bar after changes
* Fixed IE proxy import in wizard
* Changed "use proxy" button to checkbox
* Improved localization on simple dialogs
* Added option to add a proxy inside app if running on Win PE
* Improved localization of list of updates
* Added Firefox icon on Cookie exclude page
* Fixed bad keyboard handling on some exclude lists
* Fixed cookie removal selection problems
* New confirmation dialog for system restore points
* Changed default font to Tahoma
* Red cross (trademarked) replaced with green cross
* Made "Check" option unavailable during fix
* Process list now is a bit less eager on tooltips
* Improved "delay start" dialogs
* Now displays checksum for each result for better trackback of results
* Fixed "Ignore Products" column width problems on Vista
* Improved localization of product descriptions
* Adjusted wizard for new situation (external updater etc.)
* Fixed Tools snapshot comparison highlighting
* Made display of registry changes in results list less confusing
* Improved SDHelper dialogs and block/allow choices
* Update date format on info page now localized
* Displayed app version is now four digits (e.g. 1.5.1.12)
* (De+)Select all in list of old reports
* Improved Warning/Confirmation dialog IE plugin
* Configuration & Information dialog in IE plugin

Best regards
Sandra
Team Spybot