The new method TeaTimer uses to inform the user about its actions has caused some controversy recently, so we thought some kind of explanation would be useful.

The decision to use balloon tooltips to display the progress was made because they're a Windows standard for informing the user, and following standards is in general regarded as making things easier for the user. Informing about scanned processes was also kind of important for people who did not understand what TeaTimer was doing on startup.

The tray icon also allows to disable any future balloons from its context menu, so they were purely optional. Sadly, so far many users did not look for this option, but came asking for a way to get rid of them, so we feel a change to make it more evident might be necessary.

We also did not expect the combination of an unlucky implementation of balloons in Windows 2000 with users who haven't dealed with tooltips yet. On Windows XP, these balloons contain a visible X than can be clicked to close them. On Windows 2000, you can simple click the balloon itself anywhere to close it, which is not as evident, and the reaction takes some time while TeaTimer is scanning.

Balloons also vanish after a specified amount of time, which we have set to a small value to work immediately. Again, Windows 2000 is a bit unlucky there because is does not count this time down when the user is not actively using the computer. Nice thought, but not fully compatible with the intention behind the TeaTimer messages.

While we prepare a workaround that makes balloon messages easier to understand and get rid of for Windows 2000 users, TeaTimer and main application updates are disabled. Expect an update within a week.