Faster Performance, Enhanced Security & New Features

This latest update for XLS Padlock is packed with significant improvements focused on boosting performance, expanding language support, and enhancing the overall stability of your protected Excel applications.

This release introduces a powerful new and fast compression algorithm, adds app support for Chinese languages, and resolves several user-reported issues. Let’s dive into what’s new.

✨ What’s New in Version 2025.1?

Faster Compression and Execution with Zstandard

Performance is a key focus of this update. We have replaced the compression algorithm with Zstandard (Zstd). This modern, high-performance algorithm means you will experience faster compilation times when creating your applications.

Expanded Language Support

XLS Padlock 2025.1 includes localization files for both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese (.SIL files). Based on AI translations and reviewed by humans, you can now offer your compiled applications in these languages, making them accessible to a wider global audience.

🛠️ Key Enhancements and Improvements

This release is also packed with several enhancements to improve stability and streamline the compilation process:

• Updated Spreadsheet Engine: The internal spreadsheet component has been updated, ensuring better compatibility with the latest Excel features and improved performance.
• Smarter Compilation: The build process will now intelligently halt if an error occurs while protecting the source workbook (e.g., an incorrect password).
• Optimized Stability: We have refined the multithreading loop, resulting in a more stable and reliable application for your end-users.
• Duplicate File Check: A new check has been added at compile time to prevent the use of duplicate names for companion files, avoiding potential conflicts.
• Smoother Progress Bar: The behavior of the compression progress bar has been improved.

🐞 Squashing Bugs for a Better Experience

We are grateful for the valuable feedback from our user community. In this release, we have addressed several reported issues:

• Fixed a regression that, in some cases, prevented a protected workbook from being opened directly from Windows Explorer.
• Resolved a conflict that stopped the deactivation prompt from appearing when the “Save changes automatically” option was enabled.
• Corrected a focus-stealing issue where Excel would unexpectedly switch to another window after saving.
• Fixed the PE (Portable Executable) checksum calculation.
• Addressed an issue that could prevent the correct EXE bitness from being selected when creating a new project.

We are confident that these updates will make creating and distributing secure Excel applications with XLS Padlock more efficient and reliable.

Ready to take advantage of these improvements? We encourage all users to download XLS Padlock 2025.1 today!

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to hearing your feedback on this new version!