We have to admit, it was delayed a few times, mostly because we always had some new feature we wanted to implement in mind, but now it's finally here: we're proud to announce the availability of Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.5. 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 below.

Downloads will be made available throughout the next days, and we'll try to keep the download mirror list up-to-date with who already has this newest version.

User interface on Vista:

Improved Immunization:

New configuration for IE plugin:

New confirmation dialogs for IE plugin:

New separated updater:

Support for inactive installations:

Clear IDs to track problems:

Security Center integration:

UAC support (elevate only if needed):

System support

• Restored Win95 compatibility
• Improved Wine compatibility
• Fixed HyperThreading issues
• Improved 64 bit immunization
• Create Portable.ini 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)
• New Immunization for Firefox & Mozilla
• Improved Immunization for Opera

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

• Do I need to uninstall version 1.4 before installing 1.5?
  Uninstalling old versions is not strictly necessary, since the update will replace all important files. Only if you do not like to end up with two entries in the Uninstall list, you should uninstall any older version.
• Does it support Windows Vista? Is Windows 95 supported again?
  Yes, we do now support the newest Vista (more here), and we do also support Windows 95 again (the installer is able to download and install necessary Win95 updates if you want it to do so). It also runs on Wine.
• Why is the interface still that ugly and looks a dozen years old?
  Some people hate it, some people love it. A lot of commercial software changes the user interface every year, and we have to admit that's a good way to make users believe a lot has changed and might improve sales. For 1.5, we mostly ignored the user interface though, and spend more time improving functionality and quality assurance. We even had some skinning mechanism integrated in an early beta, but didn't feel that new look was worth the performance loss through non-standard visual elements. Version 2.0s UI will be designed with the help of pros, but will still keep the standards.
• Why the small version number jump to 1.5 instead of 2.0?
  For us, major number changes mean complete rewrites, while minor version number changes mean improvement of existing functionality. If you want a name that sounds more up-to-date, feel free to call it Spybot-S&D 2007 or 2008.