WinMerge 2.8 release is more headed into improving backend of WinMerge - the code doing all the work. There are no many user visible changes this time.
WinMerge 2.6 release has some long-waited new features plus important usability and stability fixes.
WinMerge 2.4 is an important update to 2.2. Great new features and usability improvements. And bug fixes.
Now it is possible to open (after enabled from Options) several folder- and file-compare windows inside one WinMerge instance. This changes the way work is done with WinMerge.
WinMerge can be now limited to one instance. Opening new files from commandline, shell extension or external application opens new windows instead of new instances.
This helps when switching between different instances in Task Manager or in Task Switcher (Alt-Tab).
Archive file support is greatly improved:
Lots of important improvements have been implemented:
Showing line difference for all diffs (enabled from View-menu) is the most important change. Others include:
WinMerge 2.2 is distributed with an ANSI executable (WinMerge.exe) for Windows 95/98/ME, and a Unicode executable (WinMergeU.exe) for Windows NT /200/XP. The unicode executable supports UCS-2 and UTF-8 files and filenames.
![]() |
Note |
---|---|
It is unfortunate that two executable files are needed. But there is no current way to get only one executable working. MS Unicode layer does not help WinMerge since WinMerge needs to be able to compare files in different codepages. |
WinMerge 2.2 can open and save several archive types. Archive support requires installing 7-zip. Refer to Read Me.rtf file for info about compatible 7-zip versions. 7-zip can be downloaded from 7-zip.org.
WinMerge 2.2 can be integrated into the Windows Shell. Shell integration adds a "
" menuitem to Windows Explorer's context menu for easy and fast comparing files and directories.New -f commandline switch allows selecting used filter or mask for files.
WinMerge can read paths to open from project files. Project files are simple XML files storing one or two paths, and also possibly the choice of which filter to use and whether to include subfolders.
GNU/diffutils compatible patch files can be created from two files. Several formats and compare options are supported.
Plugins are now supported to preprocess files before actual comparison, or to extend editor functionality. Plugins can be programmed using several languages supporting COM. Example plugins are included.
Many new features and improvements:
Many new features and improvements: