Fw: Multiple Problems with TheBrain15-beta #98838

https://thebrain.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/98838

Hello Roger,

Thank you for your message, and Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you as well.

First, I want to say that we really appreciate your long-time support. Eighteen years of daily use, all the way from PersonalBrain 4 Pro to today, is no small thing, and your feedback carries a lot of weight for us.

Let me go through your points one by one.

Installation on Windows 11 and the MSIX issue

Thank you for describing the install experience so clearly. The MSIX installer does rely on Windows’ built-in App Installer components, and on some Windows 11 systems that can fail in the way you described. Using the EXE installer, as you did, is the correct workaround, and I’m glad that at least got you up and running.

We’ll review this on our side to see how we can make the Windows 11 install path smoother and less confusing.

Functionality changes you’re seeing in TheBrain 15

Version 15 introduces a new notes editor and UI framework, and it is still in beta, so some features are not yet at full parity with version 14, and others may not be behaving as they should on your machine.

Some of the items you mentioned, like toolbar customization, richer formatting controls, and certain table operations, are areas that are still being built out and refined in v15. However, basics like cut, copy, paste and opening web links should still work and should not feel like a regression.

To understand what is happening in your case, I’d like to ask for two things:

1. A short screen recording
2. If possible, could you record a short video showing:

• Trying to cut/copy/paste in a note
• Trying to paste from Word into a note
• Clicking a web link from a thought or note and nothing happening

Seeing the full TheBrain window while you do this will help us tell whether the editor is failing to initialize correctly.

1. Your latest Output.log
2. Right after reproducing one of these problems, please send your Output.log so we can correlate the errors with what you’re seeing.

On Windows you can find it here:

C:\Users[your username]\AppData\Local\TheBrain\Logs\Output.log

Once I have the recording and the log, I can review them with our team and see whether you’re hitting a known v15 beta issue or something specific to your system.

Regarding search brightness, italics, and settings layout

The brighter search results view and the reorganized Settings pages are part of the new design in v15, and your feedback on readability and navigation is very useful. I’ll pass those comments along so they can be considered as we refine the interface.

For thoughts suddenly appearing in italics, that is not expected as a random behavior. It usually indicates either a specific type, tag, or style being applied. If you can send a screenshot of an example thought in italics, along with its types/tags, I can help determine whether it’s a styling rule or something else.

Going back to TheBrain 14

TheBrain 15 installs alongside TheBrain 14, and in general you can continue to use v14 if that’s where you are most productive.

There is one important compatibility detail:

• TheBrain 15 introduces a feature called Light Sync, which keeps attachments in the cloud and downloads them on demand.
• If a Brain has been opened in v15 with Light Sync attachments enabled, that Brain will not automatically open in v14.
• If you want to move a Brain back and forth between v14 and v15, you need to disable Light Sync for that Brain in v15, sync, and then open it again in v14.

If your goal is simply to return to v14 for now, we can do the following:

1. Confirm whether Light Sync is enabled for your main Brain in v15.
2. If it is, turn it off for that Brain and let it sync.
3. Then open that Brain again in v14 and work there while v15 continues to evolve.

If you prefer, you can also keep using v14 as your primary environment and only test v15 with a copy or a separate Brain until you feel comfortable with the new version.

Next steps

If you can send:

• The screen recording showing the missing actions (copy/paste, links, etc.), and
• Your latest Output.log

I’ll review them carefully and follow up with concrete guidance. At the same time, your broader feedback about the UI, settings, and workflow changes will be passed along to the team.

Thank you again for taking the time to document your experience so clearly, and for sticking with TheBrain for so many years. We definitely want to get you back to a level of comfort and productivity that matches what you had in version 14.

Best regards,

John