Sandboxie Holdings, LLC has just released Sandboxie 4.08, an update to its shareware Windows sandboxing tool. The new build comes with the usual mixture of bug fixes and minor tweaks, but includes several significant improvements that should make it more reliable, particularly when run on Windows 8.1 systems.

Sandboxie’s prime purpose is to provide additional security by allowing users to run programs in an isolated environment, preventing them from making any changes to the hard drive without the user’s express consent.

The app, which adds an extra layer of security and privacy over any program the user wishes, makes three significant changes for Windows 8.1 users. First, support for Immediate Recovery has been extended to the latest version of Microsoft’s OS – this allows users to immediately save trusted files created inside the sandbox – such as program downloads from safe web sites – to a folder outside the sandbox.

Sandboxie 4.08 adds a number of improvements designed to boost compatibility with Windows 8.1 machines.

Version 4.08 also extends support for allowing sandboxed programs to print from within Sandboxie in Windows 8.1 by adding support for a new dynamic variant of the print spooler. One final Windows 8.1 improvement fixes a problem between Chrome and LastPass when used inside Sandboxie.

The new build also adds support for the SetCursorPos API as used by many games that are controlled using the mouse. Users can now also paste bitmaps and metafiles from the clipboard within Sandboxie.

The update is rounded off with a number of bug fixes, including one that led to a blue screen of death, while NACL/NACL64 processes have also been added to the “lingering” list, which is used to manually terminate associated programs launched from inside the sandbox when it’s closed.

The new release comes just over a month after security developer invincea announced it had acquired Sandboxie, and is the original developer’s final contribution to the code before it’s handed over to invincea for future development.

Sandboxie 4.08 is available now as a function-limited shareware trial for Windows 2000 or later. Licenses start from €15 (around $20) for one year’s personal use at home.