diff --git a/openlp/.version b/openlp/.version
index 998994b7f..eeef06aee 100644
--- a/openlp/.version
+++ b/openlp/.version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.9.5-bzr1421
\ No newline at end of file
+1.9.9-bzr1956
diff --git a/openlp/core/__init__.py b/openlp/core/__init__.py
index b6efd5595..71c27a1d0 100644
--- a/openlp/core/__init__.py
+++ b/openlp/core/__init__.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ from openlp.core.ui.firsttimeform import FirstTimeForm
 from openlp.core.ui.exceptionform import ExceptionForm
 from openlp.core.ui import SplashScreen, ScreenList
 from openlp.core.utils import AppLocation, LanguageManager, VersionThread, \
-    get_application_version, DelayStartThread
+    get_application_version
 
 
 __all__ = [u'OpenLP', u'main']
@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ class OpenLP(QtGui.QApplication):
             VersionThread(self.mainWindow).start()
         Receiver.send_message(u'live_display_blank_check')
         self.mainWindow.appStartup()
-        DelayStartThread(self.mainWindow).start()
         # Skip exec_() for gui tests
         if not testing:
             return self.exec_()
diff --git a/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py b/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
index e06c5ed32..594ce9623 100644
--- a/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
@@ -27,14 +27,15 @@
 """
 The :mod:`openlp.core.utils` module provides the utility libraries for OpenLP.
 """
+from datetime import datetime
+from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 import logging
 import os
 import re
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 import sys
 import time
 import urllib2
-from datetime import datetime
-from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 
 from PyQt4 import QtGui, QtCore
 
@@ -55,7 +56,6 @@ UNO_CONNECTION_TYPE = u'pipe'
 #UNO_CONNECTION_TYPE = u'socket'
 CONTROL_CHARS = re.compile(r'[\x00-\x1F\x7F-\x9F]', re.UNICODE)
 INVALID_FILE_CHARS = re.compile(r'[\\/:\*\?"<>\|\+\[\]%]', re.UNICODE)
-VERSION_SPLITTER = re.compile(r'([0-9]+).([0-9]+).([0-9]+)(?:-bzr([0-9]+))?')
 
 class VersionThread(QtCore.QThread):
     """
@@ -72,49 +72,8 @@ class VersionThread(QtCore.QThread):
         time.sleep(1)
         app_version = get_application_version()
         version = check_latest_version(app_version)
-        print app_version, version
-        remote_version = {}
-        local_version = {}
-        match = VERSION_SPLITTER.match(version)
-        if match:
-            remote_version[u'major'] = int(match.group(1))
-            remote_version[u'minor'] = int(match.group(2))
-            remote_version[u'release'] = int(match.group(3))
-            if len(match.groups()) > 3 and match.group(4):
-                remote_version[u'revision'] = int(match.group(4))
-        else:
-            return
-        match = VERSION_SPLITTER.match(app_version[u'full'])
-        if match:
-            local_version[u'major'] = int(match.group(1))
-            local_version[u'minor'] = int(match.group(2))
-            local_version[u'release'] = int(match.group(3))
-            if len(match.groups()) > 3 and match.group(4):
-                local_version[u'revision'] = int(match.group(4))
-        else:
-            return
-        if remote_version[u'major'] > local_version[u'major'] or \
-            remote_version[u'minor'] > local_version[u'minor'] or \
-            remote_version[u'release'] > local_version[u'release']:
+        if LooseVersion(str(version)) > str(app_version[u'full']):
             Receiver.send_message(u'openlp_version_check', u'%s' % version)
-        elif remote_version.get(u'revision') and \
-            local_version.get(u'revision') and \
-            remote_version[u'revision'] > local_version[u'revision']:
-            Receiver.send_message(u'openlp_version_check', u'%s' % version)
-
-
-class DelayStartThread(QtCore.QThread):
-    """
-    A special Qt thread class to build things after OpenLP has started
-    """
-    def __init__(self, parent):
-        QtCore.QThread.__init__(self, parent)
-
-    def run(self):
-        """
-        Run the thread.
-        """
-        Receiver.send_message(u'openlp_phonon_creation')
 
 
 class AppLocation(object):
@@ -182,6 +141,7 @@ class AppLocation(object):
         check_directory_exists(path)
         return path
 
+
 def _get_os_dir_path(dir_type):
     """
     Return a path based on which OS and environment we are running in.
@@ -221,6 +181,7 @@ def _get_os_dir_path(dir_type):
                 u'.openlp', u'data')
         return os.path.join(unicode(os.getenv(u'HOME'), encoding), u'.openlp')
 
+
 def _get_frozen_path(frozen_option, non_frozen_option):
     """
     Return a path based on the system status.
@@ -229,6 +190,7 @@ def _get_frozen_path(frozen_option, non_frozen_option):
         return frozen_option
     return non_frozen_option
 
+
 def get_application_version():
     """
     Returns the application version of the running instance of OpenLP::
@@ -308,6 +270,7 @@ def get_application_version():
         log.info(u'Openlp version %s' % APPLICATION_VERSION[u'version'])
     return APPLICATION_VERSION
 
+
 def check_latest_version(current_version):
     """
     Check the latest version of OpenLP against the version file on the OpenLP
@@ -341,6 +304,7 @@ def check_latest_version(current_version):
             version_string = remote_version
     return version_string
 
+
 def add_actions(target, actions):
     """
     Adds multiple actions to a menu or toolbar in one command.
@@ -358,6 +322,7 @@ def add_actions(target, actions):
         else:
             target.addAction(action)
 
+
 def get_filesystem_encoding():
     """
     Returns the name of the encoding used to convert Unicode filenames into
@@ -368,6 +333,7 @@ def get_filesystem_encoding():
         encoding = sys.getdefaultencoding()
     return encoding
 
+
 def get_images_filter():
     """
     Returns a filter string for a file dialog containing all the supported
@@ -384,6 +350,7 @@ def get_images_filter():
             visible_formats, actual_formats)
     return IMAGES_FILTER
 
+
 def split_filename(path):
     """
     Return a list of the parts in a given path.
@@ -394,6 +361,7 @@ def split_filename(path):
     else:
         return os.path.split(path)
 
+
 def clean_filename(filename):
     """
     Removes invalid characters from the given ``filename``.
@@ -405,6 +373,7 @@ def clean_filename(filename):
         filename = unicode(filename, u'utf-8')
     return INVALID_FILE_CHARS.sub(u'_', CONTROL_CHARS.sub(u'', filename))
 
+
 def delete_file(file_path_name):
     """
     Deletes a file from the system.
@@ -422,6 +391,7 @@ def delete_file(file_path_name):
         log.exception("Unable to delete file %s" % file_path_name)
         return False
 
+
 def get_web_page(url, header=None, update_openlp=False):
     """
     Attempts to download the webpage at url and returns that page or None.
@@ -458,6 +428,7 @@ def get_web_page(url, header=None, update_openlp=False):
     log.debug(page)
     return page
 
+
 def get_uno_command():
     """
     Returns the UNO command to launch an openoffice.org instance.
@@ -470,6 +441,7 @@ def get_uno_command():
         CONNECTION = u'"-accept=socket,host=localhost,port=2002;urp;"'
     return u'%s %s %s' % (COMMAND, OPTIONS, CONNECTION)
 
+
 def get_uno_instance(resolver):
     """
     Returns a running openoffice.org instance.