7.20.2005

Firefox 1.0.6 is released

It's not my intention to blog every single release of Firefox or any other piece of software, but because I noted the release of Firefox 1.0.5 just a week ago I felt obliged to point out the release of 1.0.6 today. While Firefox 1.0.5 implemented several security fixes, 1.0.6 is characterized in the release notes as "stability update", to wit: "Restore[s] API compatibility for extensions and web applications that did not work in Firefox 1.0.5." In other words, we broke something and now we've fixed it. Maybe this should've been caught in the pre-release testing of 1.0.5, but a fix within a week is still pretty good. Download from www.mozilla.org.

7.15.2005

Atom 1.0

From ongoing, via kottke.org remainders: The Atom feed specification is about to go to 1.0. The link to the comparison of RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 is worth following if you're interested in the differences, or read the actual Internet-Draft document for all the details.

7.13.2005

Windows Installer Team Blog

"As part of the ongoing MSDN Communities effort, the Windows Installer Team is pleased to announce the creation of the Windows Installer Team Blog." Find it at blogs.msdn.com/Windows_Installer_Team/. The Windows Installer Team has already been active in MSDN Chats for quite some time. I'm glad to see the new blog, too. Subscribed.

7.12.2005

Firefox 1.0.5 is released

Firefox 1.0.5 of has been released and is available for download here. The release notes indicate this is primarily a security update. The list of issues addressed by this release is here.

7.10.2005

NewsGator acquires FeedDemon Redux

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that my favorite RSS feed reader is Nick Bradbury's FeedDemon. In fact, I liked it so much I awarded it my first Insanely Great Software recognition back in February.

You also know that my initial reaction to the news that Nick had sold his company to NewsGator a couple of months ago was not very positive. That reaction was based largely on my concern that FeedDemon would lose its stand-alone capabilities and become subscription software used to sell NewsGator's services.

Last Wednesday, July 6th, those concerns were realized when Nick announced on his blog that yes, indeed, FeedDemon would become subscription-based software. A careful reading of the related blog post by NewsGator CTO and founder Greg Reinacker, in which he explains the rationale behind the software-by-subscription model, revealed that not only would FeedDemon become subsription software but it would effectively cease working -- you wouldn't be able to retrieve any new content -- if you allowed your subscription to expire. To me, it looked like the end of FeedDemon as we know it.

But, fortunately, that's not the end of the story. One reason I've always been a fan of Nick's software, besides its great design and functionality, is his responsiveness to customers' ideas and concerns.

And the good news is, that hasn't changed.

In his July 6th announcment, Nick acknowledged the decision to switch FeedDemon to a subscription model might cause some concerns, and he asked for feedback from users. Predictably, he got it, and, not surprisingly, the comments were mostly opposed.

Nick and NewsGator really did listen.

On July 8th, not two days after the original announcement, Nick blogged that based on the comments they'd received, the decision had been reconsidered and reversed.

The result is that FeedDemon will be able to take advantage of NewsGator's subscription services, such as server-based synchronization, as long as you continue to pay for the service, but FeedDemon won't stop working if you decide to let the subscription lapse.

This is good news for both FeedDemon and its users. I'm now looking forward to trying out the new services, knowing I still have choice down the road. Kudos to both Nick and NewsGator for getting it right.

RSS Feeds for Microsoft KB Articles

Microsoft is now providing RSS feeds for its Knowledge Base (KB) articles. The feeds are organized by product, making it easy to subscribe only to those of interest. Visual FoxPro developers will find individual feeds for VFP 7.0, VFP 8.0, and VFP 9.0, and of course there are also individual feeds for the Visual Studio languages and tools (both .NET and 6.0), SQL Server, Office, and whole lot more. You can start with the introductory page at support.microsoft.com/gp/rsshelp or go directly to the full index of feeds at support.microsoft.com/selectindex/?target=rss.

7.08.2005

Free ASP.NET Training from Microsoft®

Spotted on the MSDN home page: For a limited time, Microsoft is offering for free the online training course entitled "Developing Microsoft® ASP.NET Web Applications Using Visual Studio® .NET". Information and registration at msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/learn/asptraining/.