Thursday, October 04, 2007

Two Letters: GM

The time has come...

We've finally released our GM client! None of this beta [insert # here] stuff - this is the real deal! So if you were weary (which you shouldn't have been since our Betas are solid), it's time to get in on the good stuff and worry no more.

I've been pretty good at keeping you up-to-date with our changes throughout our Betas so I'll let you explore this one for yourself. A lot of fit and finish...depth in features...and some hardcore security fixes.

Hardcore Security Fixes?

Let me explain. Recently, AIM along with some of our major competitors, both web and desktop, have come under scrutiny for some vulnerabilities that have been exploited. We've executed on these quickly and effectively. We're also being preemptive with possible future exploits. It should be noted that these vulnerabilities aren't easily exploited but are there nonetheless...and we take that very seriously.

So there you have it, not only did we improve performance, buggyness, and all out quality, but we've patched some holes along the way.

AIM 6.5 - Get on it!

Many Thanks and Happy AIM'ing!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Bay Ta 3 - Al Red E?

I know, my rhyming skills are horrible, but trust me, we've Beta 3'd already! As promised, quicker turn around time with some promising client value.

Let's get straight to the point. Changes:

Status Messages - Nearly done! In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the core Status Message feature sets we wanted are in...minor ones will come in future releases. For those of you that downloaded Beta 1 and/or 2:

1) Thanks :)
2) You'll be happy to see that buddies with no status message don't show "available" under their name. Gives you a whole lot of Buddy List real estate so you can stalk away with Buddy Info and buddy clicking!

I made some other changes to the top of the Buddy List that will make more sense for your Status and Away Message needs. And by the way, the top changes color with the different themes you set now! ;)

Installer Games - I'll be honest. I was an early beta tester of this and I was hooked! Billiards is absolutelyyyy addictttingggg!!! Try it out. You'll lose track of time!

Design Enhancements - You'll see tweaks to our design. This includes changes to color, frames, and icons. If you're a UI guy or gal, trust me, you'll notice.

There are some other changes that I'll be addressing shortly. Not that I'm bragging *cough* but I think it's worth the download for Status Messages alone. :D

Click here for Beta 3

Get on it!!!

Thanks and Happy AIMing!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

We're Bringing Proxy Back!

Okay, okay...

I know that was a corny allusion to Justin Timberlake's "I'm Bringing Sexy Back", but I couldn't resist. I'm just excited to have Port and Proxy back in the client and it's here for your use in our latest beta which has just gone live!

AIM 6 Beta 2!!!

Key Features:

1) Connection Settings - Firewalls or Proxy holding you back? Click on the "Settings" link on the sign on window and maybe we can help you out. Don't try this at work! *cough cough*

2) Status Messages - Yea, they were in before...but hidden. Now we have it exposed and ready for consumption. I'm stoked to see what the public uses them for...it'll be very interesting. And, yes, more changes will come in Beta 3 such as the collapsing of status text for buddies who have not actually typed one in (more buddy list real estate).

3) Flyout on yourself - It's not quite a Batman move, but it's useful! Hover over your screen name in the Buddy List and find some useful options. Let's face it, you know you like stalking yourself on your own buddy list! ;)

As always, there are some other changes here and there as well as some bug fixes. Download, install, and tell me what you think!

Thanks and Happy AIMing!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Status Messages!

Hi All,

So, as said in the post prior, we finally have Status Messages in AIM 6, but it's still in its early stage and hidden because of this. But hey, why not check the code in and let some of you have a taste right? ;)

To enable status messages, go to:

C:\program files\aim6\services\imApp\ver6_2_14_2\resources\en-US

and open up strings.xml with your favorite text editor.

Search for the following string: (shouldn't be too far down)

imApp.showStatusMessages

Now change the '0' to '1'. Exit AIM and restart.

You'll see a bunch of text under every buddy's screen name...and you'll find a way to set your status message in the "Away Menu Dropdown" next to "Set Away".

Unfortunately, because this feature is supposed to be hidden, I had to keep some of the styling the same so it doesn't look too "pretty" in the buddy list (doesn't look pretty at all to be quite honest with myself ;) ). Also, because no one really knows of its existence, you probably will not find too many people with actual "status messages" set.

But hey, like I said, it's just a taste.

I hope to see a few "Available - I love AIM!"s out there :D

Enjoy and Many Thanks for the support.

Happy AIMing and enjoy/remember Memorial Day.

Beta Fun :)

Hi All,

Once again, it has been awhile, but I'm excited to say that we'll be getting beta's out more consistently, with greater functional reliability, and with features worth the download...this first beta is our first step in that direction.

What's in 6.2.14.2?

Offline Settings - Ever find it inconvenient that you had to sign on in order to set a preference? Well now you don't have to - settings that are local to your machine are now available offline.

Metrics - Okay, this really isn't user facing but it's just as important as if it weas. Those arguments we've had about button usage, item positioning, etc...this will help settle some of the scores. I'm looking forward to this adding more insight in the way our users interact with AIM and having some of the higher ups understand what our users REALLY want.

Status Messages - Ever want to post an away message without actually being away? Well now you can...sorta. We have the feature hidden because it's a considerably large task to deliver in a single beta. In a post following this, I'll show you how to enable status messages just so you can get a taste of where it's going.

There are a few other things but those 3 are the ones that stick out most. Again, this is only the first beta in a series that will lead to our actual GM build, but come Beta 2, I hope you see why you stuck around. ;)

Get it here at beta.aol.com

Thanks Everyone and Happy AIMing!