Firestorm

The Firestorm Team announced last Friday (2/13) that they will be blocking their viewer version 4.6.1. Versions 4.6.5, 4.6.7 and 4.6.9 will be the only versions that can log into Second Life. They strongly advise that you upgrade to and use version 4.6.9.

Official Firestorm Announcement is here.

An exception is being made for version 4.4.2 on the Mac side. The problems from Apple’s change to Cocoa have been the reason for this version being allowed to stay on the grid. The Linden position is the problems are from Apple’s upgrades and they are fixed in new Apple Operating System (OS) versions. I understand the updates are free, so there is little reason not to upgrade. But, old hardware can be a problem. But, some decent machines are going for US$200 on eBay.

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The Firestorm (FS) team is tentatively planning a viewer release for March, which they hope will have all the Linden updates and bring FS current with the SL Viewer. There is some concern about whether the Lab will have Viewer Managed Marketplace (VMM) ready in time for the FS Team to integrate it into FS for the next release.

The anticipated release for VMM is near the FS feature freeze window for the March release date for FS’ new version. That means the FS people  have to rush the inclusion or delay the release, if the Lab hits their early release date, which could happen. I wouldn’t bet on it. But, I also wouldn’t bet against it. 

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We knew it was coming. Now it is out, Firestorm 4.6.9-42696. The first release out hit a snag. These issues were a problem for a number of people:

• FIRE-15122 Voice connection is lost after Teleport on OpenSim Grids
• FIRE-15110 rlva @getattach does not work
• FIRE-15101 Bottom toolbar buttons show in mouselook
• FIRE-15085 Object view not working in build 4.6.9.42969
• FIRE-14471 Editing quick prefs crash

If you go to get a new Firestorm version, you’ll find that only version 4.6.9-42974 is available for download. If you have version 42696 and are NOT having problems then there is no reason to get the slightly newer release. 

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Last Friday the at the Third Party Viewer Developers UG meeting we got some news.

The big news is that Firestorm is to release a new version of their viewer 12/10. Jessica said about 6PM. I am guessing that is SL Time (PST).

Jessica has posted an announcement explaining what is coming in this release and what is NOT going to be in it. A lot of things seen in other third party viewers are not going to make it into this release. There are:

• Group Ban – may be included
• SL Share
• AISv3
• HTTP

These are big improvements in the SL experience. But, they came with 6 bugs that the Firestorm team considers deal breakers. See the blog post for the list: Be Careful What You Wish For.

It seems Jessica is expecting some blow back from users. I expect she’ll get it. But, to rip on someone that is providing you what is arguably the best viewer available for Second Life and certainly the most popular, show serious ingratitude and a major personality defect.

I am disappointed that these important features are being left out of this release. But, I wrote earlier of the releases notes and ALL the STUFF being included in this release (See: Second Life News 2014-50 – scroll down toward the end of the article). There is no shortage of new stuff and fixed problems. Be grateful. I’ll have to deal with my disappointment and try not to rip too harshly on those that lack enough class to avoid venting their disappoint on others.