Firestorm 4.4.0 On the Way

Update: The viewer has been released as 4.4.0 (33720) today about 3 PM SLT or PDT. Download: Firestorm Major Update.

I’ve been hearing rumors that a new release of the Firestorm Viewer is imminent. Some expected it Sunday. Some are saying today. We will have to wait and see when it releases. I expect it soon, like today. But, that could be wishful thinking on several people’s part.

But, we do not have to wait to see what is in this release. As part of a release the development team builds release notes. The team tries to do things professionally and have everything ready for users, including the viewer’s release notes. It usually is not too hard to find those once one knows a release is imminent.

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Wackadoodles

These wackadoodle people show up in so many places… it gets infuriating. I see where Jessica Lyon responded to one in the Firestorm Viewer blog. I mention this because I am impressed by her statesman like response. Well done Jessica.

The blog article is announcing the re-opening of the Firestorm Viewer’s Preview Group. This is a group that will get Firestorm’s Beta version of their viewer. The team wants people that will help them test the viewer before it goes to main release.

Just as the Lab rolls server updates to 30% of the main grid for testing in a more diverse environment so too, the FS Team needs a larger selection of equipment and driver versions running their viewer before making a final release.

So, if you are interested in helping the team, check out: Feeling Brave? If you are NOT willing to file JIRA bug reports, please don’t bother.

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Viewers Update 2013-10

It has been a while since I took a look at a number of viewers. Rather than post them separately, I’ve lumped them together, except for Nirans. I had not used it for months, so I expected lots of changes.

SL Viewers

The main Linden Viewer is still at version 3.4.5 (270263), pre CHUI (Chat Hub User Interface). I seldom use the Beta Viewer now. It is more of a fall back viewer for when a Development Viewer version has problems. This morning the Beta is at version 3.5.0 (271345). The Development Viewer had been at version 3.5.1 (270826) for about 10 days. Today it updated to 3.5.1 (271386).

I am still fighting with the CHUI update to keep it the size I WANT IT. Other than sizing problems I like the new CHUI. The new build 271386 seems to have some of the sizing problems fixed.

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Firestorm Q&A Video Released

The video of the Firestorm Team’s Q&A meeting has been released. Pantera Polnocy* made the video and posted it on YouTube. The video runs 2 hours 16 minutes. I left about 90 minutes into the meeting.

[youtube 8_B8iWQ46Wg]

I won’t be providing an index. I have other fun things to do.

*If you try to find Pantera Polnocy in SL, leave out the space.

Firestorm Q&A Meeting Summary

It looked like most of the development was there. The meeting was in voice. Questions were asked in local chat. Jessica Lyon was facilitating. She worked through the chat to answer most of the questions. Team members were also answering chat questions.

FS Q&A Meeting Feb 13, 2013
FS Q&A Meeting Feb 13, 2013

I think most of the audience was Firestorm (FS) fans. The meeting was civil and moved quickly without snide remarks or cheap shots, a nice thing for the team. It went well and was well done, I think.

Jessica took 15 to 20 minutes to start the meeting with news of coming things and to provide a warning.

As you might expect, the team is getting lots of questions about Server Side Avatar Baking (SSAB). The FS viewer will support it, eventually. For now FS is not yet merging the Lab’s SSAB code with the FS main build channel. Internally the team has merged to the Lab’s version 3.4.5. Jessica tells us that the internal version of FS is pretty bad off. It crashes often. The current release is far better than the current internal builds.

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