Firestorm Viewer Preview 2 – Review

Firestorm Preview 2
Toast Control - Great New Feature

Today a new release of the Firestorm Viewer Preview is out. This viewer is alpha, or even pre-alpha, software. So, only attempt using it if you want to experiment and help the Firestorm Development Team. The download link is available through the Firestorm-Phoenix Preview Group. The announcements have warnings one should read, so I’ll not providing a link to the download. If you want the viewer, join the group. If you want to know some things about the viewer and then decide, read on.

 

Download & Install Firestorm Viewer

The download size is about 26mb. You are warned to uninstall the previous Firestorm Viewer be installing. The Firestorm Viewer uninstall program with the previous version does a good job of removing the install. The cache and cache folder are removed, the program files and folder are removed with the option to preserve any files you may have added, and the skins are removed. You have an option to save (default) your chat logs or remove those too.

I did not have to manually remove any files. The uninstall and new install gave me a working viewer.

Once removed, I installed the new Preview 2 Viewer. I tried running it but got 1.4 FPS on the initial startup. Ugh. Reboot time. After the reboot I get 40 to 67 FPS in my cottage with the default settings from the install. So, do a reboot after you install.

The install changes the default handler for SLURL’s changing it to Firestorm Preview. So, clicking an SLURL in your browser, if you haven’t customized your browser, will call Firestorm. If you want to change your registry to change your default viewer see: Emerald Viewer vs SLURL. Otherwise, just reinstall your favorite viewer. The last viewer installed generally becomes the default handler for SLURL’s

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Firestorm Viewer 2.4.1.14579 Review

See the latest review: Firestorm Beta 2.5.2 (16922) Release Review

This release is the Preview Release of the Firestorm Viewer. This is still Preview 1. This not a Beta version, it is a preview. It is not intended for daily use. However, something like 1,200 people are using Preview 1 as their daily viewer. So, you may fall in love and over look its flaws. Whatever, this is my first look at the Firestorm Viewer Preview.

Firestorm Viewer Preview
Firestorm Viewer Preview

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Phoenix-Firestorm February Status

A new release of Phoenix Viewer is coming. This is a bug fix type release. There is another Preview of the Firestorm Viewer coming, Preview 2. The recent Phoenix Office Hour on Rezzed.tv covered many of the aspects of the viewers. One important point covered is the future of Profiles, which you REALLY need to read about. My summary of the hour’s content follows.

Rumors

Not that we ever have any in Second Life… But someone at Linden Lab has apparently talked about adding features from the Firestorm Viewer to the Snowstorm Viewer Project. Some bloggers are saying that means the Phoenix/Firestorm team has partnered with Linden Lab. That sort of implies a paper agreement. Jessica Lyon in the recent Phoenix Hour show says there is no formal partnership, no signed agreements. They are sharing code and features. After all that is the purpose of open source.

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Firestorm Viewer Preview

You can see a YouTube video that previews the coming Firestorm Viewer. If you don’t know, Firestorm is the next generation Phoenix Viewer based on series 2 code. The video shows how to work with the new Firestorm Viewer user interface. The video lasts 15 minutes.

[youtube 8MInIyHH0mU]

In world there is a Phoenix-Firestorm Group. JOIN

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