Opensource Obscure has been warning us a new login screen was coming. It seems to be here. It came up in my SLViewer (2.8.3) this morning.
You can see what appears on the new screen here: http://viewer-login.agni.lindenlab.com/
The old screen can be seen here: http://secondlife.com/app/login – that may soon redirect to the new screen.
The New Splash Screen
Older viewers may still use the old splash screen and some Third Party Viewers (TPV) will too. The rumor is the URL redirection will at some point be set to allow the new splash screen on older viewers.
Some TPV’s will switch over from their own screen. Some will likely create custom splash screens.
I often use the SLV Development viewer. I’m on one of the version 2.8.3 builds. So, I have a sense of how well it is or is not working. But, that tells me nothing about planning for the viewer. For that information I rely on the Office Hour or as it is now called the Viewer Evolution User Group meeting. Recently that meeting has not been happening. Actually for the last two weeks the Lindens are not showing up. This group was one of the most informative and communicative. Now it is one of the worse if not the worst. So, it is hard to know what is going on with the Linden Lab viewer.
Viewers to be Blocked
Opensource Obscure noticed in the wiki a note in the 2.8.0 viewer release notes about versions of the SLViewer 2 series being blocked. Viewers from version 2.1.1 to version 2.6.8 will be blocked at logon. As the Lindens have promised the 1.23.x viewers are excluded and will be able to login.
I think there are enough code changes and new features in Second Life that one needs a 2.7 or better viewer to get the most out of SL. The blocked viewers are using support services that will likely be turned off in the coming days.
Lots of things are breaking loose. New features are coming and new Project Viewers are being released. Some interesting stuff.
WindLight
A new Project Viewer is out that incorporates the region controls for WindLight settings. There is a SL Wiki page for the project: Windlight Region Settings Project Viewer. There are Windows, Mac, and Linux versions. Of course this viewer feature is only useful if you have control of a region. There is lots of information about the new feature and how it works on the same page.
Update: Lindens announce Project Viewer for Estate Windlight 6/13 Link
New Windlight Testers Group
The purpose of this feature is to allow region owners to set the environment for their region. Residents that use the viewer’s default environment setting will see the region as the owner intends. So, you can see how regions with Windlight settings work.
The feature is incomplete. But, it allows some testing to begin. For those testing Oz Linden wants them to join the “Windlight Region Testers” group. With the newer viewers with updated search you can select GROUPS and find it. But, there is no link for use in chat or email. There is a cut, copy, and paste, if one right clicks, but they don’t work. Annoying.
The ability to set region Windlight is already in all servers on the main grid. For those that awnt to see a region with Windlight setting changes visit: BlakOpal region, Caledon, Hippo Hollow and Hippotropolis.
The Development Viewer is an Alpha level version that users can test. A recent release of it has a couple of changes to the cache. Cache size has been increased to 10gb. There is now a real Cache Clear button that actually clears the cache.
The operation of the previous Cache Reset button was confusing. It has been renamed to better represent its action, Default Location, which resets the cache’s location to the default location.
The changes and new buttons have been moved from the Setup tab to the Advanced tab. Me→ Preferences → Advanced.
Chat Logs are saved by some residents. To facilitate saving logs there is a control to allow you to have the viewer use a location other than the default location. While it seems odd to me, the setting is on the Privacy tab. Me → Preferences → Privacy.
Search – The new search is in this version of the viewer. It still has some oddities. When searching for people use the People filter. Otherwise names and display names can make it hard to find a person.
Once a week or more often I upgrade to a new version of the Snowstorm Development Viewer. It is one of these versions that eventually becomes the next Beta Viewer. This version has a couple of features I’ve been expecting.
Update: The SL Viewer 2.7.0 Beta is out and the 2.7.1 version is the same.
Graphics
Kirsten’s viewer has had dynamic shadows revealed as Preference settings for some time. Now this version of the SLV has the settings out where users can turn them on and off. In the left column of settings in the Graphics tab you’ll see the new settings.
Lighting & Shadows – This setting will be grayed out if your hardware does not support it or if Atmospheric Shaders are disabled (another setting in Preferences). Turning this feature on should engage deferred rendering. You should see little difference in the render, but the image should look better. The impact on Frames Per Second (FPS) while using medium power hardware should be small if even noticeable. There is a major improvement on the number of lights rendered. Previously 6 or 8 was the max. It is unclear how many can be handled now. In the past months we have seen over 200 render in tests. (See: KirstenLee Viewer S20(40) Released) The quality of Avatar Impostures improves. You probably won’t realize when your viewer is or isn’t using impostures. Shiny and Bright should look better.
I suspect most of us ignore the Basic Mode in the SL Viewer. However, the Lab isn’t. They are studying and figuring out how to change the viewer to make entering #SL easier for new users. A recent change…
Voice
The Basic Mode Viewer in its latest incarnation has voice. It is disabled by default. There is a microphone button that is clicked to popup a menu allowing one to enable it and select input and output devices. It replaces the Speak button we have in Advanced mode.
Destinations
The Destinations Guide at the bottom now shows the number of destinations in category. Once a category is selected the number people in a region is displayed.
