Software Update is a weak point in many apps. While a lot of Mac apps today are able to notify you of new updates, they do just that - nothing more. Heck, Waterfall Software is guilty of this itself. Updates are frequent and often a pain to install, so it would be obvious that something bigger is needed, right?

Delicious Library was one of the first major apps to include a self-updating feature, letting users download, unarchive, and install updates automatically. This was cool! But, it was exclusively Delicious Monster, and people immediately requested similar features in their other favorite apps. What was a lazy coder to do?

Well, Sparkle is a step in the right direction. It's an open source "plug-n-play" tool that you can quickly install in your Cocoa apps to get the immediate "auto install" functionality. It reads RSS feeds and uses WebKit to display recent changes. I have experimented with a bit and I have to say Andy Matuschuk did a great job making this a realistic future for Software Update. We are even considering putting it in our apps at Waterfall Software.

But what I'd really like to see is Apple open up Software Update to the masses. A framework, perhaps, to let developers plug their information into Apple's Software Update app. Honestly, this seems like the most obvious solution - and it hasn't been done yet. Leopard, maybe?

The next major release of Wallet is not far away! And...

...We're looking for beta testers who are capable of testing the heck out of the next version. Keep in mind that we're not looking for feature requests or ideas at this time, just show-stopping bugs. So, please don't apply if you don't plan to actually test the application. :)

If you think you're up to the task, head over and fill out the form at:
http://www.waterfallsw.com/beta/

If you're accepted, we'll let you know when the first betas are ready to be tested. Thanks!

EDIT: Beta form closed. Thanks everyone!

I've experimented with a few different color schemes and decided to go with a blue theme this year. The top leaves are now gone and everything is a bit more...well, blue! Expect a few changes in the coming weeks, though.

As well, Typeset 3.0.2 is now out. It's our first Universal Binary release and we're working on getting most of our other applications ported over very soon.