Also: to whoever decided to post the newest versions to MacUpdate: shame on you! I purposely did not post them to either MacUpdate or VersionTracker because they are still very much beta versions, much more so than 0.6x was. I wanted people to read the disclaimer before downloading.

A somewhat complete change log:

• New Installer.
  The installer has finally been replaced. Now I'm using Apple's Installer program again. The actual reason I created a custom one in the first place was to offer user-specific installs. This is not allowed for InputManagers in Leopard, and thus I'm no longer supporting this in the installer either. I apologize if this affects someone negatively.
• New SIMBL.
  Many people filed reports telling me about the new version of SIMBL, and that AcidSearch's bundle had the wrong version number in it. This is now corrected. You can now use either SIMBL or PlugSuit, but don't use both at the same time.
• Bug Fixes.
  The search bar no longer is sluggish to accept text (thanks Max)!
  Issue with right-clicking on Bookmarks Bar fixed
  Many other minor issues corrected.

I guess that's about it. The search window looks a tiny bit different now.

Download AcidSearch 0.7b3

Here's the deal. I spent some time recently getting the AcidSearch 0.7 beta working on both Safari 3 beta, and the final version of Safari 3 in Leopard. It's pretty buggy still, but the main features do work, so it should be a decent stopgap for those of you willing to deal with its bugs. You can download it from the following link:

Download AcidSearch 0.7 beta 2

If you are running Leopard, there's one additional caveat you should be aware of, namely that in Leopard, Apple has officially deprecated InputManagers (the way that AcidSearch adds its features to Safari). So, it likely won't work on your system when you run the installer. However, you can download Infinity Labs' PlugSuit to get the plugin running. I'm currently investigating the best alternative for a one-click installer, so please be patient.

There are several known issues with this beta that you should be aware of:

* The Recent Searches tab in the prefs is pretty much useless right now, as is the Find As You Type tab (since Safari 3 adds its own Find As You Type). I'd avoid both for the time being.

* I'm officially dropping support for Safari 1 & 2 as of this release. I will still offer older versions that are compatible, but I can't take the time to test on more than two different systems (currently a G5 running Tiger and a MacBook Pro running Leopard).

* Occasionally, a bug will crop up when rearranging channels that causes Safari to crash.

* Many buttons in the new preferences window do not actually work.

Please send your bug reports and feature requests through the following form, not through email. Bug reports and feature requests received via email will most likely be ignored. You've been warned:
AcidSearch Bug Reports

As for 0.7, which is slowly feeling like Duke Nukem Forever, it's almost ready for beta-testing. Contact me by email if you are interested. I have a screenshot of the current test build's new preferences screen, as a sort of teaser. Enjoy.

Many of you probably think that AcidSearch 0.7 is vaporware. I can say this: contrary to popular belief, I am working on a new version, and it is coming along well. There will be new features in it that make it worth it. That said, I do have things in my life that are more important to me than my freeware hobby, and they continue to take precedent.

I'd really like to take a moment to thank everyone who has supported my work, by whatever means, be it consistent Safari crash reports (yes, I'm looking at you, Chris), or donations, or prods on the status of 0.7, or even just a thanks email. I really do appreciate all of these efforts, and they help me continue putting time into an otherwise rather fruitless endeavor. This is not a joke; I probably would not keep doing this, if it weren't for you guys. Developing freeware really can be a thankless job. Those of you who positively support me are what makes it worth it.

Download AcidSearch 0.62]]> http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2006/04/acidsearch_062.html http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2006/04/acidsearch_062.html Sun, 16 Apr 2006 18:30:13 -0700 Development is coming along well. It is just taking a lot longer than I expected. I have been redoing a majority of the code from scratch, in an effort to remove bugs. However, I do have significant progress, it's just not enough to justify a release.

And yes, 0.7 will be a Universal Binary. However, I don't have an intel Mac, so those of you who do, I would appreciate it if you sent me bug reports once 0.7 is out.

I will be setting up a bug report ticket system (probably similar to Bugzilla) on the site, I think, as I've gotten a bit overwhelmed trying to use just email.

I will be releasing updates soon, now that I have more time on my hands. There will be another minor release of AcidSearch (0.62). I had wanted to get 0.7 done before releasing, but this fixes a rather glaring bug in AcidSearch 0.61--the loss of channel image downloading.

Also, I've had problems with my email lately, so if you haven't received a response, please resend your message (but be gentle).]]> http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2005/12/post.html http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2005/12/post.html Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:09:01 -0700

UPDATE: AcidSearch 0.61 is available in Japanese, traditional Chinese, and Italian. Thanks guys!

UPDATE 2: AcidSearch 0.61 is now available in French as well.]]> http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2005/10/acidsearch_061.html http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2005/10/acidsearch_061.html Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:48:37 -0700

• SnapBack fixed (for most channels)
• New Search Channel Repository, where you can share channels with others
• Set the encoding for individual search channels
• Change the color of Find As You Type's selection

The Search Channel Repository is an experimental community where you can share your search channels with others. Feel free to upload any channels you may have and post your comments! There is no documentation for this repository yet, so please email me if you have questions. To open the repository click the "More Channels..." button in the Edit Search Channels window.

• No, I haven't died yet.
• New AcidSearch is in the works. Nothing really exciting, except a new experimental "community" where you will be able to share your channels with other AcidSearch users.
• I've been working on contract work, as well as going to school full-time, so I have not had as much time to work on my software as I would like. However, please feel free to ask me questions via email.

That's it. Also, I should let you folks know that AcidSearch 0.4+ works with Safari 2.0.1 (as John Adair wondered in a previous comment).

• Press Return to follow a selected link
• Input Box works properly in Tiger
• Down arrow in search field works properly in Tiger
• Edit Search Channels window redesigned
• Copy/Paste channel images
• Create search channels using the POST method
• Set the quick search to automatically open a new window/tab
• Automatically checks for new versions

UPDATE: The Japanese and traditional Chinese localizations have been added.]]> http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2005/07/acidsearch_05.html http://www.pozytron.com/archives/2005/07/acidsearch_05.html Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:37:13 -0700 Since better is a relative term, it turns out that the reason my laptop crashed recently is that the hard drive is slowly failing. At this point it is almost completely trashed, and does not boot whatsoever. I have backed up my source code, so it will not be lost, but it will probably be awhile before I can afford to get my computer fixed—and consequently, work on my software will have to be postponed.

I have access to a friend's Mac and will be setting up a user account on it as a temporary way to access my email and the web. It's possible that I may be able to install Xcode on there and work on my software, but that will depend on a couple of things, so more on that later. This would be the best-case-scenario for the time being.

However, since Mathematica was ported from the ground up in two hours, I fear little that there will be problems. Unless of course, Apple has changed the InputManager framework, which I doubt. The "Rosetta" structure to translate existing apps from PowerPC to Intel seems fast enough. Though Apple not only requires at least select memberships, $499, to buy their transition kit, the kit itself is $999. This is, obviously, way too steep for me as a donationware author. Looks like you may have to wait until 2006 to see live versions of my software.

Whatever.

It is, however, amazing to see "Rosetta" running faster and more seamlessly than either Virtual PC or Classic. It would be seemingly quite easy to create a Wine-like kit for OS X-Intel allowing you to run Windows apps at near-native speeds. This would be, indeed, the killer feature. If the new version of OS X, Leopard, slated to ship at the same time as Longhorn doesn't include this functionality, Apple will be making a serious mistake. However, if they do, it could be the first seriously Windows-killing feature in a long time.

However, I sensed a sort of hopeful blind-jumpingness (perhaps like Lemmings?) in both Steve and the developers at the conference. This is a change of the biggest separator between Windows and OS X. In fact, this lowers one of the boundaries that truely defined "Mac" for the last 21 years. Will Mac survive this transition? I believe so, most definitely. And while I could be one of the lemmings, I think it is quite possible that this will be the strongest Apple has been in some time.

Why such a delay in any updates to the site, email, and software for a while? Multiple reasons. I moved from Greeley back to Denver and I plan to move into a friend's house. I also went on an unexpected trip to Boston (my friend Marcus couldn't go and had non-refundable tickets). I now am also ridiculously in-debt now to the credit card companies, so you may not see much of me for a while. I have to apologize, but working at a "real job" has to be my primary priority at this point. I will not stop working on AcidSearch or my other products, but the updates may be fewer.

Thank you to everyone for your unending support!