second-life-viewer
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Second Life viewer for Linux goes beta
Yes, we know that technically it's already been beta since 6 February 2006. However, Cory Ondrejka called that a an alpha test, so we're willing to more or less go with that. The Linux Second Life viewer entered closed alpha, and open alpha a mere four days later. Now, just over two years later, the Linux viewer is finally considered to have entered the beta phase. With the introduction of gstreamer support for media, and 3D voice support, the viewer has finally achieved comparable functionality with the viewers for Mac and for Windows -- only it runs faster and smoother. On average about 15% faster on the same hardware than the Windows version based on our tests. Four days from closed alpha to open alpha, then 25 months to open beta. How long until production, we wonder.
Linden Lab advises urgent upgrade from 1.19.0(4)
For those of you who downloaded and are running the 1.19.0(4) release of the Second Life viewer that became available yesterday, Linden Lab advises that there is an unspecified security problem. Linden Lab have rushed out a fixed version, 1.19.0(5), which you can get from the usual places right away. Alternatively you can use an earlier viewer - just not the 1.19.0(4) version. Linden Lab says they are not aware of any actual exploitation of the security flaw at this stage.
RealXtend releases updated software
Barely a fortnight after their initial version 0.1 software, Finnish developer RealXtend (in conjunction with OpenSim, Admino Technologies and LudoCraft - I think we might have to just start calling it the 'RealXtend Project' in future to save on typing) has released the next version of their software. An avatar portability system that allows your avatar to be transferred to any compatible world where you have an account is definitely a handy feature now that additional Second Life style grids are starting to spring up all over. "We have been testing and fixing bugs as much as possible and we have a few new major features. One of the new features is the Avatar system, under RealXtend your avatar has been completely redesigned to support transfer between virtual worlds. Earlier avatar systems used by other virtual worlds have been tied to one world or grid only and could not travel with the user," said RealXtend project manager Jani Pirkola. RealXtend's viewer is licensed under the GNU GPLv2 (sans quicktime components), and all the server-side code as a part of OpenSim is under the BSD license, which is a very broadly permissive open source license.
Second Life viewer 1.19.0(4) released
The Second Life 1.19.0 release candidates have been finalized and have now been released as the official viewer. This release brings experimental voice support to Linux, and fixes over 100 bugs. There's some concern that the mandatory requirement of QuickTime 7.4 may prevent users of Windows 2000 from running the viewer. Adding -noquicktime to the target in the shortcut properties may help those users get online, albeit without streaming video.
Second Life Windlight headed for release
Soft Linden said today that Windlight, which has been confined to Second Life's First Look preview viewers until now, is now on track to release and will appear in the first 1.19.1 release candidate. No timeframe has been provided, but it appears we can expect the 1.19.0(RC4) release candidate to become the official viewer any time now and the first 1.19.1 release candidate viewer to be in front of users around the same time. That puts Windlight's improved rendering pipeline only a few weeks away (approximately) from winding up in the mainline official viewer. Oh, there's some pretty eye-candy there too as a nice side-effect.
Solaris native Second Life viewers
Jeff Barr brings us the news that Second Life user Clark Dastardly has released not one, but two Solaris viewers for Second Life. One viewer is for Solaris 10 and the other for Solaris Nevada/OpenSolaris. The viewers are ready to be downloaded from Amazon's S3 file-service. Neither contains voice (Vivox doesn't supply any Solaris client). The Solaris Nevada version, however does support Gstreamer. These viewers aren't provided or endorsed by Linden Lab, so be as careful as you would be with any other third-party software, okay?
New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.0(RC4)
Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.0 release candidate viewer, 1.19.0(RC4), fifth in the 1.19.0 series (release candidates start counting from zero, rather than from one). We've only got two fixes in this release, so it looks like it is the last. If this release passes the acid-test of being in front of users, there wouldn't seem to be any barrier to releasing this as the official viewer later in the week or early next.
New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.0(RC3)
Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.0 release candidate viewer, 1.19.0(RC3), fourth in the 1.19.0 series (release candidates start counting from zero, so this is RC3, rather than RC2). This release looks to be getting close to final, fixing only a handful of items. Best guess would be that this version will become the official viewer some time next week, unless some showstopper bug is reported.
New Second Life Dazzle release: 1.19.0(80267)
Dazzle (the Linden Lab project for updating the appearance of the Second Life viewer, and not the fashion brand) has made it into a separate First Look preview viewer, rather than being a manual download and install. Linden Lab's Dazzle project serves two purposes; one being a graphical overhaul of the Second Life user-interface, and the other being to further develop the interfaces that allow the user-interface to be reworked, reskinned and customized.
New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(80044)
The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated for the second time this week. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here. More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Not too many Windlight-specific changes in this release. The largest change involves building this against the 1.19.0(RC2) code-base and inheriting the bug-fixes from there. Interestingly, Linden Lab announces this to be version 80042, whereas the actual download is 80044. Additionally, the chat font now seems to be in bold.
New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.0(RC2)
Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.0 release candidate viewer, 1.19.0(RC2), third in the 1.19.0 series (release candidates start counting from zero, so this is RC2, rather than RC3). This release fixes some freezes when opening the map, UI issues, compilation problems under g++ v4, focus and hotkey problems with the communicate window, and more.
New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(79674)
The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here. More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Mac Users are urged to update to 10.5.2 - twice, apparently to get the proper drivers installed and running. Mostly the fixes this release are somewhat pedestrian, but it is good to see them all the same, despite the fact that the Linden Lab blog post didn't list all the changes.
New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.0(RC1)
We were expecting Friday, but apparently Thursday has brought us a new 1.19.0 release candidate viewer, 1.19.0(RC1), second in the 1.19.0 series (release candidates start counting from zero, so this is RC1, rather than RC2). The fixes in this release are mostly relatively minor (unless you're Korean, in which case the last release blew up in your face when you tried to start it). So far, release candidate viewers have not included Windlight, and this release is no exception.
New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(79185)
The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here. More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. This is the first Windlight build released on the 1.19.0 base code, which will please a lot of people to see. A lot of ATI problems sorted out, but only with the latest Catalyst drivers (8.1-57717, we presume), also some Mac performance and general lighting improvements.
Second Life release candidate 1.19.0(RC0) released. Again.
After the weekend's somewhat premature release of Second Life release candidate viewer 1.19.0(RC0), the viewer has been released a second time. As near as we can tell, it's actually exactly the same binary that you already downloaded over the weekend, if you were one of the ones who got it then. You might have just a little difficulty actually downloading it, as everything but the Linden blog (which is hosted elsewhere) is choking due to an apparent ongoing failure with the redirectors, but this has been coming and going in bursts and should clear up soon.
New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.77495
The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here. More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Major highlights include a bundle of fixes for some Mac bugs/crashes, which appear to have a flow-on effect of also producing improved frame-rates for other systems. There are still a couple of major outstanding issues for MacBook Pro users that are in Apple's court right now, but fixes appear to be on the way for those.
New Second Life release candidate viewer 1.18.6(RC4)
Linden Lab have just released a new release candidate view for Second Life, the fifth in the 1.18.6 series (release candidates start counting from zero, so this is RC4, rather than RC5). This release delivers an lot of bug-fixes, while also being the last release before the rollback of the login system to the vanilla XUI-based login that features in 1.18.5 and earlier viewers.
New Second Life viewer authentication - on hold
Linden Lab's Tess Chu announced this-morning that the new Second Life viewer authentication system currently in testing on 1.18.6 codebases (Release Candidates and First Look Windlight) is "postponed". Several reasons are given - what it means for Second Life users is that the login system will revert back to the old system, as soon as possible - which may not be all that soon, as apparently it will be a lot of work to put the old login system into the revised codebase and test everything again.
New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.76886
The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here. More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Major highlights include fixes for some Mac bugs/crashes, fix for the big black bands/rings in the sky, and rendering fixes for water, tree-lighting, and distant terrain.
New Second Life release candidate 1.18.6(RC2)
Linden Lab have just released a new release candidate view for Second Life, the third in the 1.18.6 series (release candidates start counting from zero, so this is RC2, rather than RC1). This release provides additional security checks on QuickTime versions, conceals age-verification status in profiles, fixes up some login issues and wind-sounds and adds proxy configuration support.
