I’m pleased to announce that NewsFire 1.1 is now available as a beta download. This is a beta release, so all the usual caveats apply.

The changes are pretty straightforward, actually – NewsFire 1.1 is all about podcasts. While 1.0 supported podcasts/audio enclosures using an embedded QuickTime widget, version 1.1 builds on a substantially enhanced download and play mechanism that can essentially be described as a fusion of an iTunes/QuickTime player interface with a Safari-esque download window (see: screenshot). The great thing is that this podcast functionality is largely kept out of the main window and thus does not pollute the primary news reading experience.

To complement the enhanced podcasting features, NewsFire now includes an “Audio” tab in the search pane, allowing you to quickly and effortlessly find audio content across the blogosphere.

On an unrelated note, NewsFire 1.1 has changed the restrictions in place on unregistered versions. Newsfire 1.1 no longer has an absolute launch limit – that is, you can run it unregistered forever, if your conscience allows that sort of freeloading. In exchange for this generously relaxed condition, nags are more frequent and feed limits more stringently enforced. This is, of course, an attempt to keep NewsFire accessible to the largest audience, while still providing strong incentives for people to register. It goes without saying that registration not only gives the user the best possible experience, it is the only way that future development of NewsFire can be funded.

I’m receiving an inordinate number of emails stating that Acquisition will not connect after running the Mac OS X 10.3.9. This has nothing to do with Acquisition. Rather, it appears that the 10.3.9 installer is, for many people, horribly broken. This is quite clearly an OS issue that affects all applications using Java, including Safari.

This issue is well documented on many Mac support sites and it is strongly recommended that you follow their guidance. Failing that, contact Apple support directly.

Note that this is not universal – I for one have not had any issues following the 10.3.9 upgrade. That said, my advice is this:

Do not, under any circumstances, install Mac OS X 10.3.9 until Apple corrects their botched installer.

Update: Apple has acknowledged that the 10.3.9 upgrade is botched. Nonethless, they are reportedly steadfastly refusing to either warn users or amend the botched installation package. This behavior is quite simply unacceptable for a company that claims to strive for software stability and usability. Culpability without corrective measures is empty and meaningless. For shame, Apple.

Update: Apple has released a software update.

Acquisition 118.1 beta is now available for testing. The primary purpose of this release is to address incorrect behavior on Mac OS X 10.4. Due to changes in the OS and Cocoa implementation, version 117.2 is essentially unusuable on Tiger. 118.1 corrects these trivial issues. One or two visual glitches remain, but they have no effect on functionality.