The Readerware Newsletter

Readerware 1.50

Readerware 1.50 is now available on the web site. This is the new base release. As it includes changes to both Readerware and Java, it is available only as a full install. The normal distributions will return with the next release, future releases will be distributed as both a full release and as upgrades to Readerware 1.50.

Readerware 1.50 features major performance improvements and a number of fixes. This release also focuses on display problems some users have experienced under Windows 95 and 98. This has been a difficult problem to address as it does not effect all machines. None of the Readerware machines exhibit the problem. Ultimately these screen refresh problems indicate problems with your video driver. But with Readerware 1.50 we have tried to work around these problems. Hopefully you will find the problems reduced if not eliminated. Further details can be found in the Readerware FAQ at http://www.readerware.com/help/rwFAQ.html. If after installing Readerware 1.50 you still experience problems, please let us know by sending e-mail to support@readerware.com

The New Base Release

Just in case your wondering, this is what we mean by a base release, skip ahead to the next section if technical issues are not your cup of tea.

Readerware is developed in Java a language developed by Sun Microsystems that provides unique cross platform capabilities and an improved development environment, especially for Internet aware applications such as Readerware. When you first installed Readerware, you installed both Readerware and the Java Runtime Environment, (JRE). When upgrading to a new release you probably just downloaded the upgrade version, which consisted of just Readerware and installed this with your current copy of the JRE.

With Readerware 1.50 we are shipping a new JRE which includes significant performance improvements and fixes. As a result this release is only available as a full install. It will update both Readerware and the JRE on your system. We will return to the normal distributions with the next release. You will be able to download either a full install or an upgrade. But it is important to understand that future upgrade releases must be applied to Readerware 1.50 or higher, you will not be able to use the upgrade with a version of Readerware earlier than 1.50.

More than you probably ever wanted to know about Readerware distributions.

Adding New Images To Your Database

Early users of Readerware may remember that the first release did not include support for cover art, this was added in Readerware 1.10. Readerware now imports images into your database when extracting data from web sites, assuming of course an image is available. This is true for both Readerware Auto-Catalog and manual imports using the Readerware Web Browser

But did you know that you can add images to the database even after you have cataloged a book? The "Add Images to DB" button on the Auto-Catalog screen scans your entire database and tries to find images for any book that does not already have one. It will scan all the sites you include in the site selection list. This feature was designed primarily for existing users to add images to their databases. But there are a number of times when you might want to use this feature:

• Readerware 1.50 includes some fixes to data extraction. In some cases Readerware failed to extract an image when it was present. So using the add images feature after you install Readerware 1.50 might retrieve additional images.
• Vendors update their sites, there may be images available for new releases etc., which were not available when you originally imported the title.
• The site you imported from may may not have an image, but another one might. Add Images will scan all sites looking for an image.
• Readerware includes very powerful import capabilities, you can import data from other programs, programs that may not include image support. So after importing the data, use Add Images to add cover art to the imported data.

Support Readerware

You can support Readerware and ensure that the new features keep on coming. Use Readerware when making your online purchases. If you order using the Readerware browser or shopping cart, Readerware normally receives a commission from the vendor. The Readerware browser uses the same encryption technology as the major browsers so you can order online, safely and securely using Readerware. Plus it ensures continued development of Readerware.

Thank you.

Your Feedback

We welcome your feedback on Readerware. We have received a lot of comments from users since Readerware was released. So please let us know what you think of Readerware so far. E-Mail feedback@readerware.com.

Thanks for your support.