Beta Testers wanted: AnzioWin 15.1

[Bob Rasmussen]

Greetings!

We are currently signing up beta testers for version 15.1 of AnzioWin. If
you are interested in experimenting with new features, please read on.

NOTE: AnzioWin 15.1, when released, will be a FREE UPDATE for AnzioWin
15.0 licensees. You can continue to order 15.0.

Major New Features in AnzioWin 15.1:
==============================

* Toolbar

It is now possible to have a toolbar along the top of the Anzio window.
The View:Configure Toolbar menu item brings up a dialog that controls
this.

There can be up to 20 toolbuttons in the toolbar. Each button contains a
text string that describes what it does (we stayed away from icons; too
many icons do not have an obvious meaning). Each button is also associated
with a macro, either system-defined or user-defined. When the user clicks
the button, the corresponding macro is triggered.

* Window Styles

We have now made it much easier to configure Anzio for various full-screen
display modes. Notably, the View:Zoom menu item now offers the option to
go to "Full screen, no menu" mode.

* Printer Setup

Version 15.0 added some significant support for printing-related tasks,
such as faxing and generating PDF files. However, it did not make it easy
to turn on or even find these features.

In 15.1, there is a new Printer Setup dialog, accessed from the File menu,
that clearly lays out the options for printing, faxing, PDF generation,
etc. It also brings into one place many of the options that affect
printing, which were previously scattered.

* Sizeable Windows

Anzio can now remember and reuse the size, location, and zoom state of the
Print Preview and the FTP/SFTP windows. If the PC has multiple monitors,
this includes tracking which monitor the window is on. If "View:Track
Window Position" is turned on, this information is saved between sessions,
and reused.

(If you haven't experimented with the FTP/SFTP process, please do so.)

* Background Bitmaps

AnzioWin has long had the ability to show a bitmap in the background,
behind the screen text. We have now made this easier to use and configure,
with a dialog box that lets you specify what file is to be used, set the
brightness and contrast of the bitmap, and specify whether it should be
"tiled" (also a new feature). Brightness and contrast adjustments work
better, allowing you to have a watermark style background graphic.

* DDE Server

AnzioWin can now act as a DDE server. Although this is an old technique in
the Windows world, it is still quite a useful way to have an outside
application control Anzio. If you are programming in Visual Basic, for
instance (or even in a macro in Word), you can control the Anzio session,
sending keystrokes, executing commands, checking status, etc. Applications
include automating login procedures, screen-scraping for imaging
applications, feeding data to an interactive program on the host, etc.

* Lockdown Options

Many of our customers administer large numbers of Anzio users in an
environment that requires the admins to limit the feature set in Anzio.
While we have had methods available in the past, notably "kiosk mode", we
now have some enhancements:

a) Kiosk mode can be specified in the settings file, in addition to the
command line parameter. The more restrictive setting takes precedence.

b) An entry in the settings file can specify that certain menu items
should be deleted from the main (not the kiosk) menu at runtime.

c) Modifications to the resources of the .EXE file, which can be done with
Visual Studio, can contain settings, analogous to the settings file. One
set specifies defaults, which may be overridden by the user's settings
file. Another set specifies requirements -- items that can NOT be
overridden by the user.

d) Settings files and/or keys files can be fetched from an HTTP, HTTPS, or
FTP server.

e) Enhancements have been made for the "download-execute" feature, in
which an Anzio session is started from a web link that points to the
actual Anzio executable.

These features can be combined in many different ways to lock down the
Anzio session.

Miscellaneous Features
======================

Smaller features include:

   + Have Anzio prevent the screensaver or lower-power mode from starting.

   + Support for "device licensing" in Universe.

   + Environment variables can be passed to the OpenSSH version of sshd.

   + Support for Red Hat Linux style UTF-8 international character
feature.

   + Improvements in TeleVideo emulation.

   + Ability to track and restore Anzio's "Caps Lock" setting.

   + Easier access to attaching a user macro to a mouse action.

   + Generated PDFs can now be compressed.

   + Downloads from HTTP[S] can now be compressed. Error reports are
detected.

   + Register Anzio as the default handler for URLs starting with
"SSH://".

   + Control-C and Control-V can be switched between sending to the host
and doing local clipboard copy and paste.

   + And more...

The Beta Process
================

If you wish to beta test new Anzio features, please email me:
ras at anzio.com and I will add you to a private email list. I will use this
list to answer questions, post updates, etc. as the beta process
continues.

I will give you a reference to a downloadable ZIP file containing just
what is new since version 15.0. You will need to unzip this over the top
of a 15.0 installation. Feature notes and change history will also be
included.

If you have a license for AnzioWin 15.0, it will apply to 15.1. If not,
15.1 will install as a 60-day demo, but will not have a 15-second timeout
on launch.

When 15.1 is released, there will be a full installer program. If you have
a 15.0 license, it will apply. If not, you can order new or updated
licenses as normal.

The ONLY compensation for participating in this beta process is a) early
access to features, b) the oportunity to tell me we've done something
crazy, and c) personal high-priority attention. Not so bad :-)

Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.

personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
 company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com
          voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
            fax: (US) 503-624-0760
            web: http://www.anzio.com