Since its release, nearly two and a half years ago, the extended
Dictionary app has been widely used by a number of users. Looking at the
app today, and its code, I can assure you all it has undergone quite a
number of modifications. Much of these, thanks to feedback from
End-Users, and several hours of testing from the Beta-Testers. Thanks
for any assistance I have received. Also, I want to express thanks to
people who has assisted me in the code developing.
The next version of the app, will go Beta sometime this spring, if
everything goes well. The original group of Beta-Testers have minimized
over time, and if the app is going to still keep some quality, I have a
hope of including more Beta persons. If you are interested in
participating, you may want to drop me a message on the below Email
address, with necessary information. You will need to let me know,
before the END OF FEBRUARY 2015. All Beta persons will have to accept a
particular Beta agreement, which you will receive if, and when you are
included in the Beta cycle. Be aware, that Beta-Testing has its
challenges and chances of bugs, and hence does require you to stay in
contact with me through the Beta cycles.
Those who are willing to participate, please let me know your name,
which OS you are working with, what version of Window-Eyes, and a few
words about your computer background. These are informations that will
help me to best assist you through the Beta cycles. Drop it all in a
message and send it to:
trailerda...@hotmail.com
There is a limited amount of places in the Beta group, so your inclusion
will have to be on my selection. Still, everyone who feel they could
contribute, are welcome to apply.
What then will the new upcoming version offer? A number of bug fixes,
along with a more sleak and smoothly running code. Further, there is a
couple of goodies in store for you. And as a courtesy, I want to share
the following:
For one thing, on the cost of a few extra KB of RAM, the disk activity
of the app has been drastically reduced. This means far more quick and
smooth operation, specially when switching between several applications
on your system.
In addition, a whole new line of Dictionaries can be defined. So far, we
have been talking about Voice-Specific Dictionaries, which will control
the speech performed by the currently active voice, across the whole
board of computer activity. We also have been operating with
Software-Specific Dictionaries, which would affect the way the speech
behave in a certain application. But the new version will hold
technology that has been taken one step further.
You will be able to define Dictionaries, that can be tied to a specific
window, document or website. This means that, when you read a novel in
your text editor, you can have one dictionary active. Open a recipe -
still in your text editor - and you can have another dictionary
immediately kick into action. Or, you can have one Dictionary operating
when you visit EBay, another when you visit Yahoo, and a third one
immediately jump the scene whenever you visit the homepage of your
friend. This way, you can much more taylor the individual Dictionary to
the properties of the window, document or website. Another benefit is,
that you can operate with smaller Dictionaries, since they no longer
need a huge amount of general entries. Smaller Dictionaries, will be
more easily maintained, and specially on slower computers may increase
the responsiveness.
A few more features are on the slate, but they have not yet been
implemented. And the date for the actual Beta-going of the next version,
has not yet been scheduled either. Nor will I be able to tell anything
as to when the next version will go public. I still hope to have it out
soon as possible, sometime this year. I still do welcome any
constructive feedback and wishes for future releases.
To what extent future releases of the app will be distributed through
the App Central of AISquared, has not yet been decided. And it will much
depend on the way AISquared decides to run that central in the future.
More exactly how the app alternatively will be distributed, I will get
back on once such decisions have been made.
--
David
(Author of the Extended Dictionary)
