We just pushed a new release (Build 60, r22564) to all users! We have gone through several alpha releases since our last major update so there are are quite a few changes. This release includes all the features, bug fixes and enhancements in ALPHA Builds 53 - 60 on our Change Log.  Notable changes include:

• Performance: We’ve optimized performance from the ground up, reducing overall CPU usage by about 50%
• Buddy List Search: Press Ctrl+F to easily search your buddy list or the web
• Emoticons: Added four new emoticon packs to choose from
• File Transfers: Improved the reliability of AIM, ICQ, and MSN file transfers
• Conversations: Added an option for new IM windows to start hidden and blink the tray icon instead of popping up a window
• New Infobox: The infobox now uses the same user interface control as the IM window (WebKit), making it much faster and more versatile
• Twitter: Added Retweet support
• MySpace: Added support for setting status on MySpace
• Google Talk: Added support for the Invisible status on Gtalk
• And More: Over 100 other bug fixes and enhancements!

So, what’s next?  Digsby has come a long way over the past year in terms of both stability and performance.  This release was a blend of fixes and new features.  We will continue to focus on rounding out the feature set in the near term so let us know what you’d like to see!

This update is pretty large so the auto-update may take some time to download or it may take a few restarts for it to kick in.  We are going to change how the auto-update system works in the future so Digsby logs in and then downloads updates unless there are critical protocol fixes.  It will then apply the update next time you run Digsby.  This way logging in is never delayed.

We will keep pushing to make Digsby even better and want to thank all of you for your continued feedback and support.  If you want to tell the world about the Digsby, here are some ways you can help:

• Post the news to sites like Digg, Facebook, Reddit, or Mixx
• Invite your friends to try Digsby via Facebook
• Write a review of Digsby on your blog
• Use the “ShareThis” and “Buzz” widgets below to share the news

If you experience any bugs in this release, please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us.

We wanted to spread the word about the Summer of Social Good, which is a charity event that the good folks over at Mashable are organizing.

The Summer of Social Good is the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds strictly online through the power of Social Media and the Internet. The goal is to use the power of “Social Influence” via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Blogs and other online media to raise an unprecedented amount for The Humane Society, LIVESTRONG, Oxfam America and WWF from June 1st until August 28th, 2009.

Here at Digsby, we’ve always been huge fans of social media and its emerging role in our day-to-day lives. By donating to the Summer of Social Good you can continue to show the positive change that social media has brought to the world.

For more information and to donate, please visit:

http://summerofsocialgood.com/

We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 60, r22406 r22438 r22453 r22501 r22523 r22564) which introduces a few more bug fixes as we prepare for the next public release. As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Fixed a few major memory leaks
• Added more diagnostic info to help us hunt down memory leaks - if you see Digsby using a ton of RAM (ie: over 200MB) please submit a bug report

We are hoping (once again) that this alpha becomes the next public release so if you run into any new bugs please let us know so they can be fixed before the build goes live for all users.  If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

Update 1 (6/12/2009 11:45am): We just pushed out a patch (r22438) fixing a few minor issues:

• Fixed a bug with conversation previews in preferences
• Fixed message unread counts for LinkedIn
• Fixed a bug with setting different status messages
• Fixed a bug that caused your status to reset after doing a buddy list search
• Brought back the “Promote Digsby Status”

Update 2 (6/12/2009 5:45pm): We just pushed out a small patch (r22453) fixing a bug that was introduced in today’s release that prevented you from changing your status in some cases.

Update 3 (6/17/2009 5:00pm): We just pushed out a patch (r22501) fixing a few issues:

• Fixed the major memory leak we’ve been hunting down
• Fixed a bug that was causing Digsby to crash for some users
• Fixed a bug that caused the groups “Root 0″ and “Root 1″ to appear on login
• Added a separate notification type for messages received which are hidden to icon tray

Update 4 (6/19/2009 11:55am): One more patch (r22523) fixing a bug and adding a feature:

• Fixed a bug that caused other “paged” popups to fade out while you are interacting with one of them
• Added Retweet to Twitter

Update 5 (6/23/2009 11:30am): We just pushed out a patch (r22564) fixing a few issues:

• Fixed two significant memory leaks (thank you alpha testers for your help hunting these down)
• Fixed a bug with buddy list rearranging where the visual indicator was incorrect

We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 59, r22273 r22291 r22310) which introduces fixes for the (hopefully last) remaining known bugs in this series of alpha releases. As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Fixed a bug that caused saved status messages to be lost when switching between the alpha and public release
• Fixed a bug that caused AIM and ICQ accounts to disconnect regularly

We are hoping that this alpha becomes the next public release so if you run into any new bugs please let us know so they can be fixed before the build goes live for all users.  If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

Update 1 (6/3/2009 4:00pm EST): We just pushed out a patch fixing a few new issues that were reported in this build as we prepare for the next public release. Fixes include:

• Fixed a small bug with AIM login
• Fixed a small bug in the preferences window
• Fixed a bug that caused your status message not to highlight when clicking the orb to change status
• Fixed a bug that caused Digsby to exit even if you click no when multiple tabs are open

Update 2 (6/4/2009 4:20pm EST): We just pushed out one more small patch fixing a bug that caused the buddy list to show groups “Root 0″ and Root 1″ on login along with a fix for a CPU spin related to IMAP and AOL Mail accounts. The new release number is r22310.

We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 58, r22238) which introduces fixes for the remaining known bugs in this series of alpha releases along with a fix for AIM/ICQ login. As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Fixed a bug that caused offline merged contacts to get stuck in their original group instead of moving to the “Offline” group
• Add support for a change in the AIM/ICQ protocols that broke login
• Added new diagnostic info to help us hunt down memory leaks - if you see Digsby using a ton of RAM (ie: over 200MB) please submit a bug report

We are hoping that this alpha becomes the next public release so if you run into any new bugs please let us know so they can be fixed before the build goes live for all users.  If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

We just pushed a new release (Build 57, r22224) to all non-alpha users.  This release is a small patch, which adds support for a change in the AIM/ICQ protocols that broke login.  This will be fixed for alpha users in the next alpha release tomorrow morning.

If you experience any bugs please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com. If you have any suggestions, please email us at features@digsby.com.

We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 56, r22037 r22044 r22059) which introduces several new features along with a few major performance enhancements that we have been working on. As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Buddy List Search - just type a buddy’s name and the status bar converts into a search box making it easy to find buddies or perform a web search
• Significantly optimized all buddy list sorting and drawing code, reducing Digsby’s overall CPU usage by about 20% (or more for very long buddy lists)
• Significantly optimized IM window performance for much faster scrolling, especially with slow themes like GoneDark

This release is packed full of major changes so we are expecting some new bugs to pop up. If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

Update 1 (05/19/2009 3:20pm EST): We just pushed out a small patch fixing a bug that caused the buddy list to stop sorting completely. Also, double clicking social network tray icons does open the “Set Status” dialog now. The new release number is r22044.

Update 2 (05/19/2009 5:40pm EST): There is a known bug that causes offline buddies to stay in their original group after signing off in a few cases.  This is now fixed and will go out in the next patch release tomorrow.

Update 3 (05/20/2009 1:30pm EST): We just pushed out a small patch fixing several bugs bringing the release number to r22059:

• Fixed a bug that caused offline merged contacts to remain in their original group after signing off
• Fixed a bug that caused Available/Away to not show in the tray icon right click menu
• Fixed a bug that caused the infobox to break if you press Alt + F4 with it in focus
• Fixed a bug that caused your Google Talk status to get cut off by one character in some cases
• Added log statements to help hunt down a bug that causes the status dropdown to not show

We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 55, r21904 r21909) which introduces fixes for several issues we introduced in the last alpha release along with a Facebook protocol fix. As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Add support for a change in the Facebook protocol that broke login
• Fixed the most common cause of crashes in the latest alpha release
• Fixed a bug that caused Digsby to crash on startup on older computers
• Fixed a bug that caused Digsby to leak RAM and go into a CPU spin

If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com. If Digsby crashes or tells you it is running slowly please submit the bug/crash report.

Update (5/7/2009 7:45pm): We just pushed out a small patch fixing the issue with POP mail accounts.

We just pushed a new release (Build 54, r21895) to all non-alpha users.  This release is a small patch, which adds support for a change in the Facebook chat protocol that broke login.  This will be fixed for alpha users in the next alpha release we do shortly.

If you experience any bugs please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com. If you have any suggestions, please email us at features@digsby.com.