We’re excited to introduce the first new release of 2010 and this one is jam packed with lots of goodness!  We just pushed an update to all users (Build 76, r26321 r26376) which includes a large number of features, bug fixes and enhancements.  As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• New Skins: The “Windows 7″ skin now has 8 new variants by @derekerdmann.  Access them via Preferences > Skins.
• Windows 7 Support: Digsby takes advantage of jump lists for easy access to common tasks and top buddies (by log size).  We also use taskbar grouping to let you jump to conversations, see typing notifications and unread conversation counts.
• Better Popups: Social networks will no longer show a separate popup for Alerts and the titles will no longer say “Facebook Newsfeed” with a generic Facebook icon.  Instead, you will see the friend’s picture and name with a small badge in the top right for each network. You can also comment/like Facebook items right from popups.
• Trending News: We’ve partnered with the folks at OneRiot to bring the latest trending news stories to your social feeds.  You can enable/disable via Preferences > General & Profile.
• Facebook Dislike: We’re amazed by how many people wanted to “Dislike” Facebook posts.  The Dislike Button Facebook page has over 3.2 million fans!  You asked for it, you got it.
• MySpace Newsfeed: We’ve revamped the MySpace newsfeed to support their new APIs so it looks a lot more like the Facebook/Twitter feeds including the ability to comment on statuses.
• MySpace Achievements: Back in September we introduced achievements for Facebook and the functionality is being ported over to MySpace.  You will be asked if you would like to enable or disable this functionality and you can turn it on/off by editing your MySpace account in Preferences.
• Yahoo HTTP Support: Restrictive firewalls and proxies should no longer be an issue for Yahoo Messenger users.  Edit the account in preferences and set it to “Always use HTTP”

Up next is per-character formatting (so you can finally bold parts of an IM), group chat (long overdue), a greater focus on finishing up mac/linux releases (no ETA yet),  and a few other fun things we have up our sleeve for you.  Let us know what you think of this release in the comments.

If you run into any bugs please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.  We’ll keep pushing to make Digsby even better and greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word!

Update 1 (2/15/2010 5:30pm EST): We just pushed out a small patch fixing a few bugs in this release.  One of them caused auto-update to not work for some users and another caused Digsby to hit rate limits with the bit.ly service because of excessive URL shortening for trending news stories.  The new release number is 26376.  Enjoy!

We just pushed out a small patch (r26306) fixing an issue with the Facebook news feed for non-alpha users. Alpha testers will get a new release later today with this and other fixes.

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 75, r25261) to all users!  We’ve made some big changes to Digsby making it faster and better than ever!  This release includes all the features, bug fixes and enhancements in Builds 71,  72, and 75 on our Change Log.  Notable changes include:

• Crash Fixes: Thanks to the help of our dedicated testers who have been running the DEBUG version, we fixed the most common crash causing bugs in Digsby.  Based on the volume of crash reports, we expect Digsby to crash for less than 0.1% of users on any given day.  Now that’s solid!
• Memory Leaks: We took some time to hunt down and fix the most serious memory leaks in Digsby, many of which were introduced in the new Twitter implementation.  This will improve performance significantly when running Digsby for an extended period of time or on older machines.
• Twitter: We fixed numerous issues with Twitter including tweets being show out of order, incorrect unread counts, connection issues, etc.  It is still a work in progress and we’ll continue to improve our Twitter implementation.
• Block Indicator: Blocked buddies now show a “blocked” icon where their status icon would normally appear on the buddy list.
• Win 7: We added support for aero snapping and fixed several windows 7 specific bugs.  We will release more Win 7 enhancements in the next build including jump lists and badges on the taskbar icon.
• And More: Over 100 other bug fixes and enhancements!

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:

• Share Digsby on sites like Digg, Twitter,  Facebook, or Reddit
• Invite your friends to try Digsby via Facebook or Email
• Write a review of Digsby on your blog and include the Digsby Demo Video
• 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.

Update (12/9/2009 2:45pm EST): Facebook is having issues with their API servers, which is causing the newsfeed to fail to connect for some users.  This will fix itself when they resolve the problem on their end.

We just pushed out a small patch (Build 73, r24920) fixing buddy list retrieval for Facebook Chat for non-alpha users. Alpha testers will get a new release tomorrow with this and other fixes.

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.

Wow, what a week it’s been since our Twitter launch at DEMOfall 09. We just pushed a new release (Build 70, r24502 r24505) to all non-alpha users that incorporates much of your feedback. With your help, we’ve made several Twitter enhancements and fixed several bugs.  As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable enhancements and fixes include:

• You can right click on a button in the top bar of the Twitter window and mark all as read in that view
• Directs and mentions now show up in the Infobox
• A new setting for the Twitter timeline to be “always on top”
• Clicking “Reply” or “Retweet” in a pop-up notification marks that tweet as read, along with clicking next or right clicking to dismiss
• Digsby will now know your last sent tweet even if it was sent from another client
• Fixed a bug that caused the “New Group” dialog in Twitter to not show everyone you follow
• Fixed a bug that caused Facebook to get stuck on login when it should have gone to “Failed to Connect”
• Possibly fixed a bug that caused AIM to disconnect a lot while sending IMs
• A fix for some Hotmail accounts that were unable to connect

We realize that our Twitter implementation is a bit different than other clients. Our goal is to make it easy to follow and interact with your friends and contacts on Twitter without missing a loop. So now that you’ve had a chance to play with Twitter for a few days, we’d like to know your thoughts.

If you run into any trouble, use “Help > Send Bug Report” to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

Let us know what you think in the comments and spread the word!

Update 1 (9/29/2009 3:56pm EST): You can now log into Twitter via your email address! The new build number is r24505.

When we first launched Digsby, Twitter was not nearly as dynamic as it is today.  It has grown to become more than just a place for you to say what you’re doing.  When you reply to a tweet, you aren’t just commenting on an isolated newsfeed item – you’re participating in an ongoing global conversation.  We feel that most other Twitter clients don’t reflect this in their design.

Today, we are embracing this shift with a completely redesigned Twitter implementation in Digsby that is unlike any Twitter client you’ve seen.  Our goal is to make Twitter feel less like a timeline and more like a conversation.  Highlights include:

• Single column user interface that doesn’t take up your whole screen
• Tweets are shown in chronological order so you read the conversation as it happens instead of seeing the tail end first and reading it backwards
• Digsby keeps track of unread counts but you never have to mark tweets as read. Digsby does it for you automatically
• Whenever you open the Twitter window, Digsby brings you right where you left off so you can continue reading the conversation without missing a tweet
• Conquer information overload by filtering groups of users out of the main timeline so it is the most useful view and not the most cluttered
• Snapshot view of recent tweets is still available in the Infobox along with the added ability to reply and retweet right inline
• Reply and Retweet right from popup notifications so you can stay on task and stay in the loop
• Automatic URL shortening when you paste links and automatic photo uploading when you paste pictures or screenshots

We will be showing off the new functionality at DEMOfall09 later today.  You can watch the live demo at 9:50AM PST / 12:50PM EST – http://demo.com/

The rules of DEMO state that we need to make our public debut at the conference.  That means we couldn’t alpha test the Twitter implementation as much as we usually test releases so expect a few bugs. We’ll work diligently over the next couple weeks to iron out all the bumps and make it into the solid product you’ve come to expect!

If you run into any trouble, use Help > Send Bug Report to submit a diagnostic log and include steps on how to consistently reproduce the bug whenever possible.

Let us know what you think in the comments and spread the word!

Update 1 (9/22/2009 9:30pm PST): We are working on fixing a crash that happens on older AMD and Pentium 3 processors.  We’ll push out an auto-update as soon as it is fixed.  Also,  thank you all for the wonderful feedback about usability.  We want to make Digsby the best Twitter client in the world and we’ll start making iterations to tweak the things we got wrong and build on the things we got right!  Keep the feedback coming and please let us know how it feels after using it for a day or so.

Update 2 (9/23/2009 8:30am PST): We are working fixing two login issues.  First, if you are trying to log in with your email address instead of your username that will fail.  If you change it to log in with your username this will bypass the issue.  Second, if you have special characters in your password, it will fail.  Changing your password temporarily while we fix this will bypass the issue.

Update 3 (9/23/2009 2:55pm PST): Thank you to everyone for the wonderful feedback.  We just push the first update to the new Twitter implementation with the following changes:

• Fixed an issue that caused Digsby to crash for people running old AMD and Pentium 3 processors
• Fixed a bug that caused users to get “Failed to Connect” when logging in with their email address in stead of their username
• Fixed a bug that caused users to get “Failed to Connect” if they had special characters in their passwords
• Brought back some old functionality to the infobox like seeing your most recent tweet and the ability to tweet from it
• Added ability to hide unread counts in infobox and tray icon so if you don’t use the full featured “IM Window Style” interface, they don’t get in your way (Click “Hide” in the infobox next to the Alerts section)
• As you scroll down in the infobox it will add more tweets to the end so you can see your entire timeline instead of just 20 items
• Added “Mark All As Read” and “New Tweet” menu items to the right click menu
• “Ctrl + C” now works in the “IM Window Style” view
• Added some contrast to the bottom of the “IM Window Style” interface so the input area where you tweet from becomes more prominent

New Features! New Installer! New Digsby!  We just pushed out a new release (Build 65, r24143 r24208 r24214) to all users!  We’ve made some big changes to Digsby making it better than ever!  The release includes all changes from Builds 64 and 65 on our Change Log.  Notable changes include:

New Installer

In a recent blog post we asked for your feedback about our installer and revenue models.  You let your voices be heard!  Over 9,500 of you voted in our poll and left 650+ comments.  We read every comment and went over each argument very carefully.  Although the majority of you voted to keep things the same, several of you spelled out very convincing arguments for alternative revenue methods.

So, today we are changing things.  We have switched to a new user-friendly installer that no longer shows ads for five bundled products.  Instead, it will show one ad for the Digsby Ask Toolbar, which brings news, weather, sports, maps, and more right to you fingertips! We will work to improve the toolbar over time, adding some of the social network functionality you already love in Digsby.

The new installer also asks users explicitly during installation if they’d like to contribute their unused CPU power to sponsored grid computing projects.  We also added a new tab to the preferences window with fine-grained options for the Research Module.  Blasting ads all over our product is the last thing we want to do so we will keep experimenting with unique, non-intrusive models like these.

You can download the new installer here:

New Facebook Newsfeed

We are very excited to introduce a completely redesigned Facebook Newsfeed in Digsby.  It now shows the exact same stream that you see on Facebook.com including comments, likes, and photos.  It’s also completely interactive so you can post your status, comment on stories, ‘like’ items and even browse through entire photo albums right from the Facebook Infobox.

MySpaceIM Support

We are adding MySpaceIM to the arsenal of protocols we support in Digsby.  Fitting nicely with our recently redesigned MySpace Activity Stream, you can now chat with all your MySpace friends right from Digsby. Just add it as an IM account in Preferences > Accounts.

Digsby Achievements

We are introducing a new feature that lets you share the milestones you hit in Digsby with your friends.  In the future we may award points for these that you can redeem for prizes but for now the milestone are just shared with your friends via the Facebook newsfeed just like achievements in other Facebook apps you use.  You will be asked if you would like to enable or disable this functionality and you can turn it on/off by editing your Facebook account in Preferences.  There is more info about this feature on our FAQ.

Teaser!!!

We will be at the DEMO Conference next week launching a brand new Twitter implementation in Digsby that will blow you away!  Digsby will become the world’s first full-featured Twitter client that is designed for the average user.  Our core competency has always been usability and we take it to the next level with this highly-intuitive and functional release! (how many buzz words can you squeeze into one paragraph)

There are a lot of new features and enhancements in this release which means we’re one step closer to Mac/Linux.  We will keep pushing to make Digsby even better and greatly appreciate all your support!  We made a massive mistake by not being more dilligent in making sure that all users are aware of how Digsby is monetized.  We are truly sorry and this will never happen again.  We realize it wasn’t the best first impression of Digsby for your friends.  From now on, we will prominently show you all the ways you can support Digsby.

Let us know what you think of the New Installer and new features.  Leave a comment below, mention us on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook and mention @Digsby in your status update.  We hope you enjoy the new Digsby!

Update 1 (9/18/2009 2:30pm EST): A big thank you to everyone who submitted bug reports related to this release.  We just pushed out a patch release fixing the issues reported.  The new release number is r24208 and fixes include:

• Fixed a bug that caused Hotmail actions such as Delete and Mark as Read to not work
• Fixed a bug that caused Yahoo to process incoming unicode IMs incorrectly
• Fixed a bug that caused Facebook to get stuck in “Connecting” state when it should have gone to “Failed to Connect” due to network error
• If you don’t give Digsby Facebook permissions, a popup will now show when the account disables
• Fixed unicode status messages in MySpaceIM
• MySpaceIM now obeys server and port options
• Facebook wall-to-wall items now include both names in the popup notification
• Fixed a bug that prevented clicking links in Facebook comments

Update 2 (9/18/2009 3:55pm EST): The last update had a case where MySpace IM could not connect. That issue is now fixed. The new release number is now r24214.

• Fixed an issue causing MySpace IM accounts to be stuck in connecting.

We just pushed out a small patch (Build 63 – r23635 r23639 r23681 r23848) fixing login for LinkedIn and Facebook Chat, which broke last night due to protocol changes.  The fixes are listed on the Change Log.

Unfortunately, the Facebook Chat servers no longer transmit the status messages of your buddies so the infobox will not show this info for each buddy.  However, you will still see status updates in the newsfeed if you added Facebook as a social network also.

Update 1 (8/26/09 10:35am EST): It looks like your own name is no longer shown in the IM window and your Facebook ID number is shown instead.  We’re working on fixing this now.

Update 2 (8/26/09 11:20am EST): We just pushed out a small patch with one more protocol fix.  Your own name will now show instead of the Facebook ID number in IM windows.  The new release number is r23639.

Update 3 (8/28/2009 10:30am EST): One more quick patch for LinkedIn bringing the release number to r23681.

Update 4 (9/4/2009 11:15am EST): Protocol changes galore!  This update is a small patch fixing a bug that is causing MySpace to get stuck in “Connecting” for some users and brings the release number to r23848.

Several months ago, we started testing two unique revenue models to help us keep Digsby free and ad-free for all our users.  We posted a lengthy blog post describing the changes but we want to reiterate some of that information again and share some changes that we will be making in a release later today.

Now that some time has passed since we first implemented these changes, we would also like to take this opportunity to get feedback from our community of users about these revenue models and where we should go from here.

Installer

First, we introduced a new installer that shows you several offers during the installation process for other products such as the Yahoo Toolbar and a desktop weather application.  The reason we decided to test this revenue model is because we believe it is better to show you ads once during the installation process than to plaster banner ads all over the product like other IM clients have done (ie: AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ).  We want to do our best to keep Digsby free and ad-free and this is one way we are able to do so.

All the offers shown to you during installation are 100% optional.  You don’t have to install any of the products advertised in the installer and none of them will be downloaded or installed to your computer if you choose not to install them.  For each offer, there is an “Accept” and a “Decline” button.

There is more information about the installer in the original blog post.

Research Module

The second revenue model we started testing is a Grid Computing Module.  There is a lengthy explanation of what grid computing is and how this module works in the original blog post but the basic idea is that Digsby uses some of your computer’s unused CPU power while your computer is completely idle to do computation research for large scale projects that require thousands of computers to complete.

The module turns on after your computer has been completely idle for 5 minutes (no mouse or keyboard movement).  It then turns off the instant you move your mouse or the press a key on the keyboard.  We did this so it would have absolutely no effect on your computer’s performance and only uses processing power while your computer is not being used.  It also runs as a “low priority” process so if any application on your computer asks for CPU power it will always get it before the research module gets it.  On laptops, it uses a much smaller portion of your CPUs overall processing power than it does on desktops.  It will also never turn on if your laptop is running on battery power.

Just like the installer, we have made this module 100% optional.  You can disable it in the main menu by going to “Help > Support Digsby” and disabling the “Help Digsby Conduct Research” option.

Lack of Information

While the installer is quite obvious since you use it to install Digsby, the Research Module is not obvious to new users.  An article describing these revenue models was published yesterday on LifeHacker and most of the people commenting on the article did not know about it since they don’t follow our blog and don’t read the Terms of Service shown in the installer.

We are pushing out a release later today that will include the following changes:

• We are moving the entire “Support Digsby” section out of the “Help” menu and into the preferences window so the option to enable/disable the research module is easier to find
• Digsby will show a popup notification telling you about the module with a “Learn More” button which links to a page describing it in detail including instructions for how to enable/disable it.  The popup will be “sticky” so it will not disappear until you click “Learn More” or “Close” to ensure that users don’t accidentally miss it.

We want to make it completely clear to all users so Digsby is not doing anything you don’t want it to do.  The above changes have been on our to do list but the article really opened our eyes about how few people know about this functionality.  Our goal is to create the world’s best IM client and social media tool. The only way to accomplish that goal is with transparency and communication so we can keep working with you to make a better product.

Moving Forward

We are still a young company that is trying to figure out our long term revenue models.  At the end of the day, we need to keep the lights on and pay salaries so we can keep making Digsby even better by bringing new features (and products, ie: mac/linux) to market.  The reason we decided to test these two revenue models is because they would allow us to accomplish this while keeping Digsby free and ad-free.

The more traditional path to take is to place small unintrusive ads in Digsby and offer an ad-free version for a modest price.  While we felt that experimenting with unique revenue models that keep the product ad-free was the better path to take, that might not be how all of you feel.

We would like to take this opportunity to get feedback from all of you about which you would prefer.

Option 1: Continue to show multiple offers in the installer along with the research module

Option 2: Show just one toolbar offer in the installer like other IM clients do and place small unintrusive ads in the product with an ad-free pro version available for a modest price

Option 3: Other – let the creativity flow!

We just pushed a new release (Build 61, r23447) to all users! This release introduces some exciting new features! As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Brand New Look: We released a sleek new default skin called “Windows 7″ (by @Derek Erdmann). If your skin is set to anything besides the default, this will not override your preference.  If you prefer the old look, go to Preferences > Skins and choose the “QuickSilver” skin.
• MySpace Newsfeed: In Build 60, we switched the Infobox over to a full blown web browser (WebKit).  We said that the change would make the Infobox much more versatile and this is the first example of that.  We are introducing a completely redesigned MySpace newsfeed which now includes a full Activities Stream, status updates, and the ability to browse through photos.
• Global Status: A new Global Status dialog makes it easy to set your status across social networks and IM accounts. You can access it from the status dropdown on the buddy list or by double clicking any social network.  The Global Status dialog also has spell checking built in and makes it easy to share links (via digs.by) and pictures (via pic.im).
• URL Shortener: We are launching a URL shortener just for Digsby users under the domain http://digs.by. In the future you will be able to access a history of links you shared and statistics about how many times they were clicked.
• OneRiot: We partnered with OneRiot to make it easy for you to search the real-time web. Just hit “Ctrl + F” on the buddy list to search.

So what’s next?  We are going to be making similar upgrades to Facebook and Twitter while also working on per-character formatting and group chat (which are both long overdue).  After that, will work work on getting the Mac/Linux releases out the door.  Unfortunately, we don’t have an estimate on when they will launch but you know where they are on our priority list.

We will keep pushing to make Digsby even better and want to thank all of you for your continued feedback and support.  We greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about Digsby.

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.