We just pushed an update (Build 27, r14343 r14361) that introduces several critical bug fixes and optimizations. We are working on some very promising projects that will lower Digsby’s RAM usage and greatly improve user interface responsiveness. These are not quite ready to be pushed yet but we had a few important bug fixes that we wanted to push out to everyone. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes:

• Proxy Improvements: You will now be able to get auto-updates and use web services such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Facebook, etc. over proxies that block the CONNECT method (ie: SQUID). Those of you who have been affected by this will need to download and run the installer here.
• CPU Spike Fix: We fixed a critical bug that was causing the CPU to climb to 100% (or 50% of you have a dual core processor). A few bugs that may cause this side effect still remain but we are working on them right now.
• Twitter Fixes: Finally fixed the bug that caused Twitter popups to continuously appear for some users. We also optimized the Twitter update sequence so the 2-3 second freezes should no longer happen.

We are splitting our time between finishing up the RAM optimizations and knocking out bugs. We will have the optimizations wrapped up and pushed out as a single build very soon. We will also have HTTP login support for MSN soon so those of you who use it at work behind a restrictive proxy can log in. Thank you for all the feedback and enjoy the new build. If you experience any bugs please email us at bugs@digsby.com.

Update: The HTTP proxy fix resulted in a new bug that affected some SOCKS proxy users. We just a fix for this issue (5:45pm) and proxy support should be back to normal. Those who are affected by the bug may need to run the installer on our website since the bug affected the auto-update system. Sorry for the temporary inconvenience.

We just pushed a small update (Build 26, r14192) that has a few bug fixes that we wanted to get out there before the weekend. For those of you who already updated to Build 25 it is also the first test of the new auto-update system. As always, you can read the entire list of changes on our Change Log. Most notably:

• Fixed a few Twitter bugs including the “black infobox bug” and the “endless popups bug”
• Fixed a bug that prevented some users from connecting to MSN Protocol
• We also added log statements to help us find the rest of the cases where this may happen if any remain

We just pushed an update (Build 25, r14142 r14158) that introduces many new bug fixes and enhancements. It took us longer than usual to get this update out because we did not want to push any more updates until the new auto-update system was ready. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes:

• New auto-update system: Digsby not launching due to partial updates should be a thing of the past. Since we are still using the old system to move to this build, a small portion of you will still need to run the installer if you get stuck.  If Digsby fails to start after this update, download and run the installer here.
• Twitter Improvements: We have gotten a lot of feedback on the new Twitter implementation and much of that has been implemented. The new Twitter boasts improved performance, shorter default update timers, options to configure update timers, ability to manually update, and several other enhancements.
• SNAC Error Fixed: This was caused by a protocol change on the ICQ servers and it is fixed in this build.

The goal for the next build is an important one. Every time we hear about Digsby’s RAM usage the response is, “we haven’t optimized yet; we wanted to get it out to the public to start getting feedback.” That time has come! We are going to focus on improving GUI responsiveness and lowering our memory footprint significantly for the next build! Right after that, the next few builds will focus on all the bugs you have reported. Thank you for all the feedback and enjoy the new build.

Update 1: We have gotten reports of a few bugs in the buddy list and with proxy support. We are fixing these right now and will have a new update out shortly. (9:30pm)
Update 2: The bugs we introduced are fixed and we pushed another build. There are a couple minor issues left that we will fix in the morning. There will probably be another build tomorrow with a few bug fixes and then we will focus on performance! (1:20am)

We just pushed an update (Build 23, r13703 r13706) that fixes many of the bugs reported since our public beta release! We had quite a busy week, knocking out 27 bugs and enhancements while laying groundwork for a better auto-update system and a more robust bug reporting system, which will both be pushed out as soon as we are done testing them. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Most notably:

• Brought back the “Show in taskbar” preference for the buddy list - hopefully bug free this time
• Numerous fixes for the “Listening to” feature including showing both title and artist in iTunes now
• Numerous fixes for spell checker errors such as URLs, numbers, and hyphenated words
• More reliable full screen detection on Vista - XP fixes coming soon!

Our focus right now is on the remaining critical bugs and the auto-update system. After that you will see some profound improvements in performance and memory utilization. If you experience any bugs, please email us at bugs@digsby.com.

Lastly, we want to welcome to all our new users! We are glad to have you join us as we continue improving Digsby! Leave a comment to let us know how we are doing.

Update: Pushed a quick fix for a bug we introduced that prevented a few people from opening IM windows.

What a ride this has been! Since going into private beta testing just six weeks ago, we have released 15 new builds which included 35 major changes, 53 enhancements, and 109 bug fixes. Thank you to everyone who participated in the private beta test for the all the feedback and bug reports. We have been working day and night to squash bugs and implement your suggestions and will continue to do so!

Today, we are proud to announce a major milestone for our little egg-shaped friend. We are launching Digsby into public beta testing to make it available for everyone! An invite code is no longer needed and you can show your support by taking a minute to Invite Your Friends.

With today’s announcement, we are introducing several highly requested features. The complete list of changes can be found on our Change Log as always, but most notably we added:

• Twitter Support – this has been the most requested social network by far. Enjoy!
• Audio/Video Chat – we partnered with TokBox to provide A/V support across IM networks. Implementing native A/V support for all the protocols is still on the roadmap and we will add this functionality in the future.
• Spell Check – we added inline spell checking for the English language (us/gb/ca). We will add 50+ other languages very shortly.
• “Listening to…” Status – there is a new option in the status dropdown which sets your status message to the song you are currently listening to in iTunes or Winamp. We will add support for other media players in the future.
• Block Support – you can now block contacts from the right click menu on the buddy list or the dropdown menu at the top-right corner of the IM window.
• Full Screen Preferences – there is a new set of preferences in the “Advanced” tab for what Digsby should do when you are running full screen applications such as games.

We hope you enjoy the new features and if you experience any bugs send us an email at bugs@digsby.com. Moving forward, the top priority right now is optimizing performance and memory usage. Thank you for your support!

Today’s update (r13070) has a fix for one of our most annoying mis-features to date. Quite a few users (and devs) have discovered that if you get a pop-up notification while the contact list is out of sight, you magically get the buddy list back again!

This gets annoying pretty quickly- so here ya go. There are a couple other minor bug fixes and enhancements that you can see over at the complete changelog but the amazing re-appearing buddy list is the primary fix. =)

We just pushed an update (Build 21, r13042 r13047) that fixes a few very critical bugs and introduces numerous enhancements. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Most notably:

• Added a preference that lets you hide the buddy list from the taskbar - there were a lot of requests for this one! It is always hidden from the taskbar if docked
• Added a preference that lets you change the padding above and below a buddy - the default was changed from 4 to 2 so buddies are closer together
• Added support for legacy SSL connections for Jabber accounts
• Fixed a major bug that caused the diagnostic log size to spiral out of control. We also added a safety net into the logging system to prevent this from happening even if other unknown bugs trigger it in the future
• Attempted to fix a bug which caused Yahoo to disconnect every few minutes for some people - please let us know if this still happens or if it is fixed
• Found and fixed another one of the bugs which causes CPU usage to spike to 100% - finding the rest of these is still a top priority

The bugs list is starting to get shorter so we will begin to focus on performance optimization and a few highly requested features for the next few builds. Please keep the feature suggestions coming by emailing us at features@digsby.com - this way we can look at the volume of requests for each particular feature and prioritize our time.

We just pushed an update (Build 20, r12861) that fixes a few key bugs. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Most notably:

• We tracked down another one of the causes for high CPU usage and wanted to get it out right away
• Better return from hibernate - we wait 15 seconds before doing updates to let your computer reconnect to the Internet

We just pushed an update (Build 18, r12783) that fixes many bugs. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Most notably:

• AIM realizes when the connection to the server dies
• Sending and receiving IMs in MSN is much more reliable now
• Digsby now works if your windows username has unicode in it
• Sent IMs show in the IM window right away instead of after the server confirms delivery - you will be notified if delivery fails
• AIM File transfers are more reliable now

If you still experience any of the bugs above please email us at bugs@digsby.com. Our focus for the next build includes:

• File transfer bugs (send some diagnostic logs of failures)
• Remaining CPU spiking bugs
• Revamping the auto-update system to ensure that a partial update (and a broken digsby) can never happen
• Start working on optimizing memory usage and plugging those leaks
• Perhaps a new feature?

PS: We ran out of ideas for catchy blog post titles when announcing new builds. Please leave a comment with some ideas!

Update:

We just found one of the bugs that caused CPU usage to spike to 100% and couldn’t wait to get it out there so we pushed another update (Build 19, r12811). We will do our best to solve the rest of the bugs related to this issue within the next 1-2 builds. Also, if you use Yahoo and have trouble staying connected please submit a diagnostic log. We want to try to knock this one out ASAP.

We just pushed an update (Build 17, r12608) that fixes a few key bugs. As always, you can read the entire list of new features, bug fixes, and enhancements on our Change Log. Most notably:

• Facebook no longer gets stuck in “Authenticating”
• URLs in IM windows get converted to links more reliably now
• Better (but not yet perfect) sending/receiving messages in MSN - you will still have bugs talking to buddies who go invisible or return from invisible
• Fix for entire buddy list showing as offline (and possibly partial buddy lists showing)
• Hebrew is no longer displayed as being backwards in the IM window
• IMAP accounts no longer show “Failed to Connect” when a single message is not understood - instead we don’t show the preview for that message

If you still experience any of the bugs above please email us at bugs@digsby.com. Focus for the next build includes:

• Any remaining connectivity or messaging issues that get reported
• File transfer bugs (send some diagnostic logs of failures)
• Partial buddy list showing up (on Jabber)
• Not being able to see your side of the conversation (submit diagnostic logs if it happens to you)