We released wyUpdate a few months ago. Or should I say we released wyUpdate Client, wyUpdate Express Designer, and wyUpdate Professional Designer. Which is what in this flurry of names? Why is everything called wyUpdate?
A new name: wyBuild
I know what will clear everything up a new name! Or rather a re-brand. We're renaming the wyUpdate Professional Designer to simply wyBuild. We're also renaming the wyUpdate Client to just wyUpdate.
Much like in the middle ages the name describes the job: wyBuild builds the updates. wyUpdate updates your program.
No more wyUpdate Express Designer
We're ditching the wyUpdate Express Designer. Not because we hate free software or because we eat puppies. No, it's more complex than that (but puppies are delicious).
We were following the freemium business model: give away a limited (but still useful) version and charge for the pro version. This is stupid for one important reason. We were splitting our time trying to attract free users, when we should've really been making business better for our paying users.
Or to put it another way, we were operating our company like an absurd car dealership. That is, focusing our time giving away free Lexuses to customers in the hope that they would come back and buy a Jaguar. We should have just focused our attention on the Jaguar buyers to begin with.
Our Jaguar, wyBuild
The feeling most people associate with updates is anxiety. Updates break things: they stop half-way through, or an errors pop-up, or it's so slow you can take 8 coffee break before the update has been applied. In short: pain.
Our job is to remove the pain and anxiety from the update process. We're here to make your users associate a new feeling with updates: happiness. Happiness that they can use the latest versions of your software without dealing with finicky update programs or shoddy patches.
Buy our Jaguar, wyBuild we're here to work with you. We want your customers to be so happy that they'll actively talk about your software and attract new users for you.
wyUpdate is still open source
wyUpdate, the tiny updater program you include with your program, is still open source. Pop over to the wyUpdate page to download the C# source code.
You don't need to, of course. We include a compiled and optimized version along with wyBuild. The source is there only if you're curious or want to help out.
What's new in wyBuild 1.2?
The main new feature of wyBuild 1.2 is that you can now build your updates from the command line. This way advanced users will be able to better integrate wyBuild into your automation. Read all about it here.
Also included with wyBuild 1.2 comes extra protection for your users. Namely, if your users shuts down their computer while wyUpdate is updating your program, wyUpdate will give them a friendly warning. This warning gives them a safe way to cancel the update and quickly roll back to the previous version of your software.
This protection is to ensure your users always have working software, even if they get impatient.
14 human days
We've changed the way trial days are counted in wyBuild 1.2. Before we had a 20-consecutive day trial. That is, if you tried our program once at the beginning of the month, forgot about it for 20 days, then tried it again at the end of the month the trial would be expired.
Big mistake.
We designed the trial for automatons instead of for humans. Normal people want to try a program for a few minutes, forget about it for a few weeks, then try it again. That's why wyBuild now has a 14-non-consecutive-day trial. You can try wyBuild once a month for an entire year and still have two trial days left. Or you can use it every day for 14 days straight.
It's your time, it's your choice.
Plus, the trial is only a time trial wyBuild is fully functional during the trial period. You can begin releasing updates to your users before you've even bought a license.
Intro Video
If prose isn't your thing, we have a video introduction to wyBuild. You can use the closed captions if you don't want to hear my New England accent.
Have a question?
If you have a question or want to report bugs you can jump over to the forum you don't even need to register to post.
Happy new year have a prosperous 2009!
