[Macpartners] iPassConnect Release Effort Underway

[Deb Bowser]

Date: Tuesday, June 14,  2005
To: MIT Community: itpartners at mit.edu, macpartners at mit.edu, 
winpartners at mit.edu, sw-release-announce at mit.edu, ed-tech at mit.edu
Cc: itag at mit.edu, is&t at mit.edu
From: Software Release Team
Subject: iPassConnect Release Effort Underway

Good day:

IS&T is pleased to announce a release effort is currently underway for new 
versions of iPassConnect.  iPassConnect clients for Windows (version 3.30) 
and for Macintosh OS X (version 2.37), is a simple, easy to use desktop 
client that allows remote users to connect to the internet through iPass' 
global network of providers. It has a new point-and-click interface for 
connecting to iPass local access points, and supports Microsoft Windows XP 
SP2 or later and Mac OS 10.3 or later.

The release effort will focus on creating documentation, testing and 
ramping up support for the new iPassConnect clients.

iPassConnect is not intended to replace a dial-up connection from your home 
that you use for more than four hours a month. For connections such as 
this, you should continue to use your current dial-up provider, switch to a 
high speed provider: <http://web.mit.edu/is/help/network/highspeed.html> or 
use MIT's Tether service: <http://web.mit.edu/is/help/tether>.

New features and improvements:
----------------------------------------------------
Macintosh:

Enhanced Modem State Detection: On Macintosh OS 10.3.x, iPassConnect will 
now validate that the modem is ready before attempting to connect.

Automatic Location Management: Improved ability to make a connection even 
if the Automatic location is deleted. Previously, on Macintosh OS 10.3.x, 
if the Automatic location was deleted and the modem was unselected in the 
current profile, the Connect button would gray out when clicked. Now 
iPassConnect will dial properly regardless of the current active or 
inactive location.


Windows:

Administrative Privilege Levels Not Required:
In previous versions of iPassConnect, many program operations, such as 
launching third-party applications, or detecting wireless networks were 
restricted to users with elevated privilege levels. In iPassConnect 3.30, 
users at all privilege levels (restricted users, power users, and 
administrators) will have access to all iPassConnect operations.

Installation and Uninstallation:
Please note that administrative rights are still required for the 
installation and uninstallation of iPassConnect 3.30. However, once 
installed, future software updates from version 3.30 to a later version 
will not require administrative rights

Speed-Prioritized Update:
This feature will allows iPassConnect to take advantage of the times when 
the user is connected over a high-speed connection, to optimize the update 
experience and reduce download times. If enabled, iPassConnect will only 
perform a software update when the user is connected to a high-speed 
connection, typically a LAN or broadband connection.

Known issues:
--------------------------------------
Duplicate Bookmark Names: Bookmark names can be duplicated. To avoid 
confusion, make sure each Bookmark has a unique name.

No Idle Timeout Message: No warning message will be shown before an idle 
timeout.
Post-Connect Actions after Phonebook Update: iPassConnect will launch 
post-connect actions after each Phonebook update.

We will send updates as needed throughout the process. For more information 
on iPassConnect see the product release 
notebook:  <http://web.mit.edu/swrt/releases/ipass/>.  If you have 
questions or suggestions, please contact the team via e-mail at 
ipass-release at mit.edu.  If you are a current, registered user of 
iPassConnect and would like to test the new client(s), please contact us.


Deb Bowser
iPassConnect Product Release Coordinator
Client Support Services
Information Services and Technology (IS&T)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room W92-176
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-253-3879
bowser at mit.edu