Socially|Mundane

We love to bash Linden Lab over the grid performance and stability, their whacked-out governance overtures, the buggy viewer and so many other things.

However, you have to admit, there are times when kudos are highly deserved. The new 1.20 version of the Second Life viewer is now available and you really need to take a look at this thing. Among bug fixes, there are a lot of very nice enhancement you'll like.

First is the new "ruth" - an ghostly apparition in the form of an animated, glowing fog. So for everyone who uses this viewer, no more ruths. Okay, the new Ruth is totally wicked and I want to be a permanent ruth! How do I get an avatar that is a perpetual ruth? Another awesome feature is that in chat and IM windows, the names of everyone speaking is clickable - one-click = instant profile. No more drag-to-highlight name, then pressing CTRL-C to copy, then opening the search window, selecting the People tab, pressing CTRL-V to paste, clicking search, then click the actual name you are looking for from all the similar names in the list.

Sweet.

Also nicely done is how every-time your friends are shown coming online or going offline in main chat - is not shown in IM chat windows. Very convenient when you see that some one has crashed and are kicked offline while you are in an IM conversation.

Unfortunately for Mac OS-X Panther users, the new version is not supported. For everyone else,jump on it. Reports are far smoother animation and higher frame-rates. and fear not for the "silver" color scheme. Considerably more time and effort was put into this release and Linden Lab has listened.

The original "pewter" (as I call it) color scheme is not only still present, but the default scheme. The silver scheme is available through your preferences pane.

The top ten things you might want to really know about the new version 1.2 version here.

Source: "One new feature is the ability to change the color theme or “skinning” of the User Interface. To do this, use CTRL P to go to Preferences > Skins tab and select one of the options The new Silver skin provides a refreshed color scheme for the UI and icons. This is the culmination of Project Dazzle, which was refined with residents in previous First Look and the Release Candidate cycle. Based on YOUR FEEDBACK, this new color scheme is optional in the final viewer: Second Life will install with the classic appearance until you choose to change it."