The iNexus

This is just a little note for dotMac Menu users that the new version, including the aforementioned short display names and a display all option, is ready for shipping right now and it’s just a matter of updating the documentation and website, which I’ll be working on tonight and tomorrow to hopefully get it out tomorrow.

By far my favorite feature is the new installer package - it’s incredibly simple and learning and using PackageMaker was a fun excursion. The end-to-end experience is now seamless and enjoyable. Feedback is always welcome, comments or e-mail.

Although I’ve been around installers and PackageMaker at work for several months now I’ve never really appreciated the tech behind it. It does what it says, looks stylish, and is available to all developers and users, which is incredibly useful in and of itself.

But my respect for it went off the charts last night when I made an installer package for dotMac Menu. It’s not The Perfect Solution(tm) but it’s damn close. It drops dotMac Menu, an enabler helper, and a restart script app into a simple folder in /Applications. Then it goes the extra mile to make them all run. User effort: nil. Click a couple buttons, read some spiffy text and a license (yay for license prompt safety), and enjoy as it does all the work. Did I mention it writes receipts so you could roll back and detects if you’ve already installed? Slick.

I’m sure the old hats who’ve done this since the beginning of recorded OS X time might get a chuckle but the enhancements they’ve added (interface editor, plethora of options) and the flexibility of the architecture make this an indispensable tool for those apps who can’t just have a drag & drop install. Next up, DriveGauge!