So Mother 1.0.0 Alpha 2 was released today. Quite a lot has been improved but there are some features still to be implemented so there will be an Alpha 3 before the official Beta program starts. Registered Alpha testers can view the change log at www.mugginsoft.com/testing/mother.

The update includes the latest build of Sparkle (1.5b6) which insists upon code signing. I have tested this with a pre-emptive Alpha 3 and it all seems to hang together. So fingers crossed for future updates.

Also included is OpenFeedback, an open source feedback and bug reporting framework (see http://code.google.com/p/appcaster/). Support requests, feature suggestions and bug reports can all be entered and uploaded to Mugginsoft HQ (Hideous Quarters) via HTTP.

Alpha 3 will hopefully see the GUI fully operational. After that I hope to impose a feature freeze and devote the Betas solely to debugging. There has been a reasonable level of complexity involved in implementing Mother and I suspect that a great deal of filial devotion will be required before I can safely let the old dear loose.