RC2 coming tonight

I am completing all remaining TODO chores and releasing RC2 tonight. The following days will be continued testing, review, and profiling (performance testing and tuning). I intend to hit my target of the 14th as the final release date.

The fact is that I could work forever on this new version. I had to set a release date to get it on out. I am not dropping my dedication to doing the best I can though. No prior build has went through as much QA as this one will have by final release.

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Web server troubles

Yesterday we experienced some massive web server troubles. The worst ever known, 4-6 hours of downtime with a message that looked like we didn't pay our bill for an error. Yes, I wasn't very happy either.

In fact, this persisted so long I proceeded with getting the backup server going. Since an upcoming major release is pending, we're now back on the original server. Both servers should work ok, as there is no telling which you may be directed to until the DNS changes finish propagating back to our original server. However, *if* you experience troubles, then give your DNS server some time to flush its cache and try again later.

I apologize for any troubles this may have caused. At least now we have a viable and ready backup server to go on a moment's notice. It is just too bad DNS changes don't propagate that quickly, lol.

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New v4.00.10 RC1 beta build to fix blank processes list in XP

This beta release specifically addresses an issue with some XP home installations where the new beta would show a blank processes list because Terminal Services was disabled or set to manual start. We do NOT require you start Terminal Services, as previously described. When Terminal Services isn't running, since Process Lasso can't identify the username of processes, it simply manages all processes it has access to.

Version 3.84 final does NOT have this issue as it behaves like v4.00.10 now again does. This issue is not relevant in Vista+.

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Terminal Services in XP/2K .. or 'Help, my process list is blank in the new beta!'

During 'real world' testing it was discovered that many users disable the service: Terminal Services. This service facilitates Fast User Switching, Remote Desktop, Media Center, and generally most all multi-user functions on the system. It takes very little resources and its default state is to start on-demand. I therefore strongly recommend you enable it, as it isn't going to make your PC run faster to disable it. The overhead is simply too low. I mean, heck, one browsing tab open for 1 second exceeds the total virtual memory and CPU use of that service for probably the life of the session (until reboot).

Anyway, in v4 RC1 BETA since I now better hide/show the processes of other users based on the configuration, the disabling of Terminal Services could result in a blank Process Lasso process list. You can simply toggle 'Main / Manage process of other users too...' to fix this. Alternatively, you can enable Terminal Services.

So, in the NEXT beta... What I'm going to do is continue to ALLOW people to DISABLE Terminal Services, as I know no matter what I say some will insist on being able to disable it. The one side effect is that it will be impossible for Process Lasso to resolve the user name of a process, because it has no session to match the process name to. Therefore, the option 'Manage processes of other users' will automatically be turned on when Terminal Services is found to be disabled.

This does not apply to Vista or Windows 7 where this service has become an integral part of the OS and is always going to be available.

So, now Process Lasso (as before) will continue be the ONLY utility of its kind that does NOT mandate the following services:

1. Performance Counter (yes, I carefully crafted code to not utilize this 'easy' way)
2. Terminal Services (in XP/2K if not present, we'll just 'deal' with not being able to get process usernames)

I am currently testing a new beta that will better handle this condition in XP and W2K. So, if you are one of those users who insists on having services disabled, that's no problem for us ;). I honestly think it is largely ineffectual to disable services, and likely to cause troubles with applications that may depend on them, but I will let you be the judge of that yourself.

This issue does NOT apply to last final (v3.84) where we simply managed all processes we had access to. With the improvements in Vista+ support, v4 was more picky about what processes it managed -- hence the little bug in the beta.

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v4.00.09 RC1 beta

This build has a few minor fixes and adjustments. It has many translation updates, and finally fixes the issue where 'Yes' and 'No' weren't being translated because they fell below the minimum string length of my localization tools (note this was done in a subsequent update after I initially uploaded v4.00.09).

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Final release date set: November 14th, 2010

As I make my way through extended testing, I've decided to do an unusual (and perhaps challenging) thing --- set a firm release date. Honestly, I believe I could release v4 as-is right now and not have any major troubles. However, I want a little more time to continue testing and performance tuning for different environments, so have given myself 10 days.

This was necessary, in part, to get over my 'fear' of releasing a new version. As I've said before, the last final is so good and stable that it is a risky thing to move away from it unless I'm entirely confident in the new version. Additionally, the new activation system has to be perfect, else I'll get more support emails than I can handle the first day I issue the update, lol. So, I've got my work cut out for me ;o.

I would love to hear what you think about this.

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When CPU Affinity Helps and When HyperThreading Hurts

I'm not a great writer, and have to dedicate most of my time to coding. However, sometimes I do feel compelled to record certain knowledge -- just in case someone else needs it. I've done this many times in lengthy R&D projects (e.g. my WRT54G work), but now I'm taking a different approach - short articles simply stating some fact. I'm calling it the Bitsum Knowledge Base, after Microsoft's Knowledge Base, lol.

Here's a couple short articles I'm working on. Proof-reading and extensions will come in time:

When CPU Affinity Helps
When HyperThreading Hurts

I've got about 100 more I could write, but will start small ;). Maybe these articles will help someone in need, and perhaps gain me a customer if I'm lucky. Many engineers don't take the time to publicly disclose knowledge, which is understandable, but I feel like a more educated population is a better population. Naturally, any writings I do are probably oriented towards the techie type. However, if there is jargon you don't know -- just look it up and you'll understand.

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