X-bytes: Internet utilities, authoring tools


AOL has released AIM 4.5.794. This update offers new file sharing features to share folders with buddies. Other improvements include new OS X-style preferences, extended AIM plugin support, an idle-time messaging and extended event actions.

DigiChat v4.0, a complete, full featured application for building communities online, offers a ground-up redesigned interface and bot support for additional functionality via its open API -- anyone can program and/or install a BOT to create a uniquely customized chatroom experience -- including real-time (language) translation and weather reports. Other features include automated flood control, file transfer/sharing capabilities, support for webcast chat events and support for interface skinning. DigiChat pricing starts at $599 for a 100-user, unmoderated version.

WebDesign 1.7, an HTML editor that provides web site management tools and wizards for building forms and other elements, adds the ability to show line numbers in each document window as well as an improved preview feature which uses Apple's HTMLRenderingLib to preview your HTML documents within WebDesign. It also adds an Open Web Site... menu item allowing users to select their web site folder and have their web pages listed in WebDesign's file browser. Other new features include a 'Replace and Find Next' menu item and a slightly redesigned toolbar. WebDesign sells for $29.95.

Oxygen 1.2.2 is a Java-based XML editor that supports XML, XSL, DTD, XSD and TXT documents, and brings together the top today's technologies (Java and XML). This app can generate a DTD from a sample XML document, and can check for valid and well-formed XML, XSL and XSD content. New in this dot-update include improved XML Schema codeinsight, XSL external parameter support, etc. Oxygen sells for $65.

SmartWrap 2.2 is a suite of mini-apps that analyze text to detect paragraphs and lists within. It then rewraps the text so it wraps naturally within documents and messages. The major advance in this update is hot-key access to the app's text-scrubbing features. SmartWarp is available for $18.