Version 4 (beta)

[Andy]

Version 4 of AB Tutor Control is in beta test at the moment. If anyone is interested in helping us test it please send me an e-mail directly. It's only with your help that we can find and fix any problems with this release.

Thanks for your continued support.

Andy

[b]What's new in Version 4.0[/b]
1: A brand new 'Licensing System' has been developed to allow for easy software registrations/transfers and multiple configurations.

2: New and improved Policy Management:
- Multiple policies can be added/removed to a remote machine
- Application blocking now improved and will close un-wanted applications even if they are already open. You can also block/allow applications based on the apps title name and full path using a wildcard spec. E.g. Block All except 'c:\*' blocks all applications from running except from the C Drive.
- A full Internet Block policy has been added. This blocks at the 'Port' level so covers ALL browsers and applications that access the internet (NT2000/XP/2003 machines only)
- A new 'Privacy' policy added. This shows a small icon in the remote users 'System tray' (bottom right) and indicates when the Tutor is connected. Additionally, when the remote machine is being 'Watched' the student can block the watch.

3: A new 'Follow me' option added to the 'Show' command. The show command can either display the Tutors screen in Full screen mode or in the new thumb-nail view allowing the students to work on their machine and see the tutor's screen at the same time.

4: If the remote screen size is smaller than the tutor's screen when in Show mode, then the tutor's screen is now 'Scaled' to fit.

5: Remote Screen capture feature. Whilst view a remote screen the tutor can press the 'Capture' button and the screen is automatically date/time stamped and saved to file. (See also 'Tools' - 'Settings' - 'Capture' tab)

6: An 'Auto-reconnect' option has been added. If for some reason the remote connection is lost (either via a network problem or the remote machine being re-booted by the student) then the Tutor program will continue to try to re-connect for a set number of tries.

7: An 'Exhibit' function has been added. This allows the Tutor to show a student's screen to the rest of the class.
It works by simply 'Watching' the remote machine on the Tutor's computer and then goes into a 'Show' mode to the selected remote machines.
This means the tutor can not only see the student's screen being exhibited but also 'Annotate' the screen being showed.

8: Passwords have been re-organised to make it easier to understand and manage. The normal Admin and Tutor startup passwords are now under 'Tools' - 'Settings' - 'Passwords'. The all important 'Connection passwords' now have there own menu item under 'Tools'. Through the Connection passwords dialog box, you can now simply change the connection password without sending it to the selected client (mainly for item 9 below) and a separate button to change the password and also send it to the remote selected clients.

9: You can also specify a Connection password to a 'Classroom group' making groups more secure.

10: The start-up 'Splash screen' automatically disappears after a few seconds as long as no start-up password is required.

11: Automatic Group selection from the command line. (i.e. by specifying the classroom group on the command line of the Windows icon, when you launch the Tutor program, that group is automatically selected)
Syntax: -g

12: The location of the Configuration/settings file can be located on a shared network drive. This makes it easy to maintain and configure multiple installation of AB tutor Control.
Again control via a command line parameter.
Syntax: -p

13: The program is now distributed via an MSI install file that uses the Microsoft Windows Installer and allows for remote silent installs etc.

14: Fixed bug when you try to remotely launch an application located on a network drive.

15: Some other minor interface improvements and bug fixes

[chris@solutions4it]

Andy,

i would like to trial v4 beta, however, i can not see your e-mail to request this.

i am currently trialling v3.10 as an alternative to an existing software package that we sell.

thanks
chris
(Solutions 4 IT)