If no big surprises occur during the beta testing period, we’ll release the official version in January. Here are some of the features for which we’d like your help to decide what to do.

Products

The new version adds products as a new type of items that is meant to complement services. You can now use products to bill goods instead of using service items to bill both services and goods. This new feature creates two small problems. The first is that some users may want to convert existing service items to product items. The second is that existing invoice templates will not be able to display product items, they will have to be edited to include products. So, the first question is:

Q1: Have you used service items to record goods? If so, is it safe to assume that service items with no time entries are possible candidates for being converted to product items?

Q2: Did you add time to service items you used to record goods?

Timesheet filters

The timesheet filters can now be saved if you click the small cog icon. This feature is only available in the Timesheet view but we’re not sure if it’s useful for the other views as well.

Q3: Should we make it possible to save filters in the other views: Projects, Invoices, Payments? If so, what configurations of filters would you save?

View toolbar buttons

We replaced the four buttons that switched between views with a dropdown list to save toolbar space.

Q4: Do you find this solution intuitive?

If there is anything else you’d like to see fixed before the final release, please let us know.

Since Christmas is in two days and the new year is just around the corner, we’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year!

This is the first time we celebrate our initial release publicly so we wondered what would be the best way to do it. We decided that a sale and a new version would be the best way to mark this moment.

New users can purchase a license for only $29 instead of $59 (50% off) for 5 days starting today. If you like using Fanurio, recommend it to your friends and put a big smile on their face .

We’re also releasing version 2.4.3. It fixes small bugs, mostly related to the latest versions of Ubuntu and Mac OS X. Version 2.5 that implements new features will be available later this month.

Thanks for all of your support!

Go to the download page to get it. This is a bug fix release, so everybody can use it.

Thanks for making us aware of these problems.

If you haven’t used Fanurio before, you can download a trial version from the download page. A license can be purchased from the purchase page.

If you like using Fanurio, recommend it to your friends and put a big smile on their face .

Go to the download page to get it. This is a bug fix release, so everybody can use it.

Thanks for making us aware of all these problems.

If you are a long-time Fanurio user, you know we didn’t charge any money for updates in the past. This was our gift to you for choosing us in the beginning. To continue to offer a quality product and the same level of support, we need to charge for updates. The key element of the new update policy is the annual maintenance plan. This plan gives you access to updates (major and minor) and technical support for one year.

New pricing scheme

The price of a license is still 59 USD and includes a maintenance plan for one year. This means that when you purchase a license you also get free technical support and updates (major or minor) for one year. When the maintenance plan expires, you only have access to bug fixes.

You can extend your maintenance plan before it expires or within 14 days after it expires. The new maintenance plan starts right after the old one expires and costs 19 USD for one year. This option is recommended if you want to receive constant updates.

If you decide not to extend your maintenance plan, you can renew it whenever you want to use the latest version. The new maintenance plan starts when you purchase the renewal and costs 29 USD for one year.

Existing users

So, how does this work if you’re already a registered user?

If you purchased a license less than one year ago, you still have a valid maintenance plan. If you want to extend your maintenance plan you can do it now or wait until it expires.

If you purchased a license more than one year ago, your maintenance plan has expired and you can extend it until March 15, 2011 for 19 USD. If you don’t, you’ll still be able to renew it whenever you want to use a new version for 29 USD. Please note that bug fixes for the latest version covered by your maintenance plan are still free.

I hope you enjoy using Fanurio as much as we do developing it.

1.  Closing on Windows and Linux (GNOME)

If Fanurio was running when the computer was shutdown or the user logged off, the application didn’t close thus leaving a few things unsaved or opened. Only if closing it first from File > Exit (Windows) or File > Quit (Linux) it closed its database and saved all the settings. The Mac OS X version never had this problem.

The new version closes correctly on Windows and on Linux distributions that use GNOME. Fanurio uses the GNOME session manager to learn when the user logs off or the computer is shut down just like gedit or OpenOffice do.

2. Drop-down list not visible on Mac OS X

Drop-down lists where not visible on Mac OS X when using the mini-timer. This can be seen especially when adding time or starting the timer. This is not a problem when switching back to the main window.

3. Default billing settings

This bug is not critical but it can be annoying. When creating new service items from the “Select Service” dialog, the new item didn’t use the default project billing settings.

Thanks for reporting these bugs.

Fanurio runs on multiple platforms and we are very careful with how each version integrates with the latest versions of Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. A good integration with the desktop means less time spent on tracking time. That’s why the most important change in this version is the new user interface optimized for Mac OS X and Windows 7.

Another important change is that this is the last free upgrade for some users. Now, let’s see in more detail what has changed.

Future updates

This new version is a free update for all our users. In the last four years we released another twenty versions as free updates. We are now changing our policy regarding updates so that the next version will no longer be a free upgrade for users who purchased a license more than one year ago.

All users who purchased a license are eligible for free upgrades and technical support within one year from their purchase. For instance, if you purchased a license on January 1st, 2011 then you will get all new versions released until January 1st, 2012 for free.

If you purchased a license on January 31st, 2010 or before then this is your last free update. You will still be able to use Fanurio but you will not have access to new versions. If you want to use new versions, you will have to purchase an upgrade license.

New license keys

The new version requires a different license key to start. If you haven’t received an email with the new key yet, please contact us.

New Mac OS X-like user interface

One thing that you will notice when running the new version is the new user interface that follows Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines. This should be a very pleasant surprise for our OS X users. However, the new interface comes with a price. Fanurio no longer runs on older Macs. It can only be used on Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Another very useful OS X feature is the new dock icon menu that lets you control the timer. Fanurio also has a menu bar icon from where you can control the timer but some people prefer to do everything from the dock icon.

New Windows 7-like user interface

Although the new interface has elements specific to OS X applications, it also looks good on Windows 7.

If you are a Windows 7 user, you will probably like the new interface, the fact that you can pin Fanurio to the task bar, the overlay icon when the timer is running and the thumbnail toolbar that lets you control the timer.

QuickBooks integration

A very old request has been the integration with QuickBooks. The new version can export time entries to an .iif file that can then be imported in QuickBooks Pro.

Please note that there are many other changes that you could find useful. Make sure you read the release notes for more details.

To help us, go ahead and download the beta version. This beta doesn’t come with a questionnaire so feel free to tell us anything that strikes you. We are mostly interested in things that you don’t like but if there’s anything you like in particular, we’d love to know that too. We’ll use your feedback to adjust the final release.

Since tomorrow is Christmas and the new year is just around the corner, we’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year!

Follow @fanurio to learn when we release a new version, fix a bug or give away licenses of Fanurio. The bug fixes and the giveaways are announced only on Twitter. Right now we are giving away ten licenses of Fanurio on Webdesigner Depot. Go check it out!

If you don’t want to follow us but you want to get in touch by Twitter messages (direct messages), send us your Twitter id and we’ll follow you. You can send us a Twitter message only if you are followed by us (learn more).

If you don’t have a Twitter account but still want to get Twitter updates from us then you should subscribe to our Twitter timeline feed.

See you on Twitter. We will be there to talk with you about Fanurio.