Pulse Version History

The following features were made available as part of each release of Pulse. Please note that the list here is no exhaustive; this list is intended to provide an overview of the release. For more information on known issues, please check the Pulse forums.
For a high-level view of Pulse's future plans, please visit the Road Map.

Version 2.3.1 released on October 3rd, 2008

  • Improved Download Performance
    Mirror selection and download pipe size have been tweaked to improve overall performance. Also now detect when a download has stalled and select a new mirror to continue download.
  • Improved Proxy Support
    Now securely store proxy credentials for reuse on subsequent starts of the Pulse Explorer. Proxy settings are now passed to launched profiles. Settings are also automatically enabled/disabled if Pulse detects that the current network requires them.
  • Pulse Extension Startup Fix
    When provisioning 3.4 profiles, the target config add-on software that synchronizes workspace settings and configures proxy, etc. would sometimes not start automatically. This has been fixed to ensure that 3.4 profiles have the target config software automatically start.
  • Improved Provisioning Failure Messages
    When provisioning failures occur due to a missing piece of software, updated the status message returned to have more information about the number of pieces of software discovered for each of the checked sites as well as displaying of information should one of the loaded repositories not have loaded correctly.
  • Eclipse Restart Dialog Fix
    In certain situations, when using the local management UI within an Eclipse 3.4 profile, no restart or apply dialog would be shown after the software is installed. Fixed to consistently show the restart dialog after installing software when update is needed.

Version 2.3 released on September 11th, 2008

  • Single Location For Pulse Files
    When installing on a clean system, or after uninstalling 2.2 or below, Pulse locates by default all files into a single user-chosen directory -- no more scattering of files all over your system nor forcing files to be stored in your home directory. When upgrading from Pulse 2.2, Pulse will continue to use the old structures for storing files.
  • Improved Mirror Performance
    Performance and optimizations in mirror selection including improved detection for fastest mirrors and better tracking of mirror performance history. Also optimizes to allow for no duplication of downloads between the Pulse Explorer and the shared software used in the installed profiles.
  • Catalog Updates
    Many catalog updates and improvements based on feedback from the community including update site fixes, clean up of problematic software, and general improvements to the scope and the size of the catalog. Note that there are still incompatibilities between software requiring Mylyn 2.3 and Mylyn 3.0 that are outside Pulse's direct control.
  • Software Management Inside Profiles Improvement
    Fixes in the product to allow better usage of Add/Remove software from within installed software, especially when using the catalog. Also includes bug fixes for different edge case usage flows as reported in the forums.
  • More SSL Root Certificates
    Updated the SSL root certificates used by the client to a much more complete list allowing many more HTTPS style update sites to be used within Pulse.
  • Pulse Private Label
    Pulse Private Label provides companies with a complete software management solution. You have the choice of delivering everything from custom tool stacks with full catalog control to complete end-user application distribution within your company or to your users. Customizable corporate branding and messaging are all included.

Version 2.2.1 released on July 8th, 2008

  • Profile Launch Reliability Fixes
    Fixed a few reliability issues including: Failure preparing "partial IU", Artifact XXX not found (despite the download being successful), and Missing executable when attempting to launch the software.
  • User Search Fix
    Searching for users who have only registered online including assigning licenses now works.
  • Mac Provisioning Fix
    Updated provisioning on Mac OS X to detect which Library folder to write into based on system configuration. Other fixes include better defaults for installation locations.
  • Improved Share With Public
    Fixed ability for users to share a profile with the public, including simplifying the flow when following the link provided as part of sharing a profile publicly.

Version 2.2 released on June 25th, 2008

  • Improved Mirror Support
    We've improved Pulse's mirroring technology to provide the fastest download of Eclipse technology available.
  • Reliability Improvements
    Pulse now employs a failsafe repository which kicks in to help install software from update sites that are temporarily unavailable.
  • JRE Provisioning
    It's now possible to include a JRE in your profile! Pulse will use that JRE to launch your eclipse profile.
  • Catalog Improvements
    We listened to our users and added a ton of new entries to the software catalog. In addition, we updated several entries for easier use or better performance (like MyEclipse. Subclipse, Aptana Studio, and others).
  • Provisioning Error Messages
    We've improved the error message you get when Pulse can't provision a profile.
  • Vista Without the Pop-ups
    There were times when Vista would complain that a software installation failed. We've fixed that.
  • Proxy Support on 64-bit Linux
    We've improved the proxy support on 64-bit Linux systems.
  • Porting of Anonymous Profiles
    There were upgrade paths where Pulse would skip the porting of anonymous profiles. We've fixed all of the upgrade paths so Pulse now ports your anonymous profiles to public profiles when you register.

Version 2.1.1 released on May 22nd, 2008

  • Reliability Improvements
    Infrequently when running the Pulse installer, the UI could freeze at "Initializing..."
  • OpenJDK Support (Experimental)
    When running on Linux, there were issues with OpenJDK support, we're now detecting and providing basic support. When using an OpenJDK, you will be given a warning and may need to fallback to HTTP instead of HTTPS to proceed (passwords are still secure).
  • Auto-fallback to HTTP
    When running on Linux, the auto-fallback to HTTP (with warning) was not working as expected. The detection and subsequent warning have been improved.
  • Explorer Reliability
    When running on OS X, the explorer UI could get into a state where it would start throwing an IllegalArgumentException, this was related to a bug in SWT under 3.4.
  • Detection of Unavailable Update Sites
    When provisioning using Pulse, if an update site was not available, Pulse reported incorrectly an unable to resolve error, we now correctly indicate what update sites are not available.
  • Preference Filtering
    When sharing preferences, Pulse incorrectly was sharing system-specific settings for the JDT variables.
  • Eclipse 3.4 Ganymede RC 1
    Updated the Pulse catalog to use Eclipse 3.4 RC 1 when using the Ganymede profile.

Version 2.1 released on May 2nd, 2008

  • Public Sharing
    Share your profile with friends, colleagues and even the public with one-click icons that you can post on your blog or Web site. Shared profiles can include custom software and workspace, so customize at will. Showcase yourself!
  • Multiple OS Support
    Pulse 2.1 is available on both Linux and Mac in addition to Windows. Linux support includes integration with Gnome and KDE with shortcut creation in the menus. OS X support integrates with a common bundle pool under your /Library directory (customizable).
  • Pulse Desktop Express
    Pulse can deliver your products to valued customers with ease. Not only will you improve your installer experience, your customers can use your branded solution to manage their other tools as well. And of course, no more hassles building cross-platform installers!
  • Portal Improvements
    View profile details and add profiles to your accounts directly from the Pulse Web site.
  • Local Management
    Add tools to your profiles and test them locally. The need for Freelance to perform this task is eliminated to provide a local sand box for tools prior to sharing. You can choose to add software to your profile from update sites or from the catalog right from within your installed profile.
  • Automatic Proxy Detection and Improved Proxy Support
    Automatically detects proxy settings and provides improved usability. Will also detect if automatic fallback to HTTP is required and request permission to run in HTTP mode should a secure connection not be able to be established due to problems with the proxy configuration.
  • Improved Workspace Collaboration
    Collaborate with your team with ease. In Pulse 2.1, don't worry about accidentally stepping on key settings like the workspace directory or user names in team repositories. Pulse 2.1 automatically strips out problematic settings from workspace setups as you share them.
  • Uninstaller
    If Pulse needs to be removed from a system, now it's easy to do. The uninstaller removes all profiles and Pulse itself including allowing cache clean-up. Just use the uninstaller shortcut, it's that easy.

Version 2.0 released on March 18th, 2008

  • Catalog Additions
    Pulse now includes hundreds of catalog items to choose from. Pulling from Eclipse Plugin Central, users are able to view the tool's technical information and community ranking.
  • Pulse Freelance
    Pulse Freelance is a value-added service for Pulse users who need even more control over their tools. It allows the addition of items not in the Pulse catalog to your profiles, as well a workspace and preference settings. Get teams up and running in minutes, not days.
  • Dependency Resolution
    With hundreds of plugins now available, Pulse harnessed the power of the p2 platform to allow dependency resolution on the client side, making Pulse even faster and easier than before.
  • Management of both Eclipse 3.3 (Europa) & 3.4 (Ganymede)
    Users can keep their Eclipse versions in check by independently managing their 3.3 and 3.4 tools stacks.
  • Custom Update Sites
    With Pulse Freelance, users are able to add update sites not found in the catalog and share them with other Freelance users. Includes the ability to share update sites behind the firewall without exposing IP.
  • NTLM v2 Proxy Support
    Pulse improves proxy support with the addition of an advanced communication library that works with more proxy configurations including NTLM version 2 support used within Windows domains.

Version 0.9.2 released on January 18th, 2008

  • Fixes to Proxy Support
    Pulse now correctly works with more proxy configurations including authenticated proxy servers, and servers that can only handle forwarding HTTP requests. To pick up the change, a new executable must be downloaded from the poweredbypulse.com portal for the full set of changes.
  • Fixes to Shortcut Creation
    Pulse was not creating shortcuts from within the Pulse Explorer. Pulse now correctly creates shortcuts and maintains them when you delete or rename profiles on the same system. Each profile launched in Pulse whether from the explorer or the launcher will have a shortcut created in the program group you specified.
  • Catalog Updates
    This refresh includes a few additions to the catalog including the NXTware RCP and Corba products and the m2eclipse integration for Matisse and Mylar. For the full listing of software, explore the catalog in the Pulse Explorer or view the summary online.

Version 0.9.1 released on December 7th, 2007

  • Mac OS X Support
    Pulse now includes the ability to install Pulse on OS X systems with 10.4+. Integration includes applications managed by Pulse being registered in the Applications folder and the ability to directly launch your customized profiles.
  • Linux Support
    Pulse now includes the ability to install Pulse on Linux systems. Integration includes Pulse managing executables in a bin/ folder of your choice that include being able to directly launch the profiles you customize in Pulse.
  • Catalog Updates
    This refresh includes many additions to the Pulse catalog including Europa software such as GEF, EMF GMF, TPTP, etc., as well as a number of other open source software including Jira Dashboard, AnyEditTools, MouseFeed, Groovy, PyDev, Ruby, etc. In addition to the open source software, Codign has now listed CoViewDeveloper as part of the Pulse catalog of software. For the full listing of software, explore the catalog in the Pulse Explorer or view the summary online.
  • Proxy Support
    To enable different deployment modes, Pulse now includes proxy support allowing you to enable either an HTTP/HTTPS or SOCKS server for your Pulse software access. This can be managed either from the Pulse preferences page or on initial Pulse launch when Pulse is unable to reach the Pulse server.
  • User Interface Improvements
    As part of our ongoing effort to improve the Pulse user experience, multiple updates were made to the Pulse user interface including fixing bugs related to layout as well as improves in performance when using the store and instruction pages in Pulse Explorer. Look for continued incremental improvements in this area going forward.
  • Download Reliability Improvements
    During the first phase of the Pulse technical preview, we isolated areas that could be improved in ensuring optimal download speeds as well as reliability. This release includes a number of fixes that should help ensure reliable downloads even when the respective software's download mirror may be experiencing intermittent problems. Look for continual improvements in this area.

Version 0.9.0 released on November 6th, 2007

  • First Release of Pulse
    This is the first release of Pulse made available to the public. As part of the initial release, Pulse included support for Windows and a limited catalog to highlight the technology available in Pulse.