UI Browser Coming to an End in October

Questions & Suggestions
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Moderators Note – 2022/10/31 18:37 CDT:

See Post #8 in this topic. Late Night Software has taken on the task of maintaining UI Browser.

This has been posted elsewhere, but I thought it worth repeating here.

PFiddlesoft's UI Browser will disappear on October 17 this year. Like many, I depend on UI Browser almost every time I need to script an application. It is an extraordinary tool that I don't look forward to doing without. Quoting from the website:

"UI Browser End of Life: UI Browser will reach its end of life and be retired on October 17, 2022. The current release of UI Browser, version 3.0.2, will not be updated. On the end-of-life retirement date, the PFiddlesoft website will be closed. Thereafter, it will no longer be possible to download or purchase UI Browser, and product support will no longer be available. UI Browser has been a labor of love for me, its sole developer for almost twenty years. Now that I am 79 years old, it is time to bring this good work to a conclusion. Bill Cheeseman, April 17, 2022."

If you have been thinking about buying UI Browser, now is the time. Hopefully Ventura won't break it, and it will remain useful for some time.

I do not know what Bill's intentions are regarding the code itself, or if anyone has approached him about the possibility of taking up the reins. But a very important niche market for serious automators is opening up.

It would also be a good time for a lively discussion of alternatives.

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No sure exactly where the balance is there between:

  • very important, and
  • niche

but I would be surprised if the capturable revenue stream easily covered the real costs.

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Note that the above is an old quote, and the same passage now includes

On the end-of-life retirement date, the PFiddlesoft website will be closed. Thereafter, product support will no longer be available. I am currently making arrangements for a permanent download site for the version 3.0.2 disk image for licensed users and for public access to the source code. UI Browser has been a labor...

(Emphasis mine.)

Whether anyone does take it on is another matter, but at least there's hope...

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That is VERY new text. :wink:

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"Extremely important for those in that niche" is the better statement.

I suspect that you are right about the capturable revenue stream when development is included. As he notes, it was "a labor of love." But given the existence of the code, simple maintenance might be less demanding.

I do look forward to cracking open the code myself. If nothing else I'm sure it contains many gems for tracking down those hard-to-find corners of the UI hierarchy.

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You know that sinking feeling when someone says "Volunteers, step forward!" and you look round and everyone else has taken a step back?

Good luck @JeffHester -- we're behind you all the way!

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There is the little heart that I can click, but where the hell is the laugh emoji response? :wink:

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Hi @JeffHester Late-Night-Software will continue the UI Browser beyond 10/17/2022 but not sell it.

Future

UI Browser is no longer available for purchase. UI Browser’s source code will not be released as open-source. Late Night Software will continue making UI Browser available and supporting it on a best-effort basis for as long as there is a demand for the software.

You just published this article on your website:

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