Stay Connected! 2.1 for Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT
Release Date: September 5, 1998
New! The most important feature for this release is the incorporation
of a modem dialer. With Stay Connected's modem dialer, users will be
able to connect to the Internet, and stay on the net for as long as
they wish, with just one mouse click away. This one-stop connectivity
solution allows users to bypass Windows 95/98's Dial-Up Networking
(DUN) or NT's Remote Access Service (RAS) which is more cumbersome to
use.
New! Added a modem dialer configuration page which allows multiple
dial-up profiles.
New! Tested and certified under Microsoft Windows 98.
New! After registering the program, the menu "Enter Registration Code"
and "Register via Internet" will not show up again.
New! URL addresses are properly formatted with blue and underlined text
instead of being contained in a button
Changed: If you're using Stay Connected's modem dialer, the connection
check option may not be available.
Fixed: The confusing status of the gray double-bar icon that resides in
the tool tray has been changed to dull green
Fixed: Some tool tips help was messed up due to inconsistencies with
Visual C++ string table
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Stay Connected! 2.0 (aka Stealth Version) for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: March 19, 1998
New! In previous versions, users were able to define one and only one
host to tag their services to. This version we allow users to tag on
to more than one host.
New! Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are now detecting fixed
pinging intervals (e.g. previous versions of Stay Connected). If the
ISP's server detects a fixed sequence of activity from a user, they'll
assume that this user is using automated utilities like Stay Connected
to help him stay online; the result? Forced disconnection. With
*random interval* plus *random host access* combination, Stay Connected
actually stimulates human activities using the Internet when users are
actually away from the computer thus fooling the ISP's server from
detecting a fixed usage pattern of Stay Connected users.
New! Host accesses have a choice of Sequential, Random or Dedicated access
over a list of hosts. Hosts can be added/deleted according to user's
preferences.
New! Priority can be set for the hosts to be accessed during Sequential
mode. Should user chooses Random access mode, priority will be changed
to Random. No priority is given to Dedicated host since there's only one
host's service being tagged.
New! Added a Startup Wizard to walk user through the online helpfile
with step-by-step graphical guide if Stay Connected detects that this is
the first time user is using the software.
New! Stay Connected! supports America Online Browser version 4.0 Preview
Edition as well as browsers prior to version 4.0.
New! AOL users can choose to launch AOL browser automatically when they
activate Stay Connected.
New! Stay Connected even logs in for AOL users automatically.
New! An external browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer can be launched
after AOL user has successfully logged into AOL.
New! Advanced Options for AOL users to alter the Timer Title should AOL
decide to change their Timer Title again. Please refer to our webpage at
http://www.inklineglobal.com/aol.htm for history about change of Timer
Title by AOL.
New! For latest patch or updates for AOL users, click on the button in
"Configuration -> America Online -> Latest AOL Updates" button will bring
AOL users to our website directly.
New! The look and feel of the configuration options are greatly enhanced.
New! For users who still prefer the classic Stay Connected configurations,
we kept the options of accessing a dedicated host as well as
fixed interval.
New! Due to the vastly improved configuration choices, we renamed the
menu item from "Options" to "Configurations"
New! The "Status" windows is renamed to "Online Status Report" because
of the vastly improved status feedbacks from individual protocol. We have
also added AOL status feedback to this status report screen as well.
Fixed: The "Apply" button in the Configuration dialog box will not be
grayed out anymore whenever user changes his configuration.
Fixed: Online Status Report does not reflect the actual status of some
tag services.
Fixed: If user's personal color preference for dialog boxes isn't gray,
the splash screen's bitmaps and titles reflect gray color when it should
be transparent.
Obsolete: We removed 2 tag services from existing version, namely Telnet
and SMTP.
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Stay Connected! 1.33 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: January 8, 1998
Fixed: Stay Connected clicked the AOL Online Clock's 'OK' button
whenever the AOL Online Clock for AOL 4.0 browser is displayed
Fixed: Stay Connected clicked the 'OK' button when user edits
the address book for AOL 3.0 browser
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Stay Connected! 1.32 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: December 31, 1997
Fixed: Ability to handle AOL 4.0 Preview Edition's timer problem
Fixed: Disappearing icon when Stay Connected is activated
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Stay Connected! 1.31 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: December 22, 1997
Fixed: America Online changed their timer title from "America Online
Timer" to "America Online"
Fixed: Under "Options" menu item, "America Online" property page,
when user edits the timer title, the edit box does not reflect the
changes after user hits "OK" button
Fixed: The "Apply" button was disabled under "Options" menu item,
"America Online" property page whenever user edits an option
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Stay Connected! 1.3 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: April 12, 1997
Fixed: We have changed the default host to an Atomic Clock server at
tycho.usno.navy.mil due to a request from Best Internet reporting that
we have placed a strain on Best Internet's system resources and may have
degraded Best Internet's services. We strongly encourage you to set
your default host to your local ISP to avoid situations like this from
happening again.
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Stay Connected! 1.2a for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: March 21, 1997
Fixed: AOL browser pops up a message "You have been online for xx minutes.
Do you want to stay online? Please click OK in 10 minutes or you will be
logged off." Stay Connected! v1.2 release was not aware of this message,
rather, we reacted to a message "You have been idle for a while. Do you
want to stay online?" by clicking the "Yes" button. With this release, we
are able to click both "Yes" and "OK" on behalf of the user.
Fixed: Even when AOL browser is not present, the two bars are showing a
misleading Aqua (Cyan) color rather than 2 red bars.
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Stay Connected! 1.2 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: March 12, 1997
New! One of our most frequently asked questions is: Does "Stay Connected!"
work with America Online?
YES! The sole purpose of this release is to respond to that question!
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Stay Connected! 1.1 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: February 26, 1997
New! We have added HTTP protocol to improve the dropped connection
situation for some users. In the previous version, many users were still
disconnected even after checking all tag services. This is due to ISPs
detecting browser activities only. If there isn't any browser activity,
ISPs assume that the subscriber is not surfing the net. Haven't you had
the distressing experience of attempting to download a large file only
to have your ISP disconnect you in the middle of your download session?
We have hopefully ended this problem!
New! We have added a user-specified port to cater to users who access
through a proxy server or firewall, and for those who access from specific
sites with designated services such as IRC and MSN.
New! As a convenience for software registration, we have added a browser
shortcut icon to the folder. You can now also register via the newly added
menu item "Register Via Internet." Internet registration is your best
option since the operation is fully automated, available 24 hours a day,
7 days a week, and registration reply is instantaneous.
New! Added more help instructions in the help file to assist beginners.
New! We have added a startup screen with evaluation period countdown so that
new users will be more aware of the unregistered evaluation period.
Registered users have the option to disable this startup screen.
New! We have added a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) for the most commonly
asked questions.
New! Added this whatsnew.txt
Fixed: Due to unreliable winsock operation with Windows 95, some modems hang
up completely. Hard reboot is often necessary to reestablish connection.
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Stay Connected! 1.0 for Microsoft Windows 95/NT
Release Date: October 22, 1996
Initial Release