What follows is a newsflash of the current roadmap for features targeted in the 3.1 release. The latest 3.0.3 release improved stability and performance. We now look ahead for new features which complement the existing functionality already available: The next release is all about integration with recently announced cloud services. In particular, this means first class support for Amazon CloudFront and Mosso Cloud Files. Both services offer hosting solutions to deliver content at network edge locations nearest to the customer on a payment-per-use basis. Both are innovative solutions but implement proprietary protocols which lack support in commonly used client applications.

Cyberduck will try to facilitate the use of both content-delivery network (CDN), making them available for the rest of us. It greatly simplifies the configuration of your distributions for both providers. In practice, the workflow in Cyberduck is as follows:

• Access your remote storage using the familiar Cyberduck browser interface creating containers (in Mosso Cloud Files) or buckets (in the Amazon S3 terminology) as you would create folders on a FTP server. Upload your original content using drag and drop.
• Create a distribution to register that container with Amazon CloudFront or the Limelight Networks Content Distribution Network through a simple API call by a single click in the Info panel of the browser. When end users thereafter request a file, they are automatically routed to the nearest edge location for the fastest possible delivery of your content. Distribution can be toggled on or off at any time.

Try it out yourself using the latest available nightly build of Cyberduck. Feedback most appreciated!

The 3.0.2 milestone has been completed. I welcome anybody to test the latest nightly build which is considered stable. The update has many bug fixes and enhancements plus includes a Greek localization.

It’s great to see the widespread and positive news coverage about the release of Cyberduck 3 in macnn.com, macgeneration.com (Français), macplus.net , Macnews (Deutsch), tuaw.com and lifehacker.com and in many blog entries. MacTips.org even lists 9 Reasons to use Cyberduck. A longtime user of Cyberduck, schockwellenreiter.de (Deutsch), welcomes the addition of Amazon S3 protocol support. MacUser emphasizes that Cyberduck can now mount .Mac iDisks through the addition of WebDAV support and mackauf.de (Deutsch) even concludes “Ente Gut, alles gut“.

Both Infinite Loop of ArsTechnica and macapper.com run a more extensive review of Cyberduck 3.

For Japanese users, both E-WA and PISCES give an overview of the new features in 日本語 (Japanese).

Most controversal is the replacement of the bookmark drawer. I am planning to imrove the bookmark accessibility in the upcoming 3.1 release. Feedback and proposals are most welcomed.

The just released 3.0.1 bugfix release addresses all important bugs that slipped into the initial 3.0 release.

Ich werde am 02. Juni am von UniMac organisierten TechTalk über die Entstehungsgeschichte und Hintergründe von Cyberduck erzählen.

Montag, 2. Juni 2008 , 16:30 – 18:45h
ETH Zürich, Details folgen bei Anmeldung

Die Teilnahme ist gratis, eine Anmeldung für die Planung aber erforderlich.

Update: Vielen Dank den zahlreichen Anwesenden und dem ganzen UniMac Team für die Organisation!

Foto: Jean-Claude Eischen

Java 6 is finally available for OS X 10.5 running on Intel 64 bit hardware. Please do not set it as the default virtual machine or you will break Cyberduck. Reported at the Apple Bug Reporter as bug radar://5901349.

Update: Cyberduck 3.0b3 is available and resolves this issue by setting explicitly Java 5 as the required Java VM.

In Mail.app, you can open Window → Activity (Command-0) to show all pending networking activities. Cyberduck 3 now includes the same functionality. It gives you a better idea how much longer the progress bar will still be spinning and allows you to stop pending background tasks. Prevously, this was only possible for the currently running task using the Stop toolbar button in the browser window.

Check this out in the the latest nightly build. Mac OS X 10.4 or later required.

As already noted by macapper.com, the just released Beta 2 of Cyberduck 3 adds the feature to open the corresponding web address of a file selected in Cyberduck with your default web browser. For this feature to work, you have to specify a reasonable default path in your bookmark (e.g. /home/dkocher/public_html/) which must be the directory accessed by the web server as your document root. Using an Apache webserver, this is the DocumentRoot directive. Also in the bookmark setting, you can edit the Web URL which allows you to enter the HTTP URL of the webserver using a different hostname.

Check this out in the the latest nightly build. Mac OS X 10.4 or later required.

From time to time, someone opens a ticket in the Cyberduck Bug Tracker, requesting that a sound should be played once a download or upload is complete. I always close these tickets with a wontfix/worksforme resolution.

The workaround is to download Growl. After installation, restart Cyberduck and open the Growl Preference Pane in the System Preferences. Navigate to Applications → Cyberduck → Configure… → Notifications → Select a notification (e.g. Download) → Choose Play Sound…. Then pump up the volume of your speakers and transfer some files with Cyberduck.

Cyberduck 3 will feature Quick Look, as known in the Finder.app since Mac OS X 10.5. You can toggle Quick Look in a Cyberduck browser for any file using Command-Space Bar. A preview is rendered depending on a Quick Look Plugin available on your system for the given file type. Many file types like different image formats can be previewed with the bundled plugins in OS X and HTML is even rendered in the Quick Look preview panel.

Check this out in the the latest nightly build. Mac OS X 10.4 or later required.

I have recently changed the implementation to verify SSL certificates, which is used for secured FTP, WebDAV and Amazon S3 connections. Cyberduck 3 will honour the trust settings you can configure in Keychain.app and will display the certificate chain that fails validation upon connecting to a server. Previously, a custom dialog was shown which is now replaced by the same standard dialog (which allows editing the trust settings) used in Safari.app or Mail.app.

Cyberduck 3.0 is expected to be released next month. The current nightly build (use with caution) is available for testing.