Nota Bene version 5.004

[AnnePutnam@xxxxxxxx]

Dear XyWriters:

The update to NB 5.004 is now available and posted on our web site. This is
a free update for those who have received NB 5.003 (or earlier versions).
For those using the demo, demo version 5.004 is available and can be
installed over earlier versions of the demo or downloaded for the first time.
 The program is limited to 90 days from the first installation on your
computer. You can access the program update and/or the demo from
www.notabene.com/downloads.html.

Immediately after posting this information on the Nota Bene list, we received
a call reporting a problem installing version 5.004. This has been the
subject of much discussion on the NB list. However, it appears that the
installation has gone smoothly for most of those who have tried it. Steve
Semple, our Director of Operations, has investigated this thoroughly and his
report to the NB list is reproduced below. It may be that none of you will
have any problems with this installation, but if you do, please contact Steve
directly at ssemple@xxxxxxxx.

Thanks for your continuing interest in Nota Bene

Anne Putnam
aputnam@xxxxxxxx
or anneputnam@xxxxxxxx

Dear Nota Bene Users:

After a day of testing and re-testing on various computers, internal and
external to home office, I could not reproduce the problem some of you
experienced when trying to run the downloaded version of NBWin 5.004. And
having sent out quite a number of CDs and not hearing a single complaint
(maybe as yet -- hopefully not though), I hesitate to change the installer.
(Incidentally, we use Install Shield -- an industry standard program for
creating software installations.) I, therefore, focused on changing the
unpacker; the cloak in which the true installation files are packaged.

Perhaps some detail is necessary: Raw Nota Bene program files are
compressed into an installation package which is normally copied to a CD and
sent to you, the user. For delivery of these files via the web, however, an
extra step is necessary. The files normally copied to the CD must be
packaged for the web. This requires further compression and manipulation by
Install Shield so that all of the install files become a single file,
usually called NBWINSWS_UPDATE.EXE. This second process is the one that I
skipped in the new download referred to below. I simply zipped the files
that would otherwise end up on a CD and made the zipped file available on
our web site. In other words, because people have not complained of problems
running after installing from CDs, I sought to emulate a CD based
installation as closely as possible.

The new NBWin 5.004 download is called NBWINSWS_UPDATE.ZIP and
can be found at http://www.notabene.com/zippedupdate.html. Because the new
download is zipped, you will need to use an unzipping utility to extract its
contents. See www.winzip.com for one such utility. Instructions for
installing the program are included on the web page associated with the
zipped download.

Note that you should not download this zipped version of the update if you
did not experience problems with the our regular download located at
http://www.notabene.com/winsws_update.html.

To more directly answer a question already raised on the List, the new,
zipped download is not different functionally speaking from the regular
NBWin 5.004; it is only packaged differently.

I cannot be certain that this zipped 5.004 is the definitive solution to the
problem, so it would be great if those of you with the
faster Internet connections would be willing to be the first testers and
would report your experiences to the rest of us. Perhaps the true problem
lies in how the new version of NBWin interacts with your particular
computer. Still, the "unpacking" step must be eliminated as the source,
therefore, testing this installation is important.

If you continue to experience problems running NBWin 5.004 after downloading
and installing the zipped version, feel free to contact me at
ssemple@xxxxxxxx. Insert the subject 5.004 Installation Problems in the
subject line of your e-mail and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Once again, thank you for your continued support. If there are questions
after reading this e-mail please let me know.

Steve Semple
Director of Operations
Nota Bene
800-462-6733 (sales)
212-334-0445 (support)
212-334-0845 (fax)
ssemple@xxxxxxxx
http://www.notabene.com