iKey 2.1 Moves to iApp-like Interface -- Script Software has updated their Macintosh automation utility iKey to version 2.1, adding a few features but mostly streamlining the interface to make it easier to create and edit shortcuts, menus, and palettes that automate repetitive actions. iKey 2.1 now features an iApp-like interface, with a left-hand pane that displays the applications in which particular shortcuts, menus, or palettes are active, making it easy to see which items are available for editing in the main pane. Also new is a Library window that contains all the commands (the basic functions iKey can perform for you), launchers (the ways you invoke shortcuts, most commonly by pressing a hotkey), and contexts (the applications in which shortcuts are active) that you've defined. The Library window simplifies the task of reusing already defined commands, and it also lets you see and delete commands, launchers, and contexts that aren't currently in use. iKey's programmer, Philippe Hupe, also added some new commands and options to existing commands, enabling iKey 2.1 to wake a sleeping Mac after a delay or at a specific date and time, to repeat the last or next-to-last shortcut executed, to choose items from hierarchical menus more flexibly, and more. Last but not least, iKey 2.1 resolves a few compatibility problems with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. In the interests of disclosure, note that I use iKey daily, that I make design suggestions during development, and that the update contains the 1.1 update to my "Take Control of iKey 2" ebook, which documents the entire program and covers all the changes. The iKey 2.1 update is free to those who have registered the $30 iKey 2.0; it's a 3.7 MB download. [ACE]

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