Starting In Second Life 8: And Now for an Important Message from ...

 Preliminaries

• Starting in Second Life 1: Creating an Account
• Starting in Second Life 2: Installing the Firestorm Viewer
• Starting in Second Life 3: Firestorm First-Run and Player Welcome
• Starting in Second Life 4: Movement -- Jump Down, Turnaround, Fly Away Home
• Starting in Second Life 5: THROWN OFF THE ISLAND? Getting Back Anywhere.  Mostly
• Starting in Second Life 6: Howdy Stranger! Getting Chatty
• Starting in Second Life 7: Friends? I Hardly Know You!

Oops!  Right on the Firestorm sign-on screen, a more-better-faster release of Firestorm is available.  This will tend to synchronize with changes in Second Life itself as well as improvements in Firestorm.

The question is "What to do about it?"

Read the announcement.  Also be aware that support will cease for versions more than a few releases older.

Many players wait for a time in case unhappiness with the new release emerges.

Take a Chance, Take a Chance on Me

If you decide to be an early adopter and download the latest and greatest, there may be some speed bumps to deal with.

Microsoft Edge has a number of security precautions that arise in downloading early in the availability of a recent new release.

The first hurdle is a warning after initiation of downloading.

 

Microsoft Edge tracks the history of downloads from sites.  It notices when a file isn't (yet) commonly downloaded.  You are advised to be cautious.

To know more, see more.

If you expand the "Show more ∨" there are three other options beside Delete and Cancel (shown).  I've been down this road; I select "Keep Anyway."

The download progresses and the setup file is stored on the PC at the default or a selected location. I didn't open the file immediately.  Returning later, I started installation from a location where I've been keeping Second Life materials.

Double-clicking the setup, I am reminded that downloads from the Internet can be flagged on Windows.

Once again, "More info" must be selected to know what the alternatives are.

After selecting "Run anyway" the usual installation process proceeded to completion.

But Wait, There's More!

After I fired up the update, I had a brief surprise.

That probably won't happen for a newbie.  That's a wild guess.  In any case, there is apparently a recommended improvement to my graphics settings within Firestorm.  So be it.

Who's a Complete Unknown?

The "Unknown publisher" designation reflects the setup code not being digitally signed.  There's a mechanism for that and the folks at the Phoenix Firestorm Project are not employing it.

Signing setup files is an important protection.  There is some expense to it.  It does provide more assurance of the integrity and safety of the download.  It would also be a step toward being able to distribute Firestorm in the Windows Store.  And it should cut down on so much difficulty with warnings.

I have no speculation why this is the case.  There are open-source projects that manage to sign their distributions for Windows.

Just saying ...

We now return to the regularly scheduled tutorial.

Continuation:

   9: And Now for an Important Message from ...

10: At the Crossroads - Expanding Your Reach - Take a Breath

Last updated 2022-12-09