Next Release: Abraquest 2.9.3.0

Latest news about Abraquest, including the next two releases of Abraquest, including news of potential costs if you are not on Abraquest Software Assurance.

The next release of Abraquest is getting bigger as we have been adding many more features to it. I have decided to split the releases and issue a new release of Abraquest later this week that has the following features:

1. The ability to record tags against individual books or ISBN's which can be used when searching in Catalogue Enquiry or the Books Database.
2. Improved reliability for our online connection.
3. A new Make Reservation form that is much easier to use than the old one.
4. The ability to scan pupil barcodes in Issue/Returns rather than click the class and the pupil. Please note this is only for customers using pupil barcodes, if you do not, then Issue/Returns is unchanged.

Please note this release will not work under Windows XP, so if you are still using Windows XP on your library computer, please upgrade it to Windows 7 or above as soon as you can.

The release after that will be Abraquest Release 3.0 scheduled for the end of April and will contain many new features, some of which should be very useful for all users. Some of these features have been blogged about in the past,  but 3.0 will definitely be a big release with new reports, and many new options such as the ability to record pupils asking about a book which you don't currently own and ways of validating if that book is a good buy or not.

A comprehensive blog post will appear in due course.

Having you allowed Abraquest Software Assurance to Lapse?

I would like to add at this point though, that Abraquest 3.0 will be chargeable for customers not on our comprehensive support plan Abraquest Software Assurance. Abraquest Software Assurance customers get all updates for free among other benefits. So if you are one of these customers who don't have it please consider renewing now before Abraquest 3.0 is released.

Abraquest Software Assurance not only is the cheapest way of keeping your copy of Abraquest up to date, it buys peace of mind, knowing that everything you need in terms of help when using Abraquest is there for you, at no additional cost (apart from school visits if ever required, which of course are chargeable).

Customers not on Abraquest Software Assurance for March and April only can renew at the discounted renewal price of £149.95 + VAT for the year. After Abraquest Release 3.0, the costs are likely to to be the initial fee rather than the renewal fee, plus the cost of Abraquest 3.0 when this is decided, so most probably over £349.95 + VAT for the year and to get Abraquest 3.0, and then £149.95 + VAT after that.

As always I hope you find this interesting and welcome any comments you might have via one of the usual contact methods.

About the author

Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson has been a software developer since 1983 and has been involved with Abraquest since 2004. He is the director of Spherical Software Limited (www.sphericalsoftware.com), the company that owns Abraquest.