UserCreations has updated its “Web-inspired desktop,” Spring, to v1.3. The new version provides access to new content.
Spring offers users access to content using a new metaphor that’s independent of Web browsers and other information software. Data are represented on the screen, and establishing relationships between data is managed by simply dragging between different visual representations. “Imagine that booking a flight or train is as simple as opening a canvas with a map and dragging between the two cities,” explained the developer.
Spring 1.3 sports a variety of new features aimed at enriching the user experience, including direct canvas to canvas trading via AIM; deeper integration with Karelia Software’s Watson application; the addition of Music Objects through eMusic; drag and drop support of rich and plain text; Safari bookmark folder import; 1-drag group “evites,” and much more.
What’s more, there are plenty of changes under the hood for developers who want to support Spring v1.3, including the addition of a URL scheme and extensible XSL transfomration of XML data to Conceptual Object Format.
You can download Spring and try it out yourself as a fully functional time-expiring demo. It costs US$21.95 to register for a single user license; Spring requires Mac OS X 10.2 or higher.