Encumbered by passwords? Eager to try unreleased software? Want to help out some classy Mac developers in their quest to kill bugs dead? If you missed out when Agile Web Solutions was offering a private beta of 1Password 3 to customers on Snow Leopard, there’s good news! 1Password 3 is now available as a public beta for one and all. Yes, that means you. Feel special? You should!
1Password 3’s new features include 1PasswordAnywhere, which allows you to open a 1Password Agile Keychain as a folder with a password-protected Web interface on any operating system. You can even add and edit existing items in your Agile Keychain from the browser, but only on Mac OS X computers that have 1Password 3 installed and the Agile Keychain selected. Software Licenses now have their own category, complete with icons and a new vault-like appearance. There’s also a separate dashboard for iPhone and iPod Touch syncing that will allow you to sync just the passwords you want to 1Password Touch.
1Password 3 also features touch gestures inspired by those in Apple Mail; a brand new UI; metadata tags to better organize items; the ability to create, edit and remove fields for Login and Wallet items; and 64-bit support for for Snow Leopard.
Before you give this software a try, you need to be aware of a few things. First, it requires that you’re running at least Mac OS X Leopard 10.5. Second, since it’s a beta, you really should backup your 1Password Keychain just in case this beta spawns the dread lord Cthulhu and your passwords are dragged into an inky black abyss. (We are assured that this is a very remote possibility, but you can never be too careful.) Finally, it’d be nice if you had an account at Agile Web Solutions’ support forums to tell the developers about bugs you’ve found or learn about bugs that have been discovered by fellow beta testers. It’s all part of being a good beta tester.
The beta of 1Password 3 is free for everyone, but the full version will cost $40 with the same 100% money back guarantee as 1Password 2. If you’ve bought 1Password 2 after February 1, you’ll get an upgrade for free. If you’ve purchased 1Password 2 before then, fear not! You can upgrade a single user today for the limited time price of $20 or upgrade a family license for $30.