One of the software publishing maxims we believe strongly is "release early, release often." While many software publishers have release cycles of a year or greater, at Immuexa, we've committed to a seasonal release cycle: once every three months, near the start of each new season. From here on out, you can expect a new public release of Tidepool and Storymill on June 21st (summer), September 21st (autumn), December 21st (winter), and March 21st (spring).

Yes, a three-month release cycle is ambitious, but it's even hairier in-house. We do a fully-tested release every month, on the 21st of each month. Month One releases are called "private" releases. Month Two releases are "preview" releases. Month Three are "public" releases (the seasonal releases mentioned earlier). By staging the "roughness" of new features over a three month span, we're able to cycle rapidly without making the world into beta-testers.

Why the quick turnaround? Well, another favorite related maxim is "Always Be Shipping", which has many benefits I'll talk about in another post.

For now, just know that on June 21st, we're officially releasing the first public version of Tidepool. On that day, people will be able to plunk down $44 on their credit card for a lifetime license to the product (free upgrades forever). As we're offering a 30 day trial, I'm sure no one's gonna buy it till July, but who knows? The price also includes a year's subscription to storymill.net, where you can post up to 100 megabytes of photos before surcharges kick in.

Seven days before code freeze, fifteen till release. Yikes! For those that downloaded the preview release we're putting in at least one new feature that I know you're gonna like.