Finally! Shoes 3.2.21 is available (Download) More than any previous Shoes 3.2 release, this one is very much a team effort and includes a lot more code and fixes by skilled people and less cowboy from me. I think you’ll like it. Here’s whats new in 3.2.21

New:

• New splash screen because… we felt like it needed updating. There’s an image at the bottom of this post
• Backwards and forward buttons for Shoes Manual
• Shoes console performs autoscroll down and the console auto wraps at character instead of word.
• Adds an IRB like capability so you can explore Ruby and test some Shoes things.
• Update to Ruby 2.1.5 and Rubygems 2.4.5. Fixes gem ssl problems.
• Website provides pre-compiled dependencies, source archives of them and configure scripts. Also help building your own ruby. See old critter discussion below and wiki about building from source)

Fixed:

• Can now build Shoes on Windows
• font discovery improved on Windows
• Fix shape sample in manual
• Packager screen was broken. Damn cowboys.
• More manual bug fixes. here and here.
• Wiki changes and new subsections of the Furthermore section in the manual plus minor fixes here and there

You might have noticed a theme to 3.2.21 – The manual and improving the experience of using Shoes to write little applications and play with Ruby. Even experienced Shoes folk use the manual. Now it’s much more pleasant to use. We also have some interesting ideas how to improve the experience even more but it’s too soon to say anything more.

Now I want to talk about old critters. Like a 15 year old family dog, you know they won’t live forever and there is nothing you can do about that. Operating systems are like that. Apple is not going to fix Snowleopard (10.6). Microsoft is not going to fix XP. This not news. Ruby folks won’t talk to you if your using 1.9.2 (soon 1.9.3). Shoes can’t change any of that. OK, your old dog might like an old shoe to chew on but you get the point.

We have made an effort to get Shoes working on OSX 10.6 and it does work. But, it will always be a dying Shoes. Every hour spent on these old critters is an hour not spent on the future. Grab it knowing that it’s life time is short. Likewise, Shoes 3.2.21 does run on Windows XP but that’s just luck.

How do you know you have Shoes 3.21 or newer?