After all the delays, dead ends, procrastination, wool gathering, futzing around and some actual hard work, Hazel 3 is finally open for beta testing. There’s no set duration for the beta period; it ships when it’s done.
If you’re feeling lucky, you can get the details from this forum article (you need to register for a forum account if you haven’t already). By the way, I hear Time Machine is pretty cool.
Five years ago today, I shipped Hazel 1.0.
Hazel started as a personal project that I wrote for my own use but over time I realized that this might be useful to others. Sometimes you just have to dive in. I quit my job to work on Hazel full-time and some months later, I finally shipped my 1.0. Sales were modest at first but over the years it’s paid off. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. If anything, I’ve clocked in more hours over the past few years working pantsless in my home office than over my entire career previous in various other offices.
This blog has been quiet for a while mainly because I’m still at it. Hazel 3 is nearing the testing stage (expect a beta release and more details soon). It’s a bit overdue; I was hoping to release before Duke Nukem Forever but then again, they had bit of a head start. With each new version, I feel like Hazel is fulfilling the vision I had when I first released it five years ago, and then some. Of course, I could never predict the new and interesting ways you have used Hazel over the years and hopefully you, the users, will help shape the product for many years to come.
Enough about the future. It’s Hazel’s birthday today and in celebration, you can get 20% off until midnight tonight (Tues, Sep. 6, Eastern time). Just use this link. Most of you reading this probably have a copy already but I’m sure you have a friend/relative/corporation with deep pockets that could use a copy (or twenty) so send the link along to them. Or buy an extra copy for yourself because you’re just crazy like that. And while you’re at it, have a drink on Hazel’s behalf, or even better, have a drink (or five) before you hit that order page. I hear you save more money have more fun that way.