I've been running for the past few weeks version 0.9.9 of slimKEYS. I've decided to not release it yet, so I could concentrate on developing around its biggest change: an open slimLAUNCH architecture. Apart for this publicly available developer interface, the features didn't change a lot. That's why I decided 0.9.8 was to stay the last available version.
This new interface will let any developer create plug-ins for launching anything via slimLAUNCH. I should not use the verb "launching", as you can do anything you like. So the main development task I had was to extract the "Files and Folders" launcher from the slimLAUNCH heart, so it becomes a slimLAUNCH plug-in. This was completed some time ago. It's now called slimLAUNCH.FileSystem.
But before Christmas, I wanted to complete a working (as in "not 1.0, but usable") version of slimLAUNCH.Passwords. This new plug-in lets you browse encrypted passwords using slimLAUNCH, just like you browse for files and folders. You can even mix them. Yesterday, in the middle of the night, I finally completed this milestone.
Though it's not yet visible in this screenshot, pressing Ctrl-Enter copies the associated username, and pressing Ctrl-E the associated email. Pressing Ctrl-U will launch the associated URL, and Ctrl-V will let you view the complete information linked with this password entry: Title, Category, Username, Email, Password, Url and Notes. The password list is encrypted using a main password (prompted on first use) and AES encryption. Once the information is read in memory, the password is protected using in-process-only protected memory. Obviously, applications like PasswordSafe and slimKEYS still open a breach since they let one copy a password in the clipboard, and the clipboard can be easily monitored by spyware, but then again, if you had spyware on your machine, the chances are it would have a key logger anyway.
Once slimLAUNCH.Passwords is complete, I feel slimKEYS will be mature enough to become a 1.0 version. At the same time, it will become a commercial product, but with a twist. How much should an application like slimKEYS be worth? Should it remain free? The mere advertising on my web site wouldn't be enough to maintain it. But then, I'm scaring away good users with good feedback, but that aren't willing to pay a dime.
The solution? YOU will decide how much you pay for slimKEYS, and there won't be any minimum cost. Yes, that means you'll be able to buy a slimKEYS license for 0 bucks, or any other amount of your choice. The only amounts I'm preventing are between 0.01$ and 2.99$, as I will be paying a per-transaction fee that wouldn't make sense with such low amounts. I can't wait to see what will be the general reaction. I'll be showing anonymous information about the distribution of amounts people are willing to spend. That will be fun!
Merry Christmas to all!