Thursday, November 12, 2009

Guest Server 2.8.0 released

Arch Red Guest Server version 2.8.0 is now available. The version number jump from 2.6.x is an indication of a substantial change: the guest server now handles the time in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). The user interface stays the same, but the users are now associated with a time zone. This change helps organisations that operate on multiple time zones. For example, the user can be located in Finland while the Guest Server runs in the headquarters in Australia's Adelaide *.

The user associated time zones add to the Guest Server's existing support for internationalization and localization. Global organisations can better serve their customers internally and those who want to run guest sever as a service can now offer their service word wide.

Other changes include enhanced support for multiple languages and easier Guest Server installation. Also included is the previously blogged support for duration for all guest account types.

* The normal time in Finland is UTC+2 while Adelaide in southern central Australia uses UTC +9:30. Both observe daylight savings time, but one has to remember that southern hemisphere switches to DST during the autumn while northern hemisphere changes during the spring, as seen from Finland. The exact time difference between Finland and southern central Australia is left as an excercise for the reader ...