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Browsium Catalyst 3.0 now available with major enterprise deployment enhancements

The Browsium Catalyst customer base continues to grow rapidly as more and more enterprises discover the need to deploy and manage a second, modern browser – typically Google Chrome. These customers continually provide us with feedback on new features and management improvements they’d like to see in Catalyst. It’s no surprise that their top request was to provide Catalyst with the enterprise management and deployment features added to Browsium Ion last summer (in the Ion 3.3 release). So that’s what we’ve been focused on during the past few months, and we’re pleased to deliver the results of that effort today with Browsium Catalyst 3.0.

Catalyst 3.0 not only builds on what we’ve learned about enterprise customer needs with our many Ion deployments, but it actually builds on that same code base. Now Ion and Catalyst share a common infrastructure, enabling us to deliver higher quality software more quickly, and also provide our customers who use both Ion and Catalyst with a much more consistent project development and deployment experience.

What’s New in Catalyst 3.0

Catalyst 3.0 has many visible changes, and some great improvements in the plumbing. Here is a brief list:

• New Catalyst Configuration Manager, based on the Ion Configuration Manager, delivering a consistent experience, improved speed, and enabling more rapid addition of new features.
• Improved configuration testing functionality uses XML files instead of serialized registry entries, with automatic saving of project files and simplified menu options – consistent with Ion.
• Logging to Event Viewer for both Catalyst Configuration Manager and Catalyst Client.
• A new capability to show WhichConfig results and .NET CLR version in the Catalyst Configuration Manager About Box.
• Improved robustness to handle scenarios where browser processes start before Catalyst Controller after PC reboot
• Configuration caching to enable offline Catalyst process initialization when deploying project file on a server.
• New configuration option to set Target Browser = Any, allowing specific sites to open in any browser, even when Block Other Requests is enabled.
• Support for defining Chrome Application Mode (Chrome with no menus or address bar) as a custom browser, with rule evaluation to and from Chrome Application Mode.
• New asynchronous Chrome extension runs as standalone Windows process for greater robustness.

A complete feature list, along with information to help you install and use Catalyst 3.0, is available in the Release Notes. We highly recommend reading them before installing.

Install Catalyst 3.0 Today

If you’re already a Catalyst customer, you can download the new version from the download page sent to you with your license key. If you’re just evaluating Catalyst now, or are interested in evaluating it, you have two options:

• If you have engaged with us in the past, you simply need to confirm your email address. Then we’ll automatically direct you to the download page.
• If we didn’t find your email address, or if you’re new to Browsium, you can fill out our Evaluation Kit Request Form. You’ll have the software as soon as you verify your email address.

Be sure to read the FAQs and search the Knowledge Base. If you’d like to talk with our team about pricing or a reseller in your region, please email Browsium Sales.