We’re excited to announce that we’ve created a new release channel for Logic 2, called “Insider Builds.”
The insider program is a new release channel that allows us to share new features earlier and with more frequent updates. It’s intended for users who want early access to new features and are willing to provide feedback and tolerate bugs that may arise from pre-release software.
Insider updates are available through the auto-update system, just like stable releases.
The first release adds arm64 support for Linux and Windows operating systems.
We’re also planning on using this release channel to ship early versions of features like these:
Rapid changes to the MCP server.
Expansions to the automation interface.
Early versions of upcoming Logic MSO features.
UX improvements that could use early user feedback.
These download links automatically download the latest insider build.
On MacOS and Linux, you can just download and use either/both channels.
On Windows, in order to switch channels, you will need to install the latest version of the channel you wish to use. It’s not possible to have both the production (stable) channel and the insider channel installed at the same time. You may need to uninstall the currently installed version if you are downgrading versions. Otherwise, the installer will automatically remove the existing installation before installing the new one.
You can tell which channel you’re using by checking the ReleaseChannel value in the about dialog:
Compatibility between the stable and insider channels
Occasionally, software releases may change the save file format (*.sal file) or the software’s persisted settings format. When this happens, older versions of the software will be unable to load files created from newer releases.
The same applies to the new insider channel. Most of the time, we do not make changes to these formats, so files saved by the latest insider release can be loaded by the latest stable release.
However, we may introduce a file format change on the insider channel before it’s released on the stable channel. When this happens, those files will be insider-only until the next stable channel release. We will commit to ensuring that any file format changes made to a insider release will be loadable by the next stable release.
I hope this doesn’t sound too critical (great way to start a reply) but… please don’t forget about the 6000 or so things your users have asked for. Things like my desired virtual channels (which dovetails into math operations between channels) have been in the “please add” list for years. In the meantime, stuff like MCP is being added and I could not care less. Now, I’m just one person and disappointing me is of no real consequence. Also, I know how it goes. You develop what you want to and the features you most want to and that will always leave some things neglected in perpetuity. But, please don’t forget the list of features. Virtual / math channels is the top requested feature on your idea board and it’s 6 years old.
I second the sentiment Colin! I have great sympathy for Saleae and their small team of devs and am happy to help them wherever I can. But there are some really good ideas with a lot of support behind them that many of us would really like to see come to light.
That said, channel math is a pretty important thing for a MSO and it’s usually done using virtual channels, so I’m betting there is a pretty good chance that feature is not horribly far off!
Math channels, FFT, persistence, and more are the highest priority features in my opinion too.
Arm64 support was mainly a night & weekend project, because we’ve seen a pretty steady increase in requests for Arm64 Windows support - almost 1 request per day. Also, I enjoyed working on it quite a bit.
Perhaps this is a bit too much transparency, but in the years leading up to the Logic MSO release, I was too focused on “just getting it out the door ASAP” and not addressing some core architecture issues in the software that were building up over time. (Mainly, the software was originally designed for our existing device workflow - continuous, gap-free data streams, a single recording per session, unable to edit settings while recording, etc. A lot of that ground work was setup before we thought seriously about Logic MSO. In the early development phases of Logic MSO, we focused hard on the live, interactive analog-only scope view use case for Logic MSO. The architectural decisions we made for that did not port well to digital channels or to free run and timer capture modes. Adding the digital trigger was a huge problem because of that, and that’s why we don’t have single-shot digital trigger support yet. Now we’re taking a break from user facing issues and working on a few large architecture issues, as well as handling some work that our hardware team needs. Unfortunately, this does mean that math channels and other high priority features will be delayed, but my goal is that those features will be the test of our new architecture.
Also as a lower priority we are working on expanding both the automation API and the MCP server. So far this has been a pretty small project, the main thing is we want to upgrade the Logic MSO automation experience dramatically, since it’s extremely limited right now. We’re planning on integrating MSO automation support into into the Logic 2 application soon.
For context, we’re only 2 software developers at the moment.
It’s not too much transparency as far as I’m concerned. But, I realize that many people may not care to know “how the sausage is made.” For me, I can totally relate. Quite often in software development “make cool feature now” is a lot more lucrative and desirable than “slog to make the backend work the way it should.” We have all done this. With small teams, it’s easier to build it and ship it than it is to architect it properly and put huge time into developing a back end that nobody but you can see. But, past questionable development decisions have a way of slowly bubbling to the surface until you can’t ignore them anymore. Sometimes you have to go back and do the unfun stuff so you can move forward on solid ground.
I’m just glad to hear that you want to see the features too. I’m OK with them coming when the time is right and it can be done.
Maybe a little perspective here because I have seen a lot in 50 years in embedded development and I have 5 different logic analyzers with 4 of them junk. when Saleae first hit the streets, I was absolutely amazed at how easy it was to capture and roll in to view it. I didn’t need a manual to figure this thing out. It BLEW other analyzers away, and this was basically from a 6 person team.
I bought the top of the line MSO because I believe in this team to eventually make the MSO great, but they need some space and time to do it. I get they are not Tek, but the innovation is amazing.
Now think about what you get done in one year. Maybe one part of one design? Maybe one circuit board developed, built, and debugged fully with bringup code?
I have my faith with these guys and am happy and getting happier with every release. 2 years from now, I know I will have the best pocket scope that exists.
To chime in a little bit - I just had my employer buy 3 top end MSOs with all the options. We’re gearing up for some significant R&D development work and automated test over the next several years, and even though the MSO is not a fully polished product yet, it is already close. I have complete faith that Saleae will make the MSO just as amazing and useful as all their earlier hardware, so I jumped on the chance to outfit our lab with them knowing they will just keep getting better and better with each software release.
