Q: What is iShell?
A: tribalmedia's iShell is a software tool for Windows and Mac OS X which allows developers to rapidly create secure, interactive, multiplatform CD and DVD-ROMs. The product can also be used to create other types of multimedia appliactions such as kiosks, digital signage, and standalone Internet applications.
Q: What is new in iShell 4.5?
A: iShell 4.5 is the best iShell release yet. iShell 4.5 is a universal binary with a faster, rewritten program core. The new iShell introduces Gizmos: now it's easy to bring radio buttons, checkboxes, tabs, and drop-down menus into your projects. iShell 4.5 also allows you to include any TrueType font in a project. Magic Commands greatly simplify math and string equations in the iShell Editor. (more info)
Q: How does iShell 4.5 compare to Director MX?
A: All in all, iShell is as versatile as Director for assembling extremely sophisticated multimedia projects, but is not nearly as programming-intensive as Director.
- With iShell 4.5, CD-ROMs are burned and formatted directly from within the product with the click of a button. Additional 3rd party software products are required to burn and format Director MX projects for CD-ROM.
- Unlike Director, authoring in iShell takes place in the Layout and Outline windows. This allows the developer to see at a glance how all of the media elements in a project fit together.
- iShell has the ability to integrate time-based elements, but time doesn't dominate the user interface as it does in Director.
- iShell subscribers have access to the Software Developers Kit, which allows programmers to extend iShell's basic functionality.
Q: Why are there two different options for buying iShell?
A: We're strong believers in a subscription-based software model. With a subscription to iShell, you get all of the updates and upgrades that come out for iShell throughout the year, as well as access to the FTP Exchange and SDK. More importantly, when you subscribe to iShell, you join the worldwide community of iShell developers. Engineers give top priority to the tech support needs of the community, but subscribers are helping each other every step of the way as well. A Subscription lasts one year, after which you must renew in order to keep using iShell. We offer an early-renewal price of only $595 to ensure that subscribers can afford to renew.
For developers who would rather have a permanent license, we offer the Purchase option. Purchasers have access to updates (bug fixes), but not upgrades. For purchasers, tech support is limited to the discussion board. For more information, see tribalmedia's support policy. Click here for a more in-depth breakdown of the buying options.
Q: What are the minimum system requirements for iShell?
A: iShell 4.5 requires Windows XP/2000 or Mac OSX 10.3.9 or later. Projects created in iShell 4.5 will playback on Windows 2000 or XP, or Mac OS 10.3 or higher. Click here to see more information on system requirements.
Q: Are special discounts available for educators?
A: Yes. In K-12 and Higher Ed, hundreds of educators are using iShell. As a result, we have created a special program for educators. Please see Education Pricing for more information.
Q: What is different about iShell's use of QuickTime?
A: While other multimedia authoring programs offer limited QuickTime support, iShell is unique in that QuickTime is used in iShell projects to handle all media elements. iShell offers full QuickTime 7 support for all QuickTime features, including streaming, QuickTime filters, and all advanced QuickTime effects.
Q: What media formats does iShell support?
A: iShell offers extensive media support for: Text, Sound, Movie, Table, Streaming, and QuickTime (including Flash, .mov, .avi, and hundreds of other formats supported by QuickTime).
Q: Can iShell build other multimedia applications?
A: Yes. Developers are building kiosks, digital signage sytems, Internet media players, games (with 3D) and dozens of other applications with iShell. Please visit the the Showcase for examples of what can be built with iShell.
Q: Why is it called iShell?
A: The name reflects a key element in iShell's architecture. iShell projects are built around interactive shells or containers holding all of a project's media and instructions for using them. iShell's interactive containers can communicate with one another in a flexible way and can be easily switched, allowing quick updating of projects via the Internet and easy reuse of containers in different projects.