Update Checker

The Directory Opus News and Updates tool can check for updates to your installed version of Opus, download them if found, and also displays the contents of the Opus News RSS feed.

The status of your version (whether it is current, or out-of-date) is displayed at the top of the window. If a new version is found and you have not elected to automatically download updates, a Download button will be shown that lets you download the update manually. The progress of any download will be shown, and if an update has already been downloaded and is awaiting installation an Install button will be shown. You will also be given the option to Save the downloaded update in a location of your choosing, so you can install it later at your leisure.

Below that the most recent items from the RSS news feed are shown. To read a news item either double-click it, or select it and click the Read button - it will open in your default web browser. The Level drop-down can be used to filter the list of displayed items - the available "importance" levels are:

• Level 1: Only the most important items relating to updates to the main program
• Level 2: Information about main program updates, and new or modified plugins
• Level 3: All important information - program updates, plugins, plus information about bugs and problems, security issues, etc.
• Level 4: Everything - all of the above, plus hints and tips and other information.

By default only the most recent items are displayed, but you can click the More button to fetch the full list of available items.

Note that the update checker only identifies official releases. There are often Beta versions made available through the Opus Resource Centre, and the update checker will not detect these - although announcements about them will be shown in the RSS feed.

You can configure the update checker using the options on the Internet / Updates page in Preferences.

• You can set Opus to automatically check for updates (either weekly or monthly).
• The update check can be performed silently, in which case you will only be notified if there is a new version - otherwise, the update checker will be displayed when it starts to check. You may want to leave the silent option turned off if you're interested in seeing the news items from the RSS feed. 
• You can have Opus automatically download updates - in this case, you will be prompted to install them when they are ready.

You can also trigger the update check at any time using the Check for Program Updates command in the Help menu (  ) on the default toolbar.