Surprise, something downloadable! No, it is not a Prometheus build or a video and it won't blow you away, either. However, it is essential in helping us shape Prometheus into a great experience for the majority of users. In an ideal world, software would run equally well on all computers, but this is certainly not an ideal world. To make sure we are making all the right moves in all the right places at all the right times, we need your help - it only takes three button clicks*!

UPDATE: Crashing issue has been fixed. If you could not run the application before, download the new ZIP at the bottom and run the dxwebsetup.exe first.

Note: Please, only proceed with this post if you intend to use Prometheus when it is released. Also, please only run the application on machines that you will run Prometheus on. If you helped test, your data has been reset - you have to resubmit.

What is up for download today is an oh-so-lovely hardware survey tool. Generally speaking, the tool collects information about your computer and sends it to us. By studying this information, we can optimize Prometheus the best we can for the majority of the user base. Optimization is not something that will happen overnight and the release of this tool is certainly not implicative of a Prometheus release next week (but I am working on getting an update out next week).

Privacy Concerns

Naturally, with a program such as this, we realize that privacy concerns arise and you want, and have a right, to know what in the world is going on. We are everyday people, just like you; we do not like being taken advantage of (well, depends), our privacy invaded, or applications doing stuff without telling us first.

When you run the application, it will not do anything except load. When it loads, it will have a short description with a link regarding privacy. If you find the disclaimer acceptable, you may proceed to have the data collected - fret not, even though it is collected, the data is not sent. Once collected, you will see a new link called "Review Information" - this will allow you to see exactly what is being sent to us before you send it. If you find the information collected to be reasonable, you may proceed to have the data sent to our server.

The bottom line is that you approve everything, every step of the way. If you decide at any time that you are not liking what is being collected, just close the application and delete it; no extra files are created, no data stored anywhere, it'll just be gone.

No information that is capable of identifying you as an individual is collected besides your IP address (this happens automatically when you connect to any server). A unique machine ID is generated by the application, but that is only used to ensure your data is not accidentally entered into our system multiple times. These two pieces of information will never be willfully shared. All data collected is absolutely anonymous.

The Requirements

To run this application, you must have the .NET 2.0 Framework installed. You will need this to run Prometheus in the future; so, if you do not have it installed, you now have a reason to.

You may also need a newer version of DirectX. If the application crashes before you see any check box or button, then you need it and the installer is included in the ZIP archive (dxwebsetup.exe).

To send the data back to us (once you approve), you will obviously need to be online. Don't freak out, dial-up users, it should only take - yes, even you - less than a second to upload.

Pest Control

I tested this application as if I had OCD, but I unfortunately lack a hardware lab in my house. That means it may go boom on your computer - be it because it decides that it hates you or because you are running Windows 95. If something goes wrong, make sure that you meet the requirements. If you do meet them, then something is totally up and we need to hear about it.

If you find a bug and meet all of the requirements listed in the above section, please send us an email: surveybugs*halodev.org. Yeah, fix that * first though, it's a bug. Please include what OS and service pack you are running, along with a screenshot hosted on an image service that shows the bug. Your help is appreciated.

The Credits

Thanks to temugen of Halomaps for help cleaning up the application's code and making the data collection work server-side. Thanks to myself for the spiffy UI.

[*] Only three button clicks required once the application has been executed.