Automatic software updates

This page refers to a feature introduced in XO Software Release 8.2.0, also known as build 767.

XO software release 8.2.0 introduces an automatic updater to help you get the latest Activities. Activities are maintained separately from the core operating system. Newer activities may be available since the software on your XO was installed. The software updater looks for the latest version of activities and offers to update them when new versions are available.

Note: it is especially important to update your Activities after upgrading from build 656 or earlier.

The Software Update tool will prompt you to update immediately after you upgrade to release 8.2. You can also open it from the main Control Panel. You must be connected to the Internet in order to use the Software Update tool. The tool will check for existing activities on your XO and then check if there are newer versions available. You can then choose to update to the newer activities by selecting them and choosing 'Install now'.

You can also subscribe to different "Activity Groups" with interesting collections of activities, by clicking on the "Edit Activity Groups" expander. The activity groups page on our wiki lists some interesting activity groups you can try. The activity group on laptops delivered to G1G1 2008 recipients is (or should be) Activities/G1G1.

There are many other activities available; after downloading and installing them they may also update to newer versions when you run the Software Update tool.

For activity authors and developers, technical details can be found at the Software update page on our wiki.