I’m glad to announce the availability of Direct Access 1.5.

It’s a big step forward in ease of use and functionalities if compared to the old version.

Here’s a brief list of the new features:

1. Windows Vista support and a new interface. Direct Access now fully supports Windows Vista and has a new more coherent interface. All the commands information is directly available in the right pane.
2. Use shortcuts to create new commands. This was one of the most requested features. It was rather lengthy adding a new command in the past. Now, you can select a piece of text and press CTRL+SHIFT+W to create a new Autotext command. Likewise, pressing CTRL+SHIFT+A adds a new command to launch the active application.
3. Search for commands. This was another very requested features. You can now search for a command just typing a few keys in the search box. The results are filtered instantly.
4. Support for Macros. You can insert special fields in your command to perform certain operations when the command is executed: for example, you can be requested to enter a piece of text (useful to personalize the text inserted in your email, or to do queries on the web), insert the current date, a special character or position the cursor.

You can have a more detailed look at the new features from the what’s new page.

We also added a new user forum. You are welcome to post your comments and suggestions there. We are also planning to create a command data bank with common phrases organized by context.

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