Hey, thanks for checking SteamLab out, Fry, and for your kind review
Unfortunately since I have had a lot of other projects on my plate lately (my job, writing, developing steam-lab.com along with a couple of other web projects, and administering my new Ubuntu server), I haven't had time to complete SteamLab 0.9, but it already has a ton more features and works a lot better than all previous releases. I'm going to try to work on it in my freetime this week and see if I can't get a version out containing the new features so you and anyone else can test them out.
You may have read this in previous posts, but just a summary of wat's already complete and will be included:
SteamLab 0.9 has an extensive .ini file containing all customization settings (many of which have GUI controls), and contains the first versions of the Games and Tools XML databases and related features. It also introduces built-in support for a much larger array of third party tools, and the games database now has full support for Source mods (including automatic detection and management in the database).
One of the coolest and most radical new features is called SteamTabs, which replaces the SteamDock and most SteamLab windows with extra tabs integrated into (actually overlayed on top of) the Steam interface. The effect is nearly seamless, though a little bit buggy at present, but it generally works great and is most definitely the future of SteamLab. You can of course still use the SteamDock and access the main windows there, through the tray menu, or through the added SteamLab menu on the main Steam window. The result is a more 'modular' way to run SteamLab, and a choice how to display the content.
I am focused right now on maximizing performance, as well as allowing SteamLab to run in a mode in which no process-intensive things will occur, suitable for running in the background while gaming. Although to clarify, I run SteamLab in the background while gaming all the time, and I have never noticed any particular slowdowns related to it. Unless you are actively working with a SteamWin window, or SteamLab is searching for updates or processing the database files (which is usually initiated by hand), it for the most part sleeps and uses a very minimal amount of resources.
I mentioned my Ubuntu server earlier, and that is somewhat significant because I now have full Subversion version management for my projects, as well as a very handy internal bug tracking system, which should immensely help my productivity once I get in the hang of utilizing both tools fully.
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