2 minute read time · Updated August 14, 2024 · First published May 10, 2013
MIDAS v4.03 is just around the corner, and this update to our popular web based scheduling software will include a number of new features and improvements over previous versions.
Perhaps one of the most exciting new features of v4.03 will be the introduction of a new “addon” system, allowing the capabilities of your MIDAS to be extended through a range of optional extras.
A couple of optional “addons” will be initially available to coincide with the release of MIDAS v4.03, including a much anticipated API addon, and also an RSS addon…
API Access
The “API Access” addon will allow developers to interface directly with MIDAS from their own software applications! You can read more here.
Extensive API Documentation, including code samples, is already available online and the API Access addon is also now available to Beta Testers.
If you’re a programmer/developer and would like to test the new API, become a Beta Tester today!
RSS Feeds
The RSS Feeds addon will allow MIDAS to automatically generate multiple public RSS 2.0/Atom data feeds from your booking data! Read More »
Both the above “addons” are available right now to beta testers, and can be found within the software via MIDAS Admin Options → Manage Addons.
Once MIDAS v4.03 is released, new customers will be able to include optional addons at time of purchase, or add them at a later date. Existing users will be able to obtain addons for their MIDAS as upgrades in just a few simple steps!
7 minute read time · Updated August 17, 2024 · First published April 12, 2013
It’s been a busy few weeks in the world of web browsers! There’s been some major changes in the browser landscape too! So here’s our take on what’s been happening..
Internet Explorer – IE11 coming later this year? / IE10 available for Windows 7 / Farewell IE8
Firefox – v20 now available… and a new rendering engine on the horizon?
Chrome – v26 out now… and ANOTHER new rendering engine on the horizon?!
Opera – 12.15 now available… and a change in rendering engine to.. WebKit? no wait.. Blink?
Safari – What will all these rendering engine changes to other browsers mean for Safari?
Internet Explorer
Microsoft are busy working on their next update for Windows 8, currently billed as being “Windows 8.1”. It’s expected to be available in the latter half of this year. Windows 8.1 will almost be a kind of “service pack” for Windows 8, but will also contain a number of improvements and updates to apps & software. Perhaps the most exciting updating coming with Windows 8.1 will be Internet Explorer 11.
Yes, that’s right, no sooner is IE10 out of the door, and Microsoft are following it up with IE11 in a relatively short space of time (well, for them anyway!). We think this is great to see from Microsoft! In the past, updates to their flagship browser have been few and far between. Compare that with Mozilla’s current release cycle for Firefox, churning out a new version of Firefox every 6 weeks!
MIDAS will be supported in IE11 when it becomes available. It remains presently unknown as to whether IE11 will be “exclusive” to Windows 8.1, or if like IE10, it will also be made available for Windows 7 users as well.
…and yes, you did read that right – Internet Explorer 10 is available for Windows 7 right now! (and has been for over a month). If you’re a Windows 7 and Internet Explorer user, we strongly recommend that you update to IE10 get the best out of MIDAS.
Finally, if you’re still an Internet Explorer 8 user please read our “Saying farewell to Internet Explorer 8” post. Essentially, please upgrade your browser… as we won’t be supporting MIDAS in IE8 indefinitely!
MIDAS is currently supported in Internet Explorer 8+ (v10+ recommended)
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla’s rapid release cycle means that we’re now up to Firefox version 20! In a tweet yesterday, the Firefox team claim that with their latest version of Firefox “you can get the web up to 7 times faster than older versions”.
Mozilla also announced last week that they were collaborating with Samsung on a new rendering engine, named “Servo”. A “rendering engine” is essentially what converts raw web page code into what you actually see on your browser screen. Mozilla’s long standing rendering engine has been “Gecko”, but according to Mozilla;
“Servo is a research project to develop a new web browser engine. Our goal is to create an architecture that takes advantage of parallelism at many levels, both on the CPU and GPU, while eliminating common sources of bugs and security vulnerabilities associated with incorrect memory management and data races. With Servo, we aim to take the kinds of fluid, richer multimedia experiences expected in today’s smart phone and tablet applications to the next level on tomorrow’s web and tomorrow’s hardware.”
“Servo” is still in its early days and according to Mozilla;
“It’s too early to say how [Servo] will be adopted going forward. No decision has been made as to whether Servo will replace Gecko. Gecko remains the ‘productised’ web engine for Mozilla.“
So it may be that Servo ends up being a rendering engine for Mozilla’s smartphone/tablet browsers, and Gecko remains for desktop Firefox editions. This could get confusing, but it’s more likely over time that Mozilla will standardize their rendering engine across all platforms.
MIDAS is currently supported in Firefox 4+ (v20+ recommended)
Google Chrome
The current version of Google’s Chrome browser is v26. Ever since its first release – which was only 4 years ago! – Chrome has always used the WebKit rendering engine, most notably used by Apple’s Safari web browser. Chrome’s subsequent input into the WebKit project has really driven WebKit development forward in the last four years. WebKit is now arguably the most standards-compliant of all the rendering engines currently used by the major browsers.
However, Google recently announced that they would be developing a new rendering engine for Chrome, called “Blink”. Blink is expected to make it into builds of Chrome within just 10 weeks! Unlike Mozilla’s “Servo” engine, which is being built from the ground up, Blink is heavily based on the WebKit project.
Google have released a Blink Q&A video if you’re interested in learning more about this new rendering engine and its implementation
MIDAS is currently supported in Chrome 9+ (v26+ recommended)
Opera
Opera are having a bit of a turbulent time of late, and in some respects appear to be loosing a sense of focus and direction! The Opera browser was first released in late 1994. This makes it the longest running browser that’s still in active development and current use today.
Apart from its longevity, what also makes Opera unique is their own “Presto” rendering engine.
Now, you may remember that back in January, we reported that Opera were making a switch from Presto to WebKit. Well, at least for their mobile browser offerings.
Then in February, it was confirmed that Opera would drop Presto for their entire range on browsers (not just mobile).
This was a move that surprised a lot of analysts, and received a mixed response from Opera’s loyal user base.
Whilst it would have been sad to see a very mature rendering engine being put out to pasture, it would have meant that with Google and Opera both contributing to WebKit (along with Safari). This would provide more continuity between browsing experiences on the three browsers. Also with three major organizations contributing to the development of WebKit, it would have become very powerful. It would certainly have Mozilla and Internet Explorer (who don’t use WebKit) quaking in their boots!
…but this was before Google announced Blink… and shortly afterwards, Opera changed their minds. Opera decided to jump on the Blink band-wagon too, after having gone all out and confirming they were moving to WebKit!!
So it’s a little confusing at the moment as to the direction that Opera are going down! ..but as things stand, here are the list of rendering engines that the five major browsers are using/will be using in the near future:
Browser
Current Rending Engine
Future Rendering Engine
Internet Explorer
Trident
Trident
Mozilla Firefox
Gecko
Servo?
Google Chrome
WebKit
Blink
Opera
Presto
Blink?
Apple Safari
WebKit
WebKit
MIDAS is currently supported in Opera 9+ (v12+ recommended)
Safari
As you’ll know from our previous Web Browser Roundups – it’s been pretty quiet on the Safari development front in recent months. There’s not much happening on the face of it!
Safari’s rendering engine is WebKit, and last month it looked like both Google and Opera would begin contributing code to the WebKit project. In fact, Opera even began contributing code to WebKit.
This was before Google announced it was moving away from WebKit in favor of a new rendering engine, Blink. Then Opera followed suit and announced it was also teaming up with Google for the new Blink rendering engine.
So what will this mean for WebKit and the Safari browser that will soon be the sole user and primary contributor to the WebKit project?
Well, it remains to be seen! WebKit was successfully developed without Google’s input in the days before Chrome. It may well survive without Google’s input in the future. But with Google and Opera pooling resources into Blink, and Firefox potentially introducing a new rendering engine too, the WebKit team (and Safari) are going to be facing a tough challenge to keep up!
MIDAS is currently supported in Safari 4+ (v5+ recommended)
4 minute read time · Updated February 12, 2025 · First published March 19, 2013
Exactly four years ago today, back on March 19th 2009, Microsoft first released Internet Explorer 8. In today’s fast changing web browser landscape that’s now very old indeed!
To allow us to continue to develop new and exciting features for MIDAS, occasionally it becomes necessary for us to “phase out” support for older browsers. This is when a browser’s market share drops very low, and it becomes too difficult and time-consuming to maintain compatibility with, limiting the capabilities of our scheduling software – which relies on your web browser.
For example, if you’re still running MIDAS in IE8 you’re already missing out on some features. This includes the ability to quickly drag-and-drop bookings around the booking grid to instantly reschedule them! We’ve not purposefully held this feature back from IE8 – the browser itself simply doesn’t support it!
Browser compatibility with the latest web technologies and standards (HTML5, CSS3, SVG, etc)
Back in November 2012, we first indicated that in the near future we would be dropping support for Internet Explorer 8.
At the start of this year, we gave further notice that IE8 support would likely be dropped “during the course of 2013“. At the same time we introduced a new feature to help notify users if their browser is too old:
Obsolete Browser Warning
Major companies such as Google have already discontinued support for Internet Explorer 8. Google took the decision in September 2012 to drop IE8 support across their range of services (including YouTube, Gmail, Docs, Drive, Blogger, etc) with effect from 15th November 2012.
Given the global availability now of Internet Explorer 10, it is highly likely that we will be dropping IE8 support for our room scheduling software before the end of 2013. (We’ve already seen a noticeable 4.6% drop in IE8 usage from our “hosted” clients alone so far in 2013!)
What does this mean?
Firstly, once we no longer support IE8, we won’t simply “block” MIDAS from being accessed via Internet Explorer 8! It may well be that subsequent updates to our browser-based scheduling software continue to function to some extent in IE8 after we officially drop IE8 support.
However, it does mean that we will no longer “test” MIDAS in IE8. Therefore, should you use IE8 and contact our support team with any issues, you will be advised in the first instance to update your browser.
Internet Explorer 9 and 10 continue to be supported at this time, along with recent versions of all other major browsers. A full list of supported browsers can be found at https://mid.as/browsers
…but I currently use Internet Explorer 8 – what should I do?
If you’re a Windows 7 user accessing MIDAS though Internet Explorer, you can update your browser to IE10. This won’t apply if you’re running Windows 8, which already comes with IE10!
Alternatively, if you’re a Windows Vista user and use Internet Explorer, although you won’t be able to update up to IE10, you can still update Internet Explorer as far as version 9.
Our decision to drop support for IE8 will only impact a very limited number of MIDAS users; specifically those who presently use MIDAS in Internet Explorer on Windows XP. Unfortunately, the highest version of Internet Explorer that can be installed on Windows XP systems is IE8.
If you fall into this category, the good news is that MIDAS is also supported in recent versions of all other major browsers too. This includes Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari. All of these can be installed on Windows XP to allow you to continue using MIDAS! However, given that Microsoft themselves will cease all support for their XP operating system in 2014, perhaps now’s the time to be thinking about updating your 12-year old operating system anyway!?
So we apologize in advance if you are one of the small handful of users this decision may affect later this year. It’s never an easy decision for us to drop support for a browser – but we hope you’ll understand our reasons behind this move, to allow us to continue to develop a world-class web based scheduling solution that’s at the forefront of today’s new web technologies and standards!
By giving plenty of advanced notice again now – and with the introduction at the start of the year of notifications if your browser is too old – we hope you’ll take the opportunity to update your browser before our support for IE8 ends later this year!
5 minute read time · Updated March 18, 2024 · First published March 11, 2013
HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY MIDAS!
Exactly 7 years ago today – on 11th March 2006 – MIDAS was publicly revealed to the world for the first time! We’ve come a long way since then. So to celebrate our 7th Birthday, we’re pleased to announce the release of MIDAS v4.02. This latest update is packed full of new and improved features including…
More Versatile Options For Booking Times
In previous versions of MIDAS, when specifying booking times, you were presented with options to set a start and finish time:
We wanted to make specifying booking times even easier and more flexible. That’s why v4.02 introduces two new time field options: “periods” and “durations“…
Predefined Time Periods
If you only wish your users to book in predefined time slots (“periods”) during the day, this option is just what you need! You can set up a list of predefined periods of time, with each “period” having its own name. For example, let’s say you’re running MIDAS within a school or other educational environment; In v4.02 you’ll be able to add your school day as a list of predefined time periods, for instance:
…that way, instead of previously having to manually select a start time of 11:15 and a finish time of 12:15 on the booking form if a user wanted to book during “Lesson 3”, with this option those fields will be replaced with a simple drop-down list from which they can easily pick “Lesson 3”!
There are no limits on the number of predefined “period” lists you can set up. What’s more you can specify on a per-user basis which particular list of time “periods” is shown!
Start Time + Predefined Duration
If all your bookings (or appointments) should be of a standard, predetermined length, this new option will be ideal for you! MIDAS v4.02 allows you to set up a list of predefined booking durations (in Minutes) to replace the original “finish” time field. That way, users can simply select a start time for their booking, and a duration.
As with the “period” lists, multiple lists of booking durations can be set up, and you can specify which list should be shown to which user!
As these three booking time options (Start + Finish, Start + Duration, and Periods) can be specified on a per user basis, the flexibility this gives is unmatched! These powerful new time options make MIDAS an even better scheduling choice for schools, as well as for businesses that need to schedule appointment slots!
We’ve produced a step-by-step online video tutorial which guides you through the features and use of the new time selector options in v4.02, which you can watch right here:
Customizing the Time Selector
Monthly Repetitive Booking Generator
MIDAS already includes a quick way to generate dates for repetitive bookings. For example, “every Monday for the next 6 weeks”. But many users have asked for a quick way to generate dates for monthly recurring bookings, say on “the 2nd Thursday of every month”. So we’re giving you just that in v4.02!
Approve/Reject Booking Requests “Silently”
When you approve or reject a Booking Request, MIDAS automatically sends an email notification to the original requester informing them that their booking request has been either approved, or rejected (together with a reason for the rejection). In MIDAS v4.02, we’re including a simple way to override the sending of these notifications. This allows you to approve/reject requests “silently” without the original requester being informed of your action.
Send “Booking Reminders” to your external calendar (Outlook, Lightning, etc)
The “Booking Reminder” feature in earlier versions of MIDAS allowed you to quickly add a reminder for any booking to your “My Messages” screen within MIDAS. In v4.02, we’re improving this ability with a new option to have these reminders emailed to you as calendar events. That way, if you have a calendar application associated with your email software (such as Outlook, or Lightning) you can quickly add these events to your external calendar with just a single click!
Other new features in v4.02:
The Monthly Overview can now be printed via the “Print” toolbar icon
New option to only accept booking requests from certain email domains
New security option to force clients to also enter their email address in order to view their invoices online
Create links to your Web Request screen to display it in different languages
If you’re not yet using MIDAS for your organization’s scheduling, you can purchase directly through our website.
If you’re an existing user with an Active Support Subscription you can update via MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Update.
If your Support Subscription has recently expired, don’t worry – you can quickly renew your subscription then get the update.
…and if we host MIDAS for you, there’s no need to do anything – we’ve already automatically updated you to v4.02!
Keep Your Browser Up-to-date!
To allow us to continue to develop new and exciting features for MIDAS, from time to time we have to “phase out” support for older browsers, as they become too old, and don’t support newer standards & technologies. Now that IE10 is fully available for Windows 7 and 8, during the course of 2013 we’ll likely be dropping support for IE8 (IE9 will still be supported)
If you’re currently an IE8 user, you’ll still be able to use MIDAS v4.02. However, we thought we’d take an opportunity to provide ample notice and encourage you to update your Internet Explorer (if possible), or perhaps try one of the other majors browsers available.
MIDAS v4.02 is supported in all 5 major browsers, the latest versions of each are: Microsoft Internet Explorer v10 Mozilla Firefox v19 Google Chrome v25 Apple Safari v6 (v5.1.7 for Windows users) Opera v12
The “API Access” addon will allow developers to interface directly with MIDAS from their own software applications! You can read more here.
Apple Safari
Exactly four years ago today, back on March 19th 2009, Microsoft first released Internet Explorer 8. In today’s fast changing web browser landscape that’s now very old indeed!
Microsoft’s 10th and latest incarnation of Internet Explorer was first introduced with 
Internet Explorer 9 and 10 continue to be supported at this time, along with recent versions of all other major browsers. A full list of supported browsers can be found at 
HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY MIDAS!
In previous versions of MIDAS, when specifying booking times, you were presented with options to set a start and finish time:
Microsoft Internet Explorer v10
Mozilla Firefox v19
Google Chrome v25
Apple Safari v6 (v5.1.7 for Windows users)
Opera v12