It was just a weeks ago that I had set down with my private beta copy of Disco, the new disc authoring app that has taken the Mac community by storm. Overall the application is very nice and seems to earn its keep. All of the bugs aren’t worked out of it just yet because it is still beta, but it’s a nice piece of software that clearly shows just how much work went into the project and will surely be one of those apps that Mac users keep around in their Applications folder. You can listen to my initial impression of Disco here.

What better way to learn more about Disco then talk to one of the guys from the Disco team, Austin Sarner!

Me: How long have you been using a Mac?

Austin: I’ve actually only been using Macs for about 5 years now.

Me: What was your first Mac?

Austin: A Titanium iBook, 1 Ghz.

Me: What is your current hardware setup?

Austin: MacBook Pro with a 23″ Cinema display

Me: What kind of educational experience have you had?

Austin: I have just finished up high school and I’m looking into going back to school down the road. Not sure what I’ll major in, but definitely something non-computer related.

Me: How long have you been developing on the Mac?

Austin: I’ve been developing since a few months after I got my first Mac, starting with AppleScript, then RealBasic, and now Cocoa.

Me: Do you have any other software that I’ve missed and should know about?

I’ve worked on a handful of other shareware and freeware apps in the past, most of which aren’t worth mentioning. AppZapper is my other significant project alongside Disco.

Me: What are you most excited about in terms of developer technologies to debut in Leopard?

Austin: Without breaking our WWDC NDA, I can safely say that Leopard so far appears to be a very developer centric release. There are plenty of new technologies that will allow us to take advantage of some pretty advanced UI functionality with little effort.

Me: Who is on your team and what is everyone’s main focus?

Austin: Our team is made up of Jasper Hauser, Brian Ball, and I. Brian handles the crazy marketing promotions, Jasper designs the pretty graphics, and I code it up. Together, Jasper and I design the workflow and interaction and also handle the blog.

Me: Who came up with the original idea for the app?

Austin: I originally had the idea to make a simple disc copying app. We started with that and things just kind of evolved.

Me: How long has the project been underway?

Austin: We’ve been working on Disco since late June.

Me: What features are you hoping to put tin the final 1.0 release that we haven’t seen in the beta so far?

Austin: For the most part, the beta is feature complete.

Me: What are your future plans for Disco?

Austin: We have quite a few cool features in the works. Things like Discography and Spandex push the boundaries of what you would associate with a burning app.

Overall, Disco is not a direct Toast competitor. We’re out to make a real disc burning app for real people and appeal to the actual user in every way possible.

Well, there you have it. Seems like Austin and Jasper make an amazing team and I’m excited to see what else they come up with not only with Disco, but for the Mac community in the coming years.

If you are interested in grabbing your own free trial copy of the Disco beta, you can check out the Disco website here for more info with introductory pricing starting at just 14.95 USD.
Also of note is the newly launched website created by theMacNurse called Mac App A Day which promises to have copies of some of Austin Sarner’s apps as part of their giveaway, so be on the lookout for those and more awesome Mac shareware applications for free on that website starting December 1.