I have no clue why Basic Auth is still working. Their latest blog entry on 8/30 reiterates that oauth will be required as of 9/1/10.
Twitter Applications and OAuth
http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...7&pageNumber=1
Oh, and just to clear things up - the author of the new version doesn't charge for it. He only charges for support. Myself, in the spirit of supporting vb authors, bought an $11 subscription even though no support is required by me - it worked fine right out of the box.