Hi Munawar, In all fairness to GW Micro I don't think April was ever an official target month for release. I think they tried to estimate as best as they could because they are pressured to by many sides. Everyone is looking forward to the next version and wanting to know when they can play with it for themselves and I am guilty of that too. So while they may have estimated April in passing just to satisfy the curious minded, I don't think that was ever meant to be taken as a press release saying that it will positively be released in April.
GW Micro is not the only company plagued with software development delays. Look at how many times Microsoft has to modify their road map because something got held up. Unfortunately I think this is a part of life with software development. One of the differences between Freedom Scientific and GW Micro is that GW Micro concerns itself less with time tables. They are stubborn in the sense that they try to get it right. That's not necessarily a bad thing because in the end we have a better product to work with, but it does mean that if you are the type that has their heart set on a certain release date, be prepared to be let down a few times. Another way to think about this is if GW Micro says April, try not to expect anything until June. No joke, it's not uncommon for a release to be delayed that much. The one criticism I have and I think I've said this before is that I think there should be a more opened beta policy by GW. I realize they have to cater to the less computer savvy crowd that can't deal with bugs, even when there are endless disclaimers stating that it is beta software. But, what about for nerds like me who like to try new features, who don't mind bugs, and who can benefit from the bugs that have been fixed already. Think about it, how long ago was this Windows Live Messenger crash fixed but it's still giving me a head ache because 7.1 isn't out yet? Or better support for IE 8? Or the crash whenever there is a script update? So many bugs have already been fixed but we can't take advantage of that yet. For people who don't mind running beta software, we could have been done with these bugs months ago and be off finding new bugs to report and hopefully see faster results than waiting for the next release. For those of us who are experienced computer users and like to try out new features and can deal with bugs that have yet to be resolved, I think there should be something. Some kind of opt in beta program similar to what Microsoft does for their managed betas, some kind of form to fill out that asks questions and makes it very clear that this is a beta. But it should definitely be an option in my opinion. Maybe there is a good reason they do not do this but I don't think us nerds should have to wait smile. Ok, done with my soapbox. -----Original Message----- From: Munawar Bijani [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 10:22 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: W E 7.1: when? Hi, I agree with you on this one. I heard "April" and it's almost the end of May. Sure, it was an honest guess on GW's part but they could have updated their blog with more current information, since as a still-new user of their product it's got me trapped in the middle somewhat. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here, but I sure hope that this trend is unusual for them. I know that if Freedom Scientific would have said April and then not posted anything, they would have gotten a lot of bad publicity, because we as users of these products expect our money to go to its worth--especially those of us who are paying "out of our pockets" for these products and not going through agencies to get them. Again, I understand GW's position on this from a developer's perspective, but if we're not officially told that it won't be April after all, we can't be expected to know it. Munawar A. Bijani "Knowledge is of two types: absorbed and heard. The heard knowledge is only useful if it is absorbed." - Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, Nahj Al-Balagha mailto:[email protected] http://www.bpcprograms.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "cranking Chris Reagan" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 9:50 PM Subject: RE: W E 7.1: when? > Okay then here's some advice then from me to you. Don't post a date for > release unless you are absolutely sure about it because this is what will > happen. People will start asking about why the software has not been > released on that date, and you will as a developer half to explain > yourself. > I've seen this happen with development of games, and believe me, it's not > pretty > Chris > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature > database 4089 (20090519) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original > sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and > your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending > your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. > > All GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo, and > can be searched through and sorted using the search > form at the bottom of the page. > > If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to > [email protected] and include leave gw-info in the body > of the message. > If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. All GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo, and can be searched through and sorted using the search form at the bottom of the page. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [email protected] and include leave gw-info in the body of the message. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4089 (20090519) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4089 (20090519) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. All GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo, and can be searched through and sorted using the search form at the bottom of the page. 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