Hello MaXxX, Monday, December 15, 2003, 7:08:01 AM, you wrote:
> I'm just deeply disappointed with the turn the development of this > program has taken. And maybe that is just the point. Sheer disappointment. Something has happened that has lead to some real problems with the program. From the side lines, I have had to install other mail programs to ensure my mail is safe and I can proceed with business. Furthermore, version 2.0 appears to me, the lay person, must less stable and version 1.x. I wrote last summer expressing some real concerns about the overall business. I hoped with the release of version 2.x things had take a turn for the better. However, what is now appearing is the very real issues I pointed to in the beginning, underlying business structure and direction. Suggestion. a) There needs to be a clearing of the air. Is beta testing valued and important for the overall development of the program. If bugs are not going to be tracked down and dealt with in a systematic manner, then its important to know that up front. There is no point having testers doing one thing and programmers doing anther, it just leads to frustration. b) Identify the core products. I was very surprised with the buggy release of Secure Bat Lite. My radar told me not to try it, the results generated by people confirmed it. I realize it was quickly fixed yet here is my question, how did such a buggy piece of software get released. c) Focus, Focus Focus! I'm losing track of the business RIT labs is trying to do. If The Bat! is important, there needs to be a real effort to make it rock solid. Personally, I would much have reliable features that really work than have " neat features" that impress. Let me name a few from the lay users perspective. i - Rock Solid Backup and Recovery - This should be hall mark of the program. Right now, it's still flaky requiring me to use all sort of tricks just be sure I've got everything. ii - Achieve - I've raised this so many times I'm tired of saying it. A business needs to know how to achieve old messages in a safe manner. iii - Rock Solid Editors - Enough with all of the quirks in the editors. They need to work work well and be inviting to use. Currently, the windows editor still drops the cursor in various places. In closing, one of the Moderators once told me, hang in there. Well, I'm going to. Yet, I want to express my over all concern that something must be done to steam this ongoing divide between beta testing and release versions. The Bat is a good program, it simply needs some business focus to ensure the market will use it. Early morning insight. Have a great day. -- Ethan J. Mings Principal, The Desk E-mail Client:The Bat!(2.03.6) ________________________________________________________ Current beta is 2.03.6 | "Using TBBETA" information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
