Is it just me...

[Goz]

I can understand a few designers having problems keeping up to date, but why should the rest of us suffer for a few designers who cannot keep their records up to date

Sorry Chris. I normally try to keep out of these designer vs shop owner debates but I have have to comment here because I'm surprised and disappointed at that comment.

As a designer, I currently have clients at 8.5.1, 8.5.2, 8.5.3 and 9.0.3. I also run a site on 8.5.3. It is not about keeping my records up to date - it is about working with my clients and their expectations and limitations. I am expected, by my clients, to provide them with software that will work and, when it works, keep it working. I cannot ask a client on 8.5.1/2 (whose site works to their satisfaction) to upgrade to 8.5.3 or, god forbid, 9.0.x. It will cause them (and me) hassle and cost me money as my clients will not pay for an upgrade that is not beneficial to them. An upgrade may not even work for their site! And because I cannot upgrade them all to the same version I end up with 4 versions to support.

I cannot tell you the amount of time and money I have wasted/lost because of zero size backups and unexpected DMP files etc. I'm sure that is the case for you and I'm sure it applies, as designers, even more so than me, to Lee, Jont and Duncan.

I do empathise with you as, I'm sure, many designers do. There are a lot of issues with the software. However, I think that Lee has rose tinted spectacles on when he says

so 904 should finally be a stable version

- he should know better than that to make such rash statements

I have no answers to this conundrum. In a previous life I was a Development Project Manager for a financial product used by local authorities. I have an understanding of the different directions the developers get pulled in trying to satisfy all users requirements and ensuring that software updates work for everyone and all their configurations. I've always said that I wouldn't want to be in that position again.... but it looks like I'm on the other end of the stick now. And, as far as Actinic is concerned, I hope that there is just one stick and not a Designer Stick and a Shop Owner Stick (if that makes sense ).

[leehack]

Good post Andrew.

he should know better than that to make such rash statements

I did have all body parts crossed when i said it .

I do genuinely think 904 will mark a stable V9 though. We are looking at 250-300 bug fixes in the last 2 releases, which surely has to do something considerable in the stability area. If not, then i think we really are screwed.

I do think the addition of new features needs to be delivered sensitively. Not only can they get overshadowed by ongoing problems, people always want things fixed before they get new things. It's a balance issue again of course and who knows what's actually right, however for me hearing about new features means very little when fundamental operations are not working.

[markburley]

I have been using version 9.03 since December. Every other time we upload it crashes, we are now in April and I have still the same problems (although a fix is promised with the new beta).

Four months of crashes and failed uploads are a huge problem, compounded by the fact that the linked database causes Actinic to take over five minutes to load after a crash has occurred. We must have lost several days work whilst waiting for Actinic to reload.

Going back to a previous version was not an option as the stock control does not work when orders are manually adjusted in the earlier release.

I am frustrated and disappointed that it has taken this long for Actinic to resolve the issue, assuming the new beta does - and that does not appear to be released yet.

When we purchased the software we knew what functionality it had - more is just a bonus - however working software is a must and should take priority over everything.

Please Actinic concentrate on getting a stable version of software that functions correctly - the bells and whistles can wait.

Mark

http://www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk

[george]

I have been using version 9.03 since December. Every other time we upload it crashes, we are now in April and I have still the same problems (although a fix is promised with the new beta).

Jeezus


Has adding the Third Man (only useful if using Actinic Payments I think) check held up fixing this clients upload issue?

[pnagames]

i dont think you can work on small patches with a software like actinic unfortunately. (unless ofcourse you have a bug that make the whole software completely useless)

also if you consider the amount of testing that should be done on each patch then as a user and a development company you can benefit from having larger patches (lesser testing cycles)

but saying that the testing process must be spot on so it can capture majority of bugs

i dont agree with actinic adding new features in patches. to me patches are just for fixing existing bugs. adding new features brings more trouble.

[cbarling]

I'm locking this thread and deleting various posts as it seems to be simply be turning into non-constructive criticism of Actinic.

If anybody feels this is unreasonable, maybe they would like to send their last customer complaint to me together with a complete list of their customers, so I can pass the complaint to all of them?

Please don't take these comments as meaning that we think everything is fine or that we don't care.

We do, and that's why the vast majority of development effort since v9.0.3 has gone into v9.0.4 bug fixing, which will be out in a few weeks. Why not give that a chance?

Chris