ok to put a bit of life back into this recessive group heres a recent bit of news that seems to have gone without much comment anywhere..
beta for 2009 will be 8 weeks not 15 as last time - according to Mike Pluckets blog entry.
Now in looking around the net a bit to remind myself about whats been happening since I was seriously engaged with following the life and times of SW I rediscovered this youtube item originally from matt in Jan
Now is there anyone out there who believes these two positions - (the striving for 'quality','performance' and 'scalability' as espoused by the new CEO as a message he had his ears warmed with many times to good effect vs. the new apparently castrated beta phase)- are consistant and will lead to a better release this time?
Is this foreshortening an admission that beta testing in the past was just an entertaining diversion for 'believers' encouraged by the marketing department or have they just taken the axe to something very valuable?
Is beta for instance now relegated to a show and tell primer for future sales or is it an honest vetting of things to be duly attended to in due course?...
Many people were of the opinion previous beta testing didnt actually produce real results by the time sp0 shipped if at all or that the rewards didnt match the effort they might have put into it, so does it actually matter what they do with it? does the offering of more prizes engage you as never before or would you prefer discounts from subs for example?..
Do you expect the shorter beta will mean the release wont mature until even later than usual and even more people will leave it on the shelf than 08? If you have alot of seats on subs are you happy about that possiblity? Is this a make or break time for you as a loyal customer?
I seem to remember SW moved from beta to beta in ridiculously short periods recently - even skipped directly to release before people got a decent look at it or there was a something akin to a release candiate.
If the gestation period has been longer this time is that indicative of a higher internal standard? their difficulty getting stuff to work? probably too much new stuff after all? perhaps another wrong turn in management thinking...
What are your views about the changes? Does it do anything to discourage you or inspire you to particpate in beta? If you are sitting on the subs fence now does this make you want to make your perch a little more comfortable?
Presumably people have balked at upgrading for a number of reasons - most noteably the bugs and UI What confidence do you have that SW are going to deliver what you actually need this time? Are you expecting some reworking of the interface to make it acceptable again? perhaps you have real change as a pre condition to adoption this time?
Is real change for the better emerging from Concorde as it seems to be in Washington? ;o)
well a lot of leading questions there... like to hear your hopes, views, rants etc
Neil