Note of appreciation for frequent MOTU updates

[Prime Mover]

At the end of "The Thing" (original version) the final words were: "WATCH THE SKIES."

In this case, it'll be" "WATCH RADIOGAL!"

One of my favorite movies.

You mean the old black & white "Thing from Outer Space"? Great Film! Much better than John Carpenter's "remake". Alien (still brilliant, no offense to Ridley) basically took the plot scene for scene and merged it with 2001's setting and ambiance. But yeah, the Thing from Outer Space is supposed to be a big cold war allegory. Everyone needs to see this. I get so mad when people talk about "the thing" only to find out they're talking about John Carpenter's version. It's not bad, but the original is WWWAAAAAYYYY better. I would almost call it the grandfather of modern sci-fi/horror cinema.

[cbergm7210]

At the end of "The Thing" (original version) the final words were: "WATCH THE SKIES."

In this case, it'll be" "WATCH RADIOGAL!"

One of my favorite movies.

You mean the old black & white "Thing from Outer Space"? Great Film! Much better than John Carpenter's "remake". Alien (still brilliant, no offense to Ridley) basically took the plot scene for scene and merged it with 2001's setting and ambiance. But yeah, the Thing from Outer Space is supposed to be a big cold war allegory. Everyone needs to see this. I get so mad when people talk about "the thing" only to find out they're talking about John Carpenter's version. It's not bad, but the original is WWWAAAAAYYYY better. I would almost call it the grandfather of modern sci-fi/horror cinema.

Actually, I was talking about the John Carpenter version.

[Prime Mover]

Ooops.

Go see the original if you haven't already. Sci-fi films during the 50-60s were often kinda cheesy, but "Thing from Outer Space" I remember being a large exception. Kinda bothers me that most people don't even know about it. Now that there's a second remake, everyone refers to John Carpenter's version as the original, but its not. I'm not a huge Carpenter fan, but I will admit his "The Thing" was pretty good. But any time I see a remake of an older film I know and love, it kinda starts to bother me, especially when people start to forget about the original.

Then again, I'm always on a crusade to point out the value of older films (and music). Different eras have different viewpoints, pacing, and feel. Creative mediums that utilize technology are often thought of as "progressing", but it's easy to overlook the non-technological differences in the different eras of films. Been recently going back and watching Doctor Who all the way from 1963 to present, and it's been an amazing study in western cultural change over the last 50 years.

Sorry for going off-topic.

[Dan Worley]

I won't appreciate updates if they always do windows first.

[James Steele]

I won't appreciate updates if they always do windows first.

Gotta fix what has the most issues first, don't you? There were thousands of people out there running a demo version of DP Windows that was due to expire and ASIO problems were preventing them from getting much of a demo. Makes sense.

[Radiogal]

I guess MOTU has both Mac and Windows related tech crews.

[Dan Worley]

I won't appreciate updates if they always do windows first.

Gotta fix what has the most issues first, don't you? There were thousands of people out there running a demo version of DP Windows that was due to expire and ASIO problems were preventing them from getting much of a demo. Makes sense.

Sure, I can agree with that, James. But my statement is more an overall paranoia that they will get obsessed with fixing and updating and releasing the windows' version first all the time.

You know, this is a new experience sharing DP like this. Selfishly I can say that I don't like it much.

[HCMarkus]

My maid doesn't do windows, and neither do I. But I guess someone has to; it might as well be MOTU.

By the way, DP8.03 64 bit under ML has been running flawlessly for me. Haven't done a video project yet, though...

[beautypill]

8.04 today.

I really hope they keep this pace up!

This is fantastic.

- c

[Prime Mover]

I think it will be a LONG TIME before we can even consider worrying about MOTU playing favorites with Windows. Their userbase is probably still about 98% Mac at this point, and will be the majority for years to come.

I believe it when MOTU said they hired a dedicated windows development staff. This stuff makes them money, and its a good investment to hire more personnel. Its possible that the Windows port held up releasing the mac version (it's also possible that it was the cocoa or 64bit rewrite that did this), but that's done and over with.

But there's no question that the Mac version is going to be more bugproof and robust out of the gate, they have over 25 years of fine-tuning under their belts.

What it may change is the timetable in which updates are released. Likely, in the past, at the beginning of developing a new update, the team drew up a list of fixes and changes they want to make before releasing a new build, and the release date would float a bit if those things got done ahead or behind schedule. With two teams, it might be more effective to pick a date and say, "whatever's done by this date will be in the new version". I'm completely speculating. However the increased frequency and consistency in the time between updates seems to suggest something of that nature.

[Shooshie]

But there's no question that the Mac version is going to be more bugproof and robust out of the gate, they have over 25 years of fine-tuning under their belts.

Seems that way, but the move to Cocoa gave them the possibility (read: guarantee) of many new bugs popping up due to the code translation, and the changes the programmers make because of what looks like a different context. That old code had so many patches in it, there's no telling what they all did. Hopefully it was commented out, but something always gets left out. Not to worry; we'll get things put back where they belong. There seems to be a tacit understanding that we're all in this together, so the programmers are listening very closely to us now. We just need to report stuff.

Shooshie

[beautypill]

Today I received an emailed response to a crash report [!!] and a message saying basically "Download 8.04, we believe you will find that this update addresses your issue."

THIS IS AMAZING.

Is MOTU under some new management regime or something?

I'm super-impressed. I'm a long-time user and I'm very excited about what this suggests about the future.

MOTU, please keep going with this!

More incremental updates, more user communication. It is much appreciated!

- c

[toodamnhip]

Today I received an emailed response to a crash report [!!] and a message saying basically "Download 8.04, we believe you will find that this update addresses your issue."

THIS IS AMAZING.

Is MOTU under some new management regime or something?

I'm super-impressed. I'm a long-time user and I'm very excited about what this suggests about the future.

MOTU, please keep going with this!

More incremental updates, more user communication. It is much appreciated!

- c

It’s so funny. Not that I am the only one to have continually chastised MOTU over the years for their previous lack of TWO WAY communication, but I have for years gotten flack from loyal board members occasionally accusing me of not being loyal, not believing in MOTU and being unappreciative..just because I wouldn’t stand for the continual silence on bugs and updates from MOTU... etc.
Now that we see exactly the kind of 2 way communication I have been asking for for years, we see how nice it is!

I had an idea about 6 yrs+ ago called “Ken’s Korner”, (it could be called anything really). It was for a MOTU representative to address problems and bugs and give advise on a DAILY basis. I said it would create goodwill and make MOTU a better company.
That still has not occurred, but as we see, this little start is VERY refreshing.

But why couldn’t it occur 6 yrs ago?..........

[Radiogal]

In fact.... now hear up!!!! : MOTU IS GIVING A TIP OF THE DAY ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE!!!! They are very interactive with users there. So join and take part of it! Again: MOTU IS ROCKING BIG TIME!

[toodamnhip]

In fact.... now hear up!!!! : MOTU IS GIVING A TIP OF THE DAY ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE!!!! They are very interactive with users there. So join and take part of it! Again: MOTU IS ROCKING BIG TIME!

Ugh, gonna make me go to Faceplace eh?
Ok, I will, good to hear of the new interactive tips!