Does anyone out there know when 2.0b8 will be released to the hungry public?

I have read a few threads that indicate sometime soon hopefully.

Regards

Don't hold your breath waiting for beta 8.

-Will

Never. You will never see a public version of beta 8.


















(internally, we're already to beta 9, you see)...

Didn't beta 10 pop up today?

Yes, it did. A very cruel joke if you ask me!

ooh yeah, and I got it too. On CD. I have beta 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11...
anyone want a copy? Mabe I should put it up for auction on ebay too?

Yea, I think I'll dutch auction the web page address to get to the new upgrade when it comes out. I just have to figure out how to keep everyone from finding the quick links upgrade link. hmmmm.........

enough already!

What about the next public release?

Hmmm.. How about... It will be released when it's ready to be released?

There are a number of versions you can play with right now. YMMV, but they've all worked without a major problem for me.

Bruno

I guess there are already enough "internal" beta testers, hmm?
If you need more - I'll happily volunteer to risk trashing my empeg every day:) I tend to 'stress test' software a lot anyway.

If not, oh well - I'll wait for the next public beta and not be so impatient.

Released when it is ready to be released??

Geez, this is starting to sound like some very anal graphics hardware companies I've dealt with recently(ATI).. Fortunately, they listened to the public and release their betas more often..

I recall reading 2 weeks ago that an update would be released that week..

I also think the MAJOR bug in b7 regarding drag and drop should have prompted a retraction of the release and/or replacement with that bug(and only that bug) fixed/removed.

That is my opinion.. I still appreciate the work on it though.

-John M

Hi,

I must agree on the emplode move bug. They could have released a fix for just that, as it is destructive.

On the other hand, I understand why they don't. With the current "noise to signal ratio" on this BBS currently, everything would completely wipe out with daily builds.

But there must be a compromise ...

well it is beta, so even thou the drag and drop is an issue, its just beta, and about having releaes alot, i mean comeon look at whats going on the forum with differnt software out all the time.. you should change your image pan image to keep yourself entertained for the mean time.. haha just giving you a hard time

Guys, please realise that:

- We have perfectly good 1.03 stable release; we can choose between that and 2.0 betas (with more features, but less stability).
- Empeg guys have a small team of user alpha testers who do first-cut testing of new releases; this is different development style from, say, Mark's, but I think is equaly valid; apparently, alpha team found that beta8 was not good enough to be released.
- Our toy is EOL'ed; empeg guys work on other projects, too (or mostly on other projects), they don't have their full time for empeg SW; however, I think that new features are coming out nicely (if much slower than in 0.xxx betas), and new ones get hinted at.

That said, I too am very impatient

P.S. '...when it will be ready' is a kind of long standing internal (that is, internal to this BBS) joke; translate it as 'errr, we still have an embarassing number of bugs in it'

#1 I already changed my image pan image last night

and

#2 that sounds like the same inside joke with idSoftware regarding Quake 3 patches - "In a couple weeks" is what they write I think..

And the best of them all:

[bold]1.1[/bold]

There are almost 70 bug fixes since Beta 7 - and counting. There are two major new features which we have previously promised for 2.0. There have been two releases to the alpha team. There has also been a contractual issue which has caused delay.

Beta 9 is with the alpha team now, and their findings over the weekend will pretty much determine a release early next week. It works pretty well for me.

Rob

I dig how features are being added in beta releases instead of incremental releases.... we'd be up to 2.4 or so by now if they were. =] Thanks for the heads up Rob.

Hrm... one new feature is WMA i'm guessin'... what's the other...

It's a bad idea to add features to Betas - they cause delays like this. BUT in both cases most or all of the code was long since completed and in one case already in use in another product. Plus, I suspect that if we didn't include these features in 2.0 we would get lynched.

No hints though (It's going to be a big anti-climax for most of you!)

Rob

So far, the only problems I've found in Beta9 are minor cosmetic ones, nothing to prevent a release.

Then again, that's what I said about 2.0beta3. I remember saying straight to your face, over dinner (or was it drinks?), "I haven't seen any show-stoppers in the 2.0 beta". Sometimes we all live to regret what we say, don't we?

Software releasing is a big problem where I work, and doubly so because the marketing guys keep promising stuff while we are still trying to slay bugs. We have had to literally stop doing any work and just sit around talking about our empegs (both of us programmers have one) and watch our software run to make sure it gets tested before someone starts handing out CD's with not yet tested software on it. We keep telling the customer's "next week", and then some other problem shows up (many times because we put in some new feature in the mean time). This cycle is harsh, and I'm sure anyone in software development knows what it feels like, especially when you have to deal with marketing "promises" to the customer. Truth is, they shoudln't be letting anything in testing out the door, but it happens every time and we get complaints.

I only say this to note that I understand how bugs get into software, how impatent the customer can be, and how frustrating the process is. I love the new features the beta allows us, and they are worth the trouble of potentially harmful bugs. If I wern't ready for that risk, I'd use the software that shipped with the player. I'm sure they already know, but the empeg guys are doing a great job and I am very greatful.

-Jeff

I guessed WMA in a previous thread, Rob said this wasn't one of the two features.

ieeeeeeeeenteresting... Hm. I wonda what it could be.

OK, three features.

I don't know just wait for the release notes!



Rob

Jeff,

I feel your pain. Over here at my company, I'm an engineer that got sucked into marketing. From a marketing standpoint, looking through the unique lens of an engineer, I can boil it down to marketing as a gatekeeper between engineering and sales. The responsibility of marketing is to synchronize the market needs(sales) with the spec requirement (engineering) with enough forethought and political saavy that you can put your foot down and keep the door closed.

The problem that you guys have is either your sales is pushing your marketing folks all over the map, or your marketing folks are too wishy washy to put their feet down. I think the general statement I can make, at least from where I'm sitting, is, it is good to ask for too much once, but never good to ask for a little every time.

They should make your marketing guys fix all the bugs for some perspective. ;-)

Calvin

I'll let the ATI thing slide...

Bruno

feature #3 will be the ability to activate super destro sasparilla "ape-like" noises.

such as...

"eep"

perhaps

"zorp"

next time... hey, "what is the watermelon doing over there?"

I would have to say the most attractive "feature" of a "beta release" is the drag and drop "bugfix".

Regards Bug Slashers, Software "Testers", and Ape-Men alike!

so tell us Tfabricated, how do you <really> feel about the beta 8 candidate. was it sssoooooo horrible that the lowly rio supporters would suffer from life-altering and rio-experience-degrading glitches?

cheers!

how do you <really> feel about the beta 8 candidate. was it sssoooooo horrible that the lowly rio supporters would suffer from life-altering and rio-experience-degrading glitches?

All I can say is that the Beta8 version had at least one pretty serious show-stopper which has since been fixed in Beta9. The Beta9 version is quite good and only seems to have small cosmetic bugs that shouldn't stop a release (no worse than any of the small cosmetic bugs in Beta7). I have a guess that it'll be up to at least Beta10 before you see it.

empeg picks their alpha testers by hand, there has never been an official "sign-up" procedure. Their beta testers on the other hand is anyone willing to download and install it. Right now the alpha testers see the potential public betas for a few days to ensure there is nothing major that occurs, like the upgrade simply not installing, or other issues. But before 2.0 went into public beta, they got to work with a few versions of 1.1 that were definitly alpha quality.

b7 is working fine for me right now, but just out of curiosity, when might we see the next beta? 10, 11...12...

I think 1.1 and 2.0 are the same thing... but there was so much "feature creap" that it just didn't seem right to call it 1.1 when it was a complete re-write of the emplode code...

BUT, I fully trust and respect the programers and alpha testers. And if they say it isn't ready - I can live with that! I'm not even bitter about loosing all of those files from the cut and paste bug. I downloaded beta software and assume the risks associated with it.

I'm guessing that if they already know of what needs to be worked on, there is no point making it a public release only to get flooded with emails and posts about issues they are already aware of. It would just slow down the development process. Again, this is only a guess, I've never been involved in software development (I was an alpha testor for inline skating socks back when I use to skate for Rollerblade ) so this is only based on what I have picked up from this board.

I'm personally not sure since I am not part of the alpha team. All we can go on is Rob's (from empeg) comment above of:

Beta 9 is with the alpha team now, and their findings over the weekend will pretty much determine a release early next week. It works pretty well for me.

Also Tony Fabris has been a pretty good source of "leaked" info on the alphas, just look for some of his posts to gauge when the next public beta may appear. Keep in mind though that noone has an exact date, since many things could occur (show stopping bugs, attention needed on other products, etc...)

And to SE_Sport_Driver, 1.1 is the same as 2.0. (I should have probably made that a bit clearer above). Basicially the alpha team saw a few releases of 1.1 before they renamed it 2.0. 1.1 was shown at the USA owners meet in March, and I think as far back as the European meet before it. Most alpha testers moved back to 1.03 though, since they helped test the tuners and the software for it.

Also Tony Fabris has been a pretty good source of "leaked" info on the alphas,

I don't believe I have yet leaked anything they didn't want leaked.

Rob, if I do otherwise, I assume you'll tell me right away, right?

Greetings!

I don't see what the big deal about leaking is... The kernel source tree for b8 is right on the hijack site...

The source tree for b8 is right on the hijack site...

Yes, kernel source tree, not player or emplode....

I don't believe I have yet leaked anything they didn't want leaked

I don't believe so either, you just tend to be the main alpha tester to report about anything show stopping here.

When is 2.0 Beta xx likely to be released. I heard it was sometime this week ?

Very likely, yes.

Rob

So are we talking minutes or hours away ? ...

The release today is to the alpha team. It is expected that the same release will go public tomorrow, all being well.

Rob

Excellent .... so I won't be going to the pub on a Friday night .. now there's a first !!