NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program postponed

[pluby]

FYI. We finally found the cause of the PowerPC library loading slowness and the PowerPC toolbar icon rendering issues.

Both are now fixed so after we fix a few more of the remaining known issues, we will be able set a new start date for the NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program.

Patrick

[human]

Hey, glad the problems turned out to be less formidable than originally expected. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.

[pluby]

Now that we have fixed the PowerPC library loading slowness and the PowerPC toolbar icon rendering issues and OpenOffice.org 3.0 has been out for nearly a month, Ed and I now feel that we can set a new start date for the NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program.

We have set the new start date for 15 January 2009 and, just to be safe, the end date to 31 March 2009. While we probably could put it out earlier than 15 January if we worked uninterrupted, the end of November and December both have large holidays where Ed and I stop work and visit our extended families so we did not think it would be realistic to release something right in the middle of the U.S.'s "Christmas through New Year's Day" holiday season.

Ending the program on 31 March 2009 makes this Early Access Program several weeks longer than normal. Given the level of stability that NeoOffice users have become accustomed to and the problems that we have found so far in the OpenOffice.org 3.0 code, our gut feeling is that program member's will need more time to find (and for us to fix) all of the critical bugs in this release. So, to be safe, we will have a longer than usual Early Access Program for NeoOffice 3.0.

Edit: Changed all "2008" dates to "2009" as my original post was referring to the past.

Patrick

[yoxi]

Sounds wise to me, given the weird junk that's still turning up in OOo v3 . Incidentally, another point where NeoOffice scores over OOo v3 is that OOo doesn't cooperate with Default Folder - and it's the only app I have among loads and loads that doesn't. It makes OOo just that little bit more tedious to use (once you get used to Default Folder's added functionailty, it's hard to be without it...)

- padmavyuha

[James3359]

Patrick, I've just checked the Early Access page to check that you had put 2009 there, by contrast with your post where you refer to 2008!

[Samwise]

[pluby]

[Gandalf99]

Is the early access program really a beta program for which you pay for the privilege? Or have you really finished testing by the early access launch & the same version is then released to the public a couple of months later? Sorry that I'm a little skeptical.

[OPENSTEP]

The Early Access Program is one of the ways that Patrick and I try to say thank you to all the donors who have helped keep NeoOffice running and able to be continually improved. It is not a beta program; it represents our best effort to deliver software that is ready for release. If it is not quality software, we do not release it...this is the primary reason why we postponed from our initial date. EAP is also a period in which we try to thank these donors by focusing our support on addressing any problems they have which may complicate deployment of 3.0 in their specific work environments.

During EAP, bugs in the software are fixed with software patches, just as with our shipping software. Unlike other projects, we do frequent hotfixes called "patches". When EAP ends and we make the public download, we simply post a version that already contains all the patches from during the EAP period, so new users only need to download the main disk image.

Usually, people with EAP releases just need the final EAP patch to get all of the fixes included in the public version. Sometimes if we need to recompile everything this may not be possible, however, but we try our best.

ed

[pluby]

[Gandalf99]

Patrick--

Thanks for the quick & thorough response. Here's what I understand from what you said; please tell me if this correct:

Early Access users are beta testers who, in appreciation for their willingness to make larger donations & test the program, have the opportunity to use the program sooner, provide more input into what still needs addressing in terms of bugs, & receive more timely help.

Assuming that's accurate, I feel like I can now make an informed decision about whether I want to participate. And thanks for making NeoOffice available for free.

[pluby]

[vida18]

Can you show NeoOffice 3.0's screenshots ?

[pluby]

[sardisson]