New features: "Significant Performance & Stability Improvements"
I just got an email announcing Fusion 2013 and I noticed one of the new features: "Significant Performance & Stability Improvements". Being a user of Fusion 2012, I assume that we are talking about Slow performance and instabilities of Fusion 2012. I have three naive questions: 1- Is there a way I can get these two features for free in Fusion 2012? 2- Will I have to wait until 2014 to get these two features for Fusion 2013? 3- In Fusion 2013, there are no fixes for bugs of Fusion 2012?
Is this truly a "naive" question, are you being facetious, or is this a back-handed criticism of NOF12?
Since "Performance and Stability" are not really "features" per-se, but are inherent in the base code, they are not something that can be tacked on like a photo gallery. At this point, I doubt there will be any further updates to NOF12. So to answer your "questions": No, Yes, and Yes.
Dear RayC,
Indeed, true, my questions are not really naive, as I have been in software for several decades.
No, it's not a back-handed criticism of NOF; if it was, I would have been more direct.
Yes, it is a criticism of the entire consumer software industry and in particular of the consumers who have been trained to accept to pay for deficient software and pay again to get it right. I used to be embarrassed by poor quality that went into the field, but I notice more and more that better quality is now listed in the "new features" section. Apply this to all other consumer products: your car stops unexpectedly between your home and work, No problem! Just wait for the next year's model which will not stop any more unexpectedly, but it will at times accelerate unexpectedly. But don't worry that will be fixed the following year!!! To get it right you will have to buy several cars, and even that will not get it right because then the right front wheel will lock up (unexpectedly)...
And I naively (again) thought that software was a consumer product. Stupid me!
Practically speaking, I have learned how to get around those performance and instability issues. For the first issue, I always prepare a good cup of coffee + cookies and I wait. For the instability issues, I restart the software regularly at critical stages I have learned to predict. I may miss them if I am excessively focused on the cookies, and bang, the software falls into a black hole. In general, I have learned to manage. That is what my dad used to do with his old cars.
Kind of reminds me of this old gag.Originally Posted by levendel
As someone who has been in software for several decades, you should be able to tell the difference between marketing hyperbole and actual meat. As far as I'm concerned, NOF2013 in it's current state is unusable. It doesn't bother me much as I am not chomping at the bit to use HTML5 and CSS3 until IE8 usage is below 1%. I'm certain NO is frantically stomping on bugs, correcting oversights and hopefully will fulfill the promise of "Significant Performance & Stability Improvements" in the first update. (Early on, it was determined that, in fact, performance had been significantly improved in terms of handling large sites better, and publishing faster.)
Until then, I will continue to use NOF12, which I (and many others) have had very few problems with as far as stability. Yes, there are some who have issues due to some unforeseen conflict with other software and settings. Yes, I do get crashes from time to time, as I do with CorelDRAW, Photoshop, Pro Tools, and any number of other high end applications. It's the nature of the beast, unfortunately. If you've been having some serious issues, I sympathize. We've all been there. If you can do a little testing and distill your issue down to something specific, you might get some help from your fellow users here.
Oh sir!
I have developed my own techniques to overcome the lack of the "two new features" in question in NOF 2012. I have come to learn under which conditions NOF 2012 will crash, and I stop (most of the time) just before and restart the application. I have also learned how to overcome performance issues, some of them due to memory leaks. For that, I have installed memory recovery software and periodically (less often than for the other "missing" feature), I will stop my work, and restart my computer. That does not solve all but gets to a significant number of instances. I do not call that ideal working conditions.
Now, I noticed that you have a lot of "helping" energy left. In that case, the ones who need the help are the software designers who have gotten used to our lack of demands and our acceptance of mediocre software. So, if you want to help, volunteer to drive their work so that they can offer performance and stability IN THE CURRENT RELEASE and not as a paying feature in the next release.
Finally, yes I have been in software for many years, and if I had tolerated that kind of standards, my customers would have eaten me and my employees alive. For my own self image, I am glad that I have been held to higher standards. This kept my belief that it is possible to release stable and performant products. You just have to know your business.
And don't work on the Windows platform which, in my fairly extensive experience, is the cause of most software failures on that platform.mers would have eaten me and my employees alive. For my own self image, I am glad that I have been held to higher standards. This kept my belief that it is possible to release stable and performant products. You just have to know your business.
I'd be curious to see a list of conditions that will cause NOF to crash. If we can narrow it down to a certain pattern, we can provide feedback to NO to help resolve it. In all likelihood, they will still affect NOF2013.
Are you, by any chance, using a tablet or other "touch" device? A couple of years back another user and myself were having an issue that no one else was having that could be classified as a "memory leak". We put our heads together and found it was related to our use of a Wacom tablet. We initially blamed the Wacom drivers, because when we uninstalled them, the problem went away. However, we eventually figured out it was the Windows Tablet Services that gets activated when you install a tablet.
This problem still seems to causing problems in NOF2013, and turning this setting off has improved things for some users. Maybe it will help you. I hope so.
Oh, believe me, I've not been shy about sending my feedback -- on this list and directly to NO -- about what should and shouldn't be.I do, however, try to make my observations "constructive" with examples and suggestions. Sometimes I even get changes made!
But a general rant does no one any good. To simply say "this thing sucks", or "it crashes all the time", provides nothing to take action on. Ranting just makes the ranter more angry, and gives no one any basis to provide any assistance.
So if you have a specific issue, I invite you to post a new thread with the details. You never know; someone may solve your problem.
Hello
Yes you are absolutely right that Windows is a leading software in poor quality. You are making my point that we have low expectations of software; we could bring a long additional list of poor software. However, if performance and stability issues in NOF 2012 were due to Windows, then how comes they are fixed in NOF 2013?
The nature of some of the workarounds that I have developed point at NOF 2012 and not Windows per se.
If the statement of RayC is correct ("As far as I'm concerned, NOF2013 in it's current state is unusable"), releasing such software just shows you the lack of respect for paying customers.
RayC
I do appreciate your involvement in helping to improve the product. The bottom line is however that I am not going to do what you are suggesting. I have done it at times through trouble reports, and it takes an inordinate amount of energy to pass the first layer of support and get to a developer who will understand a simple description. Secondly, in order to fix a problem, there is a need to put a trace on the incriminated platform and this is not in the cards. Otherwise, there is little chance to identify the cause. Finally, I am not ready to spend my time doing the job of software developers so that may be I will get the problem fixed in an update, but in general, I will have to pay for the next release in order to get some fixes I have worked on. I prefer to help tax exempt charitable organizations. Your statement ("As far as I'm concerned, NOF2013 in it's current state is unusable") is a testimony to the lack of respect for paying customers. Even if it was given for free, I would not take it.
No, I am not using a tablet; I am using a plain vanilla computer with a lot of memory.
Recently, I have actively helped another company (whose product I am using) to fix some problems after they connected me to developers who grab each problem and run to fix it. This causes me a low overhead, and the experience is a relatively pleasant one. I am never told that I need to reinstall Windows!
Bottom line: I am not ready to grind water in "helping and sometimes..." but I want to make my dissatisfaction known. What you call ranting is the only way I found so far.
I have mover to NOF2013 from NOF12; performance is markedly better and I have seen very, very few crashes. I haven't played with all the new features yet, I have no pressing need for HTML5 or CSS3 but I will in time move on to these. To say NOF2013 in it's current state is unusable is not fair criticism in my opinion. I have dabbled with NOF since version 4 and think this is one of the better upgrades I have paid for. The speed, relative to NOF12, alone is worth paying for.
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