Firm date for beta release in August?

[HOTGA]

Sorry to open this can of worms again, but I was wondering when in the next two weeks the beta will be released? The anticipation is killing me...

[John - Tracker Supp]

Yes - as stated there will be a beta at the end of this month and it will be available to all licensed users - further details will be published on how access will be made available/the full terms of compliance in the next week or so.

Anyone wishing to access will be expected to sign and return a non disclosure agreement (NDA) prior to being provided the installer and must be in a jurisdiction where legal recourse is available to us without complication in the event the terms of the NDA are not adhered to.

This is without doubt the single most important product our company has ever produced in our 15 year history and the investment in terms of both man hours and finances is considerable - and we must be sure that our competitors do not have access to our plans prior to public release.

Further information on both the beta and final release will be made here on the forums and via news release on our main web pages shortly.

[HOTGA]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. I have reviewed NDAs literally hundreds of times so I have no issue signing one provided the terms are not overly onerous. I would like to ensure one particular clause is in any NDA I sign. I can email you privately about that.
That you require NDAs is a great sign that v3 of the viewer is going to be class leading.

Out of interest can the beta be installed along side a working version of the latest stable version? I ask because I would not want the beta installation to overwrite the customisations e.g. stamps I have working in the stable version I use and I would like to be able to continue to use the stable version while I test the beta version.

Looking forward with great anticipation to the beta release as I am sure many people are.

[John - Tracker Supp]

Hi,

The beta will work alongside the existing version - not least of all because it obviously will not be a 'Release ready' product - some features are still in progress and others will be disabled or hidden so as to not completely show our hand before we are ready.

Please temper your expectations .. this is being released as an act of faith and because we made a commitment to do so some months ago - our project team are dead set against this beta (to put it mildly) because they believe it can only help our competitors should it somehow manage to escape into the 'wild' - consequently the NDA will be very thorough in ensuring our interests are protected and we will not be able to make available to any party not prepared to sign it without compromise ...

The major functionality that will be available for testing is the editing options - this is by far the most complex functionality that most users will be waiting for - it is to 'prove' that this is largely ready along with improved speed and rendering and the fact that I made a commitment personally - that I have chosen to override the development teams concerns and make this available...

[Arnold]

John your reply makes me realize how naive I am. I visit and read the posts on the forum convinced that everyone who visits here or downloads the program is a loyal user like myself, or will be. It never occurred to me that there were risks involved with releasing the beta.

[John - Tracker Supp]

Hi Arnold,

I am afraid that in a competitive world that is the reality - we watch what our competitors are doing and we know they do likewise and we have seen some features from our earlier releases miraculously appear a short time later in their products in the past.

Hence the reason we need to be very cautious with this very important new version coming - especailly as we are later than we had hoped in getting it out as you will know.

[Giraffe]

Although it's many years since I actually paid for software I could be tempted by v3, depending on the price and upgrade route, just to support it.

[John - Tracker Supp]

Thanks Giraffe,

once released - we hope you will be tempted