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Should 2016 have been released IN 2016? (an oped)


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#1 D M

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 10:45 AM

Just expressing a humble opinion, .. is V2016 a Softplan misfire?

 

I haven’t loaded my 2016 as yet, and am wondering if I should bother.

(and with that said, I’m know I’m being presumptuous with my opinion prior to actually experiencing 2016)

 

I’m reading (in this forum) that a lot of the good that was V2014 has been lost or garbled along the way to V2016

 

Was Softplan too anxious to get something new on the market

at the cost of degrading their previous accomplishment?

 

I remember all the dud versions of Windows™ that Microsoft

put out in (what seemed to me) to be a race to be in the forefront.

 

In my opinion, Softplan has little competition in its class, and as good as I’ve found V2014 to be,

My anticipation of V2016 has turned to trepidation.

 

Could Softplan not have taken some more time (most of this year 2015) to work on 2016 and release it later?

 

Does the adage ‘Haste makes waste’ apply here?

 

After all, it still isn’t 2016 yet. Should I wait for 2018?

 

Again, .. just a humble opinion,

.. and yes, .. I’ll more than likely do the upgrade and live with the result. Curiosity did kill the cat.


.. invariably, someone will have a simpler solution.


#2 Keith Almond

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 11:34 AM

In my humble opinion, the things I was really looking forward to in 2016 were really not what I hoped. My big hope was Auto Paint for the elevations - However, what it did was almost useless.

 

Personally I had hoped for it to Paint an elevation to match what the rendered or textured mode does with an elevation before you save it as a Softplan drawing. What I got was the roof and walls ONLY, painted with the 3D texture. So for me, Auto Paint was a wash out. If I only wanted roof and walls painted, I would have preferred it painted with Paint Lines. What we got was neither one thing nor another.

 

There are some very nice additions, and all things considered, I'm not quite UPSET that I updated, but at this stage the good additions are offset by the bothersome ones - DYNAMIC PREVIEW for one.

 

In an earlier thread I expressed problems moving text round plans sets, because of the complicated way I like to note up my plans. With the new dynamic preview, and the really nice clean clear text (which I do like), moving (or working with) large blocks of text is almost impossible.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#3 John Jones

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:00 PM

There is a nice thread on this subject here: https://softplantuts...n/SoftPlan/2016, Bill Wimberley is a knowledgeable and respected SoftPlan user.  A power user if there ever was one.



#4 D M

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:22 PM

Thanks for the link John, ..

 

As I said, .. I'll more than likely do the install, and live with whatever shortcomings there may or may not be.

 

There's no reason that another patch or two couldn't happen, .. and maybe those issues that are collectively frowned upon will be resolved in 2018.


.. invariably, someone will have a simpler solution.


#5 John Jones

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 12:42 PM

Patches are released at fairly regular intervals for most of the first year of any release.  It is important to maintain a perspective as to the size of issues brought up on these forums.  It is my opinion that negative items are often overstated while positive items are mostly understated.



#6 Keith Almond

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 01:07 PM

Patches are released at fairly regular intervals for most of the first year of any release.  It is important to maintain a perspective as to the size of issues brought up on these forums.  It is my opinion that negative items are often overstated while positive items are mostly understated.

 

I agree that positive items are UNDERSTATED, but I don't think that negatives are overstated. If there are negative issues, they are really important. All changes should be positive, anything negative no matter how seemingly unimportant should be addressed. What's unimportant to you or I, may be a deal breaker for someone else, depending on how they work, what they produce and how they use the software.

 

And NO, I don't think that 2016 is a misfire, but I WAS really excited for some of the features. Somehow I feel like I opened the Christmas presents to find that someone wrapped an empty box. I don't think that there's a single NEW feature that I couldn't have lived without.


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Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#7 John Jones

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 01:12 PM

Overstated is not the same as unimportant.



#8 Keith Almond

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 01:19 PM

Ahhh .... , but my OVERSTATED and yours may not be the same. I'm sure that there are items that you think are important in 2016.

 

I couldn't care less about WALKTHROUGHS, I'm sure there are some people salivating over them. I HATE dynamic preview - I'm equally sure that some people like it.

 

The bottom line is you will NEVER make a product that satisfies everyone. You'll just have to do what you feel is best for the company profits, and that means maximizing the number of people you satisfy.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#9 D M

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Posted 05 May 2015 - 01:28 PM

Sorry, .. it’s all my fault.

 

Three things you should not talk about in public

Politics, Religion, .. and Software. ;) 


.. invariably, someone will have a simpler solution.


#10 Ben Ginther

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 09:41 AM

Anyone considering installing 2016+ should remember that many of us have installed it and are loving it.

bg


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#11 Warren Ducote

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 04:12 PM

Well, put me down as someone who is not feeling the love. 


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#12 James Ryan

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 06:44 PM

I would imagine it is a nightmare to develop software and make it work perfect on everyone's machines. How many licenses of Softplan exist? pretty sure what ever the number is, is the same number of different computers. i'm guessing everytime there is an issue it's always first and foremost Softplan's fault? I love the program and have never hoped to move backwards to an older version, I'm sure in the next few months there will be less issues. I guess my point is everyones computers are tweaked a little different than the next one and I don't think we can put the blame on Softplan because 2016 doesn't run flawlessly on every single computer out there.

 

just my .02


James Ryan

V 2018+ .3.3


#13 D M

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Posted 08 May 2015 - 03:53 PM

It’s not so much whether or not the Software runs perfectly on a given system or not, .. it’s the changes to programming on things that may not have required change, .. the old  ‘if it’s not broken.. ‘ .. story.


.. invariably, someone will have a simpler solution.


#14 Michael Collazo

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Posted 12 May 2015 - 02:47 PM

 Doug can you elaborate on the changes that were not necessary? I am just curious.

 

I am happy with the changes to the edit dialogs from v2014.


"When all else fails, do the opposite."


#15 Keith Almond

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Posted 12 May 2015 - 03:03 PM

Copy .... What does the new copy command do, that we couldn't do before? - and in less keystrokes.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#16 D M

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Posted 12 May 2015 - 03:06 PM

 

 

I haven’t loaded my 2016 as yet, and am wondering if I should bother.

(and with that said, I’m know I’m being presumptuous with my opinion prior to actually experiencing 2016)

 

I’m reading (in this forum) that a lot of the good that was V2014 has been lost or garbled along the way to V2016

 

 

Michael, ..

 

Quoting myself here, ..

 

I can't elaborate at his point, because I have yet to load 2016.

 

I'm just going off descriptions of changes that other users have discovered, .. for better or worse (one man's poison, is another's ... )

 

In particular, .. as Keith has mentioned a few times, .. is 'Dynamic Preview', .. which, by his description and others, .. I, sight unseen, see as an annoyance.

 

Understandably, others probably love it, .. that being said, .. the option to toggle it OFF (and other new 'features'), should, it my opinion, always be available.

 

It can't take too many additional lines of code to program 'OFF' for a given function.

 

And again, .. I defer back to my original quote, ..

 

I may not find anything to my dislike at all, .. I'm sure I use the program somewhat differently than another user and I may not even encounter some of the issues discussed in this forum.

 

My original comment was just a opinion expressed based on the (respected) opinions of many forum users.


.. invariably, someone will have a simpler solution.


#17 Joseph Smith

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Posted 12 May 2015 - 09:23 PM

+1 toggle on/off dynamic preview, a change of this magnitude should have been designed with an off.  Been using V2016 for a few mts now and still hate dynamic preview.


Joseph A. Smith

http://granitedesigngroup.com

 





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