valentina 2

[Lynn Fredricks]

> Initially Unicode was going to be added to V1, and that is 
> all I really need. But that intention was changed for 
> financial reasons, and it was decided that Unicode was only 
> going to be included in V2.
> 
> V2 has been delayed, delayed, delayed, which has caused me a 
> lot of grief. I remember on the Valentina list in 2003 (!) 
> when Lynn assured me that V2 would be out *before* RB 5.5. 
> Gosh, was that wrong. When the V2 beta was first posted (May 
> 11, 2004 I believe) we were told it would take perhaps 2 
> months to get to release (i.e. mid-Summer). Then as recently 
> as two months or so ago we were told it would be released by 
> the end of 2004. Now the guess if for the end of January. 
> Well, I keep making plans, and those plans are constantly 
> being changed, which has cost me dearly.

It has slipped from the end of 2004 after much discussion and debate
internally. The wait for at least some products is almost over.

> I know Ruslan (and Ivan, Serg, and the rest) are working very 
> diligently to get V2 out. And if it takes time, well, that's 
> the way it is. But I do wish the process was more transparent 
> and that forecasting was more accurate. The market for V2 is 
> developers, and we are all well aware of the pitfalls and 
> delays that can be encountered. But we have to make plans, 
> too, and would all be better served if realistic predictions 
> were made and we were kept in the loop.

Unfortunately, the forecasts have not been very accurate to date. Im hoping
we will be able to change that very soon. That is one reason why, as you
noticed above, we've added additional staff to take care of individual
sub-systems of Valentina 2.


> I am now aiming to release my V2-based app at the end of January. 
> Will that happen -- based on past experience, I'd have to say 
> no. A stable and fast release by March 20 for you? I won't guess.

I hope we can prove you wrong on this one, Jon.

We had originally planned on releasing updates to all V1 based products all
at once. Instead, we are going to concentrate on getting the most popular
ones out first, with the rest trailing by a few months. For the most popular
products, we are very, very close to release. As Ruslan said, we are going
to have some additional optimizations. Its going to be possible for you to
ship products without those optimizations, but you will benefit from them
when they do arrive. In fact, there are several companies who have already
purchased V2-based products in their current state and have been shipping
their products for quite some time.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
President
Proactive International, LLC

- Because it is about who you know.(tm)