Awasu Forums

Hi,

It's been 'a while' since I've posted here....

I've been using Awasu Pro (paid for of course!) daily for a couple of years and continue to think it's excellent / outstanding / superb thanks!

In May 2006, I upgraded to v2.2.1 Pro (& on Windows Vista for the past few months), and this is the version I am still using. I realize v2.2.1 was an interim release (beta/alpha?).

I would like to upgrade to a newer version, BUT, I've been putting it off because.... er, I'm scared! What of? I hear you ask. Well, the Awasu I have works pretty well and I'm a great believer in the old adage "if it isn’t broke, don't touch it!" and especially as I'm shorter than normal on time this year - something to do with having very small kids, I think!

My fear is heightened by the fact that I think interim releases (such as the latest available) contain both fixes AND new features. It's Catch-22 for me as, I don't really want the new features (albeit I might change my mind when I see them! ), but I DO want THE most stable version I can get my hands on.

My Question is this: Is there an up-to-date Pro version I can upgrade to that will give me something very stable (i.e. include as many bug fixes as possible) without putting me on the front line of testing?

Now, I realize this is far from the spirit of helping a great product become even greater and I apologize for that, but a) I am paying for it, and yes, do also regularly recommend Awasu to other folks b) If it's a trade-off between time helping Awasu evolve and time with our kids, the latter come first c) At least my guilt is lessened (a little) as I have contributed through feedback in the past d) Er, as soon as the kids have left home, I'll be back to my usual contributing self!

Final question then: What version should I upgrade to if I want maximum stability and least pain? I'm technically competent so, as long as I have some instructions, I don't mind following as many steps as it takes DURING the upgrade process, but, the following day, I'd like to be done with any tweaking and have it work at least as well as my current version.

Could you advise please? My fears may be completely unfounded of course!

Thanks very much.
Nev

Nev wrote:It's been 'a while' since I've posted here....

I've been using Awasu Pro (paid for of course!) daily for a couple of years and continue to think it's excellent / outstanding / superb thanks!

G'day and welcome back. It certainly has been a while And thanks for the kind words.

Nev wrote:Well, the Awasu I have works pretty well and I'm a great believer in the old adage "if it isn’t broke, don't touch it!"

I'm the same as you (I use Winamp 2.81 ) so I can certainly understand where you're coming from. You say you want the most stable version which sorta begs the question: are you having stability problems with Awasu right now?

Nev wrote:Is there an up-to-date Pro version I can upgrade to that will give me something very stable (i.e. include as many bug fixes as possible) without putting me on the front line of testing?

I wrote on the weblog a while back that everything that gets released goes out with my name on it, including alphas, so I do my best to ensure that even they are of the highest quality.

The whole alpha/beta thing refers more to the packaging of the release rather than the quality of the code.
<ul>
<li>General releases come with an installer that automatically installs and upgrades everything. Intended for non-technical users who only want to download an EXE and run it.
<li>Beta releases are ZIP files that have to be manually unpacked and one or two additional steps done (e.g. run admin.exe, copy/delete a few files, etc.).
<li>Alpha releases are packaged the same way as betas and are simply stepping stones on the way to the next beta.
</ul>
Some features in an alpha might be incomplete but anything that's in there is as good as we can make it. Part of the reason for having alphas and betas is so they can be tested in the field under real-life conditions for the longest amount of time and there's no point doing that if the code is not the final code.

So, getting back to your original question, the latest beta release is 2.3.2 and as far as stability and quality go, it's as good as we can make it. Maybe the best thing for you to do would be to set up a second installation and give it a whirl. You can have as many copies of Awasu on your PC as you want, but only one of them can be running at a time. Just follow the instructions for <i>creating a new installation</i> on the download page and make sure you run it in portable mode. If you want to transfer your channels over from your current installation, the best way would be to export and import them as OPML. Export in 2.2.1 can be done via a channel report using the <tt>ExportOpml</tt> template.

That's excellent thanks very much (and fully understood) - You will see my order soon.

Re

are you having stability problems with Awasu right now?

Yes, I am guessing/hoping something that was fixed in a later version, but this/my very old version seems to have a memory leak. After about a week, my machine needs a restart, which it definitely doesn't if I don't use Awasu. I have rebuilt the index and run archive and channel maintenance.

Thanks again.
Nev