Re: [rant] Upgrade to 9.2, any advice?
Re: [rant] Upgrade to 9.2, any advice?
- Subject: Re: [rant] Upgrade to 9.2, any advice?
- From: Bill Cheeseman <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 06:25:42 -0500
on 02-01-16 12:57 AM, JollyRoger at email@hidden wrote:
>
But my point is that there does seem to be a drop in quality,
>
and that users are not wrong for expecting better quality.
I've been a heavy AppleScript user for a long time, and I have to say that I
don't see it this way.
It is true that there was once a time when you could rely on almost
everything in AppleScript to work as expected. But that was because
AppleScript wasn't upgraded for two or three years -- no upgrades, no new
bugs. It was easy to get used to working around what bugs there were, and to
forget about it.
This was a situation that many of us complained about at the time, of course
-- perhaps not fully appreciating that upgrades necessarily introduce new
bugs -- because the power of AppleScript held out the promise of even more
power if only Apple would put out an upgrade. In more recent years, our
wishes for frequent enhancements have been granted surprisingly often -- a
"trend," if that's what you want, that indicates increased interest in
AppleScript on Apple's part, and increased staffing and funding to go with
it. Anybody who has read my series of reports on new versions of AppleScript
over the years will see that there have been a spate of new bugs, along with
bug fixes, in every upgrade, not just in the most recent upgrades.
Personally, I prefer frequent enhancements, even with the requisite new
bugs, over a stagnant product with a known and unchanging bug set. We asked
for enhancements, and we got them.
The AS 1.7/MOSX 9.2.2 problem does not, to me, evidence a trend, but an
"outlier" -- a one-time event caused by a unique situation. As Chris has
explained, AS 1.7 for 9.2.2 came out too quickly under pressure of deadlines
imposed elsewhere. Chris didn't lay out the background, but those of us
doing development for Mac OS X and for Carbon in the classic Mac OS know
that there were very significant changes under the hood throughout the
classic Mac OS recently, particularly in the file system under Carbon. It
isn't surprising that this fundamental OS change, combined with the deadline
pressure, led to an unusually severe problem for AS 1.7 in 9.2.2.
AppleScript 1.7 betas for the classic Mac OS were up on the developer seed
list for a few weeks before final release. Those who want more beta testing
than Apple's business model and finances can provide can join ADC and get
access to the seed downloads and mailings. Does it cost money? I'm a paid
Select member, so I don't know whether the AS seeds have been available to
free ADC members, as well (I know, I know; wouldn't it be great if Apple
gave away everything for free -- and lived to tell the tale). I now regret
that I didn't have more time to test the 1.7 seed myself, but I've done so
in the past and contributed many reports of bugs that got fixed in the final
releases of previous versions. I know that others here have, as well. The
next upgrade undoubtedly will be available to ADC members, too, and those
whose interest is high enough to justify the time (and money, if it isn't
free) in light of their other obligations (and resources) are encouraged to
participate in the beta testing.
--
Bill Cheeseman - email@hidden
Quechee Software, Quechee, Vermont, USA
http://www.quecheesoftware.com
The AppleScript Sourcebook -
http://www.AppleScriptSourcebook.com
Vermont Recipes -
http://www.stepwise.com/Articles/VermontRecipes
Croquet Club of Vermont -
http://members.valley.net/croquetvermont