What's new in the beta...

[Programmer]

Anyone who has noticed that there is a beta of version 7 available (yes, it's true!!!) might be wondering what new features to look out for...

Well, there aren't many outwardly obvious ones - most of the changes are under the hood. A few bugs have been fixed since 6.5.4 came out a month or so ago, and one cool thing that will be noticed by Windows XP users is that all the controls now reflect your chosen XP theme. But is this enough to justify a major version increment?

The answer is yes, and it is important that it is tested by as many people as possible. The reason is that this new version is compiled against version 2.0 of the framework, rather than version 1.1. Version 2.0 of the framework is going to allow me to do all kinds of new and cool things with the program, so it is a major landmark. And it has been important for me not to confuse this milestone by making other program changes, which would have made it harder to determine the cause of any changes in the program's behaviour.

I would really appreciate it if anyone who tries the new version out could post some feedback here, whether it is a problem with the installation, with the program itself or whatever. Old hands will know that these problems can always be sorted out. Also, if there are no problems at all, it would be interesting to hear that too. Thanks!

Richard

[Barb]

I have windows 98 and I just downloaded the beta 7.

But to show you how greedy and paranoid I am over my sweet precious decks (I have in my OPT program), I copied the Pack file onto my other drive to make dang sure, nothing, I mean nothing could mess with them, if I should hit a glitch!
LOLOL!
Barbara

[Katrin_srose]

Hi Richard,

at least you have hurried up a bit *grin* Congratulations.

I have just installed version 7 under XP SP2 .NET 2.0 without any problems. First impression is that anythings runs smooth and a bit faster in the tarot zone.

But hey, where is the grid in the spread creating window? Not that I really loved this one. But it's gone now. Is it a bug or a new feature?

And one bug still is in the tarot zone. I haven't mentioned it before even though I have noticed it for a while: When I select a different language in the spread section, than select a spread to look what it is and than use the back button to go back to the list the list has switched back to English. (Reproducable) So once again I first have to select the language before I can continue my search for special spreads. It would be nice if the program would keep the last selection(s).

Katrin

[Programmer]

Hi Katrin,

Yeah, it is nice when things come together isn't it!

I noticed that the Tarot Zone seems a bit faster too. It could be because in previous versions of the program I used a roll your own web browser component whereas version 7 takes advantage of Microsofts ready rolled one - it is a proper .NET component rather than one of my hacks. Also the website has been updated to run on .NET 2.0 so that might be a factor as well.

I got rid of the grid in the spread window because when I actually sat down to create a spread myself I found it wasn't very helpful. Actually the grid is still there in a sense - if you choose snap to grid the cards are aligned to it, it is just not visible. I think the spread designer can still be improved. It would be nice if you could lassoo some cards and drag them around together. It would also be nice to be able to move them around using the keyboard arrows too. I will try and get this into 7.1.

Also, thanks for pointing out that bug with the spreads page, I have made a note of it.

Cheers!
Richard

[Barb]

It is much faster! Even for Win 98 its great. The only thing I have come acrossed, so far, is the little start up window stays up even after OPT starts. Not that, that is a problem. I just noticed it cause I am constantly shrinking windows and boucing between files.

Barbara

[Merlin]

Hi Richard,

Version 7 is much faster (on Win 98). Net 2.0 seemed to take forever to install.
Everything is running well. I understand Thomas's frustration with the istallation.

Take Care,

Marvin

[watchman]

I didn't have speed problems with the previous versions, so I didn't notice the change some described... But now the program doesn't sort the decks anymore. When I choose either asc or desc order, it ends up being seemingly random. (the random order seems to change depending on the deck). Anyone else have the problem?
.
I have XP if it helps.

[WebWeaver]

Nope, not sorting for me either. The cards appear to be numbered correctly. I tried both ascending and descending.

Shari
also have XP

[Don]

I couldn't get it to work worth a crap at all. I kept getting Errors/Report Error junk and the prgram kept crashing. I went back to 6.5.

Don S.

[Programmer]

Thanks for pointing that out. I found out what was causing it and how to fix it but haven't uploaded yet - I will post here when I do.

Cheers