We've spent the past few weeks riding the roller-coaster ride that is the world of Captivate and Vista. You've read some good and bad reports. Captivate runs on Vista. Captivate doesn't run on Vista. What's a Captivate developer to do? Who do you believe? Who do you blame?
If you are considering upgrading to Vista, the comments you've read in this newsletter have likely caused you to think long and hard about that.
I've spent a fair amount of time listening to comments from fellow Captivaters, and have read a significant number of BLOG and Forum postings. The general tone out there is anger with Adobe for not having a Vista-compliant version of Captivate ready to go when Vista was released by Microsoft.
The following comes from fellow subscriber Susan Hawkins. If your first instinct is to bash Adobe because Captivate is not working on Vista, her comments may give you a fresh perspective.
If you're using Vista, please email me your findings and I will publish your comments here.
In defense of technology companies everywhere, I thought I should share a little about software development since most computer users are unaware. Maybe you will include it in the next Skills & Drills.
In response to comments from the previous Skills & Drills e-newsletter, I never upgrade to a new version of Windows until every other computer user cries to Microsoft about all the 'bugs' and Microsoft actually addresses the bugs. I might upgrade to the next release of the new version of Windows. Therefore, I am not currently using Vista.
Technology companies do not generally support a new version of Windows until 6+ months after the release of the new Windows version. In all fairness to Adobe, developers outside of Microsoft do not have access to any new version of Windows until the new version of Windows is released.
As to what the Adobe developers are doing, they are testing compatibility between Vista and Captivate in a variety of environments. Compatibility tests take time to discover any 'bugs'. And by the way, some items discovered are not actually 'bugs' because the software doesn't work correctly; they are 'bugs' in the sense that the function no longer works due to a Windows enhancement or change. Once they believe all 'bugs' are discovered, it then takes more time to determine the method, and an alternate method in case the first method is no longer a valid option, for correcting / addressing every single 'bug'. Once they know what the 'bugs' are and how they 'think' they can address them, then it takes more time to actually correct / address the 'bugs'. During this entire process, most developers work long hours to provide updates to their client base ASAP.
Thanks for including my response, if you do.
Susan Hawkins
Beta versions of Vista (codename: Longhorn) have been available for a very long time. I was using Vista Beta 2 last year at this time. The first beta was available to software developers long before that. Certainly an enterprise the size of Adobe had access to these beta previews if I did. They were free to download and burn to a CD. You can't blame Microsoft for not making their operating system work with every single application in the world. But you can blame the developers of the software for not testing their applications on a new operating system when they have years to do so. Vista is coming - there's no excuse for Adobe not to be ready. They have been slow in releasing versions of Photoshop and other key graphics apps for the new Macs with Intel CPUs as well. Microsoft has too many products to maintain as it is. Adobe is responsible for testing their apps, not Microsoft. I have to side with Microsoft on this one.
Posted by: AJ | April 23, 2007 at 10:42 PM
It is true that there are Beta versions of software, and these are made to larger companies. However, it is still a Beta. Microsoft has been known to release Beta software to other software developers and with the final release have something that is drastically different. Software companies typically release the final version of a software to be manufactured only weeks before it is due to ship. To get the that point they go through a number of candidates that have a variety of changes, improvements, and out right differences between one another, and the company must choose a single one to release. The final version is never the exact same as a Beta, so there is no way another company can fully test their software for compatability until that final version is released. You can get most of the way to a compatable product from a Beta, but you cannot get all the way there. That is why the average is 6 months or so after a major release of Windows rather than a few years. Yes it is frustrating, but if you think this is unacceptable, you have unrealistic expectations. I am greatful that it is only 6 months. Adobe isn't the only company that has such a delay. Oracle, IBM, Adobe, Aglient, Sony, National Instruments, and many others are working hard to develope Vista compatable versions of their software, and these thing effect major coporations. There is presure on them to get it done faster, but expecting a version of their software to be compatable with Vista as soon as it is released has to be the funniest thing I have ever heard. These companies make software that has functionality far beyond your single use programs which may turn around faster than 6 months. I would rather wait a couple of months for a functioning software program than get something that I cant use. Welcome to the age of technology.
Posted by: Chris | May 02, 2007 at 11:26 AM
I've been using Captivate 2 on Vista without any problems when the files are small. But, when I get to a 10 meg file, I start having problems opening the file. Captivate 2 just hangs. I previously had Captivate 1, and it had no problems.
Anyhow, I discovered that if I use task manager and kill explorer completely, then Captivate 2 can open the the files without a problem. This means that you cannot just double click on a .cp file, but that is minor. After Captivate 2 has loaded the file, I can then use task manager to start explorer and I get my desktop back.
Scott
Posted by: Scott | June 10, 2007 at 08:21 AM