lingyai
BobF
One of the advantages the old model had was the ability to install versions side x side. Rather than bugfix only updates alternating with feature updates (or a variation), *I* think having the ability to install the new along side the previous would be better.
This way my beloved Hopkinton version could remain unchanged when I install Ipswitch. I can kick the tires on Ipswitch while having Hopkinton still available-without rollback/forward and such. I could continue working my in-progress projects with Hopkinton while trying out Ipswitch with project copies.
If there is something about Ipswitch I can't live with, I can continue to use Hopkinton until an update gets Ipswitch settled out. Or maybe I leave the Ipswitch side until Jovial is released. I update Ipswitch to Jovial while continuing to rely on Hopkinton for bread/butter. Once I have confidence in Jovial, I can start using it. The next update goes to the Hopkinton "side".
IMO the rollback process is very slick, but in practice updating with rollback as a fallback still "feels" like I'm messing with my production environment more than I would prefer.
Adding "side x side" version capability to the current model would be the best of both worlds IMO.
BobF, what do you mean by "in practice updating with rollback as a fallback still "feels" like I'm messing with my production environment"?
I guess I don't understand rollback as well as I should. I thought that rollback meant that the latest version gets uninstalled and the version to which you are rolling back gets reinstalled, so you are going back exactly to the prior version. Am I missing something?
No, you aren't missing anything. Rollback works very well and does exactly what you described. I just hate doing that much destructive activity to my production system. I'm talking about the scenario where I want to try out the new version some, but continue my current projects in the current Sonar version that I'm all comfy with.
The only supported way to do that as it stands is to save your work (backup is a great idea), then do the update. Try out the new version fixes and features for a while. If you aren't ready to commit to the new version yet, then you rollback to do real work for the next session. I can reasonably imagine somebody going thru this several times before they accumulate sufficient confidence to finally stay on the new version.
That much back/forth in an environment I'm relying on "feels" like too much to me.
Yeah, some folks dual boot -not a bad idea at all. Others have separate machines. Too much overhead for me.
Having said all of that, I have only had one annoyance level problem (Control Bar) and one more serious (Step Record key bindings) that actually slowed me down. Otherwise, my experience has been that each release has been more stable and better performing than the previous. Others that use Sonar more intensely and more deeply haven't been as lucky.