[Adium-devl] 10.5

[Dan]

At 9:10 PM -0400 8/9/2008, Ryan Govostes wrote:
>  > 4) Just drop Tiger in 1.4 and proceed as normal.
>>	Upsides: Easy
>>	Downsides: Leaves a good chunk (maybe 20% at release?) of our
>  > userbase unable to upgrade to the latest version

Per the current Sparkle page, Tiger currently accounts for ~35%, aro 
136K Adium users.  I realize you're trying to estimate the use in n 
months,,, but I think it's important to not lose sight of the sheer 
number of users involved, regardless of the percentage.

>The users who don't upgrade their OS have no leg to stand on if they 
>complain about being unable to upgrade their IM client. They've 
>already established they're willing to use outdated software.

Upgrading to Leopard ain't a simple $125.  It often costs thousands, 
after you count all the other software and hardware updates needed. 
Some people's immediate preference is to be able to continue to use 
certain peripherals that don't work in Leopard.  Or they have that 
odd desire to buy necessary medicines and pay rent/mortgage each 
month, instead of buying a new ... heh.


It sounds like a lot of good excuses, er a reasons, to drop Tiger 
have been outlined in this thread - all in the name of making 
development easier.  But what about the product itself?  Are there 
that many features you want to implement that can ONLY be done in 
Leopard?  You're talking about dumping of over a HUNDRED THOUSAND 
users.  Doesn't seem to me like "easy" is a very good justification 
for that.

Most apps now are dropping Panther support, while improving Tiger and 
Leopard support.  IMO, you'all are preparing to jump ship waaaay too 
early.  There are a number of features already in Adium that could 
use some revamp and polishing in its current environment.  And more 
importantly there are features in other IM apps that work quite well 
in Tiger that Adium still needs!

...Someone told me the other day that video support is one of the 
to-be-Leopard-only features.  If that's an example - that's really 
sad.  YIM has done video for YEARS and it doesn't need Leopard to do 
it.

Ok, climbing back under my rock,
Just a peanut gallery opin,
- Dan.
-- 
- Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth