Request: Annual Bug fix release

[motz 20]

Request to Evernote Windows team: Please could you provide an annual release where all major bugs have been fixed and allow users to sign up for only this annual update.

My reason for the request is that I have lost many hours in the last few months finding workarounds to the numerous bugs that have been introduced with each new release of the windows app. Comments on the forum suggest that many others have had the same experience. However the Evernote team seem to have a priority of getting as many releases out as possible (see quote below). For long term users of Evernote with established workflows frequent updates are counterproductive. It is especially unpleasant given the high rate at which new bugs are being introduced.

Quote

I've been advocating for more frequent releases so that we can get these behind-the-scenes changes into the hands of our users on a regular basis. 

Thanks,

Nick from the Windows Team

A response from "Nick from the Windows Team" would be much appreciated.

 

[EdH 1,670]

This would be ideal. Microsoft does this with Office. Hey have Weekly, monthly, and semi-annual builds for this reason. 

[DTLow 5,736]

2 hours ago, motz said:

For long term users of Evernote with established workflows frequent updates are counterproductive.

On the business side, we don't install upgrades just because a company issues a release.

The release is reviewed, feature changes, bugs, etc.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

It's not a bad idea--assuming that an annual bug fix would actually fix all the bugs without introducing new ones! In the meantime, as @DTLow suggests, I simply don't update the Windows program at all, and will not till there is a release that works properly, particularly with regard to formatting.

[EdH 1,670]

2 hours ago, DTLow said:

On the business side, we don't install upgrades just because a company issues a release.

The release is reviewed, feature changes, bugs, etc.

But that doesn't work when the software is updated every two-three weeks and there is never a stable build. It is a rolling beta, even the GA's.

[jefito 5,589]

On 4/11/2018 at 11:53 AM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

It's not a bad idea--assuming that an annual bug fix would actually fix all the bugs without introducing new ones! 

Nice in theory, but there's hardly any software out there that's actually bug-free. Even so, where I work, we do something similar: we have two yearly releases (YY.0 and YY.1). The releases each tend to get a fair amount of new features (the .0 release gets more), plus bug fixes (we have a fair-sized backlog of uncritical bugs). Releases are pretty thoroughly tested by QA and beta testers. Once a release goes out the door, then that code base is branched off the mainline (trunk), and new work begins on the next release in the trunk code base. Meanwhile, any bugs of a high enough priority that get discovered in the old release are fixed there, and the fixes merged back up into the trunk (some churn there). Major new features (architectural changes, major UI changes, etc.) are rarely added to the branch, though smaller, targeted features can be added depending on perceived utility or customer importance. We use the branch to address bugs or small features requests that users and in-house folks turn up that don't require exhaustive testing. Users are welcome to pick up new versions, or wait until the next release.  Yes, occasionally things break in the branch, but it's usually quickly fixed (or rolled back).

I'll note that we are in an entirely different market segment than Evernote,and our customers are very different. Pretty much all are professionals in a specialized field (mapping). One platform only (Windows) Very mathy (as opposed to texty).

[CalS 5,280]

You had me at YY.0 and YY.1.  

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

8 minutes ago, jefito said:

Nice in theory, but there's hardly any software out there that's actually bug-free.

Of course, understood; I wouldn't expect perfection. But in recent months the new releases have sometimes fixed existing bugs, only to introduce new ones, sometimes pretty bad ones. As @EdH says above, none of these builds seems genuinely stable and fully ready for release. At any rate, for my purposes none of them has introduced any features that are superior enough to what I have in my old v. 6.5.4 to put up with bugs that I don't have.

[gazumped 11,666]

If this were causing me issues I'd be inclined to uncheck 'automatically check for updates' and wait for the Evernote Blog or some tech press comment about new features to decide whether or not I wanted to update.  As a matter of security I'd update anyway every 6 months or so,  but I could do that when time and work permitted,  just in case there were problems.  I would always have the security of being able to roll back to my current version if the update went badly wrong...

[motz 20]

On 4/14/2018 at 5:49 PM, gazumped said:

If this were causing me issues I'd be inclined to uncheck 'automatically check for updates' and wait for the Evernote Blog or some tech press comment about new features to decide whether or not I wanted to update.  As a matter of security I'd update anyway every 6 months or so,  but I could do that when time and work permitted,  just in case there were problems.  I would always have the security of being able to roll back to my current version if the update went badly wrong...

I think you are missing the point. The aim is to have a version available with fewer major bugs - currently no version meets this requirement. In addition, what you describe is a lot of work compared to simply signing up for the "occasional but reliable" update stream.

[CalS 5,280]

Saying it isn't going to make it so....  you can have quality software either way.