LightWave Mac v9.6 Hotfix and Cocoa Update - 27 May 2009

[Chuck]

Hi, Mac 'Wavers! :)

Welcome to this week's progress note on our Mac development activities!

Cocoa: The work on adapting Mac CoreAudio is still in progress; audio files are playing, but playback when scrubbing time in Layout and Preview playback both need at least a few days more work. Once this is complete, then the team will proceed on to some work needed on the UI, and then to updated Quicktime support, and other issues. Since audio is taking a bit longer than expected, we're still about four to eight weeks out from beta release, subject to change based on the issues encountered.

LightWave v9.6 Hotfix: The team is still killing bugs for the v9.6 hotfix update, and progress continues on prioritizing the bugs to kill for this round of fixes. As noted before, other team members are concentrating on fixing multi-platform issues, and as the conversion work is completed, we will be identifying those existing bugs that the Cocoa conversion did not eliminate so as to clean up as many Mac issues as possible for this hotfix update.


Yep, We're Going to Mention This Every Time, Dept.: Getting in reports on any bugs you may have encountered but not yet reported is very important. Don't forget to include steps and content, as they are needed to insure that we can duplicate your bug properly and get it fixed. For those of you who need a refresher as to how to report bugs, check this link:

Instructions for Bug Report and Feature Request Database (http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73227)

[Johnny]

Hey, Chuck;

thank you for today's update.. I'm not trying to hold you to a date, but when you say that you're "eight weeks out," does that mean 8 weeks away from a release date, or 8 weeks from having that audio issue cleared up?

..of course, assuming that other things get done right on schedule and no other bugs crop up...what are the odds?

J

[Chuck]

Hey, Chuck;

thank you for today's update.. I'm not trying to hold you to a date, but when you say that you're "eight weeks out," does that mean 8 weeks away from a release date, or 8 weeks from having that audio issue cleared up?

..of course, assuming that other things get done right on schedule and no other bugs crop up...what are the odds?

J

I've revised the post to clarify that what is meant is from four to eight weeks to a beta release of Cocoa LightWave. We've still not heard if beta will be limited to HardCORE members or will also be provided in an Open Beta program for all v9 Mac owners. We'll continue to remind management that this question is of vital interest to the Mac LightWave community.

I think the time estimate with subject to change notice is as much as I and the rest of the team wish to essay on this subject; we won't push on into odds-making. :)

[gpdesigner]

Thanks for the update Chuck.
question . . where can I find out what the difference between the Hotfix and Cocoa? are they separate progs related to Hardcore in some way?
which one is the 9.6 upgrade?
gp

[Kuzey]

Thanks for the update Chuck.
question . . where can I find out what the difference between the Hotfix and Cocoa? are they separate progs related to Hardcore in some way?
which one is the 9.6 upgrade?
gp

As I see it, the Hotfix is a full blown bug squashing excise on both platforms and will be released without any open beta process. That will be the end of the current 32bit (non Cocoa) version and then the real beta process will start for the final 64bit/32bit Cocoa version(s).

It's still unclear weather all 9.6 owners will take part in this beta process or just the Hardcore members. Newtek are reviewing their options on this topic :hey:

I think that's about it...or is it :D

Oh yes...both are upgrades to 9.6, hotfix first...then Cocoa.

Kuzey

[John the Geek]

I can honestly say I don't care about CORE and I won't care about CORE until it's been out long enough for much of the industry to stress test it to hell and back.

I do, however, want my 9.x to work as I hoped it would well over 2 years ago when I bought it. 9.6 is damn close, but parity with Windows on the 64-bit front means a whole lot to me, and I'm not buying CORE just to test it. I'm already moonlighting with Modo as a future alternative for the kinds of things I do in 3D, and I won't hesitate to jump ship if this particular ship starts to sink again, or starts charging admission to patch holes in the boat.

[Chuck]

Thanks for the update Chuck.
question . . where can I find out what the difference between the Hotfix and Cocoa? are they separate progs related to Hardcore in some way?
which one is the 9.6 upgrade?
gp

The hotfix v9.6.x and Cocoa v9.6.x seem most likely, at this point, to end up being the same thing. As "hotfix" it really affects both platforms with plenty of bug-squashing; and at this point on Mac it looks like Cocoa will be ready to enter testing at such a time that trying to shepherd both a Carbon and a Cocoa Mac build would not make sense. This is a maintenance update to v9.6, and as such is not directly related to LightWave CORE.