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Hi Earl - Good message. And I thank you for doing this bit of "investigative
reporting". I don't know about anyone else - but I do put software and data
vendors through their paces. Which is why I'm still using SuperCharts 2.1 -
which is relatively bug-free (and I understand the bugs and can work around
them). And Managing Your Money for DOS for that matter. I suspect that the
people who accuse people like us of being overly dramatic are people who aren't
dependent on this software to make a living. Also - I suspect the vast majority
of users aren't aware of the Y2K problems (I got email from a portfolio manager
friend of mine tonight - she always assumed her SuperCharts was Y2K compliant).
Robyn
Earl Adamy wrote:
> I seem to remember a note posted here recently to the effect that Day Trader
> Pro (with EL language compatibility) is scheduled for release 3Q98. Omega
> has indicated their next round of product upgrades will be out 2Q98, however
> there are indications that the beta schedule is slipping. It may well be 6
> to 12 months before one or both products will be available. If there are
> products which are stable and reliable the day they are released to the
> public, I haven't found them - certainly not from Omega. So allow another 3
> months (conservative) for shakedown before you want to bet your trading
> income on TS5/SC5 or DTP.
>
> Bottom line: it's going to be another year or so (1Q-2Q of 99) before there
> are _proven_ alternatives (Omega or competitor) to the products we are
> using now! Omega has indicated that they'll do the Y2K fix for the current
> releases after the new release is out. Allowing another 3 months for these
> "patches" (which I suspect will be rather invasive of the old code base),
> it would not be unreasonable to expect that the Y2K fixes won't be
> available and reliable until early (optimistic) to mid 1999.
>
> In the meantime, Omega appears to have virtually ceased maintenance efforts
> on the products which we are now using, and will continue to use, for the
> next year - plus or minus. I don't know about the rest of you, but I see a
> big hole in this picture! I'm not concerned with the next round of product
> releases by Omega or its competitors, I want the bugs fixed in the product
> I'm using now and I sure as hell don't want to wait until sometime in 1999
> to be assured that my trading platform isn't going to die on 12/31/99.
>
> Janette Perez called the other day to let me know that she'd read my post
> regarding the SwingHigh/SwingLow bug and that Omega is listening. During our
> conversation, there was no indication that Omega intends to actually fix the
> problems which concern many of us about the product releases with which
> we are currently earning our collective living. If there was one message I
> communicated to Janette, it was it that I am not focused on future
> products, I am focused on the present. I'm not inclined to "trust Omega"
> (a phrase Janette used frequently) until Omega gets back to work fixing the
> problems, including Y2K, in the current product. I'm running the latest
> build of SC4 and I can't find an EXE file which has been updated in nearly a
> year, yet I keep tripping over significant bugs!
>
> I believe Omega's concerns are focused on holding the user base at bay until
> they can get the next release out and begin another round of hoopla and
> refresh the upgrade revenue stream. It's time for the collective user base
> to stop focusing on the ever-present "next release" and focus on the current
> release. If Omega isn't fixing the bugs and the Y2K problem in the current
> release, why believe that Omega will fix them in the next release?
>
> Earl
>
> PS I submit that in any user community there is a minority of users who
> truly excercise the product features and who actually perform the
> exceedingly tedious work required to verify the calculations provided by
> the software. If you are happily using the current release, that's great,
> but do not assume that those of us who are calling for fixes are merely
> bashing Omega. The bugs we keep hounding Omega to fix, affect
> your trading systems, as well as ours.
>
> PPS Perhaps it's time for those list members in the trade press to
> begin covering the warts on these products. Some products and
> services, while providing worthwhile trading tools, have a history of
> bugs and/or poor support. Readers are not served by product
> coverage which treads lightly on the warts, encouraging vendors to
> continue hyping features at the expense of quality control and
> customer service. Ultimately, it is the readers who pay dearly!
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