K's dashboard

Mike and Andrew, well said; both of your posts contain excellent suggestions. I really hope some of the Songbird staff members take a good look at this thread and decide to implement the changes you've suggested.

It seems like it should be a relatively quick solution, doesn't it? Just a condensed update explaining the delays (or at least giving an attempt at an excuse) displayed in an very conspicuous place. – K, on November 10, 2009 23:56

@ klint,
I absolutely understand the need to keep that sort of information private. Unfortunately, not releasing any sort of explanation for the delays (multiple ones) is going to chase users away. A large amount of information is provided in different places, but most new users like jaconiel (see above) are willing to dig through a huge amount of information. Even those who have been following songbird for a while now are unlikely to do more than check the main page and the roadmap. That's just the way it is. Most users will not be receptive to the idea of installing nightly builds either.

Installing Songbird 1.2 and waiting for news, isn’t likely to end well. Songbird 1.2 shows that the program has future potential, but that’s about it. Users aren’t likely to be willing to instal and use version 1.2 until another final release is offered up. Neither betas or nighties are going to cut it for most users either. Songbird needs to either start putting up some easy-access, consolodated information. This info needs to set out future dates for final releases and offer some type of explain missed deadlines. If we don’t see something like this quickly, I don’t think songbird should be surprised when user numbers begin tailing off at an increasing rate.

This is information for songbird to see obviously. I'm not implying that you work for them or have any sway over this.

@ klint
The concern I was referring to was that of people who want to use songbird; it is easy to image them being concerned that songbird may be slowing down and becoming unreliable. I understand the "be grateful for free software" mentality, but there are other free options out there. For someone hoping to use songbird, taking a look at the roadmap without supporting information is definitely going to cause concern (we've all seen promising software bite it before).

Thanks for the rest of that information, it definitely helps explain the lack of final releases recently. Unfortunately that information also brings to light another issue. I'm sure that what you typed up is from information available elsewhere on the site. Unfortunately, unless someone is really working to dig up answers and keep up on the news, I doubt they would find the info you're talking about.

What does that mean? Consider the following; A user searching for an alternative to iTunes finds songbird, downloads 1.2 and find it isn't quite there yet. Well I'll bet they realized that songbird has potential and maybe they will check back with the roadmap and the home page to see when the next great, bug free final version is due/available. What do they find? They'll find that version 1.2 has been the only final release for months and there are a lot of delays listed on the roadmap and the version that should be out just isn't.

Now, a lot of users probably aren't going dig around enough to find that good info you posted klint. If they did, it would probably give them a little more hope. My point is that there should probably be some brief explanations for the delays either ON the main page and/or WITH the roadmap.

Thanks again for the help klint.

First week in November rises and falls and 2nd week begins without an final release of the promised 1.4 in October. I'm starting to think I need to stop getting my hopes up and explore other options. Unless I hear some news soon, I think my check-ins with songbird are going to be yearly instead of daily/weekly/monthly.

@klint So what you're saying is that there may not be a Final release for Kanye? This is waiting is getting pretty old. I realize I shouldn't complain about something that's free, but I don't intend to wait forever to find a media player I want to be using. Right now, Songbird 1.2 isn't it and I'm not interested in beta releases.

That being said, the waiting would be nearly as difficult if I had some solid information about new releases. Instead what I'm presented with is a confusing list (the link that klint posted) that I have to pick through and decipher to get any information? That doesn't cut it. The roadmap was great when it was actually being fulfilled in a timely manner. Unfortunately, now the roadmap appears to be unreliable and frankly is becoming a cause for concern.

If this release is going to be postponed too I'm not going to hold my breath for the next one either. Please someone give us some information about a final release (solid information). Otherwise I'm afraid it may be time to look for another media player to use for about a year before I check back because I see no point in disappointing myself on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. – K, on November 09, 2009 23:07

Thanks for the link but I'm going to hold out for the official release as described on the roadmap. Waiting without knowing is killing me! Not just here either; I'm waiting to hear more about the HTC Passion! Please drop soon SB, I can't take all the waiting!

I couldn't agree more. I'm fidgeting around like a little kid who has to pee waiting for this next promised release to come out! Where's my Kanye?! I'm jonesing hard here!

I'm crossing my fingers! I'm really hoping that the new releases start focusing heavily on making the program quicker, more efficient and less resource intensive. How great would a really FAST Songbird be?! Well here's hoping for speed and a release date in the very near future.

@Michael
I see the best answer which has marked the problem as 'solved' is that the newest version has fixed these issues. To be clear, does it solve all issues with syncing back and forth between iTunes and SB? Will it even take care of the case #1 that you listed? Thanks. – K, on May 22, 2009 00:17