Stop the changes!

[spinner]

I have been using XYplorer since it was TrackerV3 but am finding it more and more confusing. I haven't taken the last few versions because they each have a learning curve and I no longer want to spend my time learning about XYplorer features. I simply want to use XYplorer to improve my productivity.

Maybe it's time to do a "Google" by which I mean to focus relentlessly on the interface and ease of use even if it hides very complex and clever programming. Please keep it simple and if not simple then keep the interface stable with very few changes.

I am not sure I am going to continue to use XYplorer because if I leave it alone for a few months then it's hard to remember the somewhat quirky location of commands on menus. Even worse, there will be a new version which will require new learning.

I hope this doesn't sound too negative. This is a good product and I want it to succeed but once you have got it right then don't keep fiddling with it! There are many good softwares out there which haven't been updated for a few years and that's not because the author is lazy or lost interest but because they are just fine as they are.

Just a thought --- perhaps new features should be optional plug-ins.

[highend]

Mh, there are still many things that users like to see in new versions. Sure, this can lead to added complexity but for all the users that don't need the new features just ignore them (only a few ever make it into the GUI).

because if I leave it alone for a few months then it's hard to remember the somewhat quirky location of commands on menus

There's a simple solution: Help - List all commands
As long as you remember what you want to do, just type it -> it doesn't matter if it changed it's position inside the menus

I personally like a product more that evolves from version to version instead of the ones that do things for a rather long time and then drastically change their GUI / behavior. The learning curve is lower (but of course not if you didn't use it for a long time). E.g.: Office 2007 - 2010 -> I know a lot of people who struggled months because of the new ribbon (better: because of the missing menu items)...

[Garonne]

E.g.: Office 2007 - 2010 -> I know a lot of people who struggled months because of the new ribbon (better: because of the missing menu items)...

Argh... Don't remind me... I HATED the new ribbon menus because I didn't find the funtions I was always using anymore... Nearly EVERY function moved somewhere else...

BTW: If you don't want XYplorer to change there's an easy way... Don't update.
The main versions are usually quite bug free (usually just some minor ones that have slipped through.

Didn't we just recently have someone still using XYplorer 9.xx something? Well... At least something old...

I never had a problem with changing GUIs in XYplorer though. There's definitely a ton of features I don't use (I'm not good at scripting right now for one thing) but I never had any problems ignoring those features. So I don't see any reason why Don should stop adding new features he wants to add.

[admin]

I think I know what spinner means. See here: http://www.xyplorer.com/xyfc/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14117

My plan: You can down-configure XY to something as simple as Notepad. I hope to make this in 2015.

[Garonne]

Guess that would be a nice thing to add. Obviously it needs an option to configure if new features should start activated (or shown) or deactivated (or hidden).

[murdock01]

I dont think anything should change. One great feature of XY is you can customize it to suit your needs. Just change the 'look' to be as simple or as complex as you see fit.

I personally love the active community and active development. I have steered many people to XY because of this.
I have been looking for a good PIM and have found a few that I really liked, but each one is missing a feature I like; no one piece of software had everything I wanted. Posting in the forum a question about if a feature could be added, I would get basically "its planned for the next version".
Well if the current version is 1,2,3 years old then when will, if ever, the new version come out? Will this software be abandonware? I dont feel like inputting a lot of data into something that is not going to get support. I also dont feel like paying out my money to something that will never be enhanced or developed; Especially if there is no function to export the data into a format that is easy to import into another program (like csv, xml)

So I love all the development. I have gotten rid of so many little programs that would do specific things because either XY did it now, or better, or a made a script that performed the same function.
I dont use all the features. Sometimes I see a new feature and think 'I dont really need that but its nice'. Then a year later I realize I do need it and now I use it all the time.
I would rather have too many features than not enough.
Enjoy

[eil]

I dont use all the features. Sometimes I see a new feature and think 'I dont really need that but its nice'. Then a year later I realize I do need it and now I use it all the time.
I would rather have too many features than not enough.

same for me

[SkyFrontier]

+1

Especially when the next big thing will allow different share-able layouts making XY new-user friendly.
Please, continue the changes!

[Garonne]

I dont use all the features. Sometimes I see a new feature and think 'I dont really need that but its nice'. Then a year later I realize I do need it and now I use it all the time.
I would rather have too many features than not enough.

same for me

Yeah. Same for me. Ok, I still don't use skripting, but that doesn't mean I want to disable it or whatever. It wasn't my plan to strip some functions from XYplorer (which, in fact is already possible, at least for the features like skripting and catalog and etc. (Config -> Others -> Features)

[zer0]

I can sympathise with spinner. I don't know about others, but what I do and how I do it with XYplorer has not changed much in the past few years. While, in the past, certain changes did not kick in when upgrading, I can't help but feel that reshuffling has been more prominent as of late. Do I want XY to stop or slow down its developing pace to a crawl? No, but I have also been in that boat of looking where I was used to and not finding what I need, thus triggering an "investigation" to determine where it is now.

[zetadog]

Be cool if you could keep an old version and personally customize it with selected new features added in new versions. World Peace would also be cool.