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We're Having a Forking Good Time
by Aaron Smith on Thursday, April 5 2007The Window-Eyes 6.1 code branch has been officially forked off from the rest of the development process. So what the heck does that mean? That means that the code for Window-Eyes 6.1 has been frozen, and the developers are moving on to the next version. Although Window-Eyes 6.1 itself has been put to bed, so to speak, there's still much to do before we can release it and start shipping. We're in the process of finalizing the new install, which will work on all supported operating systems, and we have to finish documentation, get the new manual sections and new tutorial recorded and converted, get the 6.1 CD masters built, get the production ready for CD duplication, and get the website updated for 6.1 upgrade downloads.
This has been one major undertaking for a free upgrade; I don't think people realize how much Window-Eyes 6.1 has to offer. And that's not counting comprehensive support for a brand new operating system. Let's examine GPF fixes, for example. Between Window-Eyes 6.0 and 6.1, we've fixed over 20 GPFs, many of them found through the Window-Eyes error reporting feature alone. That, pardon my biased option, is freakin' awesome.
No one even comes close to the kind of stability that Window-Eyes provides. People tend to think our "Stability, Reliability, and Performance" slogan was thought up by the marketing department, but it really comes right from development. In fact, I overheard one of our developers say yesterday that we're at the point where we're spending more time resolving crashes caused by other applications than we are on resolving crashes caused by Window-Eyes. That's very impressive, if I do say so myself.
There have been a ton of other fixes that really make this upgrade substantial, regardless of what operating system you're using, and you simply cannot beat the price.
And then there's Vista. Whether you love it or hate it, Window-Eyes doesn't care; Window-Eyes Vista support is complete and powerful. I have two other screen readers installed under Vista right now, along with Window-Eyes, and it's almost comical how much of a difference there is. Window-Eyes runs smooth, like a highly tuned, neatly polished sports car. The others run like the Flintstone's car -- feet on the ground, dragging along, easily tipped over by a rack of ribs.
Why anyone would trust their security and stability to something other than Window-Eyes is beyond me. Not only does the final product impress on its own, but the development process that goes into creating software that can stand up to the most rigorous situations really makes Window-Eyes special. I don't want to get all sappy here, but I really am proud to be part of this team, and to work with people who care more about the product than the bottom line.
