New Version Request.

I have a request I'd like to get in early, regarding how the next Pc update for FF is handled. I'd like to be able to run this older version (the current one, V1.101 or whatever, or the new update (again, whenever the Pc version gets updated in 2K8 or whenever), and choose between which one to open. I'm not super technical about what that's called, but I have programs that have made one internal change, like one or two lines of code (according to the devs) that allows both versions to be installed, and run on the same computer. It is more common with plug-ins in the audio world for comparison, to keep people's projects opening when they used the old version and the new version has changes made to it. At any rate, since I would assume it would be an easy thing to leave room for, I wanted to ask for it early on. I'd like to be able to install and run newer versions of FF in the future, while also being able to leave this version installed and be able to run it seperately.

jffe

yup, i want this too. i want to be able to run version 1 and version 2 separately, just like paint shop pro does with their versions. i have version 7, 9, 10 and 11 of psp all on my computer and can run any version i want. some are even on the same partitions and run just fine regardless of the others.

i believe it's just a simple matter of making sure each version has its own registry entry and not overwriting the last one.

LOL..... I see..... I ran into something like that recently where I updated to the latest version and they had completely changed something that I needed.....

The following text should not be interpreted as 100% correct, but I feel that I better state something until Vlad will be able to drop a line or two.
FF version 2 will be done as a separate product.
It will have backwards compatibility in terms of supporting old filter formats (and the ability to easily import them if you're upgrading). It will have separate folder directory and stuff. Even more, IIRC we're going to continue maintaining v1 in terms of fixes, backporting them from the mainline 2.0 development (take note it will be FIXES only after 2.0 will go live).

Bottom line (actually a few ones):
a) FF 2.0 is a separate program which supports _reading_ 1.x file formats
b) Web site will continue to support both versions, of course indicating the version required to use a filter
c) Some time after FF 2.0 release the 1.x updates might be not released anymore (unless we fix something that is effecting a large amount of users), although I doubt it will happen within first year or two after 2.0 release.

While the "c" might look too bad, I don't think it will affect users much, because current 1.x versions are pretty stable in my opinion -- there are some compatibility problems, but most of them got nailed down to the acceptable level.

Also, as far as I know there's a new bugfix release round the corner which will improve the stability and correctness of FF (no dates as usual)

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onyXMaster wrote: Also, as far as I know there's a new bugfix release round the corner which will improve the stability and correctness of FF

-----That is actually of as much concern to me as any V2 down the road, as far as being able to install it seperately from the version we are all running now. How likely is that, and how much nagging/begging do we have to do to make it more likely ?

jffe

jffe: As far as I know there are no plans to make Filter Forge updates behave as different versions. You can install Filter Forge in whatever folder you like of course, so you can have multiple different versions installed (autoupdating updates the last installation location). The problem is that Filter Forge data folder (%APPDATA%\Filter Forge) is the same for all installed copies. While it's obviously a simple matter to change (i.e. include version number or allow explicitly specifying location), I doubt we're going to do it, since it will make the life of the non-advanced user harder (data folders for old versions lying around, required Administrator rights to change data folder location and other stuff).
Also, keep in mind that you will need latest version installed to work with the library and use filters created in newer versions, so once new 1.x version goes out, you're pretty much locked out of interaction with FF users who have newer 1.x version.
Bottom line: All active users having _latest_ minor version of FF is a part of versioning design of FF from the beginning. I don't think that your nagging/begging will help changing this. Btw, 1.x is feature-locked anyways, so even if something like this is going to be introduced, it will be in 2.x only.

Crapadilla: I'm not sure of the exact mechanics but I'm sure we're not going to alienate existing users that aren't upgrading to V2

so, we'd be able to run FF 1.x and 2.x concurrently if we wanted to? sounds like it.

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Vladimir Golovin wrote: If a filter was made in 2.0, users of earlier versions won't be able to download it.

Sounds like users are going to run into problems with this.....but I guess there's no other way to do it if filters are made with new components in version 2 that don't exist in version 1. It will definitely get users to upgrade for access to all filters......that's for sure