After a long wait.

http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=19618#post19618

Not very exciting, though. Most of the items that have been at the top of the roadmap (http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3204 are still at the top of the roadmap and haven't been implemented.

Wow, calling this a major upgrade is really stretching it from this user's point of view. I guess Windows 8 compatibility is something, but the timing is odd, since Win 8 isn't even on sale yet, and I'll bet a LOT of users will be sticking with Win 7 for a while. The rest of the improvements seem trivial. I would be interested to know how many UR4 users pay to upgrade at this point....
Cheers,
David

I wonder why UR won't work with newer versions of Windows. I had to upgrade from UR 3 to UR 4 for this reason. In contrast - my old Ecco Pro, which has been out of development since 1997, has worked with every version with Windows that came out since.

UR, like other one-person efforts, has a glacial pace of development. The features of this upgrade do seem very minor, and i won't be getting it.

jimspoon wrote:

UR, like other
one-person efforts, has a glacial pace of development. The features of this upgrade
do seem very minor, and i won't be getting it.

Looking at the meagre new features I don't feel tempted to upgrade either. Although in the meantime I've also discovered ConnectedText (or, rather, figured out how to use it) and it obviates the need for UR for me. Speaking of one-person efforts, here is all the development Eduardo Mauro had done since v. 5 had been released, and these were all free (presumably while he is also working on v. 6):
http://www.connectedtext.com/changelog.php

Very disappointing - and as has been noted little progress on the roadmap items.

One wonders about Kinook's commitment to UltraRecall.

Daly

Wow, that's a pathetic list of improvements for something they want to charge $50 to upgrade to. And you only get the free update if you bought within the past 30 days. Is this just general cluelessness on Kinook's part, or is it disdain for their customers? Great contrast, Dr. Andus, with ConnectedText.

Steve Z.

I agree, this update is a no go for me even Ultra Recall is a great tool.

The weak support of Kinook to UC made my change to TheBrain easy one year ago and I don't regret it.

Dominik

Hi, as a huge fan of UR, even I am disappointed with this. I think the main problem is the lack of development, which simply doesn't work with "new version" upgrades.

What I mean is, suppose Kinook had "1 year of upgrade protection" - then users would have no reason to complain when/if a new version is released with only minor features added. As it stands now, Kinook has around 3 years between major versions, and this is a long time to get free upgrades...

BUT, you still need to continuously add new features, and this is the main concern. I do hope they continue to develop, and add the important features needed (multiple windows, better editor, improved web import, cross-DB search, etc...)

Best, /Pavi

Dominik Holenstein wrote:

I agree, this update is a no go for me even Ultra Recall is a great tool.

Disappointing "Upgrade," to put it mildly. Worth perhaps $5, hardly $50, for such a miserly upgrade. Kinook, you let us down. Again.

Pavi wrote:

Hi, as a huge fan of UR, even I am disappointed with this.

I have to agree with the general consensus in this thread. I was literally shocked when I saw the list of new features. I re-read it several times trying to see what I had missed (nothing, as it turns out). And ensuring operation with new versions of Windows is for me classified under 'maintenance', not upgrade.

I believe that Kinook (which are _not_ a one-person operation) just grew impatient with the slow growth in income from UR and have tried to turn it into a cash goat*. The contrast with ConnectedText is indeed indicative of the different levels of respect to customers; I would add that also the developers of the more comparable and modest Notecase Pro and Myinfo (both one-person operations) are much much more generous with upgrades, while providing continuous development and listening to their users.

I have myself upgraded through every UR version since 1.0 but will not be buying this one. By the time I get to use Windows 8, I will have migrated all my UR info (mostly contacts) elsewhere. Anybody participating in the Kinook forums is welcome to point to this thread.


*Yes, I know that the term is Cash Cow, but knowing the market you wouldn't say that of a two-pane outliner, would you?

P.S. To not sound overtly negative, I would reconsider my approach if the announced roadmap improvements were included in this version along the way. But I won;t hold my breath.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Anybody participating in the Kinook forums is welcome to point to this thread.

Already done. See http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=5016

I use UR extensively and have found it to be a wonderful tool. Like others have indicated, I was flabbergasted that Kinook considers this a major upgrade.

Jon

> just grew impatient with the slow growth in income from UR and have tried to turn it into a cash goat*.

It's just a small percentage of users who actually upgrade regularly (I wouldn't be surprised if majority was still using UR1 and 2), not even a goat it is. I'd guess Kinook just looked at the calendar and found it's long time since v4.

I don't think it's a major upgrade and I don't think it's worth $50, but I can feel for a developer who realizes a product he's worked on for years is unlikely to ever be a big moneymaker. Kinook has had employees in the past but I don't think it's much more than a one-man operation. A few years ago Kinook announced it was going to stop development on Ultra Recall, only to retract that almost immediately.

I also use Clipmate, which hasn't been updated for years. I had assumed, without evidence, that the programmer, Chris Thornton, made enough from developing it that he didn't need to bother working on it anymore. Instead, this is what Thornton said recently in a forum post after a user unhappy with the lack of development threatened to release his license key as a torrent for any and all to use.

Thornton:

... please realize that while my priorities have shifted (can't make a living at this anymore) ... it's posts like this that keep me from spending any time in this forum. I probably should have shut it down long ago.

I do keep working on ClipMate when I can. But days like this make me wonder why.

I'm guessing Kinook is in the same situation.

The URL for that comment from Thornton: http://www.thornsoft.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=15815

Mark wrote:

I don't think it's a major upgrade and I don't think it's worth $50, but I can feel for a
developer who realizes a product he's worked on for years is unlikely to ever be a big
moneymaker.

Mark, thanks for this perspective. Admittedly, were I in Chris Thomson's shoes I would probably have reacted similarly to the torrent comment. But I don't think it's the same situation.

I have never made money from software but I have worked with charities for many years and I can tell you that fundraising for small sums from thousands of people is no easy game. In particular, quite a few people will approach the charity (I'm a volunteer board member with an animal welfare organisation at this time) because they think there is something in it for them, rather than to give back to society. However, in the long term, if the charity is consistent in its message, and honest in its approach, it will attract the right people and support.

Why am I saying this? Because my own lack of satisfaction with Kinook has little to do with technical development and more with their inconsistent communication with customers. You've already mentioned their message about halting development in the past its subsequent deletion.

Here's my point: if they are having trouble making money from the program and justifying its continuous development, I want to know about it. As mentioned in Clipmate's forum, there are users, myself included, who would justify contributing a reasonable annual fee to ensure that they'll still be able to use their software years from now.

Notwithstanding, as a long time registered UltraRecall user, I can't remember ever having received a message from Kinook for whatever reason. No information for license or pricing changes (though there has been at least one), no exciting news, no offers. Indeed, I've learned most news about UR --and many other programs- here, thanks to the nice people checking forums.

At the same time, the roadmap is there, giving false hopes of future development. I believe an update would have been appreciated, even if it rendered it less ambitious.

Goodness knows, I have found myself with quite a few pieces of brilliant software that eventually became obsolete with no warning. I don't want that. I want my data to be safe and developers making a decent living keeping my data safe. But only they themselves know what it takes.

Thomson > Thornton