ADM - continued from IM discussion

Posted by Derek Cornish
Jan 23, 2007 at 05:49 AM

Daly -

> Zoot in its 16 bit form is remarkably stable, on most 32-bit machines—and has a feature set that remains remarkably contemporary in spite of a somewhat dated GUI and a lack of RTF.

I’d just add that even on those rare occasions when Zoot crashes, I have never yet lost any data. I also positively like the current GUI and hope that there will be an option to maintain its classic no-nonsense look in preference to any tarted-up interface dripping with icons :-) - not that that is the Admiral’s style. Ditto for RTF.

Zoot’s users have been remarkably sanguine about the timetable for a 32-bit Zoot for a number of reasons. First, Tom has made it a priority to de-bug the existing software and to add whatever improvements he could to it over the years. This made for a very rapid response to users up until v4.0 was published - after which he turned his attentions to the 32-bit conversion. Second, Zoot has always potential users a very long evaluation period within which to decide whether or not to purchase. Given the early lack of a decent Help file, this enabled people to try the software out, uninstall it, and reinstall it after taking a break at a health farm. Third, he has never charged for an update so far. Last, I think Zoot’s users have been aware of the pressures of being a sole developer and have been anxious not to add to that pressure by constantly asking for deadlines. Developer burnout is a very real problem (viz KeyNote).

Hence the lack of much current activity on the Zoot forum and an undoubted slow leaking of users to other software while they wait for the Zoot 4.5 version. The good news is that the 32-bit conversion, though not with the new rtf editor, should appear quite soon.

Derek