Novamind 5

[highplace]

Its also the end of Sept 2009 so I wondered how things are going on Novamind 5 as it looks like a very exciting update. Can you give us a release date? Are things on schedule or are you running into a few issues?

It would be great to hear some more news

Thanks

[Gideon]

Hi are you on the Mind Map Connection newsletter? If so, you should have received the full information that we are able to provide at this stage about the release schedule...but I'll paste it in here as well just in case some other people didn't get the newsletter - I'll include some other relevant bits too:

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US$1,000 for recommending staff

As I mentioned a couple of months ago in a previous newsletter, we are looking to add a couple more Cocoa/Obj-C programmers (i.e. Mac OS X programmers) to the team immediately. Since then, we have advertised worldwide for staff, but not found anyone who was both good enough and would fit well with our team. Also many people with the required technical skills seem to be involved in iPhone development, so there appear to be relatively few people available on the market. If you recommend someone for this role, as a member of our programming team, and we take them on and they stay with us for 6 months, then we will pay you a US$1,000 finder's fee. They must either live in Australia or New Zealand, or if from elsewhere, be able to come and live and work in Australia. This offer is currently only applicable for the Cocoa/Objective-C (Mac) programming role.

NovaMind 5 progress update

OK, I guess you're dying to know how the development work is going...

Windows Progress

We have encountered a number of unexpected issues in the development on Windows, mainly to do with the new technologies that we are using and the incredible complexity of things that need to happen behind the scenes to make a seemless user experience for you. However, our developers have been working hard and have got through the issues as they have arisen. There is still much to be done though. As you can see from the video, the core functionality of the application is working fine - in the video, I was running NovaMind for Windows on a Mac under Parallels desktop, with 37 other applications running at the time, and it was still performing just fine.

Windows Progressive Rollout

We had intended to release NovaMind Express around mid October, and then Pro a week or two after that, and Platinum a couple of weeks after that, but with all the issues we have had to work through, we are going to have to slide those dates a little. We now fully expect to have a public beta of NovaMind Express for Windows out before the end of October, and then, depending on the feedback, it would probably be released a couple of weeks after that. I would then expect NovaMind Pro to be ready for initial release 2-3 weeks after that, and then Platinum a few weeks after that.

Mac Progress

The Mac progress has been held up by a few technical issues, and the fact that we had to take a complete extra week out of NovaMind 5 development in order to fix issues with NovaMind 4 on Snow Leopard, and also by the shortage of developers on the Mac development team. Even if we got new staff on the Mac development team tomorrow, it would not speed up the development of NovaMind 5, as it would take some time for them to get up to speed with the development etc, but they would be able to speed up updates later. I hope we can get more people soon!

We still have one major risk area of the development to get through before we can give an accurate estimate of the release date of the Mac version of NovaMind Express. However, we have already implemented some of the Pro and Platinum features, so we are hoping to be able to catch up on the Windows team as we go. I'm sorry I can't be more definite than this at this time, but some significant issues have arisen in this project, and it's taken a lot of time to work through them.

I'll keep you updated as it becomes clearer exactly when we will be able to release the different editions.

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So, since then, our offer of US$1,000 finders fee has drawn exactly Zero applicants for the open positions, so we are still running 2 people short on the development team. Well actually, it's more than that because those 2 people were supposed to be be the first stage of the expansion of the team...

The risk factor in the development which I referred to has turned out worse than expected and has added another couple of weeks to the developmene schedule. We've just about got past that now, but I'm afraid I still can't be exact on when the first release for Mac will be available. Believe me, I wish this was not the case, and we are doing everything we can to catch up. So right now, with our limited staff numbers working on this, I can't give an accurate release date for NovaMind Express, let alone Platinum. I could say what I "hope" to be the case, but then, things  could change, and at this stage, I don't want to raise any undue expectations. We're on the job from very early in the morning until very late at night, and will bring you a new wonderful product as soon as we possibly can.

Things are going a lot better on the Windows front, and we are still on track for a public beta at the end of October with the core functionality of NovaMind 5 Express, although there are a couple of bits we'll add during the beta testing phase to round out the features for the initial release. Of course, since our license keys are cross platform compatible, you will be able to run the Windows version under Parallels/Fusion until the Mac one is ready if you like, but be aware that NovaMind 5 files are not compatible with NovaMind 4, so you would not be able to open them on NovaMind 4.

I hope this fully clarifies the situation, and if you have any further questions, just ask.

[FJP]

Any update on the expected release date of NM5?

[highplace]

Would love to get a Mac update, please

Keep up the good work

[Gideon]

Now that the tech preview is out for Windows, we will be using the feedback from that to refine the Mac version too, as we continue to develop it. We haven't been able to resolve our development staffing issue on Mac yet, so progress is still going to be slow.

[marcussommer]

Are there any time frames possible to be given for NM5.
I have upgraded thus paid little while ago already and as much as I understand your dev probs, I am disappointed nonetheless by the lack of alpha/beta testing possibilities as a sign that at least s.th. is moving on behalf of NM5/Mac.

[Gideon]

We are still planning the tech preview for Mac by end January, barring any further issues. You can sign up for it on the NM5 page.

[garyturner]

Gideon, I am not doubting that Novamind 5 is going to be a good product but I think there is a moral issue involved here with the prepayment for the upgrade to Novamind 5. Back in March or April of last year, you provided an opportunity for the user community to prepay for the Novamind upgrade that was suppose to be scheduled for release in the September/October time frame. The upgrade was never released during that time frame.

I am positively sure that no one would have paid for an upgrade to a product if it was advertised that the product  would not be available at least for a year, which it appears to be the case. Myself and others paid for the upgrade on good faith and because you have a good product in NovaMind4

But morally and ethically from a business perspective, I am having second thoughts if I want to support an organization or company that appears to be low in business ethics and morals no matter how good of a product.  Novamind is not even offering a refund to the user community that paid for a product that was not released around the scheduled advertised date; and three months into a new year, still no confirmed date as to when this upgrade is going to be release.

It appears there is nothing I can do about the $65 I spent except for to share my experience with others as to how I feel about Novamind and their business ethics.

[Patrick]

Hi Gary,

Since Gideon is away at BETT in London right now I just want to clarify a few things:

I understand your concerns and I just want to point out that we do offer a refund to our customers. In fact we offer a "1 year money back guarantee" (see here) and of course we honor this guarantee. If you would like to have a refund please contact sales@novamind.com and we will process it as soon as possible.

However, I would recommend that you wait for NovaMind 5 before doing this as it will be worth the wait.

I understand that our customers are waiting for NovaMind 5 and we are working very hard to get it done. It just takes a bit more time.

Thank you for your patience and support!

Patrick

[garyturner]

Patrick, I did send your sales-team an email and never received a reply. Also, with the money back guarantee within a year, does the year start when the software is available or does the year start when the upgrade to NovaMind 5 was paid for?

[Patrick]

When did you send the email? We normally reply within 24 hours. It could be that your email was flagged as SPAM by our email provider. I suggest that you send another email or send me a private message with your email address and I will see where your email went.

Regarding the money back guarantee I assume that this will be when the product is available but I cannot give you a definite answer as this is beyond my area of expertise. I can however say that we want our customers to be happy and if there is an understandable concern with the software (and not having the product certainly falls within this) we will do whatever we can to make things right.

[DragonSoul]

I do feel this is a great product. One of the reasons I brought it, is because of the NM5 upgrade by September. I understand the delays, but as a Professional Business you need to be more reliable on that front.

I have been waiting since September for the update as have many others have I assume. I am actually not even working on NM4 because I am uncertain of how soon NM5 will be released, and I dont want to be caught in between two products when I already put a lot of time into project(s).

I can understand a week, maybe even a month delay, but now its still up in the air in nearly the 2nd week in January, & we still have no real set date on the new release. Many business's/companies fail just for these issues alone.

I really hope you guys can understand our problems/concerns/issues. Products may be great but the customer service & promises must be held in high regard as well.

[garyturner]

Pat, if no one can give me a status update by the end of this month, I wil definitely send another email to sales and request a refund. NovaMind is not the only game in town and you guys should understand -- there is correct way and not so-correct way to do business.  A good example is based on the Omnigroup mode and OmniFocus.

Prior to OmniFocus being officially released--while in beta, the user community had an opportunity to purchase OmniFocus at a reduce price(like a $50 reduction)--and the software was available.  When the software became non-beta, to purchase the software then cost $50 more than what it was in beta. That is a good model and if I recall correctly, it was probably a good 8 months before the software became non-beta.

So, no matter how or what angle I look at the NovaMind 5 model and the communication behind it, I am definitely ready to switch and cancel the upgrade if there is no communication as to the update by the end of this month--and you guys taught me a valuable lesson.

[sayonaraML]

Okay, I was willing to wait in silence but after seeing the blog request to vote for NovaMind as 'most improved' mind mapping software for 2009 have to say huh? I'm a Mac user, paid for the upgrade in September (last), have no idea when the software is going to be released and only have a hint of an idea as to when the technology preview is going to be ready (and no, by the end of January doesn't count). You say this is a bit tricky on the blog: how about way tricky? Maybe most improved for 2010 but don't you think this is asking for an extraordinary show of faith?

Yes I know it was my decision to make the purchase but this request takes some nerve IMHO.

[Gideon]

I would like to apologise again for the delays, but there were a number of issues that were beyond my control.

Progress is good now, and I'm sure you will be very happy with the end result.

We are currently showing the NovaMind 5 for Mac technology preview at the BETT show in London, and will be releasing it at the end of January. It is shaping up nicely and we have received very good feedback from the people who have seen it at the show - there are just a few more things that need to be tidied up before it is ready for the technology preview.