Vault 3.0

[ericsink]

Ever since we shipped Vault 2.0 in February, we have been working on the next release. Originally, we planned to call this release version 2.1, but this week we changed our mind. The upcoming release will be called Vault 3.0.

We had some interesting internal discussions here about this decision. All of us here are sensitive to concerns about "version number inflation". However, this release was originally intended to be a short cycle with just a few small incremental improvements over 2.0. Suddenly, eight months have passed, and we've been sneaking-in a lot of cool stuff:

* Bunches-o-bug-fixes
* Integration with our new bug-tracking product, Dragnet
* Email notifications
* New dialog for adding files, much easier
* New dialog for setting working folders
* Much improved handling of files in status "unknown"
* Greatly simplified license tracking
* Integration with Active Directory
* Several improvements to make Merge Branches even easier to use
* Improvements to the DiffMerge tool, including Unicode support
* Significant improvements to performance and scalability, especially for larger teams

Note that this is merely a change in version number. It does not affect our release schedule. We currently plan to ship Vault 3.0 about 4-6 weeks from now.

Note also that this change also does not affect pricing. All previous releases of Vault have been free upgrades, including version 1.1, version 1.2, and even version 2.0. We had already planned for this release to be the first Vault upgrade which actually costs money. We haven't announced the details of the upgrade pricing yet, but we soon will, and the new version number has made no difference in our plans.

We are quite excited about this release of Vault. It will be faster, more polished, and easier to use than ever before. It deserves to be called 3.0.

[Guest]

So, when you say that this is "the first Vault upgrade which actually costs money," that doesn't apply to Gold Support customers, right?

Josh

[ericsink]

So, when you say that this is "the first Vault upgrade which actually costs money," that doesn't apply to Gold Support customers, right?

Josh

Correct -- Gold customers have already paid for the upgrade.

[Guest]

Is there any information available on Dragnet?

I am looking into the Vault Software, and will probably wait until version 3.0 comes out, but I'd like more information on Dragnet.

Thanks,

Earl

[ericsink]

Is there any information available on Dragnet?

I am looking into the Vault Software, and will probably wait until version 3.0 comes out, but I'd like more information on Dragnet.

Thanks,

Earl

The only information currently available is the following entry on my weblog:

http://software.ericsink.com/item_10191.html

We plan to have some better and more official information available soon. For now, we just haven't said much about it.

[baronej]

Will v. 3.0 support a single-user license like v. 2 does??

John Barone

[ericsink]

Will v. 3.0 support a single-user license like v. 2 does??

John Barone

Yep.

[Guest]

Is there any information available on Dragnet?

The only information currently available is the following entry on my weblog:

http://software.ericsink.com/item_10191.html

We plan to have some better and more official information available soon. For now, we just haven't said much about it.

Thanks for the info - can you give me an idea of how long 'soon' is? ie: is it 1 or 2 months away or 6 months?

Thanks,

Earl

[ericsink]

Is there any information available on Dragnet?

The only information currently available is the following entry on my weblog:

http://software.ericsink.com/item_10191.html

We plan to have some better and more official information available soon. For now, we just haven't said much about it.

Thanks for the info - can you give me an idea of how long 'soon' is? ie: is it 1 or 2 months away or 6 months?

Thanks,

Earl

Dragnet will ship simultaneously with Vault 3.0. Realistically, that's not going to happen in October, but the end is in sight. We expect to ship in November.

[JTD]

[quote="ericsink
Dragnet will ship simultaneously with Vault 3.0. Realistically, that's not going to happen in October, but the end is in sight. We expect to ship in November.

Eric,
You said Gold subcribers get it free, does that also include the 30 day window after initial purchase? And what if we are off by a week or so? I just read this article today, minutes after we made our purchase, and we might have delayed our purchase for a week or two to make sure we were in the 3.0 window. Any update on the expected cost to upgrade?

Thanks,
Jason

[ericsink]

I just read this article today, minutes after we made our purchase, and we might have delayed our purchase for a week or two to make sure we were in the 3.0 window. Any update on the expected cost to upgrade?

The pricing and terms will be announced soon, with all the gory detail. In the meantime, JTD, you don't need to worry about it.

[JTD]

The pricing and terms will be announced soon, with all the gory detail. In the meantime, JTD, you don't need to worry about it.

Great, thanks, Eric. There aren't many feelings I hate worse than 'Oh no, did I just cost the company money?'

[Mike Dimmick]

I'm not sure if I'll be able to persuade the people holding the purse-strings about the upgrade to 3.0.

What's your policy about fixes to version 2.0 after 3.0 is released? Will you continue to offer patches to version 2.0? Will those patches be freely available, or only available to Gold Support customers?

I realise that you didn't offer any patches to 1.2 after 2.0 was released, but then 2.0 was a free upgrade, and your installed base was a lot smaller!

[ericsink]

I'm not sure if I'll be able to persuade the people holding the purse-strings about the upgrade to 3.0.

What's your policy about fixes to version 2.0 after 3.0 is released? Will you continue to offer patches to version 2.0? Will those patches be freely available, or only available to Gold Support customers?

I realise that you didn't offer any patches to 1.2 after 2.0 was released, but then 2.0 was a free upgrade, and your installed base was a lot smaller!

I won't say "never", but I will say that our goal and our plan is that we will do no more patch releases for 2.0.

If by chance we do end up doing a 2.0.7 or even a 2.0.8, those patches will be free to all 2.0 customers, not just for Gold Support people.

[JTD]

I just read this article today, minutes after we made our purchase, and we might have delayed our purchase for a week or two to make sure we were in the 3.0 window. Any update on the expected cost to upgrade?

The pricing and terms will be announced soon, with all the gory detail. In the meantime, JTD, you don't need to worry about it.

I haven't seen anything about upgrading from 2.x except for the warnings about not being able to go back once you upgrade, will there be an announcement soon about upgrades (pricing, etc.)?