Time for 2.5.1

[Geert Janssens]

On Friday 10 May 2013 07:04:23 David Carlson wrote: 
> On 5/10/2013 3:31 AM, Geert Janssens      wrote:
> > Why do you want the new register to be        visibly different ?      
> >       
> > Geert    
>     Well, to start off, so that I can tell while testing that I am    
actually looking at a register2 view, not an old view.  I have    already 
mistakenly thought that I was looking at a new register and    complained that 
certain issues had not been fixed, when they    actually had been fixed 
(Thanks, Robert for correcting me).
> 
That may be useful for testing, but not a valid reason to have a different 
look in production.

>     The next reason is that the new view does fix several subtle    problems 
and add some new capabilities. 
> 
>     A very important one is that it will actually make GnuCash much    
easier for newbies to learn and use.  This should keep many of the    
potential users that try GnuCash then give up because they believe    that it 
is not user friendly.
> 
I'm not sure which *visual* differences you are referring to that make GnuCash 
easier for newbies to learn.

Note that I don't oppose any improvements, but in the current stage of the new 
register project I consider the most important thing worry about now is to not 
have any *regressions* compared to the rich feature set of the old register. 
It may have had its quirks, but don't underestimate how carefully tuned it was 
for its task.

>     You can surely think of other reasons, but I will close with the    very 
standard marketing tactic - New Look!!!!!  You must have this    baby in your 
garage!!!!  Greatest invention since sliced bread!!!     ;)
>     
;)

More seriously, I don't think this kind of marketing stragegy matches the 
average GnuCash user. If the marketing message would have been "Even 
easier/user-friendlier/more efficient than before, finally fixes most of the 
quirks in the old program for good" that might help. I'd expect users of 
accounting software to prefer a stable/reliable system which they know how it 
works. Changing the looks too much could actually work backwards on such an 
audience.

Geert