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Latest blog from the developer, Mike Towle: | |
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2008-03-04 Tuesday: Windows Vista, are we going forwards? As a software developer, to me the operating system is a means to an end. It handles all the mundane stuff, sending output to the screen, printers, across the LAN and/or internet, and so on. It is NOT an end in itself, just something we can use that makes it easy to run programs, copy files, etc. Windows 95 was riddled with bugs, but when working it made things a LOT easier. Windows 98 Second Edition, now there's a venerable old operating system. Not overly complicated, and (compared to Windows 95) pretty stable. Since then, the look of Windows has changed a little, a few extra bells and whistles have been added, but there's been no drastic changes. The good news for developers, is that most software that runs under Windows 95 also runs under Windows XP. So along comes Windows Vista. Five years in the making. Is it easier to use? Does it make things easier for the developer? Perhaps even reduce the cost of software development? No, NO, and NO. Due to the 'security' features built into it, whenever you want to do something it feels like you have to click 20 buttons (you don't, it just feels that way). I know computer security is a big issue these days, and rightly so. But does it have to get in the way of using the computer so much? Vista might look pretty, but it doesn't seem to be any faster, and it doesn't seem to actually do anything that Windows XP couldn't do? I'm sure lots of Vista experts will cough at this point, and email me a huge list of stuff Vista can do that XP can't. But from the point of view of the average user I bet 99% of the stuff on that list could be deleted. I may be a developer, but I consider myself an average user. All I want to do is email, browse the web, move files around, and run accounts and other software. Vista makes these simple operations feel so cumbersome. I've had a computer at home running Vista for a couple of months now. At first everything was fine. But then things, bad things, started to happen. As of now, it will no longer print, or even attempt to put anything in the print que. Internet Explorer keeps crashing, thanks goodness for Firefox, that works great. I can't start Control Panel, it just flickers and then closes down. Vista will close itself down and restart at random intervals. My favorite game that used to work fine now takes literally about two minutes to start up, and it may or may not run, depending on what mood Vista is in. This is a genuine copy of Microsoft Vista Ultimate. Yet messages keep appearing telling me I am a victim of software counterfeiting? I think my Vista machine is very sick. Whether it's picked up an undetected virus or what I don't know. But I'm going to have to take it to someone who knows a lot more about it than I do to sort it out, hopefully without having to reinstall everything. Just when you thought my rant was over, there's more..... I thought my Vista experience was bad as a user. But as a developer, things have just gotten worse. Due to the 'security' in Vista, Adminsoft Accounts can not be installed into the C:\Program Files folder. Instead it has to be installed off the root folder (ie. C:\). What's the point of that? I have been playing around with Adminsoft's help system, to try and improve it. I thought I'd start using RTF (Rich Text Files) for the help text. Then I could have text underlined, or in bold, or italics, different colors, even change the size & font. After implementing this enhancement, I discover that Microsoft have removed the ability to display Rich Text in Windows Vista! So users of old versions of Windows can see my help text in pretty colors etc. (OK, when I get around to it.....), but users of Vista can not. Vista supporters will say 'yes, but you should be using HTML....'. No, I should not. Using HTML requires Internet Explorer to be started up to display it, which is a large, resource hungry bit of software. From the user clicking on the Help button, it would take several seconds to display the help text. As if that wasn't bad enough, Internet Explorer will only display the content of files, so far I have not been able to find a way of directly feeding it the text I need displaying. Which would not speed things up much, but would have made it easier to integrate into Adminsoft Accounts. I've looked through numerous software developer bulletin boards, where all us sad developer people meet to discuss stuff. I've seen lots of developers complaining, and the standard response from Vista supporters is that we should all redevelop our software for Vista. I don't know how much money Microsoft spent developing Vista. A wild guess might put it at $5 billion? Maybe on the high side. It's a LOT of money. But, how much money has been invested all over the World by third party developers in producing Windows application software? Another wild guess, it would probably run into TRILLIONS of $ Microsoft spend $5n on Vista and expect the World to rewrite their trillions of dollars worth of software to accommodate it? Tail wagging the dog, anyone? OK, now my rant is over! 2008-02-05 Tuesday: Have finally released the latest version, v3.129 It doesn't contain anything radical over the previous version v3.120. A few more bug fixes and various minor changes. I keep wanting to add to the functionality of the program. But when I do, it makes it a little bit more complicated to use each time. More user options means more complexity. Which is why in the previous version, I actually created two systems in one. The accounts software can run in basic mode, which as the name suggests, just offers the basic accounting functions. Many small businesses will find this works fine for them. But if your requirements are more sophisticated, you can tell the software not to run in basic mode, but to offer it's full functionality. So complex or simple, it's the users choice. However, I have a sneaky feeling that having an accounts system that can run in complex mode or basic mode, does in itself confuse users? I mean, just to complicate matters, it can also run as full software (if you have a Software Registration Key) or Freeware. I suppose it's trying to be all things to all people. The danger in making a product so flexible is that by trying to satisfy the requirements of everyone, it ends up satisfying the requirements of no one! For that reason, future development effort will concentrate on making it easier to use, for both the novice and experienced user. Rather than simply adding on lots of extra functions. The software already has all the functionality it needs for most businesses, with the possible exception of user defined invoice/statement formats. The next changes are likely to focus on the help system. Making this more informative, and easier to use. Perhaps HTML based? I find a lot of the questions emailed over to me are accounting type questions, rather than to do with the operation or installation of the software. In a way, thats good, people must be finding the software easy to install and use. But it also means there are a lot of people using the system who are not just new to Adminsoft Accounts, but are new to accounting. They need more help than the current help system offers. So, improvements are on the way. 2008-01-14 Monday: Happy new year! OK, maybe I'm a little late, but I'm busy readying the next release of Adminsoft Accounts. It won't have any big new features, just lots of little things made a bit better, and a few bugs routed. One thing I will do is to make it even easier to setup. At the moment, when you run it for the first time, you have to say whether you have a Software Registration Key and so want to run the full version, whether you want to run it in Demo mode, or whether you just want to run it as Freeware. In the future, it will either run as full version if you enter a Software Registration Key, or it will run in Demo mode for a month or so. If you don't buy a Software Registration Key within that time, it will automatically change to Freeware mode. Of course even when it's running in Freeware mode, you can still buy a Software Registration Key at any time and change it to full version. 2007-11-17 Saturday: Ooops!! Nearly three months since my last blog! Where does the time go? I have been working hard on the software, and have now released the latest version v3.120 It's easier to use than ever, has had a few bugs ironed out of it, contains a few extra reports, and allows the user to set up their own colors. So they can customize the look of the software. Those last couple of sentences, did you notice I used the USA spelling for 'colors' and 'customize'? As I am aiming to distribute Adminsoft Accounts into any country where English is their first or second language, spelling is a problem. Fact is, although I'm from the UK I tend to use USA spelling because most of my target audience do. No doubt if you look carefully through the software, or this web site, you'll notice I sometimes slip back into UK spelling. Sorry for the inconsistency, spelling things the UK way is a habit of 40 years. Most words have small differences, but some have large differences, like 'cheque' and 'check'. Some are totally different, like 'mobile phone' and 'cell phone'. I go to surprising lengths to try and accommodate these within the software. Adminsoft Accounts changes the terminology it uses depending on which country you're in. There are limits though, it doesn't change the spelling (unless the word is very different). So to all those people who grew up with UK spelling, I apologize (pun intended :-). But there has to be compromises, otherwise I could spend all my time getting the language right for each country and no time actually developing the software. I'll try not to leave it three months before my next blog. Promise. 2007-08-25 Saturday: The latest version (v3.106) is now released. It contains various minor modifications, bug fixes, and updates. I know I should be recording the details of all work done so users can see whether they need to update their software, but I just don't have time. I was originally going to write a blog about twice a week, I'm lucky if it gets done once a month! Anyway, one thing this latest version can do is produce a full Balance Sheet. It always had Asset and Liability account types, I have now added Equity. So you can show where the capital in the business has come from. Although only a small minority of users bother to maintain a Balance Sheet (preferring to leave that sort of thing to their accountants) I felt not having an Equity account type was a serious omission. I've had a few requests regarding the availability of the source code. The source code is available, under licence, for a fee which is negotiable. The fee will depend on what you intend to do with the source code. Adminsoft Accounts has been developed using Microsoft Visual FoxPro v6. This version of FoxPro has been around since the late nineties, but I use it because it will run on just about any Windows PC from Windows 95 onwards, and it allows users to install Adminsoft Accounts without having their registry messed around with or having any DLL's installed. So Adminsoft Accounts will not affect any other software on the users machine. Also, if they wished, they could install Adminsoft Accounts on a ZIP disk or USB memory stick and use it on any Windows PC without actually installing it on that PC, just run it straight off the disk or memory stick. So I stick with FoxPro v6. However, FoxPro v6 projects can be run by later versions of FoxPro with little or no problem. So if you want to use the source code with say FoxPro v9, that would not be an issue. 2007-07-17 Tuesday: Can't believe it's over two months since my last entry! I have been so busy getting v3.096 ready for release. Finally, it's now available for download. This latest version may not look much different to previous versions, but it fixes a number of bugs. Especially the problem with creating new sales analysis codes, and printing of invoices and credit notes. I'm already working on the next release! In my previous blog, I asked if there was anyone out there interested in becoming a partner to promote the software. I had some interesting replies, and made some good contacts. But as yet have not found a suitable person to help drive the business forward. so if anyone is interested....... 2007-05-05 Saturday: I have decided to look for a business partner in the United Kingdom. Adminsoft is basically a one man band, and I realize if I am to make a success of this venture I need help. I can't do the development, support, marketing, and sales all by myself. I am looking for someone with a solid background in sales and marketing, preferably in financial/accounting software or a related industry. This is a great opportunity for the right person to come on board and start selling a product that is already in use all around the World. Little or no investment will be required, but you will need to be sufficiently financed to be able to work for a period without pay until sales are well established. If you want to get involved, drop me an email (mike@adminsoftware.biz) with a few details about yourself and I'll send back a brief outlining the current position and where I think the market is, etc. Serious enquiries only please. 2007-04-24 Tuesday: I've been updating the web site. Mainly cosmetic stuff. In particular I have attached Google Ads. For no other reason than they pay me money every time someone clicks on an advert! Not very much money though :-( Will be lucky if I clear $50 a month! As you can see, I'm no web developer. So don't let the poor state of my web site put you off the my software. I am FAR better at developing traditional business applications like accounts systems. If the Google Ads get in the way, I might take them off. We'll see. 2007-04-10 Tuesday: What happened??? It's nearly a month and a half since my last blog! I was hoping to do one at least once a week....... Anyway, in the meantime the competition wasn't exactly a HUGE success, but I did get a handful of interesting suggestions for improving the software. I have selected the winner, and will be implementing his suggestion into the software later this year, I won't reveal what it is at this time. The reason for not blogging for so long is that I have been very busy getting ready the latest release of Adminsoft Accounts. This is version 3.077 There is no single big difference between this and the previous live version (v3.075), just lots of little improvements. But it's amazing just how much time it's consumed. One of the main criticisms of the software is that because it is so comprehensive, if you're inexperienced with accounts software you may find it a little difficult to use until you get used to it. If you've used accounts software before you'll probably get the hang of it right away. The latest version now brings up a simple menu to help first time users get started, and has an improved help system. Work will continue throughout this year on making it easier to use. OK, that's it for now. I won't leave it a month and a half until the next blog. Promise. 2007-02-27 Tuesday: WIN A FULL 10 USER VERSION OF ADMINSOFT ACCOUNTS! I've been putting together a 'To do' list. Consisting of all the modifications and additions I want to make to the software. Most of it is quite minor stuff though. What I really want is some ideas from you guys? What do you really want to see in your accounts system? What would make Adminsoft Accounts stand out from the rest (I mean even more than it does now......). Do you really need fully customizable invoices? Customizable reports? Additional modules like payroll, sales prospecting, sales order processing, point of sale, etc. ? Please let me know! You see if I just guess, I could spend weeks, or months, developing some software I think you need, only to find no one is interested! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please email me (mike@adminsoftware.biz) and I will respond. The best idea received will WIN the competition. The competition closes on Friday 16th March 2007. I will judge which idea is the best, and my judgment is final, bla, bla, bla..... I look forward to hearing you! 2007-02-23 Friday: Can't believe it's the end of the week already! Anyway, I want to talk about user feedback. Those of you who have used Adminsoft Accounts will know that you have an opportunity to provide some feedback. It is very useful for me to know how you get on with the software, and what you think about it. Some of the comments are very interesting. One user complained that only a selection of invoice formats is available, ie. they are not fully customizable. He/she goes on to say "The idea that the people who design this stuff charge SO much for SO little is TOTALLY INFURIATING...". The fact that the Adminsoft Accounts Freeware they were using is FREE appears to have passed him/her by! Another user was concerned about where their data is kept: "Is all my data for my \"business\" stored on your computer or mine?". Good point. I can understand the concern. ALL data is kept on your local computer. I can assure everyone, that NO accounting data at all is kept on our servers. If you want to check that out, disable your internet access, and then run Adminsoft Accounts, you'll find it'll run fine and all your data is accessible. See ya next week. 2007-02-19 Monday: This is the very first blog! I have been developing Adminsoft Accounts for over three years now. It represents thousands of man hours of work. It has been running on a couple of select sites for a year or so, but I only started marketing it late December last year. At the moment, the 'marketing' consists of a little web site optimization and submission of the software to lots of freeware/shareware download sites. So far, if you do a search for 'free accounting software' the site is in first position in MSN, but appears several pages down in Yahoo and Google. But that's not bad considering I've only been promoting it for two months, and with zero marketing spend! What is impressive (well, to me anyway) is that over one thousand people have downloaded the software! It is hard to tell how many of those are using it on a regular basis, but indications are around 20%. I'm happy with that, it means 200 users already, and the numbers can only grow. I'm also very pleased to see that my software is being used all over the World, in places like USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, and various European countries, United Kingdom in particular, of course. The current version of the software is 3.075 I am now working on the next version, this involves fixing a few bugs, but mainly making enhancements and adding extra features. My main worry at the moment is ease of use, and I'm looking for any idea's anyone might have on making the software as easy to use as possible. Hint, hint... I'll be uploading a new blog maybe twice a week. So, until the next one, see ya. If you would like to comment on any of the issues covered in Mike's blogs, or would like to suggest some improvements to the software, please email: mike@adminsoftware.biz |
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