Starry Night Pro Plus 7 released

[Photosbykev]

I've just upgraded from v6.4.3 and first impressions of v7 are not that good to be honest.

SN6 was long overdue an update but I've reported 6 very basic, but significant, bugs in the 1st 10-15 minutes of testing it and that's just on the user interface.

I'll update this thread when/if I get a response/fix from the authors but at the moment it looks like a very premature release with minimal end user testing.

NOTE: this version does not, and will not,  run on Win XP. As Microsoft will stop supporting XP this month it's not an unreasonable limitation.

[Cornelius Varley]

I'll hold off upgrading until they've fixed the bugs.

[Photosbykev]

Current list of 'bugs' I've found running SNPP7 on a Windows 7 64bit laptop (fully updated)

1. The FoV scale, bottom left of the screen doesn't update during zooming
2. Ctrl+f is used to open/close the side panel, this doesn't work reliably
3. None of the sliders in the options panels work
4. F7 is used to go to and from full screen. You can use F7 to goto full screen but using F7 to come out of full screen doesn't latch correctly so you have no access to the top menu bar (Ctrl Alt Del to close the programme)

5. When selecting a photorealistic panorama no thumbnails show up in the selection window.

6. Setting the horizon to opaque or transulcent has no effect, it remains transculent.

Maybe something I've missed is causing them BUT I doubt it and the installation should of picked up any missing components if there were any. It shouldn't be the end users job to fault find.

[Photosbykev]

The SN support team are on Yahoo providing information/fixes to users on the issues so the problems are being treated very openly

[kerrylewis]

The discount offer ends tomorrow. Does Kev or anyone know if the bugs have been fixed? Has anyone else upgraded? Is it worth it?

[ChrisLX200]

I upgraded last week and also found significant bugs, the really bad one (for me) is that when you try to export your list of target objects for subsequent importing into SGPro (CCD imaging) it simply doesn't save the file! I know it's been fixed in the beta (i'm on the beta evaluation) but really, there are so many other bugs this should not have been released at all yet.

ChrisH

[Photosbykev]

I'm using SN7 but still have SN6 on the laptop as well.

I think the Software guys realised that it was launched too early but they are actively addressing problems in the Yahoo group and their support system. Now I've got all the icons working which was actually a Windows codec software issue relating to the display of PNG images, the software runs reasonably well but still needs a lot of work.

[kerrylewis]

Thanks Chris and Kev.

I think I'll save my shekels and stick with version 6 for now! I assume it will be released again later perhaps still with a discount

Kerry

[ChrisLX200]

Well an update was released recently (followed by bug-fix) and it is just as bad. I cannot believe having pointed out that exporting an observing list fails to save the file, then telling me the issue was 'fixed', only to discover that the file that is now exported contains no data. Can you believe that? Did they not actually check - beyond the fact that a file was written??

I deeply regret buying this upgrade, and I don't care how hard they are working on it to fix it.   It is Barge-Pole-Ware.

ChrisH

[kerrylewis]

Has anyone tried version 7 recently and, if so, is it improved?

After another email from the company offering a discount to upgrade, I replied that I understood that it was full of bugs. I got a very quick reply which included the current release notes listing the bug fixes. The email also stated that in any case there was a money back guarantee if I was not happy with the software. I'm not sure how this works with a downloaded product and whether I would be able to return to version 6, but the offer is there.

I'm particularly interested about how it works on a Mac and with controlling a Skywatcher mount.

Any recent experience?

Kerry 

[anthony]

I plan to upgrade over the next few days. I shall post on this thread after I have had a play.

I think the current upgrade discount runs for another fortnight so hopefully enough time to judge.

[kerrylewis]

Hello Ant

Yes, according to the email the discount offer runs to 15th November

I look forward to your report

Thanks

Kerry

[Photosbykev]

it is significantly better than the original release thankfully . It's very usable with no obvious bugs in it now but I can't confirm if the telescope mount connectivity is reliable

[kerrylewis]

That sounds more promising Kev. I think I'll give it a go

Kerry

[greyhaven]

Yes SN7 Pro is much improved over the not ready for prime time version of this Spring. If you can get it at a discount and don't mind it still lacks a logging feature and waiting for images  to be streamed while zooming in you might find it worthwhile. If you already have SN Prp v6.4.3  the redesigned interface may be a disapointment. I don't use it for outreach or classroom presentations so much of the improvments are completely unneeded by me and during the last 6 months I found myself choosing v6.4.3 over the v7 and still use v6.4.3

when in the observatory.  They have decreased the crash issues and graphics are getting better as more images are now stored on my hard drive but the last six months have been disappointing for me.

Grey