With the news of Esbee’s forthcoming departure since spreading, Viewer 2.5, recently promised by Frank (FJ Linden) Ambrose is rolled out a “Beta” to trumpeting by Q Linden.
Chief among the list of features in this iteration is the new web-based profile feature. I’ve already reported on this, and I like the fact that, in 1.23.x viewers at least, we get the best of both worlds – a web page Profile and the familiar in-world Profile window. Changes to one are automatically reflected in the other – neat.
However, in Viewer 2.5, it seems things are to be somewhat different: the web page Profile actually replaces the in-world Profile in the sidebar (clicking on Profile now apparently pops-up the built-in browser to display the web Profile). While this overcomes the somewhat ugly and limited Profile display found in the Viewer 2 sidebar, it’s not entirely ideal.
However, this isn’t the biggest issue with the new Profile option. People have already commented on the fact that it includes options to link to Facebook and Twitter – and people commenting on the release are also raising objections about the fact that others can click on the included buttons and add Profiles for SL avatars to their Facebook pages.
Me? I’m failing to see the problem. I’m sure there are those in SL who use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn who will find such options a delight and welcome addition. For those who don’t, I tend to say, “so what?” Why get all het up about it? I personally don’t use Facebook, so I won’t be linking anything from anyone to anywhere. I don’t even care if Joe Schmoe or Patty Pattacake out in Facebook land link my SL Profile to their Facebook pages because it doesn’t affect me in the slightest. There is nothing within my SL Profile that allows anyone to beat a path to my RL front door; so if Joe or Patty want to claim Inara as their friend – good for them. I’ve never been someone’s imaginary friend before – the experience might be fun.
And that’s assuming there are people out in Facebook land who are going to go clicky-happy when they happen to stumble upon SL avatar profiles – or worse, say nasty things about us! In sort, where this particular problem is concerned, people really should get over themselves. Now, had the new feature forced us all into Facebook land, then I’d understand (and be a part of) the outcry; as it stands, “mountain” and “molehill” are words that spring to mind.
What I do find telling about this release is that it has been pushed out the door by LL despite the fact this much-heralded feature has an irritating bug sitting in it – which is this: it doesn’t exactly work.
Those using Internet Explorer stand to be OK. But people using Chrome or Firefox or Safari, etc., are all reporting issues – specifically “SSL Handshake Failure”. This is due to the fact that the software requires a security certificate in order to function, and the only way to get that certificate until the Viewer is patched (2.5 Beta 2) is to run Internet Explorer and access a profile…
It’s not a major bug – but many people don’t use Internet Explorer. It’s not liked. Period. Linden Lab know this – just look at the kurfuffles surrounding the release of the “new” forum software, which originally only ran “properly” on Internet Explorer (and which today still doesn’t display all posts in a thread in browsers like Chrome…) users of other browsers weren’t exactly shy in giving vent to their frustrations – and rightly so. Given this problem was discovered before 2.5 Beta 1 was released, one has to ask why was the software still pushed out the door? Why the all-fired rush?
Would waiting just a day or two (or even a week) to get the patch sorted really have hurt that much?
I don’t use Viewer 2 – I’m a Phoenix / KLee Viewer user – so something like this doesn’t really affect me per se – and yet it does; simply because it is indicative that LL, rather than being focused on stability, usability and the like are still focused primarily on dates on the calendar and ticking boxes – something Philip R himself said back at SLCC they’d “gotten wrong” and would be “fixed”.
Well, the fix appears to be lacking.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
No meaningful software is ever perfect. There’s a lot of new stuff in each viewer, and this is, after all, beta 1. I made the call (with advice from our QA team) that even with this bug, there’s enough in the viewer that beta users would be able to test to give us useful feedback, especially since there’s a workaround. The bug will be fixed with the release of beta 2 next week.
For what it’s worth, this bug was hard to reproduce internally, so we didn’t even have a repro until a few hours before we were already planning to ship. It wasn’t about the date as much as about whether it was worth putting a stop to the train for this issue.
It’s all about the risk-benefit analysis, and I still think I made the right call. My big mistake was failing to mention it in the release notes.
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Q – thanks for replying. And fair enough – to a point. The flipside is, the new Profiles function has been something of a *flagship* announcement – but it “doesn’t work”. Whether or not the release notes were updated, this does come across as a facepalm moment for many.
Given the bug was found out prior to the release….and given this is a “flagship” feature you wanted to draw attention to and get people using….surely it wouldn’t have (to use your analogy) derailed the train had you simply held off for a short period to implement the fix?
My critique here is that Viewer 2 has a perception around it – note the term, as it is from the user’s perspective – of having been pushed through the door prematurely. To be sure, a lot of work has gone into the software to make it – dare I say – more “user friendly” for established SL users, and Kudos to you all for doing so.
But continuing to push products out with “hey look at this! – Oops, forgot to mention it doesn’t work as advertised” (or not in the case of this initial release), doesn’t exactly do you guys a favour, at all. You’re simply making it harder to convince people that moving to Viewer 2.x is a worthwhile effort on their part.
Of course no software is ever perfect – but with respect, that’s not the point. We understand that beta releases can have issues. Many are willing to look for issues and lend support; but in this particular instance, I’d call into question the risk/benefit analysis. *Many* people *do not use* Internet Explorer – period (indeed, in Europe, Microsoft are legally obliged to supply IE as one of a *number* of browser options to be installed on Windows – it might be there in the operating system, but it *doesn’t* have to be activated)….ergo, you’re somewhat alienating people from trying this beta even when saying, “Oh, you can fix it by running IE…” – which you could have so easily avoided by holding fire. That’s really my point.
Anyway from that, good to see and hear from you, and hope you’ve made a full recovery!
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I use Chrome and Safari – on Windows and on Mac (though I’m not testing beta 2.5 on my Mac right now) – I haven;t had any of these issues. I understand (I may be wrong) that one work around is to login to your account on the SL web site – that is then works for those experiencing these issues.
The other main complaint (to which I can’t help but laugh) is that “inventory transfer” is now “broken”. Of course, these are mostly going to be people who have never tried Viewer 2 and are simply repeating some rumor initiated (intentionally or not) by someone inexperienced as Linden Lab have been steering us to the IM window for inventory transfers since the beginning of V2.
For the record: I like Viewer 2 – just the way it is. I suppose my only gripe abut the beta is how clunky the “My Profile” tab has become, but I also understand this is a first beta and certainly that tab will be removed or something more creative out into it’s place.
It seems a “Profile” button on the “Others” tab (where groups and nearby people are found) would make sense and a “My Profile” choice in the “Me” menu or something.
Either way, I ditto your sentiments on the post in general and your reply to Q. All in all, I think Linden Lab is *trying*. And frankly, I think for the last year or so, they’ve really been on the right track.
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Yes, the issue seems hit-and-miss. I’m a confirmed Chrome user, and have had no problems; not so a couple of friends, who were less than pleased about the IE “workaround”.
The IM window is convenient for inventory transfers – if you have it open already; otherwise it becomes a toss-up as to which way you go – at least in 1.23 / Snowglobe-derived Viewers.
To be honest, I’ve not used Viewer 2.x in anger recently, so can’t say either way as to likeability with the latest releases (2.2 was the last version I used in-depth). I’m still a preferred TPV user; not because of anything I have against Viewer 2 – I think it has come a long way in the last 12 months (although frankly, it was starting off in a very poor place – and the “it’s Beta” excuse doesn’t really cut for a whole slew of reasons). I can still simply work faster in a TPV than with Viewer 2 – and I admit it comes down to a familiarity thing; as I don’t *have* to change, I’d rather get on with things rather than start over. How long I’ll be able to continue doing so, remains to be seen – and a lot will come down to the likes of Firestorm and Kokua.
Either way – Viewer 2 or updated TPVs – 2011 is going to be an interesting year!
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