nisus.com

Martin,
Are there so very few of us still running SL? I love the development progress of NWP, always enjoying the new features you add, but I wasn't planning to forsake SL for a long time. I assume there are only a few of us still on SL or it would not make sense for Nisus to do this.

Or is this merely a development issue:either (1) it's not worth the resources to test on so many operating systems, or (2) there are planned features that will only work well on OSes later than Snow Leopard?

Just curious and a bit sad

I'm sorry for the sad news. I know that OSX 10.6 is still quite viable and useful for many.

But it's true: OSX 10.6 users are a minority at this point. In looking at our active user demographics for November, around 75% are already on OSX 10.8 or 10.9. That's a huge chunk, and it's only going to get larger, especially as OSX 10.9 is free. Apple has no fears about pushing for progress, and its users tend to follow quickly.

And yes, each version of OSX that we support requires development resources and slows Nisus Writer's progress. As an example, look at the just released Pro 2.0.7: there are a handful of bugs that are OSX 10.6 specific that required time to isolate and fix. Likewise it's harder to adopt new features and technologies that Apple rolls out with each version of OSX if we have to keep supporting older platforms. Sure, the coding can be done, but there are real costs.

So while we'd like to continue supporting OSX 10.6 and users choosing to remain there, we can't do so forever. Now is a good time for us to make a break and ensure that Nisus Writer stays streamlined and in step with progress. Hopefully you'll be able to join us for the journey.

May I suggest that you could follow the example of some other software where support for an older OS has been dropped and continue to provide a download of 2.0.7 once 2.0.8 comes out? This would help current Snow Leopard users who might need to re-download, and you might still get a few sales out of it.

Yep, there we go, folks -- NWP 2.0.7 will be a "legacy product" when the next version of NWP rolls out … but given NWP history that shouldn't be for a year! LOL!

I'm not sure you are using the word "progress" correctly, Martin. I don't see a lot of "progress" with Apple OSes, just a lot of messing around with stuff plus a few bells and whistles that mean about half of nothing.

But I understand and accept your decision. Since the vast majority of users are on X.9, you have to focus on their needs -- Nisus is a business, not a charity. I'll just sit quietly on X.6.8 until the millennium (note lower case "m") which is the second coming of Canvas for Mac.

And according to ACD that is scheduled (to the astonishment of one and all) for Spring next year when they roll out a revived and recoded version of Canvas for Mac!!!

If that happens, I'll buy that and even consider downgrading my OS to X.9 (or X.X or whatever it is by then). And then I'll be able to go with the next NWP upgrade!

LOL!

Cheers, geoff

As memory serves, I think the last figures I saw for overall Mac OS usage were around 15% still on 10.6, and for most of us (I am one) that's because of some combination of the loss of Rosetta, interface issues, and other software-related problems. For me, it's not so much that I need to continue using the applications as that I need access to old files, as I was reminded yesterday when I had to dust off AppleWorks to open an old Draw file I needed to re-use.

I expect to move to Mavericks eventually, but right now the new version of Mail is having serious problems that have yet to be fixed. Until those are fixed, those of us who have stayed with 10.6 are not likely to budge.

rfwilmut wrote:May I suggest that you could follow the example of some other software where support for an older OS has been dropped and continue to provide a download of 2.0.7 once 2.0.8 comes out? This would help current Snow Leopard users who might need to re-download, and you might still get a few sales out of it.

You can download previous versions of NWP here:
http://nisus.com/pro/versions.php

and previous versions of NWE here:
http://nisus.com/Express/versions.php

Thank you, that's useful (particularly considering there doesn't seem to be a link to it on the site).

rfwilmut wrote:Thank you, that's useful (particularly considering there doesn't seem to be a link to it on the site).

All of our main product pages (eg: Pro's page) have links to a version archive and release notes history. They're not the most prominent part of the page, so it's understandable you might have missed it. But as you can see, Nisus Software is dedicated to providing access to older versions of our applications.

Ah, yes - I didn't interpret that wording as meaning downloads of earlier versions,

I am still using SL, too. New to NWP, sad about losing updates....

I have a question, Martin::

It says 2.0.7 last release for 10.6 SL. Do you plan that the next release will support Lion and/or Mountain Lion?

I have ML and was just waiting for another program I have to update to ML. I will either be moving to ML soon, or doing dual boot ML and SL.

So I am curious if you plan to still support ML??

I guess that as the cut off is stated as Snow Leopard then future versions of Nisus Writer will run on Lion and Mountain Lion.

That is what Martin said in his announcement: 10.7 and above:

http://nisus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5554

lindas2013 wrote:I am still using SL, too. sad about losing updates....

I'm also still on Snow Leopard, I have 20 years history in one application and so the loss of Rosetta was an enormous hurdle...

Martin, can I persuade Nisus to at least fix some if not many of the long outstanding issues with images. They do need to be fixed anyway for all your users, so please would you fix them before abandoning your Snow Leopacd users completely...

re: "In looking at our active user demographics for November, around 75% are already on OSX 10.8 or 10.9."

Merely curious, but absent a poll, how do you gather this demographic info?

The number of people that post the version of OSX they are using here is surely not enough to support a company. (And I can't imagine Nisus compiling those numbers manually.)
Downloading an upgrade from the Nisus site or apple store doesn't require actively posting the OSX version.

NSA-ingly,

Cliff

lindas2013 wrote:It says 2.0.7 last release for 10.6 SL. Do you plan that the next release will support Lion and/or Mountain Lion?

Yes, the next update after Pro 2.0.7 will support OSX 10.7 and OSX 10.8.