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September 1st (late-thirty), 2000 Wilmington,
NC. - Well, I'm 15 minutes late uploading the long
promised PMMail 2000 press release. You'll never believe why....
Here's my excuse (I swear it's true...) I was testing a USB
Ethernet adapter and couldn't get it to work just right so I popped
the trusty 3Com905B-TX back in the machine and for a solid 45
minutes I installed-reinstalled-installed-etc the drivers without
luck. Frustration growing, I watched midnight pass and silently
cursed myself for pushing my luck. Then, in a flash of 'duh' I
thought to look at the card and sure enough I forgot to take the
Ethernet cable out of the USB NIC and put it in the 3Com. Anyway,
it's time for the announcement - I hope you're pleased. ;-) The
original announcement for 11:59 follows, and was ready on
schedule.
Thomas "Is it plugged in?" Bradford
August 31st, 2000 Wilmington, NC - Blueprint
Software Works, Inc. is proud to announce the future development
plans for PMMail/2 and PMMail 2000.
Please digest this slowly. It's not really a formal press
release as much as it is a mission statement and a vehicle for
letting you know our short, intermediate, and long-term strategy
for PMMail. Ready? Take a deep breath and read on!
- Item 1: We are extremely proud to announce
that Mr. Peter Nielsen will be taking a position as President of
Product Development at Blueprint Software Works, Inc. Mr. Nielsen
will be moving to the USA from Finland in 2Q 2001 however we
anticipate that he will begin his career with Blueprint prior to
relocating. Peter Nielsen is a name I'm sure you all recognize as
that of the developer of PMView, the award-winning image viewing
and editing program available for both OS/2 and Windows. Mr.
Nielsen will oversee the continued development of our flagship
products which is a task he is uniquely suited for.
Mr. Nielsen will be accompanied by his spouse, Marina Nielsen, who
is in the final stages of completing a doctorate in French studies
and upon relocation hopes to take a position at the University of
North Carolina which coincidently just established a French studies
department in Wilmington.
- Item 2: For our loyal OS/2 users, please rest
assured that we consider the continued development of PMMail for
OS/2 to be of paramount importance. Yes, it is true that it is not
going to make anyone rich - let's face it. On the other hand, where
would we be without our OS/2 users? Just another face in the crowd.
Out of a sense of loyalty we collectively agreed that the OS/2
version shall continue. This does not mean that it will always be
on par with the Windows version, or that releases will be made at
the same time. And the previous sentence is not code for "It's
abandoned, they just won't say it." How long have we been around
and heard the same thing.... Well, you just have to trust us. You
won't be sorry, but we must all be realistic. Support for some of
the development tools used to create the OS/2 version has been
discontinued by IBM and at the same time tools and widgetsfor the
Windows platform seem to be multiplying like rabbits. There's
precious little we can do about that and no matter what our
patriotic feelings may be, we can't re-code from the ground up
continuously or rewrite major chunks of code just to tread water.
That's just how it has turned out.
- Item 3: This version will have over 2 pages of
bug fixes, tweaks, and improvements. I regret to say that IMAP
support will not be one of them. It was a tossup - offering IMAP
support would delay the release for more than 6 months. By leaving
out IMAP support, we can get a solid release out this year,
hopefully before Christmas. Hold the tomatoes folks - you may not
have heard a lot from us as far as development goes, but it's hard
to talk with your mouth full. We've been working on this next
release for more than a few months and there are some things the
original code was never intended to do. IMAP support is one of
them. To say it another way, we have to rewrite a very significant
amount of code to give you IMAP. It will be available in a future
release; just not the next one. You may be interested to know that
we mailed out thousands and thousands (literally) of emails
announcing the PMMail survey and IMAP support came in with 19% of
1900 licensed users voting 3 or higher on a scale of 1-5 with 5
being "got to have it". (4 hours after the announcement was
initially made)
- Item 4: We have not decided if the next
release will require a modest upgrade fee. I'm shooting straight
with you. It all depends on the final development costs. I'll
promise you this: If we charge an upgrade fee, we have plans to
release a slimmed down fully functional demo that does not expire;
similar in concept to Eudora Light (tm).
- Item 5: There won't be a Mac version unless
someone steps forward and says "I can do it." Then there will be a
Mac version. We'd simply love to have PMMail available running on
the Apple OS; but alas, we know of no one and have no contacts in
this area.
- Item 6: We get asked about BeOS about 10 times
a week. See item 5. Actually, this was discussed seriously about a
year ago, but the starch seemed to go out of the effort.
- Item 7: The only thing we get feelers about
more than BeOS is a Linux version. Hold your hat: This is an area I
can say we are going to pursue earnestly. The market is there, the
momentum is there, and our customers are there. We'll be there too,
as quickly as possible.
- Item 8: Are you a developer with credentials?
If you have input on #5, #6, or #7 above email me at info@blueprintsofwareworks.com.
- Item 9: Now that we have began to discuss this
in earnest, please check this list every once in a while as it is a
living document. One day soon there will be a #10, a #11, and so
on.
Once more, I thank you for your loyalty, support, and especially
your patience. We will not let you down!
Thomas Bradford, CEO
Blueprint Software Works, Inc.
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