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V9.0.4.1 released

For technical support visit https://support.2brightsparks.com/
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mickyj
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V9.0.4.1 released

Post by mickyj »

We’ve just uploaded a new release (V9.0.4.1) which contains a considerable number of changes. The font size has been reduced by 1 point and lots of other elements, e.g. buttons, have been reduced in size. Those changes required every single window to be updated. The main window has been changed including the progress bar, top toolbar, its size has been reduced, etc. Also, you’ll notice the main windows UI performance is now the same as in V8, if not faster. Dark mode has been changed to make it more readable and is now the same as the standard Windows 10 dark mode. A new “style” has been included (Windows) which isn’t a style and is now the default for new installations. Choosing that default Windows style fixes any issues with higher DPI and small tree buttons, scrolling problems on the Differences window, etc. There are too many other small tweaks, fixes and improvements to list here.

In terms of the look of the interface, everyone has an opinion. We’ve had people who like, people who hate it, people who want it to look like Windows XP, etc. The point is, there is no right or wrong, only what you like or don’t like. I really appreciate the constructive criticism and feedback we received, and we are listening (as we’ve just shown).

SyncBack has always been driven by feedback and suggestions. As I said right from the very beginning of the V9 release, we always work very hard to make sure we get things as right as we can. This is the first step and we’ll continue making changes to the interface. There are still things that we want to change.

I’ve been sat at my desk for 7 days straight making sure all this was done. I shall be taking the weekend off and spending no time at all thinking about SyncBack. Have a good weekend everyone!
Engztrom
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by Engztrom »

Thank you very much, mickyj and other developers at 2BrightSparks, for your hard work and dedication!
I just downloaded V9.0.4.1 and it already looks much better, especially the new uncropped progress bar
at the bottom instead of a slide-in window. What an improvement!

Now take a long and relaxing weekend and don't think about us, you sure have earned it!
Cheers, and MTFBWY!
dancedar
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by dancedar »

Thanks for the update, enjoy the weekend off!

I've tried the .4.1 release and while it's better it still feels like a ui failure. If I were you I would take a good look at why you're completely replacing the ui with a design which has been almost universally disliked, and rebase on v8 and integrate the features from v9 into it, and give up on the current v9 design, I don't think it can be rescued without an absolute ton of changes and it will still be years behind v8 in every way.
Sorry to say this, but I just don't see any benefit to beating a dead horse when you can regroup, take onboard all the criticism of v9, and move in a more positive direction. I think this would ve better for the app, the users, and ultimately your business.
zekeblue
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by zekeblue »

I wholeheartedly agree.
ajs
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by ajs »

I have to agree with the previous comments. I have only had the opportunity to have a very quick look at the initial V9 release and while the latest changes appear to be an improvement in my opinion this is still a massive retrograde step backwards from the V8 UI.

The V8 UI had its issues, I personally wasn’t a fan of some of the icons and partially the lack of contrast of light blue on white and having recently upgraded my laptop the DPI issues have become apparent, these however are fairly minor and I much rather put up with these issues than have the V9 UI.

The biggest issue however in my opinion with the V8 UI is the sheer number of options that SyncBack has, the modify profile dialog never did seem to have much structure and I am forever having to use the search function to find the option I want. Instead of improving this V9 makes the problem far worst, with V8 you at least had a bit of colour to help you navigate this mass of information and you could see more information on the screen at once, with V9 it all looks much the same and you need to scroll a lot more. The layout of the V8 UI is much better, the V9 UI just looks unbalanced and wasteful of space, there also appears to be various inconsistencies with icon sizes and text alignment, this has the effect of making the UI feel even more unstructured.

I am a great fan of dark mode as I find it much easier on my eyes and therefore enable it wherever possible, but in this case it actually makes things worst. I am not sure why this is but I think that having pure white on pure black doesn’t help, most of the best dark modes use grays, off whites and colours with medium brightness. However I don’t believe that dark mode is a high priority as SyncBack isn’t something you use hours on end which is where dark mode is really beneficial.

Andrew.
mike.c.carroll
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by mike.c.carroll »

Thank you to all of the SyncBack team for the improved user interface in v9.0.4.1. I prefer this much more than the initial release! I truly appreciate your hard work & your dedication to the software to make it a truly great software application. I also prefer the smaller buttons and the style & location of the revised running progress task bar.

Your great feature set and stability of the software is why I initially purchased the product in v5 and it continued growth in features are why I've purchased more licenses and have renewed another 3 years of software assurance.

Thank you again!
dancedar
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by dancedar »

From someone who's used Bvckup and Syncback I much prefer the sleekness of Bvckup2, but the power of Syncback v8 is better, hence I'm sticking with you guys. A good dark theme would be nice, take a lookg at how Sublime Text themes are; I especially like Monokai with Soda Dark 3 as a framework/style. Nice and dark but not stark or harse to view.

There's so much potential for V9, and I'd love it to be on the same level as V8, so while it's easy to point out what's wrong the whole app is great in general and nothing really comes close to it, so I love to support it (SE paid user here)!
homenet
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Re: V9.0.4.1 released

Post by homenet »

I appreciate the efforts to solve this painful situation with v9.

BUT, this does not hide the fact that pulling the new major version without a beta period has been a big blunder by 2BrightSparks. I guess this is the result of the Upgrade Assurance program and the fact of making it worth it for subscribers.

We all make errors daily, hopefully the company will learn something about this serious issues for future major releases.
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