Boxee needs to finish Os Versions

[Bugs63]

I'm just trying to understand why Boxee keeps taking on new projects before finishing old ones, it doesn't make any sense!

Here we have several different flavors of Boxee, OSX, Windows & Linux. Non of which are finished after more than 2 yrs. of development! and yet there's now a Boxee Box which has been a real pain-in-the-butt for the team. Just look at the bug list...

And now their getting ready to release a version for the iPad, I mean what's up with that? It looks like the other versions aren't a priority at this point otherwise they'd been updated or at-least given a final 1.0 release.

Sorry, this new iPad version just ticks me off...

Just get off the Mac wagon already and finish what you start before taking on anymore projects please...

[Prospero424]

I would have added "continue to focus on Boxee Box" as a poll option, but I'm voting for the desktop software either way.

Also, from what I understand, the mobile (iPad) app they're working on isn't really a full version of Boxee, it's just a front end that can integrate with the Boxee Box and your "Watch Later" queue and social feeds. So putting that on equal footing with the desktop and Box version of the Boxee software doesn't quite fit.

The iPad app doesn't bother me in the least, even though I don't even own any Apple products. It's probably a separate dev team, and moving into the mobile space is something they need to do even if it's only to keep the venture capital stream flowing.

I honestly don't know enough about what goes on behind the scenes to tell them what their priorities should be. I think they can best decide that, and I think many of their more controversial decisions in the past have turned out for the best.

That being said, if we don't see a desktop version of the Boxee software by the time summer is over, I'll probably taper off my activity in these forums to the point that I only briefly check in a couple of times a week. It's just too frustrating to support a project this complex on a volunteer basis when critical updates may or may not be forthcoming.

In particular, fixing hardware acceleration of Apple-formatted video podcasts (that is most podcasts) is absolutely critical. Right now, if you have hardware acceleration of local media enabled, you'll just get a black screen if you try to view a podcast. Now, I KNOW this has been fixed, it just needs to be integrated into a release. And I'm sure there are dozens if not hundreds of other similar issues that are fixed, but we desktop users can't access the fixes for.

I'm a very, VERY patient, understanding person when it comes to technical and development issues like this, especially when I know the dev team involved is rather small and extraordinarily dedicated to the success of the platform. And because of this, I know that if I'm beginning to be slightly annoyed by this, there are almost certainly plenty of others who are becoming extremely aggravated. So I'll put in my personal plea, here: Please, Boxee Team, please consider shifting resources over to getting the updated desktop software released once the next major update for the BBox hits. You're going to start losing significant mind share and goodwill amongst the community, otherwise.

Ok. End plea. I'll just reiterate that I think their past controversial decisions have turned out for the best and that they currently have my full support.

[Bugs63]

The reason I didn't add "continue support for boxee box" is because their already focused on it and that's adding to the over all delay in the other releases!

I'm just getting impatient but I can understand that Boxee needs to satisfy their investors first and I know they have a lot riding on the Boxee box. They do need to get things moving before someone else jumps in the game and tries to take over the market. Boxee has a great shot if it can prove they don't have any issue with supporting so many platforms all at once.

This whole projects been an uphill battle with companies like "they who shall not be named"... hahahhha ya know but I'm not going there because Boxee needs them as much as we hope they'll need Boxee.

[Prospero424]

The reason I didn't add "continue support for boxee box" is because their already focused on it and that's adding to the over all delay in the other releases!

I realize that. But you have to realize that there are Boxee users out there (even if I'm certainly not among them) who like it this way; they're only interested in running the Box, not messing with full-fledged HTPCs. For that reason, they'd probably prefer that the team remained focused on the Box.

I just thought having a poll option that reflected that reality might be a good idea if you're interested in an accurate representation of attitudes. But it's your poll, of course.

[Sccrluk9]

Im with Prospero. I have all the patience in the world but it is starting to seem rather pointless to keep hope in getting an update any time soon. My Boxee install freezes every time I wake my computer now and for the life of me I can not figure out why (fresh install and all). If there is not at least a roadmap for the standalone version by midsummer Im out. There are other programs that will do what I want that are still receiving support from their creators.

[fperrotta]

Honestly I have seen this mentioned before, if they would update and sell to us users I am psoitive most of us would pay for it (if it was a resonable price). Or another idea isn't their code open source can't a third party take up the task of updating the OS version? Honestly I am just say because I have really no clue if it is posible.

[islanderjsf]

I must say I am also a little disappointed in the lack of effort lately on the OS versions. I believe we are talking over a year since any update has been made on Windows.

I understand Boxee is competing in a tough market where big names are getting in the game and TV's are now coming with apps that match Boxee function.

I think for me, the most frustrating thing is that I have been a Boxee user for some time with a nicely priced HTPC sitting in my entertainment center running Boxee. I was an early adopter who helped submit bug reports and attended streaming events over the internet to see new functionality for alpha and beta releases.

To just completely ignore this user base to me is a little disrespectful if you ask me. Now I understand that folks paid money for a Boxee box and it is probably by far the most important platform for the team to address, but at least acknowledge and assign some staff to the OS platforms for those users who helped Boxee get to where it is today. I might not have purchased a Boxee Box, but I have invested in hardware to run the OS platform and I certainly have invested a ton of time into the success of Boxee.

I am a daily user who keeps his fingers crossed that there will be an update someday on the OS platforms. If it doesn't happen, I fear I will purchase a new TV with the key apps I need (Youtube, Netflix, Hulu etc.) and I will revert back to core XBMC for streaming my movies and shows on my home network.

What a shame. Make it right Boxee team. Help keep us early adopters on the platform.

[darcilicious]

The last update for Windows and MacOSX was in late October or very early November to include Vudu and updated audio settings (HD/5.1/etc). So 5 1/2 months ago.

[_gnome]

Yes it's been almost 6 months since the previous release, so when can we expect to see a new release? This is a ridiculous amount of time for fixes to even some of the simplest problems.

The team seems to have been fixing a lot of issues which seem to also plague both the Mac/Windows/Linux versions and the boxee bos, so when will we see a merge of the branches? I know they are different platforms, but some of the problems are high level enough that shouldn't really matter. (Unless they built the boxee box code from scratch?)

Just look at most of the Netflix issues, like not showing specific shows/correct episode ordering. I would assume this is an issue on both the box and the OS versions and it has nothing to do with the boxee frontend, it's all the backend boxee servers the frontend queries from! Come on guys.

[darcilicious]

Avner has responded to several comments about this in his most recent blog post that he will post an update about the OS platforms.

but some of the problems are high level enough that shouldn't really matter. (Unless they built the boxee box code from scratch?)

I wouldn't say from scratch but there certainly have been some MAJOR changes that I would guess aren't just a matter of "merging" branches and recompiling.

I would assume this is an issue on both the box and the OS versions and it has nothing to do with the boxee frontend, it's all the backend boxee servers the frontend queries from!

Bad assumption. The Netflix app for the Boxee Box has been completely rewritten to Netflix's pretty stringent controls/guidelines and is completely different than what is on the OS version.