ANN: The Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP2 Beta Program

[Geoff Schwab [MSFT]]

The Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework Product Team would like to invite you
to participate in their upcoming beta program for .NET Compact Framework 1.0
SP2. We are specifically looking for feedback as to whether existing
application functionality is preserved when running against SP2 bits (no
regressions).


Our goal is to have a well targeted group of testers willing to actively
participate and provide useful feedback to our development team. Please
carefully consider your willingness and ability to test .NET Compact
Framework 1.0 SP2. Your feedback will be critical to the success of our
product. Regular and consistent participation throughout the program is
expected.



If you are selected as a technical beta tester, you may be required to:

a.. Download releases through BetaPlace, an authenticated Web site
b.. Participate in private beta newsgroups
c.. Submit bug reports online
d.. Complete periodic surveys hosted on BetaPlace to obtain your input on
various technical issues

If you are interested in participating, please use this special Guest
Account below to access a nomination survey on http://www.BetaPlace.com.

Guest Access Account

Guest Beta ID: netcfbeta



You will only be contacted once your nomination has been processed.



We look forward to hearing from you.



The .NET Compact Framework Team


--
Geoff Schwab
Program Manager
Excell Data Corporation
http://msdn.com/mobility
http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/prodtechinfo/devtools/netcf/FAQ/default.aspx

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Hilton]

Geoff,

I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm sure it would save everyone a lot
of trouble by simply calling this one SP3. SP2 was recalled. The fact is,
SP2 is out there, a bunch of people have it. Just follow these NGs and
you'll see that people are using it. Now you're gonna release SP2 formally
known as SP2 - it's gonna be a nightmare.

SP2 is out there, it's shipped, it's done, call this one SP3. Just MHO.

Hilton

 

[Martin Robins]

This is a fair point. I have been working with a software house recently who
were still developing a production solution against SP2 until I informed
them that SP2 had been recalled!

Believe it or not, there are people out there using SP2 because they do not
know it is faulty, as well as those who are using it anyway.

At least, call it SP2a or something that will distinguish it from the
original release.

Cheers.

 

[Jonathan Wells [msft]]

Hi Hilton / Martin,

Thank you for your feedback regarding SP2, we appreciate your comments! We
will clearly label the next service pack release, in the download center, so
to differentiate it from the recalled SP2 release. Also upon release we will
provide details of how to discern which release you and your customers have
installed. The forthcoming redistributable packages will be configured to
install over the all previous .NET Compact Framework releases including the
recalled SP2.

cheers jonathan

--
Jonathan Wells
Product Manager
..NET Compact Framework
Check out the .NET Compact Framework FAQ at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/prodtechinfo/devtools/netcf/FAQ/default.aspx

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Hilton]

Hi Hilton / Martin,

Thank you for your feedback regarding SP2, we appreciate your comments! We
will clearly label the next service pack release, in the download center, so
to differentiate it from the recalled SP2 release. Also upon release we will
provide details of how to discern which release you and your customers have
installed. The forthcoming redistributable packages will be configured to
install over the all previous .NET Compact Framework releases including the
recalled SP2.

Here is my (last) 5c about this issue:

Jonathan, just call it SP3 - it costs nothing, it's just a number.
Microsoft already shipped (a buggy) SP2, now you're going to ship a
different version - both called SP2.

Just imagine the posts on this newsgroup (remember that each line below is a
new post):

Dev: I wrote an app and set flag XYZ to ABC. It threw a
BadSomethingException.

Msft: What version of the CF are you using?

Dev: SP2

Msft: Which version of SP2?

Dev: The one that the customer downloaded directly from microsoft.com

Msft: When did they download it?

Dev: I have no idea.

Msft: OK, well, what version number does it have?

Dev: How do I find the CF version number?

etc etc etc. You can prevent this - just call the thing SP3. You've
shipped SP2 - it was broken. IMHO, you're shipping SP2 to pretend you never
shipped a broken SP2.

Anyway, that's it. I promise not to say any more on the topic.

Cheers,

Hilton