Are We The BETA Testers?
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm feeling a LOT like a BETA tester with this 2015 version. The Acronis website doesn't even mention the 2015 version yet - it still shows the 2014 version and says the upgrade will be available when the 2015 version "launches". What? You mean it hasn't launched yet? Then why are we jerking around with it? I sure feel like a BETA tester on this. I wouldn't mind if that's what I was told from the beginning, but... Please, somebody tell me I'm wrong on this!
I had a similar thought when I received their email offering me an early upgrade.
Having had lots previous issues with making an early purchase of TI in the past they couldn't persuade me to upgrade before at least the 2nd patch has been issued. Their last 3 yearly updates have all had problems where I've been concerned and I made the decision last year never to purchase again from them on initial or early release. It does seem they're asking existing users to be beta testers for TI2015 but dressing it up as something else.
I had a similar thought when I received their email offering me an early upgrade.
Having had lots previous issues with making an early purchase of TI in the past they couldn't persuade me to upgrade before at least the 2nd patch has been issued. Their last 3 yearly updates have all had problems where I've been concerned and I made the decision last year never to purchase again from them on initial or early release. It does seem they're asking existing users to be beta testers for TI2015 but dressing it up as something else.
"It does seem they're asking existing users to be beta testers for TI2015 but dressing it up as something else."
yes, you are absolutely right.
Joey, thanks for that link - but I'm not sure it addresses the issue raised here. Yes, the link shows the "Initial Release" announcement from Anna, but nothing in that announcement says anything about the missing features in 2015, nor does it say anything about 2014 users being "Beta Testers" for the 2015 version. It implies this is a release-ready version, yet many users are reporting a remarkable number of bugs and other disappointments. And since the 2015 version is NOT available yet on the website, it buttresses a feeling that we are the guinea pigs - so we apparently report all the bugs so they can be fixed before this is made available to the general public. As I've said before, I don't mind being used as a Beta Tester as long as I KNOW that's what's happening - then I know there may be problems and I expect it to take longer to get things done. Instead, this "initial release" was presented to existing users as "ready to go" and we were getting first crack at it as almost a "gift" for being loyal customers. Thinking it was "ready to go", I approached it completely differently than I would have with a Beta release, and frankly, I was shocked with what I now had on my machine. Nice "looking" interface, but many of the features I know and trust were missing, so I felt misled at almost every step of the way. I didn't see ANY of this coming from having read Anna's note. As an aside, I never even SAW Anna's note until AFTER I did the upgrade b/c my upgrade was initiated from inside the application and not from an email alert about it. I just trusted Acronis so much that I went along with the upgrade without questioning it - how could anything go wrong? Once I saw some features missing (for me, the most blatant was the Try & Decide feature), I went to the forum to see if I was overlooking something - and that's the first time I saw Anna's note. But I reiterate, even if I had seen that note in advance, there was nothing in it to put me on notice there was such a drastic departure from the 2014 version. And for the reasons I've mentioned, I genuinely felt like we are being used as Beta Testers after having the Initial Release presented to us almost a "loyalty" dividend. At this point, I'm about 98% certain that I will revert back to the 2014 version unless Acronis says or does something to obviate the need for that. Don't mean to rant at you, Joey. Just trying to say I appreciate the link to the Initial Release announcement but that announcement didn't address the issues I (and others) are offended by.
In a nutshell, less features, more issues, user interface less intuitive. Plus the nagging screen in Acronis 2014. As a custumer for so many years I feel somewhat betrayed. I will wait another week until at least the issues with the rescue media is solved. Otherwise I am sorry to apply for a refund. :(