This is a newsletter for Tablet UML, the UML® Tool You Don't Have to Learn! Tablet UML is a Tablet PC® application that allows you to build UML models in a natural fashion: by drawing with a Tablet PC.
Greetings, and welcome to the second issue of TABLET UML NEWS!
If this is your first issue, you may not have any reason to ask; but the rest of you may be asking, "Where've you been, Martin?" After a newsletter, a beta release (see below), and a flurry of blog posts, I went silent.
Well, the answer to "Where've you been, Martin?" is "Earning money to pay bills." Tablet UML isn't generating any revenue yet, so I have to put some time into things that do. In this case, it was:
And that leads to WHERE I'LL BE. It appears that July is the month when all the presenters take a break, because a bunch of user groups can't find anyone better to speak than me. This month, I'll be on the road on this schedule:
So if you're in Michigan, Nebraska, or Oklahoma, stop by and see me. Get a chance to see Tablet UML in action, including a sneak peak at Beta 2. See some of my other Tablet PC tools, many of which are test beds for the tools that end up in Tablet UML.
(Two of these presentations -- Nebraska and Oklahoma -- are arranged through the International .NET Association, or INETA. This organization promotes .NET development by providing speakers and pizza for user groups, all at no cost to the user groups. If you would like to have an INETA speaker for your .NET-related user group, visit http://www.INETA.org.)
So I've been busy; but progress on Tablet UML continues, just as a slower pace than I expected.
In keeping with the tradition I established in issue 1, I'll try to lead with any bad news: delays, setbacks, etc. I won't paint a gloom-and-doom picture, but I won't hand you rose-colored glasses, either. The good news will follow.
So here's the Bad News First for July:
And then there's our dose of reality (again): Tablet UML is only at version 0.7. There are some features you would find useful -- heck, some I would find useful -- that won't make the cut for version 1.0. Some won't even make 2.0, and some won't ever make the cut.
Now that the bad news is out of the way, we can move onto the good news. And the biggest good news is: BETA 1 HAS SHIPPED. I have sent out copies to fifteen testers in three countries and two continents; and there are one or two testers to whom I still owe a copy. (Nag me if that includes you!)
Feedback so far has been sparse, but valuable. Keep it coming!
And the other big good news is that, despite being suddenly busy, I'm making slow but steady progress on Beta 2. Given my speaking engagements, I've had to revise my estimated delivery date. I'm now shooting for the end of July.
The largest improvement in Beta 2 will be under the hood: a redesign from Big Ink to Little Ink, as I described in my Tablet UML blog (http://myst-technology.com/mysmartchannels/public/blog/8303). I explained the technical issues in great depth there; but the visible result will be:
Other improvements slated for Beta 2:
And then there's the big course change. Last issue, I discussed the difference between natural and cleaned-up diagrams, and explained how I preferred natural diagrams for Tablet UML. Well, lots of pre-beta feedback from testers and from colleagues convinced me that my thinking and the user expectations were not aligned; and as Joel Spolsky (http://www.joelonsoftware.com) explains in his book on user interface design, when there's a misalignment between what you and the users think, it's usually easier and preferable to adjust your thinking. Insisting that you're right and the world is wrong may be satisfying, but it doesn't sell products. So I made diagram clean-up a high priority, and it's now in place. AND it's the default mode. You can still disable clean-up if you want natural diagrams.
Some of these features -- including diagram clean-up -- I finished between writing the last newsletter and releasing Beta 1; so some of you have already seen them, because you're beta testers. If you haven't seen these features and you'd like to, see the end of this newsletter for instructions on becoming a beta tester.
As mentioned above, I now have a Tablet UML blog, http://myst-technology.com/mysmartchannels/public/blog/8303. Check in there to learn the latest news on Beta 2, as well as what's going on in my life and projects.
There's lots of other good news, but I need to get this TABLET UML NEWS out the door, so I can get to the pile of stuff that needs doing. To keep up with the latest Tablet UML news, join the Beta List.
If you haven't yet joined the Beta List and you want to keep receiving TABLET UML NEWS and join the beta test program, here are the steps:
If there are any questions about this process, please contact me.
I'm always happy to spread the word about Tablet UML. If you know anyone who would be interested in TABLET UML NEWS, please feel free to forward this message to them.
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Copyright © 2005 by Martin L. Shoemaker. All rights reserved.