I've been a strong advocate for Starry Night Pro. I bought the plus version. I've invested untold hours in learning and promoting it. But there are no fewer than five reasons I'm prompted to this decision:
- Weary that I can't alt-tab to Starry Night Pro window. None of my other software applications has this issue (refuse to play fairly with Windows). Amazed that Sim Curr would permit a "known" bug to languish so long.
- Weary that the "Observed" column is broken. Amazed that Sim Curr would permit a "known" bug to languish so long.
- Weary of the known bug in the "Observations" dialogue box that I reported months ago -- that maybe one out of ten times, the "Notes" field locks up and only permits the entry of a handful of characters. Amazed that Sim Curr would permit a "known" bug to languish so long.
- Weary of the instability of the "Connect to Telescope" connection. 3 times out of 4, if I connect to the telescope after the application has been open for a few minutes, the entire program crashes and gives me this dialogue box to send a report to Sim Curr. Some observation nights, I'm not lying: I've sent 4 or 5 crash reports ON THE SAME NIGHT. Amazed that Sim Curr would permit a "known" bug to languish so long - with so many reports and so little action.
- And now, weary of the little interaction we get from this support forum. It has truly become [only] a community support forum. My request at https://support.simulationcurriculum.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/4418436843159-Sometimes-when-I-start-a-new-observation-in-SNP8-it-seems-that-the-text-box-is-limited-to-only-one-line-or-less was posted [literally] nine months ago and STILL it appears no one has answered from Sim Curr. I've "bumped" the question several times. Amazed at the apparent lack of care for customers. I know Sim Curr has a small staff. I also know that this is not a free program. In fact, it's the most expensive planetarium software on the market - and maybe the most expensive astronomy software I own.
No more. I switched last night to Stellarium. At least there are occasional updates. It's far from perfect. Maybe it's not as pretty. But at least it doesn't seem to be languishing from lack of love.
Sad. I've worked so hard to help others see all the good in Starry Night Pro. No more. I know I'm just one user. But some have said that for every person who voices an opinion like this, there are one thousand others who feel the same, but just haven't spoken up. Sad. SNP was a great and innovative software application in its time. I'm weary of waiting for action.
Doug
