local.bin Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Hi there I was interested in an update of Retrospect 8.x but had understood that the update would be coming out to give Lion compatibility. As the announcement has stated 8.2 is Lion compatible, then I am not sure if and when an 8.x update will arrive? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prl Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hi there I was interested in an update of Retrospect 8.x but had understood that the update would be coming out to give Lion compatibility. As the announcement has stated 8.2 is Lion compatible, then I am not sure if and when an 8.x update will arrive? Thanks There's a lot more needed in an 8.3 release than just Lion compatibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local.bin Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 There's a lot more needed in an 8.3 release than just Lion compatibility. Likely but I was just trying to get word from roxio if there was an update still due. Sadly they are silent ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Yes an update is in the works. I can't say much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local.bin Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Yes an update is in the works. I can't say much more. Ok thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
den5769 Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Yes an update is in the works. I can't say much more. Yes, since when is communicating with customers about release dates a bad thing? We need to know this so they can plan when we should upgrade to Lion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 No one said you can't upgrade to Lion now. Have you viewed the compatibility statement? Backup and restore works with Lion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local.bin Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 No one said you can't upgrade to Lion now. Have you viewed the compatibility statement? Backup and restore works with Lion. For me I had expected the updated version to be for Lion, not to come some time after. Its not about Lion, its about usability and getting the bugs out in the coming version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcollien Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 For me I had expected the updated version to be for Lion, not to come some time after. Its not about Lion, its about usability and getting the bugs out in the coming version. The current version is all but useless for network client backups. We're giving the product until the end of August for a release and if it doesn't show up and address the bugs we start migrating all client sites to another product. Retrospect is costing us money - we can no longer bill for supporting this poor excuse for a backup system. -- Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
local.bin Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 The current version is all but useless for network client backups. We're giving the product until the end of August for a release and if it doesn't show up and address the bugs we start migrating all client sites to another product. Retrospect is costing us money - we can no longer bill for supporting this poor excuse for a backup system. -- Mark Fair enough, its been a year since 8.2, so the next release should in theory hit the mark ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMRMacBackup Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Robin, since you've stated that there is an update in the works and that you have been to Apple's labs to test the update is there anything you can share with us? A prospective release date, bugs that were squashed, feature enhancements? Roxio has been quiet for to long on their progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 We have documented lion compatibility a few weeks ago: http://kb.roxio.com/search.aspx?URL=/content/000157RT&PARAMS=set-locale=en The next version of Retrospect will improve lion support and provide many new features and bug fixes. We are currently in private beta on that release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cf87ab84-c226-4c03-9f9b-e87a74698b95 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 The current version is all but useless for network client backups. We're giving the product until the end of August for a release and if it doesn't show up and address the bugs we start migrating all client sites to another product. Retrospect is costing us money - we can no longer bill for supporting this poor excuse for a backup system. -- Mark I've gotta agree w/ Mark's sentiments. While I am still supporting several clients w/ 8.2 and will continue to, I'm increasingly disappointed by the lack of progress toward a more stable, usable product. And Robin, your occasional open updating on the state of the product seems to have been forcibly replaced by a policy of providing as little information as possible. At this point, Retrospect 8.x has been an ongoing failure for YEARS now. I think I can speak for most of my frustrated fellow customers and admins when I say that MORE information about where things are going is far more helpful than the Apple-alike policy of keeping all news of future releases shrouded in secrecy. As I write this, I cannot believe that there hasn't been more urgency in fixing this product to where it works more reliably and bug-free. Over a year has passed since what is essentially a stopgap bug-fix update in 8.2 was released. This started off extremely frustrating and just continues to get worse due to lack of updates and information. I'll cross my fingers for a decent 8.3 release, but I'm not holding my breath. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. BTW, I realize I've been dogging Retro 8 over and over here, but make it *work right* and I'll be its biggest champion. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13749179258E8DE1E040000A2A666149 Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Well I hope this long awaited 8.3 update will come for free, we spent 100's of pounds upgrading ours (and one of our customers) old 6.1 backup to 8.2, and we have had a non functioning backup system ever since. If I have to pay again, to get a what we should have got in the first place : a working backup solution - I will be none too pleased, and will probably cut our losses & jump ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlbrown Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 The next version of Retrospect will improve lion support and provide many new features and bug fixes. We are currently in private beta on that release. I'm sure you could find some eager beta testers on this thread if you want to expand the private beta. I for one would be very interested. Any more updates? James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
137491BFCBC98DE1E040000A2A666149 Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 I agree with all who truly need Retrospect 8.3 (or whatever its final release version) to be miles ahead of where it is now...especially for we backing up to rather large tape libraries. I do have it running MUCH better to disk-based backup destinations. I suffered mightily through Retospect 7.7 for Windows and moved to Retrospect 8.2 for Mac with surprisingly better results...for a little while anyway. Then the instability started, the ease with which it would corrupt its own config files, the wacky, random media set/source association changes...and the list goes on. As hopeful as I am for Retro. 8.3, I'm beginning to feel/think like I did after spending 18 months wrestling with Quark XPress 6.0/6.1/6.2/6.xx. Then even more pain with Quark 7.xx. We can only take so much and expect our clients to pay for all the misery and headaches. It was also painful moving to Adobe CS and InDesign but at least there was constant progress and improvement in workflow and productivity. Please Roxio, don't let Retrospect 8.x become the Quark 6/7 of the backup solution market. It only took Quark, Inc. almost 10 years to even begin to recover from their bumbles. Though NetVault is pricey, at this moment it's looks to be the likely successor for my larger backup environments. Saying my prayers for all the Roxio Retrospect 8 development team members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bioheath Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Though NetVault is pricey, at this moment it's looks to be the likely successor for my larger backup environments. Saying my prayers for all the Roxio Retrospect 8 development team members. I continue to run our Retrospect server, but it is not in production anymore. We had to take it out because it became so erratic it frightened us. We spent a large chunk of change and bought CrashPlan Pro and moved all of our Macs and Windows computers to it. It is very different, but it just works. It doesn't promise or even attempt bare metal restores though. It is a different sort of thing than Retrospect, but it has bought us peace of mind until Roxio gets their act together. I am eagerly awaiting a working version of Retrospect, but if they ask me to pay for it I won't bother. I have already paid through hours and hours of my own wasted time. I should send them a bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prl Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 ... The next version of Retrospect will improve lion support and provide many new features and bug fixes. We are currently in private beta on that release. So how long can we expect that "early July" will stretch out to? Early July, 2011----------------- Retrospect 8.x for Mac WebDAV remote storage access Mac OS X "Lion" support New Retrospect Client for Mac 64-bit user-initiated backup and restore on demand improved Mac OS integration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest btovsky Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 So how long can we expect that "early July" will stretch out to? i'll just add my voice to the chorus here that since retrospect has been batted around from company to company it's effectiveness has suffered to the point that it is unusable in our workflow, which includes a Tandberg LTO backup system w/12 drives. i have used retrospect for over 20 years and it has always been a rock-solid app. i can still access archives that date to my earliest tapes from the 80's. (using v6 - v8 is hopeless!) it is sad to see it languish and i too am starting to look for other possibilities. i am also a long-time roxio user, and i have hopes that retrospect can be returned to the lifesaver it once was under their watch. cheers b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Well its August 24 here so presumably even for a US centric firm 24 days is beyond “July”. We are now working our way through the issues involved with moving to PresSTORE. Very disappointed that we are leaving a product that had been so good for so long (been using it for about 20 years), but can’t rely on it anymore and that’s not good for “mission critical” backup software. Hopefully those of you who stay behind to listen to the orchestra don’t suffer too much when she finally slips beneath the waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayoff Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 The release is coming very soon. Rather then release a product before it is ready, we made a business decision to continue testing and bug fixes a little longer. I think everyone would agree that a stable product is much better then a product released too quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) The release is coming very soon. Rather then release a product before it is ready, we made a business decision to continue testing and bug fixes a little longer. I think everyone would agree that a stable product is much better then a product released too quickly. Sure and if you had mentioned that to your customer base in say early August, some of us may have believed you and resolved to “stick it out” just a little bit longer. But this ongoing process of being giving no useful feedback / updates until pressed by people dropping your product just smacks of “too little too late”. While I’ll be a spectator I’ll keep monitoring this thread to see what your definition of “very soon” actually is. If its more than a week (i.e. 7 days from today 24 Aug, the end of August) then the descriptor of “very” at least shouldn’t be there IMHO. Oh and of course if its “very soon” that implies its almost finished, which in turn implies that you can tell us now what is fixed (and please don’t just say “updated to provide support for OS X 7.0.x”). Edited August 24, 2011 by Gibsonm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f30e6e60-a263-4d69-8f60-c92703669308 Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 We are now working our way through the issues involved with moving to PresSTORE. Wow; $7,560 for 2 tape drives and 4 client machines. Sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) Wow; $7,560 for 2 tape drives and 4 client machines. Sweet. Well its not costing us that, but even if it did that’s “small potatoes” compared to losing the data and continuing to rely on Retrospect for us is risking just that. AUD$1,550.00 gets you: PresSTORE Workgroup Edition 24 + PresSTORE Backup License + 4 PresSTORE Clients (Mac/Win/Linux) in addition to the local PresSTORE server + PresSTORE Media Drive License for 1 Tape or Optical Drive + PresSTORE Media Management and Storage License: 24 units each useable as a changer slot or for 1000GB of disk space A “client” in PresSTORE language is a server, etc. Edited August 24, 2011 by Gibsonm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMRMacBackup Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 The cost of other backup software solutions is high, losing your data or having it made unrecoverable is expensive too. We had a backplane issue wipe out a metadata drive and were quoted $72K for recovery, and it wasn't guaranteed. Even with it's faults, we were able to restore a majority of the damaged files from a previous Retrospect 8 backup. It's interesting you mentioned PresStore, I have the trial version running on a spare Mac right now with an ancient LTO3 library. I'll need to make a decision after the trial is up, it's one of the reasons I've been looking for a list of feature enhancements and bug fixes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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