The results from our platform survey are in and counted! The volume was
higher than expected, and we thank those who took the time to fill out the
survey. The results of the survey distinguish three platform choices above
the rest. Amiga OS 4.0/AmigaOne PPC, Mac OSX, and Linux i86 being the heads
above the rest. Here is a loose review of these three platforms and how
development will be handled.

The text mentions my current development commitments. The main one is
documentation. I've reviewed much of what was written for 4.1, and it is
just plain wrong! One of the main discussions we here at Grasshopper have
had is how to deliver solid content for our users at the lowest price. To
that end, I am going to begin updating the web site to "open up" the
development of PageStream documentation. I can provide the details of how
things work, I just need help turning that into something the average user
can digest. If anyone is interested in contributing to this "open
documentation" cause, they should contact me at support@grasshopperllc.com.
Those that contribute in significant ways will be acknowledge in the
program and documentation, as well as receive free software (plus sneak
peeks at upcoming software). The rest of the users will benefit from better
(and hopefully more timely!) documentation, and a lower cost of ownership!

My second project is wrapping up new translation tools which will help
provide localized versions of PageStream quickly with a reduction (and
hopefully ellimination) of repetitive work on the translators part. The new
resource tool will also help in our move to dynamic dialog box/requester
that adapt to user font and size choices, and will first be seen in the
upcoming Linux release. I expect the other platforms to jump in line
shortly after that.

My third and final project is stomping out the last of those pesky Windows
bugs. While 99% of our users are busy away using PageStream for Windows,
there are still a handful of users reporting problems. A new release should
be coming "soon".

A special thanks to all those who contributed to this PageStream Platform
Survey. Your time is valuable, and we appreciate you spending a little bit
of it with us! We should have a new survey up later this month asking for
your input in future features for PageStream. No future development (other
than the usual bits and pieces that I am always working on) is currently
underway, so no new version is in sight, but we are tossing around the idea
of implementing the top (reasonable!) feature in 4.1 at no charge. How's
that for incentive to respond! Stay tuned for more details!

Thanks for your support,

- Deron

Deron Kazmaier - support@grasshopperllc.com
Grasshopper LLC Publishing -http://www.grasshopperllc.com
PageStream DTP for Amiga, Macintosh, and Windows

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Linux i86 - Wow, talk about a double-edged sword! No real competition in
the Linux world, but on the other hand, everything is free! The question
remains if enough customers will pay for real software. There is certainly
enough initial interest, the rest is a gamble. Many hours have already been
spent trying to plot a plan for Linux! PageStream development for Linux has
already begun, and we expect a few screen shots along the way. While other
processors may be supported in the future, i86 will be the initial target.
So far, it appears that PageStream will be using the GTK+/Gnome libraries.
We should have a more clear development road map in the next few weeks. The
version is currently being developed out of house, which is a mixed bag.
Hopefully it will more succesful than SoftLogik's experience with outside
Windows development. Deron will be keeping a close eye on this one because
it will be of direct benefit to him for the Mac OSX development.

Mac OSX - While the PageStream Mac market has never been as strong as
Windows, it has certainly stirred a lot of folks into a frenzy with this
major new OS. It has the nearly same excitement that was once felt in the
Amiga market (and in the initial Mac market as well). Deron Kazmaier will
take the lead on development of this version once his current development
commitments are met. It is hoped that other individuals will step in as
well, but nothing has been signed at this point. One thing we are seriously
considering is dropping support for the classic Mac OS. This won't be
immediate, but our surveys (and prior feedback) indicates that the
PageStream users still using classic Mac OS are doing so _just_ to continue
to use PageStream and prefer to run OS X.

Amiga OS 4.0/AmigaOne PPC - Development for this "platform" has two
interesting twists to it. First, PageStream Amiga should run in emulation
mode on this system, so Amiga customers can leverage their existing version
of PageStream. Second, customers don't actually have this "platform" yet,
so while there is probably going to be a decent installed base, there is of
course currently no existing installed base of customers! All that being
said, if Amiga OS 4.0 and AmigaOne PPC is released in a form similar to
what is being talked about, and a reasonable number of our customers get
the "platform", we will be developing a new version of PageStream which is
compiled natively on the PPC, and will use what OS 4.0 functionality is
deemed appropriate for PageStream. We also expect to make an i86 version of
PageStream for Amithlon as well. The costs to develop these versions and
the perceived demand will determine if they are bundled with the "classic"
Amiga version of PageStream, or sold seperately. Most likely this
development will be done by Deron Kazmaier, as he is the most involved
these days with the Amiga libraries. Luckily for him, this development
can't begin until the new OS is released, since he has enough to keep him
busy right now.

Other platforms...
While several votes were cast for BeOS, Atari/Magic, RiscOS/Acorn, BSD, and
Linux PPC, the interest is just not high enough to warrant development at
this time. However, we will continue to keep our eye on these and other
directions for the future. The possibility also exists for outside, even
open source, development of the libraries needed by PageStream to run on
these platforms. We will not be making PageStream itself available open
source, but would make the product available at a lower cost on those
platforms. Something to think about for the future, both here at the home
of PageStream, and in the relevant communities. If someone is interested in
talking about such a possibility, please email our lead programmer, Deron
Kazmaier, at support@grasshopperllc.com to further discuss such possibilities.