WordPress 2.9.1 Release Candidate 1

Thanks to everyone who tested 2.9.1 Beta 1.  We’re following that up with Release Candidate 1.  RC1 contains a few more fixes, bringing the number of fixed tickets up to 23.  If you are already running Beta 1, visit Tools->Upgrade in your blog’s admin to get RC1.  You can also  download the RC1 package and install manually.  If all goes well, 2.9.1 will be here soon.

Setting Scope

Merry Christmas! One of the things that was discussed at the core commit team meetup was release scope (and scope creep). Now that 2.9 is out and it’s time to start thinking about 3.0, we think it would be appropriate to stop and take a breath before diving in, and make a plan in advance. What winds up happening is that during each release cycle a few new features are selected for inclusion, but then right up until feature freeze (and/or beta cycle), people keep adding feature requests, patches for enhancements, and ongoing bug reports. This means each release winds up getting pushed out later than planned, and with so many things going in per release, it becomes harder to catch new bugs.

The as-long-as-we’re-not-in-freeze-yet model isn’t working. People wind up waiting months longer for new features they want, like Trash and Image Editing, because we’re still adding other things and then we need to test them all. If we kept the releases smaller feature-wise, we could push out the new stuff sooner (3 releases per year is the goal) and have more focused beta testing, making the releases themselves better. It’s hard, because everyone has their pet features and fixes, and if there’s a patch, why not get it in this release rather than waiting? Sometimes people complain that a patch has been waiting to be committed for weeks or months, but what no one ever seems to bring up is that sometimes patches introduce new bugs, and the more we add at once, the harder it is to keep it all well-tested on various platforms, in different hosting environments, etc. So. What’s our proposal?

We take a page from the world of project management and we make a project plan before we jump into the dev cycle. We let everyone propose features and enhancements, and we choose a limited number to include in 3.0 (in this case we need to be especially stringent, because the merge of WordPress and WordPress MU will automatically mean a lot of work) and set a realistic release date that we stick to. We create a tentative set of features for the next two releases, to be re-evaluated at the beginning of the next cycle, so that people know the community is committed to certain features, as opposed to the vague “future release” label we now use for everything not included in the current version. We fix bugs that are reproducible and affect a large number of users before focusing on edge case bugs or bugs that haven’t been well-described or reproduced. We stop diverting our attention from agreed-upon goals when a “squeaky wheel” decides we should all be focused on something else. There are always things that pop up unexpectedly, but we need to do a better job of restraining ourselves when it comes to trying to sneak things into the current release (I include myself in this, of course…as a UX person I always wish we could do everything all at once!).

As an open source project, we accomplish more when we work together than we do following individual agendas, and we need to keep our project focused on commonly-agreed-upon goals instead of following tangents whenever a community member starts to take us on one, regardless of whether it’s to follow a cool idea that everyone loves or a suggestion based on a personal agenda, and regardless of whether it’s a newbie who doesn’t know any better or a frequent contributor or committer who has a strong opinion and a loud voice (so to speak). The issue here is that it’s easy to get distracted, so we need to create a structure that will help us keep moving forward instead of getting sidetracked. We need to keep Trac clean for the current dev cycle so that it includes confirmed features and bug reports, and all new feature suggestions go into a different milestone.

We think it’s at least worth a try. When we re-start the weekly IRC dev chats in 2010, the first meeting will be to talk about the scope of 3.0. When we’ve got a general agreement about what will be included, we’ll create the appropriate Trac tickets, and punt tickets for non-3.0 feature requests/enhancements to a future release so we can stay focused. New bug reports will still come in to the current milestone. It’s going to be hard. There are at least a dozen new features that I feel like we’ve pushed back multiple times that I’d like to see in core, but for this experiment, I’m just going to keep reminding myself, “You can do that with a plugin!”

Sound off on the features you would like to see in version 3.0.

WordPress 2.9.1 Beta 1

Unfortunately, the recent 2.9 release triggered a bug in certain versions of PHP’s curl extension.  With these versions of curl, scheduled posts and pingbacks are not processed correctly.  To fix this problem as well as a handful of other, lesser issues, we are quickly releasing 2.9.1, the first maintenance release of the 2.9 line.  Help us get 2.9.1 ready to go by testing 2.9.1 Beta 1.  The easiest way to test Beta 1 is to install the WordPress Beta Tester plugin, elect to get on the point release development track, and then perform an automatic upgrade via the Tools->Upgrade menu.  You can also download the Beta 1 package and install manually.  Fourteen tickets have been fixed in 2.9.1 Beta 1.  Since the curl problem and a couple of other problems are dependent on specific hosting configurations, any and all testing help is greatly appreciated.

Brief: Microsoft eyeing Google, Apple with Windows 8 development

It has been months since Windows 7's successor has entered the planning and early development stages, and already Microsoft is taking aim at its competition deep inside its headquarters. At least two of them, Apple and Google, are being scrutinized especially closely, according to sources within the company. Despite the strong start Windows 7 has had, and Windows' huge installed base, the company realizes that there are new challenges in the changing marketplace that have to be met head-on if the Windows brand is to continue to flourish.

Specifically, Microsoft is taking note of competitive pressures from Google, with its Android and Chrome operating systems, saying that the search giant "poses a whole new set of challenges." As for Apple, Microsoft noted that the company could not be forgotten, because there would still be the "the traditional competition" from Cupertino. Linux was not explicitly mentioned, though this is likely because Microsoft believes it poses a bigger threat in the business space, and sources say this particular discussion looked at the consumer-facing aspects of the Windows brand.

Microsoft will focus on evolving and optimizing "the Windows brand experience," specifically the "trifecta" of Windows brands for the consumer audience (Windows 7, Windows Live, and Windows phone) in the years to come with Windows 8 and beyond, sources said. More broadly, Microsoft leaders and colleagues will be trying to refine "the holistic brand strategy" for Windows Client, Windows Server, Windows Azure, and Windows Embedded.

Microsoft is planning to switch internal focus from Windows 7 to Windows 8 at the start of its next fiscal year in July 2010, and according to a Microsoft roadmap, Windows 7's and Windows Server 2008 R2's successors are slated for release in 2012. Tidbits for Windows 8 will continue to come in till then, including more on where the branding of the operating system will be heading.

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