Wednesday, 29 December 2010
A New Years Message from Jessica Lyon
As we approach the end of the year I tend to reflect back things, and 2010 certainly has a lot to reflect on in regards to Second Life. In fact 2010 has been a pretty crazy year, with the official release of Linden Lab's Viewer 2, the massive layoffs at LL and office closures around the world, the departure of M Linden from CEO, the return and departure of Philip, the announcement of merging the teen grid, removing educational discounts, excitement over the upcoming 40 groups and death of chat lag, and much more, 2010 has been a year full of ups and downs for all of us.
But more than the on-goings at LL, we also saw the unexpected demise of the ever popular Emerald Viewer. It was a time of sadness and confusion for hundreds of thousands of users in SL.
However not all was lost, the demise of the Emerald Viewer lead way to the Rise of the Phoenix!
In just 4 months the people here at The Phoenix Viewer Project have brought the Phoenix Viewer from unheard of to the most popular Third Party Viewer in Second Life, more popular than all others combined... more popular than Emerald ever was. Having started with the Emerald code base which was stuck in beta for over a year because it was so unstable; In 4 months we made it the most stable Third Party Viewer in Second Life with the lowest crash rate in version 1.5.2.818.
Phoenix Viewer sessions ending in crash %
1.5.2.818 = 11.81%
1.5.2.725 = 12.44%
1.5.1.373 = 12.44%
1.5.1.225 = 13.10%
1.5.0.168 = 17.48%
1.5.0.156 = 17.95%
Note: versions 168 and 156 will be blocked near the end of January.
Now I don't mean to brag but suffice to say, I am DAMN proud of everyone on the Phoenix Team and the accomplishments we've made in such a short time should be mentioned in an end of year message like this. Our Developers, Support team and QA team deserve a huge pat on the back! I am beyond proud of them all. You guys are amazing... simply amazing.
But beyond all this, one of our founding goals was to rebuild the trust from the residents in SL and from Linden Lab towards Third Party Viewers in general. I believe we have come a long way in that regard as well.
New Years brings us the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. 2011 is looking very promising here at the Phoenix Project as we work on the much anticipated Firestorm Viewer based on V2 code base, but made a lot more friendly to those who are used to the 1.23 UI. Phoenix Viewer has pretty well reached it's pinnacle and it's time to start over and do it again. We have some very big plans for the Firestorm Viewer and while at first it may not be much, by this time next year I hope to see it become the next favorite viewer of the wonderful residents in Second Life. Some other plans for 2011 will be support run classes for sl residents on the Phoenix Viewer, more video tutorials especially for Firestorm and an announcement about a partnership Phoenix is forming with another grid. Stay tuned for that one!
I would like to also thank all the residents in Second Life for your enduring trust, faith and commitment to us. I must admit there was a time in the beginning where I had second thoughts about starting a new viewer project... The Phoenix Project. I questioned myself, if I would be able to dedicate my time as much as would be required to run such a project. After-all, I was left very tired, depressed and down after the demise of Emerald. I questioned if I even had the strength and leadership skills to lead such a project, I am after all, just a lowly photographer in the real world. Could I really manage a team of 14+ developers, a team of 20+ support people, a QA team of almost 200 people? Would I really be able to stick with it? without burning out? What was I thinking... to start a new viewer project.. I asked myself... Am I crazy?
It was YOU, with your enthusiasm and appreciation that swayed me into making that commitment and taking that chance. It was the thousands of IM's from thousands of residents that inundated me with hope. It is YOU who made it possible for the Phoenix Viewer to exist. It was YOU! And It is now that I turn to you and thank you from the bottom of my heart for pushing me over that edge. For pushing ALL of us into working so hard to bring you this viewer... this... improved user experience.
From the bottom of my heart and from all of us here at The Phoenix Viewer Project.
Happy New Year Everyone! and may 2011 be a safe, prosperous and happy year for you all!
Jessica Lyon
Phoenix Viewer Project Manager
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ReplyDeleteI just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart, I was unable to use the Emerald viewer because of unstable code and had to go back to the SL 1.23 viewer, a friend recommended Phoenix and I fell in love it runs so smoothly on my system, you guys are amazing and all the hard work that you've put into this project is mindblowing, keep up the great work, much love, much thanks and lots of hugs go out to each and everyone of you.
ReplyDeletewhen will 40 groups be released?
ReplyDeleteangry, when LL decides to turn the switch on, the the 40 groups will be activated
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, and thank you... regular old residents were also horribly upset and shaken by the whole Emerald thing and it is difficult to express in a few words the relief and gratitude I felt for the inception of the Phoenix project, and how happy I've been with its evolution. Thank you, thank you, and all best wishes for 2011... :-) <3
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I speak for thousands of users when I say thankyou to Jessica and the entire Phoenix viewer team. I would not enjoy SL nearly as much without Phoenix. I'm amazed at the results, after the demise of Emerald I fully expected that I would be relegated to using only viewer 2, but Jessica and her team stepped up to the plate and turned a disaster into a blessing! Thankyou, thankyou... Thankyou for all your hard work and perseverance.
ReplyDeleteLOL, tried to send above comment from "07657" using my SL name, but somehow it picked up my zip code as user name. Many many thanks to Jessica and the Phoenix team!
ReplyDeleteRinaldo Debevec
I was at a loss whe the Emerald Viewer went down and tried the new LL viewer 2 I couldn't get on with it everything all over the place a few nice tweaks but I was still looking for ways to get it looking like Emerald or the 1.23 then I heard of Phoenix tried it and was hooked and was pleased that Jessica Lyon was on board I used the viewer and now is hooked I love it keep up the fantastic work you all do, I just feel good with this viewer and cant wait to see the FireStorm Viewer :D BE SAFE guys and gals
ReplyDeletefrom
Mark Sohl
Last 2 viewer releases, I literally get < 1fps on a GTX 295, i7 powered system. Something is up with how phoenix works with sli cards. It's unusable at present.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have closed my SL account if it weren't for Phoenix, especially after the Emerald debacle. Working with Intel graphics on a laptop, alternating between Windows & Linux, with more time spent in Linux these days, I find the SL Viewer far too cumbersome to deal with. Emerald had been the best choice for me at the beginning of the year. Thank you for helping me continue the presence in SL.
ReplyDeleteOnce I get settled in a new home, I'd be happy to help with testing/tweaking projects.
Long live Phoenix!
A Bit of a question is Firestorm now at top secret burn before reading access or was the person on the beta list smoking something when he? said he tested on FireStorm??
ReplyDelete(Bad Wolf can beta test if you want another XP tester)
Happy New Year, Jessica :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for Phoenix! I loved Emerald and was so sad to see it go, but Phoenix is even better!!! I can't imagine using any other viewer (certainly not one of the official ones :p).
why you say:the most stable Third Party Viewer in Second Life with the lowest crash rate in version 1.5.2.818.?
ReplyDeleteIn my case ther never be send a crash report....
but also keep on working
best wishes to 2011
Thanks a lot for Phoenix, Jessica. I'm looking forward to Firestorm. Your work is very mucb appreciated!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Phoenix team, for doing what you do and doing it better than everyone else.
ReplyDeleteWishing you all a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year!
MachinEnvy ^_^
Hello to the phoenix-team.thank youf or your great work. my question,i mi ssing the second attachmentpoint at the version ? best regards juri bade
ReplyDeleteThank you from the bottom of my heart, and from many of my friends who don't post to blogs but love PX viewer. I/We appreciate all of your hard work. I hope Firestorm is a great a viewer as Phoenix is. God bless you for the upcoming year ;o}
ReplyDeleteJessica, Thank you for stepping up and having the drive, courage and dedication to us in SL, to make the transition from Emerald to Phoenix. After trying multiple viewers when told emerald was going down, I tried your viewer.
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that Phoenix and eventual Firestorm Viewers will continue to thrive and capture more users due to it excellence.
I also want to say to other readers, be sure to support phoenix from a financial standpoint with your lindens. I never truly see a plea for assistance here, I know that the wonderful people at phoenix deserve any $$ they earn.
Thank you to the entire phoenix team! You rock!
Good morning Jessica,, good morning Dev-team ^^
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a wonderful christmas, and will have a great new year. Thank you for Phoenix, you more than filled the gap that was left by Emerald. It'S sort of eaiser without the hassle of scandals, ain't it? ;) You did a really great, quick and reliable job on the 1.23-based viewer. Can't wait to check out what you "did to" the viewer 2-codebase with Firestorm!
Thank you again
Ergo Brandeis
a big thank you for you and your team and all the best for the future :D
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU PHOENIX TEAM!!!!! and a Happy New Year to you all !!
ReplyDeleteSometimes only the simplest words are necessary say what is in the heart so, a big THANK YOU Jesica and to all your team.
ReplyDeleteI am also seeing an actual worse crash rate with no crash reports being sent AT ALL !!!!!! if the site could post a page that gives a list of tweaks that might lower this crash problem it would be greatly appreciated I think, I don't have a weak machine its an Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6700 @ 2.66GHz, 2666 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
ReplyDeleteand an XFX 1 gig Video card and 3G of ram
I would just like to add that out of all the SL viewers and yes I have tried them all, I have found myself left with Phoenix for 99.9% of my inworld travels. I also still use the LL 1.23 viewer when things get a bit wonky inworld. The one thing I have yet to find in any of the viewers and maybe a possibility as the Phoenix/Firestorm projects progress is a "Log Off User" feature that brings you back to the sign-in screen without having to totally log out and back in to switch avatars.
ReplyDeleteI would like to use Phoenix on Virtuallife, but it always crushes: what may I do? Thanks and happy new year
ReplyDeleteTY for Xmas gift: 818 is great.
ReplyDeleteI was stuck on 725 because of crashes, but a little testing and study lend me to have a fast and reliable viewer.
Go on this way!
jessica and the team: all the best for 2011, thank you sooo much for your adorable work! carry on! (lol, thanks to your efforst we can expect the release of a rl-viewer soon?)
ReplyDeleteLove Phoenix....thank you, Jessica, and everyone involved who make our SL experience better! Looking forward to see what awesomeness Firestorm brings us. Am really hoping that the other grid mentioned for Phoenix is IW...fingers, toes and eyes totally crossed! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to everyone!
Thanks so much for all your hard work. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeletemany thanks to the phoenix,your viewer is only reason i continue to be a part of sl,as for all the crashes people say they having,i have not had that problem,the viewer works great,thanks team you did a great job. i will be waiting firestorm,happy new year,to one and all
ReplyDeleteFor crashes: I'm now able to run over 4 hours without crashing.
ReplyDeleteVersions 818 and 725 were not working at all for me, but after these tips I found for 818, it is really stable.
Tips for avoid crashes
I loved Emerald, and was shocked and sad to see it self-destruct. I am SO glad Jessica and the Phoenix Team soldiered on to create Phoenix from its ashes.
ReplyDeleteI'd especially like to give kudos to the in world Phoenix support group. These people go WAY beyond providing support for Phoenix only. I've seen them answer all sorts of questions, spanning the entire spectrum of SL from the technical to the social. Although it's intended to solve Phoenix issues, it really has turned out to be a better help resource than LL themselves.
I love the Phoenix viewer, but I have 1 problem that started recently. In Toxia North, when I get close enough to see the south border, it crashes. This happens in Windows and Linux. Everything else works great.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being strong Jessica - I love using Phoenix
ReplyDeletehi ty fore you hard work only 1 thing somtims i change clothing but hef i clik my folder the oter clothing stil stays on my how can i fix thate ty i lovey poenix viewer
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to thank the Phoenix team for a superb viewer and for all their hard work. Also thanks to everyone who worked on the Emerald project that was the "forerunner" to Phoenix.
ReplyDelete