OK... you want facts as answers to your... shall I say "prodings". Here's the reasons.
1. An ex-vendor who we fully paid for his services in 2002 and 2004, maliciously in 2007 copyrighted the code we paid him for. Then, in spite of the clear and visible fact we weren't even using his work since Dec 8, 2004, he sued us in Federal court, served to me May 29, 2009. In 40 years in business, I have NEVER been sued. We have so far spent $55,000 on legal fees fighting for our rights. We expect to win, but it has taken well over 1,500 corporate hours of our time.
There is NOTHING more important that solving this FEDERAL legal battle.
2. We were supposed to have new web scripts operational September 2009. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and... you get the picture. They have just now (August 2010) been finished, debugged and under Beta Testing as I type. This will AUTOMATICALLY notify you when a new version is released if you connect your computer on-line to the Internet.
3. Even when we would take a week (yes, 5 business days) to prepare an email announcement, double-check it for no "false advertising", prepare the email list of users to send it to, and then send it over a 36 hour period to obey no-spamming rules, only to find that folks didn't add "@mtu.com" to their "accept" email list so they never receive it. Those who do, don't act on it so it truly seemed like a waste of time to us! It costs thousands of dollars every time we do this... yeah, crazy isn't it!
4. December 29, 2009 my wife called an ambulance around 11:30PM to get me to the ER. Over the next 9 days I was comatose in ICU and nearly died. I was in a wheelchair for months (with a ramp built in our front yard), and I still don't have my stamina back. I lost my left index finger to dry gangrene, and my left hand cannot make a fist any more (I'm left-handed). Just try touch typing without your left Index Finger! I've had to relearn touch-typing with one and a half hands.
5. Since the early 2000's, our policy has been existing users would buy an upgrade yearly. From late 2008 to recently in 2010, we did not enforce this. So... everyone started "assuming" we were now giving our upgrades away. I am sorry that mistake was made. Our 12-months upgrade is now enforced by our web scripts. There are many positives in this (such as no more upgrade RegCodes to keep up with), which I will blog about soon.
6. Yes, we are adding Blogging, Facebook and Twitter to our repertoire of tools to try and keep you informed. So, I recommend that you get ready, because that will soon replace our emailing.
7. Making a new version release takes days of time to:
* Prepare the final code with manual and Installation program
* Insure the version number is correct that is sent up to the web site, and test it
* Modify the web site with the new "version number" throughout all pages related to the product
* Upgrade tables our web scripts use to inform you when a new release is available
* Upload the new code to the store and download.mtu.com sites to deliver it
* Prepare Hoster Lite and Hoster Demo... so there's 3 files we must manage and make available to you all
* Prepare a list of the "important" new, changed, and fixed features and add it to the Upgrade web page (shy of the manual, that is the accurate list for your reference)
Frankly, after I do my part, I'm tired and sick of that release! Sometimes I forget to upgrade the "News" page, and frankly I just don't have the week of time to do an announcement.
Windows 7 and Vista 64-bit systems prevent Microstudio from working on them. We've been struggling to overcome this, but no joy yet, and $$,$$$ spent and counting.
We have spent a LARGE fortune on developing Hoster alone. I do truly appreciate that someone above said we had the best. You cannot imaging how much time we "think" about a feature, sometimes coding it only to find it couldn't work as we designed it to, and then recoding it before testing.
We have done a MAJOR upgrade to KHPro in the past months as this hasn't really been touched for years. It is truly a polished gem now, and does everything you have requested. As soon as I finish manual we will release KHPro 5.00. My typing speed is now the hold up.
We are adding in new Key change AND Tempo change into our products. It'll go into Keyrite first as that is the easiest to integrate and test with. It will then go into Hoster,along with some of the most efficient changes we have made in a while.
Hoster 5.00 won't look like the current product at all. It will look better, but it will be DIFFERENT so you will need to spend some time re-learning it. As a result, we will add the new Key-Tempo code into a 4.30 release, before we overhaul the appearance and functions. Some folks may opt to stay with 4.30, and that's OK. But those who move forward will be in for a treat over the years to come.
I hope this answers your desire for answers. Forgive me if I got too detailed in my personal life, but as Pres, I do direct the "MTU Orchestra". We've been out of tune recently, and now you know why.