[nmirza]

I use both xp and os x, and the os x port in about a mont hand a halfs time has come a very long way, with full installer file etc. while the xp version (i dont know when development started), is still quite buggy (more so than the os x verison), and worst of all installation is nowhere as simplified as the os x verison, which really gives it that beta feel.

now don't get me wrong, this isn't an xp vs os x thing, if anything i want it to be quickly finished on xp so i don't have to use os x, which i'm not a big fan of. i'm just curious if this just isn't as high priority as os x. comparing the numbr of people dedicated to developing things for xp v os x i would expect this to be far more advanced than the mac version. i guess my question really is that is this port not as much of a priority as other media centre itnerfaces are already available for xp, or are the developers of this version just being more caution before releasing a full installer version.

I'm really looking forward to the windows version so just want to understand if i should be more patient or if something is on the horizon to be released soon. im not a coder so i can't offer to help, so don't criticise me if this seems like criticism to you, i'm just somebody who started using xbmc recently adn am very very very impressed as this is the answer to exactly what i want for my bootcamped mac mini htpc, if only i coudl get it for xp soon.

[agathorn]

As with any opensource project, everything depends on the the number of people willing to put in their spare time to help development, how much spare time those people have, and how often they feel like working on it.

[nmirza]

hence the curiosity...macs generally have wayyy fewer developers and as a result the total man hours dedicated is lesser. in contrast, windows has always had way more developers, and just as a matter of probabilities and percentages the man hours dedicated still amount to way more. and to develop an ultimate htpc front-end i think is something lots would jump on conisdering the media-centric times we live in. i've seen some people coding some pretty obscure stuff out there for windows which i never have and probably will never see on os x as a niche product in a niche market amounts to very little marketability.

my curiosity has not been quelled.

[elupus]

well there was no develepment on the windows version untill about 2 weeks ago when wiso joined. before that, the linux branch version just a "let's see if we can make it compile with visual studio" and the trunk version a skinning too.

[nmirza]

thanks, that makes sense actually, and you guys have come a long way then in two weeks. another couple of weeks you guys will prob be ahead of the os x team in terms of stability and usability.

I can honestly say i haven't ever been nearly as excited about a piece of software as much as i am about this xbmc for pc/mac. i came upon it by chance and didn't expect much after using media portal a total of 2 times and finding it very unstable and not nearly as functional or advanced as i was expecitng it to be. but after using xbmc i was totally blown away (especially a great feat considering mediaportal is way more established than the 2 weeks you guys have spent porting this) and its exactly what i bought my mac mini and hdtv for. once the xp version gets stable and clean, i can completely switch to xp on my mini, and dedicate the mini purely to media functions without ever having to lay my eyes on the desktop again.

thanks everybody whose working on this.

[Gamester17]

...really gives it that beta feel.

I would say it is great if it feels like a Beta considering that it is Pre-alpha, ...the fact is that Team-XBMC still do not even consider XBMC for Linux as Alpha yet, (and if you had done some research you would know that both XBMC for Mac OS X and XBMC for Windows are both ports based on XBMC for Linux, so if XBMC for Linux is not even Alpha yet then you can before that XBMC for Mac OS X nor XBMC for Windows are Alpha yet). By the way, work on XBMC for Linux started almost a year ago so do not expect XBMC for Mac OS X nor XBMC for Windows do be 'done' in a couple of weeks.

I think this FAQ very much applies here:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=What_is_XBMC...by_XBMC.3F

When will this and that feature or function be supported by XBMC?

Tomorrow, in a year, never... who knows! XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free, none of us get paid to develop new features/functions/formats/codecs for XBMC meaning we foremost prioritize the things we ourselves what to see and use in XBMC. XBMC development is driven by the tasks that are important to the individual developers. If there is a feature that is important to you, the best way to get it implemented is to undertake the task yourself, otherwise you as an end-user of who do not yourself contribute source code patches to the XBMC project have no rights to demand new things to be implemented and get no garantees that some specific thing will be prioritized before something else, you may however suggest/request for things and if you ask nicely then maybe someday a developer might like your idea and implement the thing you asked for, (we recommend that you read this article on How To Ask Questions The Smart Way). We do appriciate your ideas, opinions and feedback if they are presented in a good way, so it is possible to lobby for something specific, just don't be a jerk about it, arrogant and 'pushy' people will most likely just be ignored (or even banned if they step over the line which we consider to be acceptable). Known that almost all users think their own ideas is the most important, and a very common comment is: "if you only add these features then XBMC will be perfect for me". If you can not accept the possibility that your thing might never make it into XBMC then you just have to bite the bullit and learn how to program C/C++ to be able to code it yourself, (see the "Appendix D: Development Notes" section of this manual).

My conclusion; I do not think you asked your question in a smart way

[nmirza]

as "they" say, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers

anyway, Elupus answered my questions and addressed my concerns perfectly. I did intend my questions as a layman's question and comments of encouragement, I do apologize for confusing my alphas and betas but i'm not a software developer or in the tech industry, just an avid fan of good technology.

and when i said give it that Beta feel, maybe that should have been taken as a compliment. for being an alpha software and having spent only 2-4 weeks on the xp and os x ports, the software is very very functional, feature rich and usable. i've used some other intial stage software wich ahs been way less complex than this project and it didn't come close to quality of your alpha release.

I don't know how many non-techy non-programmers are on this site or use this software, so take this as praise well earned from somebody with only non technical knwoledge and mostly experience with finished pieces of software to give your "alpha" software two thumbs up.

[pike]

two reasons why I think OSX port has alot of happy users:

* Same OS (Leopard) thus similar drivers
* Similar Hardware (eg MacMini's)

stuff like this help A L O T