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Please provide more explicit start menu item for milestones and release. For milestones: "NetBeans IDE X.X MYY" For releases: "NetBeans IDE X.X" 1. Allow grouping the start menu items. 2. Allow to distinguish between different versions of NetBeans IDE in Windows start menu recent list. See attached example.
Created attachment 44734 [details] Example start menu item
Jano, Trung, I think this is a viable suggestion. However I will need your approval for this change.
I addition it will be interesting, to have a configurable prefix for the start menu path in the installer dialogue. Example "Java development/NetBeans 6.0/NetBeans IDE 6.0 M10"
If settings are located in user's dir (Windows: "\documents and files\xxx\.netbeans\6.0m9"), start menu should be in the same xxx instead of "All users", or it should be selectable.
Ah, this will never get approved as "too many settings may confuse the user". :)
> For milestones: "NetBeans IDE X.X MYY" agreed for non-final builds. We want to make it clear that this is not a final release. This is relevant for the upcoming 6.0 beta1 and beta2 > For releases: "NetBeans IDE X.X" could be this way but I don't see other programs putting the version number in their display names on their desktop shortcut or menuitems. We should try to be consistent with the common practice in each desktop system > I addition it will be interesting, to have a configurable prefix for the start menu path in the installer dialogue. > Example "Java development/NetBeans 6.0/NetBeans IDE 6.0 M10" technically possible but I am not aware many other programs are doing it. Not worth the effort.
> could be this way but I don't see other programs putting the version number in their display names on their desktop > shortcut or menuitems. We should try to be consistent with the common practice in each desktop system I think, you should not ignore, that for _normal_ users using _normal_ applications there is _normally_ only one version installed, but NetBeans IDE users are _not normal_, they are developers, using different versions (also releases) on the same system. 2.) The installer of normal applications such as office programs overwrite the old version in the same programs folder, so that there can't be different versions on the same system. 3.) You might have Office '97, Office 2000 ..., but Netbeans upgrades twice a year. 4.) On the desktop the Netbeans icon is fully named by it's version, but not in the start menu. If someone uses both to launch NB, he will have 2 entries for the same in the Windows start menu recent list. 5.) There are any desktop applications which are named with version in the start menu: - IrfanView 4.00 - Adobe Reader 7.0 - PC-Doctor 5 für Windows - Microsoft AutoRoute 2002 - Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2002 - WinZip 8.1 SR-1 - PartitionMagic 7.0 - Drive Image 2002 - Norton AntiVirus 2005 - Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 (all included applications are named by it's version in the start menu) - ... I stop here ;-)
Trung, Jano, I don't know about you, but I'm convinced. :) The effort is not that serious. The start menu prefix part however seems questionable. The amount of programs (in my experience) which use this is about 50% -- not sure this is critical.
I think ulfzibis hit the point. The fact that we don't override existing installation means it's very easy to end up with 2 final releases of NetBeans IDE installed on the same machine. Users, who "upgrade" from 5.5 to 6.0, would install 6.0 and 5.5 would still be there. So on Windows in the recent Start menu, the user can have 2 identical "NetBeans IDE" items until the user uninstalls 5.5. No way to distinguish them. Maybe the right thing to do would be to put all the IDE versions into the same NetBeans IDE folder in the start menu: NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 5.5 NetBeans IDE 6.0 The other approach would be to do the ulfzibis' proposal (with milestone releases): NetBeans 5.5 > NetBeans IDE 5.5 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 I think we should *not* permit the start menu customization in the installer.
Not to forget the developer's versions: NetBeans 5.5 > NetBeans IDE 5.5 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 NetBeans IDE 6.0 Beta 1 NetBeans IDE 6.0 M10 > I think we should *not* permit the start menu customization in the installer. :-( Is this too much work ? It's very common for many well-known applications, to have a configurable prefix for the start menu path in the installer dialogue.
It's not that much work. But it's yet another setting of which we already have aplenty. :(
> It's not that much work. But it's yet another setting of which we already have aplenty. :( Which "plenty" you mean? I only know about (I refer to the installer): - install path - Base IDE / Java IDE
A bunch of them for the GlassFish, instalaltion directory for Tomcat. Going forward, other components may appear. The UI/usability designers' policy is to keep the number of settings to the required minimum. Sorry for that, really. I will add the version numbers to the start menu labels, but I cannot proceed with adding a setting without a proper approval, which was refused.
I don't think it's really common to offer customization of the start menu path prefix. Most importantly I would say most users don't care about changing it.
Perhaps it is not as common as the version no's in the start menu labels, but it's also provided by simpler applications than NetBeans. See attachment below. It's annoying to have so much entries in the root of the 'All Programs' list, and to move them by hand in some subfolder. On uninstalling then they must also removed by hand.
Created attachment 44895 [details] Example installer feature
Sorry! Please correct the MIME type of my last attachment.
Jano, see also Issue 40333.
I would go with the following naming scheme in Start menu: NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 5.5 NetBeans IDE 6.0 NetBeans IDE 6.0 RC1 NetBeans IDE 6.0 RC2
Jan, we can do that for 5.5, 5.5.1,6.0M10 and all previous releases. They are already released :) I can do the change in the current nightly builds so, in general, if there are several installations of different versions, we`ll have the following picture: NetBeans 5.5 > NetBeans IDE NetBeans 5.5.1 > NetBeans IDE NetBeans 6.0 M10 > NetBeans IDE NetBeans 6.0 Beta1 > NetBeans IDE NetBeans 6.0 Beta2 > NetBeans IDE NetBeans 6.0 Build 2007101700 > NetBeans IDE <we change the structure - so the next build looks the following> NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Build 2007101800 NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Build 2007101900 NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Build 2007111900 NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 6.0 NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 7.0 Beta NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 7.0 Build xxxxxxxxxx NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 7.0 Build yyyyyyyyyy NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 7.0 M1 NetBeans > NetBeans IDE 7.0 RC Should I do those change in the current trunk builds?
Yes please, integrate it in Trunk.
Fixed. Please verify on the next nightly build. Checking in Bundle.properties; /cvs/installer/components/products/nb-base/src/org/netbeans/installer/products/nb/base/Bundle.properties,v <-- Bundle.properties new revision: 1.10; previous revision: 1.9 done
I more like this Structure: NetBeans 5.5 > NetBeans IDE 5.5 NetBeans 5.5.1 > NetBeans IDE 5.5.1 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 M10 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Beta 1 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Beta 2 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Build 2007101900 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 Build 2007111900 NetBeans 6.0 > NetBeans IDE 6.0 NetBeans 7.0 > NetBeans IDE 7.0 Beta NetBeans 7.0 > NetBeans IDE 7.0 Build xxxxxxxxxx NetBeans 7.0 > NetBeans IDE 7.0 Build yyyyyyyyyy NetBeans 7.0 > NetBeans IDE 7.0 M1 NetBeans 7.0 > NetBeans IDE 7.0 RC
up to Jano.
> I more like this Structure: > > NetBeans 5.5 > NetBeans IDE 5.5 Today I see, that I'm very pleased with the current state (only 1 "NetBeans"-root), better than my last suggestion, so I like to cancel my last suggestion. Nevertheless I like to uphold my request for a configurable prefix for the start menu path in the installer dialogue. Manual renaming is annoying and additionally entails user to delete it manually after de-installation. Example: Selecting folder "Developer Tools" from a FileChooser should create: "Developer Tools\NetBeans\NetBeans IDE 7.0 Beta" in the installers dialogue editable text field.
If I understand this correctly, this issue is now only about prefix configurable in the installer. As for this matter, on behalf of UI team it's clear wontfix. Arguments have been mentioned before by jrojcek and ksorokin. It's not only not worth the effort, but would also impede the overall snappy installer experience (although slightly) in favor of settings which most users would not use and which is not a common practice.
closing as wontfix.