So, how is version 7 coming

[chuckt101]

Ray thank you for your comments from the business' point of view.

To give perspective from a customer, we like to know upcoming features as it allows for us to plan ahead.

There are key features NT6.5 does not have that other platforms offer. Knowing NT7 will be picking up these features and when it will be released allows for us to plan accordingly.

I know a few traders that have left the NT platform due to the silence regarding new features and the continuous push-back of the release date. I understand the need to ensure a stable product before release, but that excuse-card is played one-too-many times by software companies. It is essentially the industry standard of apologizing w/o apologizing when delays are encountered. Compound this with the fact that NT6.5 tends to get unstable at times and it's no wonder my confidence is already shaken. I can only reset my db and reinstall NT so many times.

Myself, I have a lot of custom indicators and this is the biggest reason I have not yet left NT. Having said that, overall, I am happy with NT but I do keep a keen eye out for other packages that will offer me the features I want with consistent & periodic updates. I suspect I'm not in the same boat here.

I say all of this not as a threat but as a customer offering his view. It's far more hassle for me to switch over to a new platform so I would like to avoid this. But at the end of the day, it's about getting the job done and picking the platform that helps me do it.

Regards,
chuckt101

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

chuckt101,

I fully understand and appreciate your viewpoint.

[Frankenstein]

YES! we can

Mark (mjuviler), i also 'complained' here that there is no real improvement
the last few years now for the actual (paying) traders in core features like
the DOM(E), connections, database & error handling and a few others,
which is pretty disappointing. I can only second your thoughts regarding
user interface and connections.

Thoughts of actual (paying) traders - which know how to generate profits
to generate the revenues for NinjaTrader and its staff - should be treated
more important over all this fancy-clicking-demo-users who may - or may
not - be ever able and/or willing to pay a NinjaTrader license and not just
using it as a nice free charting and strategy development tool. Again,
why don't you offer the possibility to highlight users with a monthly
subscription or lifetime-license in the forum?

Let's just hope things change to the better - i keep my monthly
subscription over a lifetime-alternative to regularely support NT (with
respect i also think the monthly fees are to low!, yeah really, make it
more expensive for the real traders but implement their wishes also) -
and while being pretty disappointed by NT6&6.5 regarding DOM(E) and
other essential things - i still have hope, because the fundamentel idea of
NinjaTrader as a product (using XML files for customization, nice
look&feeling, a lot of connection-choices, good charting and a lot others)
- regarding (nearly) professional traders - is still the best in industry.

[asalada]

please hire some more programmers to make it faster in developing features and fix bugs, too many bugs and quirks

[5iver]

C'mon guys. Would it be so hard tell us what NT7 is going to include as far as improvements? I mean really?

I'm sure you don't really care what I think, but I'm a paying customer and I can assure you that the 17 members of my trading group are almost all actively researching alternatives to NT for their day-to-day trading. I'm constantly being asked for advice from new members and other forum people about NT and I have to be honest with them. It's good, but it's falling behind.

It's research that's undertaken reluctantly, like the previous poster said. Nobody wants to go through the hassle, but when a restart of a fairly powerful PC incurs a load time of seven minutes to reinstate my NT workspace containing only eight charts (all optimized according to your suggestions), something's gotta give. (And that's after a fresh install; no custom indies etc). The many stories of NT ruining a day's trading I could tell. Only today my trading buddy missed the whole ES session because NT just wouldn't behave).

I run Ensign Windows, thinkorswim and wave59 platforms as well and their load times are almost instantaneous. I've already taken great time to list my respectful suggestions elsewhere in this thread, so I won't bore you again. But c'mon, give us something that'll make us feel good about this hanging on through Q1, Q2 and beyond, can't ya?

[Buthus]

please hire some more programmers to make it faster in developing features and fix bugs, too many bugs and quirks

You've never heared about Brooks' law, right? Everybody who's been involved in a big software project, knows that it's so right.

adding manpower to a late software project makes it later

[fxgary]

i can't wait to get vista64 with ninja, finally without the crashing

[Jim W.]

As long as there are unknowns the NT7 delivery date will remain unknown

The Unknown

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

Donald H. Rumsfeld —Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

[rt-trader]

To date I have resisted commenting about the ongoing delays in delivering NT7 - now a situation that even Microsoft must be envious of...

But, as others are also expressing, my frustration levels have risen to the point where I too have been seeking alternatives. For straight chart based order execution Photon Trader looks very good with some excellent features that once would have been the leading edge province of Ninja.

I have used Ninja off and on since 'the early days' when it was a DOM only and the best order execution platform by a long way. With the addition of charting, development focus has broadened exponentially and that is now starting to show as Ninja falls (well) behind in its traditional area of dominance. Of course there are the offsetting upside advantages of the C#/.net enevironment etc etc, but on balance we - the (paying) user base are left with a product which while still very good, has enough persistent shortcomings to cause us to look elsewhere.

Several posts back Ray said;

"On the issue of forward looking statements of our direction and NT7, we will disclose specific details on what we have been labouring on for quite some time once I feel we are in a position to do so based on a variety of business reasons. As of this moment, we are working overtime to try and release a beta of NT7 by the end of this quarter."

The first thing that struck me about this comment was the second sentence - that after working on NT7 for 9 months past its original delivery date the project is working overtime to "try" and make a beta release a month from now. Doesnt look too hopeful does it?

However after reflection it was the first sentence that concerend me. Generally speaking, I would have thought the primary focus of a business was the acquisition, then retention of a profitable revenue source. Operational activities spawn from that basic premise.

For Ray to have a variety of business reasons that needs consideration before he can release a simple development list is very puzzling. Clearly there seems to be more going on here than consideration of the revenue source.

Perhaps Ninja is up for sale, or reversing into a larger operation as MarketDelta did, or maybe, there are some patents pending for a new 'killer' feature and thats what is causing the delays, or, or, or.....

Anyway - whatever is happening (or not), surely its time to offer some straightforward unambiguous communication on what we can expect from NT7 before too many more users exceed their NT frustration level limit.

I am sure it would be widely appreciated and applauded...

Thankyou...

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

To date I have resisted commenting about the ongoing delays in delivering NT7 - now a situation that even Microsoft must be envious of...

But, as others are also expressing, my frustration levels have risen to the point where I too have been seeking alternatives. For straight chart based order execution Photon Trader looks very good with some excellent features that once would have been the leading edge province of Ninja.

I have used Ninja off and on since 'the early days' when it was a DOM only and the best order execution platform by a long way. With the addition of charting, development focus has broadened exponentially and that is now starting to show as Ninja falls (well) behind in its traditional area of dominance. Of course there are the offsetting upside advantages of the C#/.net enevironment etc etc, but on balance we - the (paying) user base are left with a product which while still very good, has enough persistent shortcomings to cause us to look elsewhere.

Several posts back Ray said;

"On the issue of forward looking statements of our direction and NT7, we will disclose specific details on what we have been labouring on for quite some time once I feel we are in a position to do so based on a variety of business reasons. As of this moment, we are working overtime to try and release a beta of NT7 by the end of this quarter."

The first thing that struck me about this comment was the second sentence - that after working on NT7 for 9 months past its original delivery date the project is working overtime to "try" and make a beta release a month from now. Doesnt look too hopeful does it?

However after reflection it was the first sentence that concerend me. Generally speaking, I would have thought the primary focus of a business was the acquisition, then retention of a profitable revenue source. Operational activities spawn from that basic premise.

For Ray to have a variety of business reasons that needs consideration before he can release a simple development list is very puzzling. Clearly there seems to be more going on here than consideration of the revenue source.

Perhaps Ninja is up for sale, or reversing into a larger operation as MarketDelta did, or maybe, there are some patents pending for a new 'killer' feature and thats what is causing the delays, or, or, or.....

Anyway - whatever is happening (or not), surely its time to offer some straightforward unambiguous communication on what we can expect from NT7 before too many more users exceed their NT frustration level limit.

I am sure it would be widely appreciated and applauded...

Thankyou...

There is nothing else going on, we are simply working hard to get NT7 out the door. I understand your frustration and I understand your anger. You have all decided to use and trust NinjaTrader for your trading needs for one reason or another. I ask you again to trust me and give us the benefit of the doubt. You will not be in the dark for much longer.

[mikeh]

No holy grail

I write this reply simply from my experience - a paying and free user of NT, over a decade of software development both commercial and internal, including the early days of TT before "they invented DOM".

Despite your anticipation and frustration, the next major version of the product is as likely to solve every person's issues as is that indicator/strategy you are writing is going to get every market turn and profitable trade in every situation.

Set your realistic expectations that it will solve some of the major issues, add a few new features, and be a noticeable improvement. This is not an excuse or defense of the industry, nor am I in any way affiliated with NT. But the reality is, not only do most things not happen the way you want them to, but until you actually do them, they don't even happen the way you think they do. There are many reason's that they do not want the feature list to be known to the public until the product is nearly ready to ship. One is the simple fact that sometimes items get cut very late, and you'd rather deliver a solid offering than a disappointment because something was "promised".

Where ever I've worked, there has never been a shortage of known issues to be addressed, but what you can deliver is the real limitation. Sometimes the only thing that can be done is to "forward your request to development". And guess what? There may be a lot more issues that are higher priority that will better business decisions, and they may never get to your request. That is the reality. Maybe you accept it when they put out an improved product.

[rt-trader]

Ray,

Thankyou for your reply....

Trusting, waiting, a while longer....

[5iver]

Ray,

Likewise. No one wants to switch, we just want to know that something is actually happening. If my goading for information seems too much, please remember that I, like so many others, stare at Ninja for the best part of every weekday (and much of the weekend too). It's not a casual relationship. My success is inextricably linked to the capabilities of your app.

Many thanks

[shasha]

2 weeks till end of 2nd Q.
Waiting patiently......

[astra]

2 weeks till end of 2nd Q.
Waiting patiently......

Not exactly! Surprise! See here:

http://www.ninjatrader-support2.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18051