Ok, basic premise/disclaimer - Until EF tell us what's in P7, nobody knows what we're getting.

Having said that, I tend to agree with Captain Jack. P7 isn't likely to have any major code rewrite. And that means, no multiple undo, no memory management, and more bolt-on rooms to cater for any new functions. Any code rewrite or major rigging changes will almost certainly make older content obselete, unless EF find some method of conversion. And, as has been pointed out, that would put the price of poser up, so I doubt it's an option right now.

I'm not saying it'll never happen, but one thing everyone's forgetting is that this is EF's first real chance to make any money from poser since they bought it. For that reason alone, I don't see them pouring huge amounts of resources and manpower into a code rewrite. They'll want to see some bucks coming in for a few years before they even consider biting that particular bullet.

'So why don't E-Frontier re-write Poser from the ground up (aside from it being a time consuming process)? I would have thought that this would make Poser so much more advanced in one huge step.'

Well, DAZ have done it. They've written a posing app, daz studio, based on modern code, modern methods and windows-compatible shortcuts. It has a customisable (and modern) interface, an SDK for 3rd-party developers and a free scripting language. It's not up to the level of poser (6) yet, but in 4 years of development, it's made huge strides. In another 4 years, it could easily outclass poser (insert version number here). Oh, and it's free too.

But of course, it's taken 4 years to do it. and the only reason DAZ can afford to pay a dev team to build a program, then give it away free is that they make their money from content. Every new daz studio user is a potential DAZ customer, and most of them spend their money (money they didn't pay to buy software), in the DAZ store. EF don't have that option (at least, not to the same extent).

So yes, it can be done. It ain't easy, and a poser rewrite would actually be more difficult than strating from scratch, but anything's possible given time and money. whether it's worth doing isn't a developer's decision. It's down to those overpaid and generally-loathed folks who go by the dreaded name of Marketing Experts.

BTW, has anyone wondered why EF didn't improve the P6 figures, instead of wasting money on a new pair which will, no doubt, be destined for some virtual trashcan too?

Uh.... maybe the new ones are totally amazing.... Here's hoping.

mac