Quirky - that is what I am talking about

[David J. Potter]

Home Designer Pro 2012 is about $495.00 for legal copies.

I have been using Chief Inc software since 1995. I do not find it unstable in any way when used as it is designed.

Part of my business model is supporting older versions of Chief (back to version 9.5) and Home Designer titles, versions 7-2012 (7, 8, 9, 10 and 2012, each version has about seven different titles ranging in price from $75.00 to $495.00) and the persons who use them.

The common denominator of skittish-unstable plans is the ineptitude of end-users who use the software without carefully studying how it is designed to work.
They use it via their "intuition" (aka: guessing) which then leads to goofy behaviors of many and varied kinds.
When those incorrect settings are set in agreement with what one is doing, the behavior and "personality" of the plan goes away as well.

Anyone who really knows Chief Inc Software would not say it is unstable, rather it is an indication of an absence of personal responsibility in the person saying such drivel.
It is like saying that "my hammer bent over the nail".

DJP

[johnnyprc]

I don't agree about it being an issue of "ineptitude of end-users who use the software without carefully studying how it is designed to work".

As an architect, the software should work in a logical way by which to act as my tool. If the tool gets in the way of my creativity, then its not a good tool. Learning how the tool works so you are dictated by that tool is never a good result. I will tell you, if I go back and forth between Vectorworks, Autocad, 3D Studio Max, Sketchup, Revit, I do not find the same "quirky" behavior. Learning curve, yes - quirky, no. Chief needs to stop creating "work-a-rounds" in their software and get it right.

It so happens that even though I think Chief is quirky, it does some things so well its worth it for me to deal with those issues. My recommendation here is to fix the issue for other users who are staying away from Chief due to these issues. Chief is SOOOOO close to being GREAT.