I know it’ll be done when it’s done. I’ve been thinking about getting another license and if we’re at months rather than years I’d just as soon wait.
It’s still at the WIP level. We are not waiting. If we need to add more licenses we just do it now. I’ll worry about updating to V6 when it happens.
Mc Neel doesnt even bother to reply…thats unprofessional and arrogant!
A simple “we plan to go into beta in 3 months” or something similar would at least be a statement we could work with…not making promises, just estimating to give the customer a rough idea. If 3 months become 4 months then…fine so be it…its still in the ballpark…
We ve been waiting for over 5 years and McNeel doesnt even have a rough schedule…how lame!
Sorry, but on was waiting ?
Would you pay for monthly updates ?
Rhino v5 (stable) last release is from 2017-5-22 !
Waiting for v6.
Asked and answered thousands of times over the years.
We do not have a date. We have an internal list of projects we are working on.
That list is getting shorter and nothing new is being added for V6.
My best, seat-of-the-pants guess is at least 3 months away and probably more like 6 to final release announcement.
We just froze the SDK so third-part developers can start working on plug-ins.
We are close to a User Interface freeze so our translators can finalize the 9 different languages.
You’ll know we’re getting close when we start announcing “Release Candidates”.
We are acutely aware this is frustrating and difficult, but many releases of Rhino have proven this to be the best approach to software development.
6 Likes
The problem is as soon as they make such a statement it will be wrong, and that is not a bad thing. Their boiler plate response for timeline estimates is always “when it is ready,” and I feel this should actually be celebrated. McNeel could indubitably make WAY more money in the short term by pumping out cruddy “updates” every year or so, just enough to justify upgrades, but they don’t. They instead publicly release a work in progress version, let us all work on it, debate what works well for us and what doesn’t, and then actually listen to those debates. I feel that makes a much more robust product, which has a much greater long term value.
So, the question is what does it matter you have been waiting five years? In all that time you can use both v5 and v6 WIP, which is constantly developing and evolving. By holding back release they are not depriving you of working on V6. Enjoy that you get to work on the WIP for free while you can. Enjoy that if it isn’t working for you, you can suggest improvements before you pay for them. Having an open WIP is an amazing software development process.
I’m sure it is much more difficult for the developers than if they did it all behind closed doors without us butting in, and it would surely be faster. It certainly has its difficulties for users as well. There are risks in using software in development, and there are LONG stretches between release versions. We all squabble with each other for various silly things from time to time to get the tools we want. But when it is done, it is stable, it works well, and it is amazingly affordable.
I know this is all very fan boy-ish, but honestly I have never had such a pleasant relationship with a tool supplier. I have come to rely on them to get my work done, and they have never failed to at least listen when I am having problems. I would absolutely hate if they changed their WIP / beta process.
And finally to actually answer your question, the best, and really only, indicator we are getting close to release is when we get release candidates 
Sam
5 Likes
Spoiled child much?
How many CEOs do you know answering questions at the help desk? I would say Bob is the most professional leader I have ever interacted with. In fact the reason Rhino works is because there is a great team of developers that write the code and man the help desk.
Positive criticism is great and helpful but attacking people is definitely a pointless endeavor.
4 Likes
Is there an upgrade grace period? I.E. If I buy v5 and v6 comes out a month later?
Yeah , that is a logical and best way to finish rhino 6 and be full release .
Good luck McNeel
Why stress the release date? The WIP, so far, is quite reliable, and I’m glad that it is still WIP. It means that there is still time for improvements.
It is an interesting phase!
No generally there is not - or at least has not been in the past. On the other hand, there has always been an introductory upgrade price that is substantially less than the normal upgrade price. And if you buy from a reputable reseller, they may actually warn you when they think/know a release date is near…
–Mitch
A grace period would be nice…I run a small office with only 1 copy of Rhino…I’m the sole user at this point and have always used the WIP releases for the last 10 years. I upgrade pretty much as soon as a new release is available.
I now have an employee that I would like to start training to use Rhino, I’m in no hurry but I don’t want to even try to teach him to use R5…So if I buy R5 now when R6 comes out that will be (2) upgrades I will have to get funds for and I can hear it now…“Didn’t you just purchase one copy and now it already needs to be upgraded…?”
All that being said I don’t want R6 released till it’s good and ready.
Brian
PS…My source is as reputable as it gets, I buy straight from McNeel.
Well, then I guess you know how it works then… 
Why not? Start with an eval version for 90 days full use for free…
Well, resellers may actually have a bit more wiggle room sometimes, perhaps offering long time clients special conditions, balancing their profit margin against customer loyalty and goodwill… depends on the reseller and the market of course…
–Mitch
We only sell at full list price so we don’t compete with the resellers in our region. We follow our own rules and do not sell to users outside of our region.
If you could save a little money on the same product and service, why would you purchase directly from us instead of a local reseller?