Synergy 2 is back to beta

[Nick Bolton]

Recently we surveyed a group of our users with a simple question: Should Synergy 2 be considered stable or beta?

In November of last year, we officially released Synergy 2 as stable. We knew there were a few minor bugs but assumed we could fix them within a couple of months. Sadly, it became apparent that these bugs were not so small nor easy to fix. So with very careful consideration, we've made the decision to redeclare Synergy 2 a beta product.

When will Synergy 2 be stable? We're going to leave this up to you to decide. As we make updates and enhancements, we'll continue to poll users so that you can tell us when you think it's stable. We've also decided not to ask this question until after we've re-introduced the missing features from Synergy 1, which could extend the beta period by 12-18 months.

Reply to this thread if you have any questions about this decision.

Update:

Update 2: @Kelvin Tran also posted bout Synergy 1. 

 

[GranPaSmurf]

that's a tough choice, but I think it makes sense.

 

[Zaf9670]

Are the missing features from version 1.0 security related or quality of life related? I know you have done things similar to roadmaps in the past to show where you're heading and it might be nice to just know what features are missing so people can make the decision to beta test or not.

 

I think 2.0 has been stable enough for my use cases but that may be because I primarily use it on just 2 machines at a time and they are running Windows.

Edited May 24, 2018 by Zaf9670
Made it easier to read

[GranPaSmurf]

26 minutes ago, Zaf9670 said:

Are the missing features from version 1.0 security related or quality of life related? I know you have done things similar to roadmaps in the past to show where you're heading and it might be nice to just know what features are missing so people can make the decision to beta test or not.

I think 2.0 has been stable enough for my use cases but that may be because I primarily use it on just 2 machines at a time and they are running Windows.

1

I'm not part of the discussion about what the goal is, but I'm thinking it will be about what we've been calling 2.1. A lot more options for the configuration that will appeal to the IT department and/or the power-user. About security vs. quality-of-life, I have noticed that V.2 auto-configures a secure connection where V.1 left it up to the users to choose SSL or not.

CHECK OUT THE PLANNED FEATURES FOR SYNERGY 2 IN THE OFFICIAL ROADMAP:

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE FEATURES:

[dfw_swift]

I want to compliment you on this decision.  Can't have been easy, but I agree that it was the right choice.

 

Just recently, I replied to one of my own support tickets that I was going back to v1.9, but would keep checking in on v2.  My desktop sharing has been COMPLETELY stable on v1.9 for the last week now.

Again, KUDOS for eating some crow and moving forward.  I do hope to run v2 in the future.

 

Spencer Swift

[Mikko Mattila]

I don't need any new features. I just want synergy to be stable, which it has never been for me. Focus on making it work, forget the bells and whistles.

• I've been on board since 2013. Off and on.
• Synergy 2 I have never been able to even try out even though I paid for it. It seems I need to be able to configure proxy. What benefit exactly would I get with cloud?
• 1.8 works OK between windows machines. That's the only fully positive experience I have from Synergy. Too bad I don't really need two parallel Windows PCs, but the other one always tends to be Linux.
• Between Windows and Linux the keyboard gets screwed up constantly.
  • One one machine caps lock is on and on the other it's off. Need to kill synergy to fix it.
  • Most of the time I can't get @${[]} characters right on the guest PC (Linux). Ie. the Alt-Gr issue. It has never worked out of the box.
• Copy-paste used to be bad for years, now it's fixed. Thank you for that.

There are new mouse/keyboard products that can control up to three machines at the same time. If Synergy doesn't get their act together soon, I'll make the switch. I really want you guys to succeed though. Please just fix the basic features.

[Zach Borgerding]

I think that this was a great decision.  To be honest, I was not happy at all that there were bug fixes in Synergy 2 that really should have gone into Synergy 1.9.  I was on the fence for months about upgrading based upon this.  After finally biting the bullet, I was not happy either that Synergy 2 seemed to lack polish / features from 1.9 and had new bugs of its own.  Just seemed like a paid downgrade in many respects.  I think that you might want to email your intentions to Synergy 1.9 supporters.  Might encourage them to come back to support the work on Synergy 2.

[Zach Borgerding]

I'm with Mikko on some of this.  I'd recommend that the Synergy team takes some time to backport some of the 2.x fixes to Synergy 1.9.

[Joel Gray]

Hard decisions, but I agree as well that it was correct. I have (like some others) reverted back to 1.9 and will continue to test new versions as they arrive. I like the goal of the 2.x software and look forward to the day it delivers. I hope that my testing and data can help the dev team to track down the issues.

Cheers!

[nowyouhavecancer]

Agreed, thank you for recognizing that version 2 needs more work as a beta. I've tried every update to version 2, and have never been able to get it to work, and the support has offered no direction to solve the problem. For a very simple configuration (2 Windows machines on the same network, no exotic/overly-restrictive firewall, internet access) I would figure it would work without a hitch, but it never has. I'd like to see it truly be a simple setup, as it's supposed to be an easy install. And for those who have trouble, having any sort of configuration or troubleshooting options would be a huge help.

[jcarlstrom]

what is the plan for those of us that bought at 2.0.10 and have nothing to revert back to?

[Lucubrator]

10 hours ago, Mikko Mattila said:

I don't need any new features. I just want synergy to be stable, which it has never been for me. Focus on making it work, forget the bells and whistles.

• I've been on board since 2013. Off and on.
• Synergy 2 I have never been able to even try out even though I paid for it. It seems I need to be able to configure proxy. What benefit exactly would I get with cloud?
• 1.8 works OK between windows machines. That's the only fully positive experience I have from Synergy. Too bad I don't really need two parallel Windows PCs, but the other one always tends to be Linux.
• Between Windows and Linux the keyboard gets screwed up constantly.
  • One one machine caps lock is on and on the other it's off. Need to kill synergy to fix it.
  • Most of the time I can't get @${[]} characters right on the guest PC (Linux). Ie. the Alt-Gr issue. It has never worked out of the box.
• Copy-paste used to be bad for years, now it's fixed. Thank you for that.

There are new mouse/keyboard products that can control up to three machines at the same time. If Synergy doesn't get their act together soon, I'll make the switch. I really want you guys to succeed though. Please just fix the basic features.

3

I completely agree and relate to each of these points, except that I have been able to autoconfigure Synergy 2.0.x between two Windows machines, but each 1.8 problem Mikko has listed is still a problem in Syn 2.

Also, I think this was a good decision Nick. Definitely a step in the right direction. Lastly, I want to emphasize one of Mikko's points: "If Synergy doesn't get their act together soon, I'll make the switch. I really want you guys to succeed though. Please just fix the basic features." 

The AltGr issue is such a huge pain if you're a programmer, and I can't understand how that could be hard to fix. Give us the ability to rebind the key in a config file. Doesn't have to look pretty, just give us a quick temporary workaround. That would make me so happy. This isn't a "bug" that "happens for some users seemingly randomly", it is a misaligned feature that affects everyone with certain (if not all) AltGr keyboard layouts (European, Nordic etc).

[Austracker]

I am having trouble since updating to the latest 2.0.12 beta I can get my windows to interact with each other but not my Mac which should be between the 2 controlling both.

 

I also just added the Surface of an employee that has left us. So yeah not that happy at the moment

[Nick Bolton]

7 hours ago, jcarlstrom said:

what is the plan for those of us that bought at 2.0.10 and have nothing to revert back to?

You have access to both Synergy 1 and Synergy 2.

https://symless.com/synergy/downloads

[eth0]

It's never late to rectify, guys, you've made the right decision IMHO. Now you can focus on squashing all bugs and making Synergy 2 a solid product.

[MelodyF]

Since it has reverted to beta, would it be encouraged to continue to try and submit bugs for future 2.0.x versions?

[Davewill]

Yeah, I finally had to give up on it today as a daily driver. I hit the scaling on a Windows server bug yesterday, and no net connection rendering it useless today. So it's Synergy 1 until Synergy 2 can be run without net connection and the bugs are tackled.

So can we have a Synergy 1 discussion section back so folks can get help without being drowned in a sea of Synergy 2 beta bug posts?

Edited May 25, 2018 by Davewill

[xyzzyx]

after like 3hrs tryn to get the v1 to work (it worked like a charm for last year, then it stopped to work for no reason), i bought the v2.

v2 also does not work.

got back to v1 and oh wonder, it doesnt work.

what now?

im running it on a windows 7 and windows 10 machine and cant imagine working on those without synergy for even one day =,(.

 

[MelodyF]

5 minutes ago, xyzzyx said:

after like 3hrs tryn to get the v1 to work (it worked like a charm for last year, then it stopped to work for no reason), i bought the v2.

v2 also does not work.

got back to v1 and oh wonder, it doesnt work.

what now?

im running it on a windows 7 and windows 10 machine and cant imagine working on those without synergy for even one day =,(.

 

Try uninstalling and reinstalling via this guide: 

 

[xyzzyx]

please just fix this bug, i dont want to waste more time on this matter.

thanks.

[Davewill]

7 hours ago, xyzzyx said:

please just fix this bug, i dont want to waste more time on this matter.

thanks.

How could anyone fix anything when you've given no details?

[xyzzyx]

I mean, if your product is not done yet and not working, why am i able to buy it. 

[Davewill]

Dude, for starters, it ain't "my" product. Secondly, just saying it doesn't work makes no sense since it does work for lots of people. If you have a particular problem, somebody could probably help you, but just complaining it doesn't work will get you nowhere.

[Nick Bolton]

On 24/05/2018 at 4:55 PM, Zach Borgerding said:

I'm with Mikko on some of this.  I'd recommend that the Synergy team takes some time to backport some of the 2.x fixes to Synergy 1.9.

Which ones?

[goyenator]

I have seen a huge stability improvement from 2.0.10 to 2.0.11 and through 2.0.12beta.  I hope the trend continues.  I am using Ubuntu and macOS.  I would highly recommend upgrading if you haven't already.