OK, were do I start my rebuttal?
I think you managed just fine.
Really, I think you should have started another thread. Not just to not get in the way of the love-fest, but because now its going to be harder to follow your line of discussion, because it will be interleaved with people addressing the original point, not your hijack.
I stand by my assertion that a lot of what you say is your perception of things-which is to say, you are certainly not wrong, but someone thrilled with what has been added will have an equally legitimate opinion. But that's not to say that everyone is going to look at things your way. And you know, that's okay. We all are allowed our different takes.
For example, in Logic 7 I was honestly not that interested when Global Tracks were added to Logic. It was clearly a big deal, but not one that really meant much to me. Or previously, when the Project Manager was added-I would have preferred audio features, etc. Again, lots of development time and effort, but I was never able to use it. So in those situations, I felt that my workflow got the short shrift. But that didn't take away the import to others and time it took to add those features.
This time as you noted the MIDI editors were the "also ran" when it came to features. Although let me say that as far as bug fixes go, it may be a different story. I just got off the phone with a friend who has had MIDI chase issues in Cycle mode since Logic 6, and so far he's said those seem to be gone. So while there might be few new features to speak of, what is there may work better than previously.
One thing that I've wanted to see for years has been MIDI plug-ins like Audio Plug-ins. Cubase has them, Sonar has them, DP has them, Live has them, etc. Logic doesn't. Logic could even let users build their own Environment macros, and make those MIDI plug-ins. When I started asking for that, it would have been innovative...but now "Max for Live 8" will do that. To me, that would be an exciting MIDI feature.
And Orren, the few new MIDI features you mention, I mean, seriously? I bought all your great Logic Power and Ignite books and I'm sure you are working on the L9 edition. Just ask yourself how much content and even screenshots you have to actually change. Isn't it more like an addendum, like adding a few more chapters for the new audio features and the rest of Logic is 95% the same?
Well thank you for the compliment! I'm guessing it will be more than that, since whenever things like new methods to add notes via context menus, etc. are added, that means that previous sections on creating notes need to be revised, and so on. But you're correct, the MIDI editors will not need drastic changes.
2) MIDI chase, another mess that they didn't even bother (same settings checkboxes)
See above. A good friend and collaborator says his chase issues are gone. Give it a try, maybe it will work for you now as well.
And yes, I send all that stuff to the Feedback page, which obviously reroutes it directly to the "Logic developer's trash bin"
Everything they get in the Feedback page they pay attention to. Moreover, at the start of a new release, they pay more attention than ever. So I highly recommend you re-send your list via that link NOW. Trust me, they are listening. It will not get routed to the trash. Now, what we don't know are their priorities, so "paying attention" is no guarantee of "seeing it soon." But I know they're paying attention.
But now when I see that most of that stuff hasn't even been touched, that sets off a very scary alarm. Why? Two years were not enough time?
Maybe it isn't. We just don't know. But I am sure you're right, that this time the priority was audio. That's not to say that it will always be, but it seems to be this time.
Orren