Request: Possible to update NA to "hide" the new KK 3.0.0 until needed?

Vocalpoint

With all the massive NI changes coming lately (K-Series MKIII + KK 3.x.x) and going (MK1 EOL announcements etc) - I am wondering if any consideration might be given to allow Native Access 3.6.x to "hide" the availability of the "new" KK 3.0.0?

This would be beneficial in two very important ways:

1. For MK1 users - who absolutely NEED to stay on Komplete Kontrol 2.9.4 (or essentially brick themselves into real trouble) it makes "komplete" sense to allow Native Access to hide any KK 3.x updates until the end of time. This would instantly eliminate any possibilities of getting click happy in the future and kick off an install to a MK1 environment that will not be easy to walk away from.
2. For us existing MKII users - the word is already out there that KK 3.0.0 is not exactly getting great reviews (for a variety of reasons) and until such time that this new software is updated to at least have a comparable 1-1 feature/performance parity with KK 2.9.4 - the prospect of having a constant "Updates (1)" label staring me in the face in Native Access for the next 6 months is not something I am looking forward to. And like an MK1 user - I also do not want to install this version by mistake and kill of a known good working KK 2.9.4 for no reason.

Hoping this might at least get some discussion at NI HQ and make it a bit easier for the user base to navigate these big changes.

Cheers

VP

SteveECrane

VocalPoint,

I too would like to see Native Instruments (and, especially, Native Access) become more customer-centric in nature … a LOT more customer-centric!

Having just read the latest and final post by Hayo_NI as NA's Prod Mngr (it's a high-quality update, BtW) I have to say I remain disappointed to see that NA's auto update process will continue unabated (despite the fiasco this has created all year for many users) as NI have determined that this is the best thing to do until it is stable:

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/15027/delayed-devtalks-and-status-of-native-access

What profoundly absurd logic is this!?

Until one realises that NI is using its customers to beta test their cr@p software, much as they always have:

"I can't begin to say how much I appreciate the NI community for helping each other out here, as it's alleviated a load off of our support and helped us get closer to some answers, so for that I'm grateful."

Let it screw up someone else's system and then, at some point, we will look to remedy it. This is a disgraceful way to operate and why I haven't bought anything NI badged in a long while, despite owning (almost) everything from Arturia, Korg, Spectrasonics and EastWest, et al. NI simply does not deserve my money.

Furthermore, the ability for users to take and retain control over their own machine is being de-prioritised in favour of NI retaining their control - NTKDaemon will continue to run in the background because NI have deemed this is how they want it … in order to give the users for which this works a faster update process(!). No matter the sheer quantity of BSOD's it's caused and the CPU hog it can become or the fact that it causes myriad other issues, then?

Again, a manifestly absurd decision … until you remember why NI does this.

Then there's Komplete Kontrol. This has never been anywhere near as cr@p as the Kore debacle was - I invested time, money and effort in that PoS too - despite the miniscule and cumbersome KK interface that lacks any worthwhile ergonomic investment and is like something developers from 20 years ago would release; regardless, the KK3 'upgrade' still managed to deprecate my M32 keyboard to a doorstop without prior warning.

Oh yes, if you bothered to look you could find the info that Mk1 keyboards were no longer being supported by KK … but it wasn't obvious … and it should have been. The updater should have produced a clear warning; after all, it could have known an MK1 keyboard was connected (or had been connected) and, ergo, should have produced a warning on that basis.

Yet another own goal?

Nope, not at all: because NI do not care about existing customers using legacy devices … it simply wants everyone to keep on upgrading ad infinitum. Ergo, a keyboard that no longer functions as it should will likely result in yet more paying customers.

However, now I and myriad others are faced with having to ensure we don't click <Update All> button whenever we open NA in order to ensure that we can continue to use our investments!

Truly dire.

As with other updaters, there should be a way to readily hide those updates users do not want … and do not want to see! However, of course, NI see things differently. NI is myopic and introvert - NI comes first in all that it does, not its paying customers. It's why I refuse to pay them anything: I've squandered hundreds, if not thousands, on NI products which either never worked or ended up not working shortly after they stabilised. (Note: I purposely did not say "worked" fully as 'stable' was about as good as it ever got!).
[Anyone want a Kore doorstop? It works well as one of those … because it was never any good at anything else!]

I didn't intend for this to become a TL;DR rant … but this is what NI does for me, unfortunately: it brings out the worst of my whinging and moaning.

And … breathe!