So far hating not having the "real" FlexWallet

[doc]

Ok, so I dig that software gets merged and gobbled up. But being a loyal FlexWallet user I'm really hating this eWallet merge. It's like they just yanked all the great features from FlexWallet and forced us to eWallet. After upgrading, downloading and installing the new "MERGE" it still says Ilum Software. Whoops! Didn't get that rebranded yet did you?

Oh, let's see...where do I begin. How about at the very beginning. Opening eW takes longer than it ever did FW on the PPC. Then once it finally does open the number pad is about 2/3 of the original size. With FW I just had to enter my code and it took me to my wallet. With eW I have to punch in my number on the smaller keys, then I have to press Done. Extra keystrokes, gotta love 'em. Of course it remembered absolutely none of the icons I had set in FW.

Let start the gripe about the desktop software now. When I started the software on my desktop I used to be presented with a keypad where I typed in my code. I use a tabletPC as my desktop so this worked really well. With the new eW interface I'm presented with an edit box, not a keypad. This means I have to open the TIP on the tablet so that I can punch in my code! This is WAY more steps for me compared to FW.

The most minor gripe I have is that I had to completely redo the wallet sync with my device. Needless to say, the steps to get the wallet to sync are much more cryptic than they were with FW.

The worse part is, I already spent the $16 to upgrade it. If they don't fix these features I'll be moving on to something else when they ask for upgrade money next time.

Has anybody else been having this kind of experience? I searched the board here thinking surely someone bitched about this already.

As you can tell, not a real happy customer of what used to be FlexWallet. This really sucks!

[buzzard]

When I changed I had the same complaints. The one redeeming eWallet virtue that I like is I can click on the bank (or whatever) web link and it opens IE or PIE and logs in for you. Although I've found a couple of sites where it doesn't quite work, most do. I don't recall Flexwallet having that feature.

I haven't looked at SPB wallet but mostly because I don't want to spend more money to get a program that's may only be slightly better than what I already have.

[Ilium Software]

Well, I'm very sorry that eWallet isn't working out for you. While we're doing everything we can to make the transition to eWallet a good one, we knew that there would definitely be folks who would be unhappy. In the end, the reality is that eWallet is a different program than FlexWallet and while we hope we can offer a great user experience, some things just won't be the same.

I would like to take a second to comment on a few of your concerns. Not looking to "sell you" on eWallet but maybe an explanation will help.

After upgrading, downloading and installing the new "MERGE" it still says Ilum Software. Whoops! Didn't get that re-branded yet did you?

eWallet is still an Ilium Software product so it will continue to say Ilium Software. That isn't an accident.

Opening eW takes longer than it ever did FW on the PPC

We've seen this and typically it is associated with the custom icons. eWallet handles icon differently than FlexWallet and adding the 200+ FlexWallet icons can slow down startup. eWallet 6.0.1 sped this up a bit and we also released an optimized FlexWallet icon pack, both of which should speed up startup. We're also working on additional updates for 6.1. In the mean time, if you are seeing a slow startup, my best advice is to remove icons you don't need or aren't using as this should improve performance (you can find them in My Documents/eWallet/Graphics and Sounds).

With FW I just had to enter my code and it took me to my wallet. With eW I have to punch in my number on the smaller keys, then I have to press Done.

eWallet is like this for security reasons. By requiring a verification on the entry of an incorrect password, you make it significantly harder to build a program that runs through passwords until it hacks the wallet. Although the odds of someone trying this are slim, knowing we make it harder gives a lot of people peace of mind. In addition, we offer a means of locking down wallets if too many bad password attempts occur. This wouldn't work with the 'auto-open' method.

We are considering this as an option in a future release, but that is why we don't have it now.

Of course it remembered absolutely none of the icons I had set in FW.

This shouldn't happen. In fact it isn't something we've run into. If you installed the FlexWallet icon pack and/or moved your custom icons to the eWallet My Documents/eWallet/Graphics and Sounds folder, it should automatically use the correct icons. Unfortunately I couldn't say why this didn't happen in your case although if you want some help with it you could certainly drop our support folks a line. They might have some ideas.

Let start the gripe about the desktop software now. When I started the software on my desktop I used to be presented with a keypad where I typed in my code. I use a tabletPC as my desktop so this worked really well. With the new eW interface I'm presented with an edit box, not a keypad. This means I have to open the TIP on the tablet so that I can punch in my code! This is WAY more steps for me compared to FW.

I agree. I have a Samsung Q1 UMPC and I'm planning to add an onscreen keyboard for eWallet desktop at some point for that reason. Unfortunately it didn't make it into the last build but hopefully something for 6.1 or 6.2.

The most minor gripe I have is that I had to completely redo the wallet sync with my device. Needless to say, the steps to get the wallet to sync are much more cryptic than they were with FW.

Re-establishing sync is something that was inevitable I'm afraid. We created as smooth of an import/transition as possible but in the end, FlexWallet and eWallet are two different programs and some things need setup afterwards. All I can offer is an apology that we didn't come up with a good way to bring that information over.

As for sync setup, sorry it isn't a good interface for you. A lot of people really love the sync setup in eWallet and think it is very intuitive, but everyone has different tastes and I'm afraid it isn't simple for everyone. If you have specific concerns or suggestions please email them to us. Customer requests are a big part of how we decide on new features.

The worse part is, I already spent the $16 to upgrade it. If they don't fix these features I'll be moving on to something else when they ask for upgrade money next time.

Whether you are upgrading or buying a new copy, our money back promise is the same. If you use it for 30 days and just don't like it, drop our support folks a line. They'll get you a refund. We don't believe in charging people for something if it isn't going to work for them.

Again, I'm not trying to "make everything right" with a few explanation, but hopefully it will help to explain why things are the way they are and where they are going.

And speaking of which, 6.1 is due out mid-year and will include more FlexWallet-style updates including a new template interface, customizable field types, and more. And if you EVER have trouble, please drop our support folks a line ( [email protected] or 888-632-5388 ) We are ALWAYS happy to help.

Marc Tassin
Senior Product Manager
Ilium Software
--------------------
[email protected]
+1 (734) 973-9388
---------------------
http://www.iliumsoft.com

And be sure check out our blog! http://blog.iliumsoft.com/

[doc]

Thank you for the response Marc. My griping was from the impression I got that WebIS bought eWallet, not the other way around. I think it was a little over a year ago when WebIS bought it from Two Peaks. If Ilium bought the code from WebIS I can totally understand why you would ditch many of the FlexWallet features.

I had not installed any of the icon packs. So I don't think that's what was slowing it down on startup. The slower startup time IS a serious issue for me though. When I need info from my wallet I usually need it yesterday. The slower startup time just exacerbates the problem when I need it in a hurry.

The whole hitting Done thing after entering my code is something I'm just going to have to get used to if I stay with this. I've been using FlexWallet since June of 2003 and I've just gotten used to the wallet opening right after entering the last digit.

You didn't make any mention of making the keypad larger on the PPC. With FlexWallet I could enter the code using my fingers. Not as easy with eWallet.

All in all, I think the biggest deal breaker would have to be losing the keypad on the desktop client and the slow startup on the PPC. I'll continue trying to get used to eWallet. Like I said before, I'll stick with it for lack of anything better that is supported. But I will seriously reconsider going back to an unsupported FlexWallet using Handango's $6.99 "download protection" junk charge if I still don't feel comfortable with it when the upgrade time comes around.

Looking back on Handango's site, FlexWallet was the very first software purchase I made from them :eek:

[Ilium Software]

Thank you for the response Marc. My griping was from the impression I got that WebIS bought eWallet, not the other way around. I think it was a little over a year ago when WebIS bought it from Two Peaks. If Ilium bought the code from WebIS I can totally understand why you would ditch many of the FlexWallet features.

It was really more of a situation where FlexWallet merged into eWallet. That is part of the reason we're trying to work in as many FlexWallet features as possible. (We talked about some of the additional things were doing in 6.1 on our blog here http://blog.iliumsoft.com/?p=280 .

I had not installed any of the icon packs. So I don't think that's what was slowing it down on startup. The slower startup time IS a serious issue for me though. When I need info from my wallet I usually need it yesterday. The slower startup time just exacerbates the problem when I need it in a hurry.

That is VERY unusual then. Slow startup has only come up as an issue when someone has a ton of icons installed. You might drop the support folks a line and see if they can offer some ideas for speeding things up. They might ask some question to replicate the problems since, as I mentioned, slow startup is typically only associated with tons of icons.

You didn't make any mention of making the keypad larger on the PPC. With FlexWallet I could enter the code using my fingers. Not as easy with eWallet.

Sorry I didn't mention, but I made a note of that so we can take a look. It's a good point.

All in all, I think the biggest deal breaker would have to be losing the keypad on the desktop client and the slow startup on the PPC. I'll continue trying to get used to eWallet. Like I said before, I'll stick with it for lack of anything better that is supported. But I will seriously reconsider going back to an unsupported FlexWallet using Handango's $6.99 "download protection" junk charge if I still don't feel comfortable with it when the upgrade time comes around.

Well I think I said this but please send us your comments. User input is a huge factor in determining changes and new features. As for the redownload, you might jsut contact Web IS directly. I don't know for sure, but I bet they can get you a new download without having to pay 6.99.

Marc Tassin
Ilium Software
--------------------
[email protected]
+1 (734) 973-9388
---------------------
http://www.iliumsoft.com

And be sure check out our blog! http://blog.iliumsoft.com/