LC on Windows - slow for others or just me?

[Curry Kenworthy]

Howdy Richard,

 > pretty much the whole workflow of my day in LC on Win is painful,
 > compared to the easy breezy experience I get on Linux and Mac.

Oh yes! At a certain version I got a huge slowdown and (as others 
mentioned) turned off script autoformatting features until it got 
better. I've kept the settings like that since then. Some of the newer 
formatting features could have been getting on my nerves anyway, but 
definitely they should be optimized, new code should be good code. I had 
to turn off script coloring too.

I am on a "real Windows machine" ie an HP laptop sold with Windows 10 
installed. I use this computer with LC daily and it is my primary 
development device. All the time.

 > Just one full day on Windows each week would be so illuminating,
 > these lags wouldn't survive long.

Excellent idea! Day a week would cure this. I don't remember whether I 
mentioned some Windows issues when talking about LC quality a while 
back, but to see this stuff you have to get hands-on with Windows 
(preferably native) often enough and long enough to see the whole 
picture. 10 minutes is not hands on. Otherwise there are things you 
won't notice.

For example, if you use LC on Windows frequently, check the Task 
Manager. A long-standing problem with LC on Windows is that the "LC 
Installer" or setup will eventually have multiple processes hanging 
around in memory. That can bog LC down, it can bog the whole computer 
down, and sometimes the Installer will also hang up and cause a big 
delay while launching LC. What I do is delete that file, which is not 
the installer you downloaded but rather the .setup.exe located in the 
installation. That's crucial to improve some aspects of performance.

Try it with the .setup deleted and most script autoformatting features 
off, and see how it behaves? That would help narrow down if more issues 
are remaining. I haven't done any engine version speed comparisons lately!

One more thing that LC 8/9 need is practical IDE editing features on par 
with LC 5/6. There's no comparison. It's another area where daily 
hands-on familiarity with using LC is key to understanding the 
difference. One tiny example, one of many, is when you right-click a 
control for context menu, now it takes a left-click to dismiss that so 
you can select another control, and a left click can accidentally move a 
control. These things add up.

Mark had suggested that I write all these up or go in and fix them and 
submit the changes, but of course I have my own code to maintenance 
first, for my clients and addon users; I just haven't had the free time 
to write up a detailed list of lost editing features or fix them for LC 
on a volunteer contributor basis. I would certainly be more available to 
do so on a paid basis. The IDE needs to shine.

Giving some attention to these things (Windows day, optimization, IDE) 
would help speed up adoption of new versions and tighten the feedback loop!

Best wishes,

Curry Kenworthy

Custom Software Development
LiveCode Training and Consulting
http://livecodeconsulting.com/