Re: Emacs 21 or snapshot?

[Will Parsons]

David Kastrup wrote:
> Xavier Maillard <xma@gnu.org> writes:
>
>>    Xavier Maillard <xma@gnu.org> writes:
>>
>>    > Hi Mark,
>>    >
>>    >    As someone wishing to learn Emacs would you recommend I
>>    >    install Emacs 21 or Emacs-snapshot?
>>    >
>>    > You'd better stick with the current stable aka GNU Emacs 21.4
>>
>>    It is so much worse in utf-8 support alone that I wonder what you base
>>    that recommendation on.
>>
>> Snapshot is a development version whereas GNU Emacs 21 is a
>> *stable* version.
>
> Which does not change the fact that the snapshots have been quite
> better and more solid than the "stable" version for years now.  In
> particular now that snapshots are released as "pretest" releases.
>
> Can you point to any area, even a single one, where the supposed
> "stability" of Emacs 21.4 leads to better results than, say, the
> pretest 22.0.99?

Well, at work I've been using the last stable version of NTemacs for some
time now quite happily.  A few weeks ago I downloaded the current version
of Emacs 22 to try out, and find it too annoying to use.  The problem is
that I use Emacs on my Windows machine to remotely edit files on other
systems using ange-ftp or (on Emacs 22) tramp.  There is a noticeable lag
after saving a remote file under Emacs 22.  It appears that that file is
transferred to the remote system quickly enough, since I can see it on the
remote system shortly after saving it in Emacs, but Emacs seems to hang for
a "long" period (I haven't actually measured it - probably several 
minutes), in which time Emacs doesn't update or receive input.  Obviously,
since I don't see this with the "stable" Emacs 21 on the same remote files,
it doesn't seem to be problem with the remote side, but as a result I'm
not too eager to embrace Emacs 22 as being "better" than the curretly
sanctioned "stable" version.

As I say, this is a situation editing remote files on the Windows version
of Emacs at work.  At home, I don't use Windows or use ange-ftp or tramp,
so I can't say if there are any similar issues on the other system I use
Emacs on (GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, QNX4).

- Will