I spent the last two nights acquiring images with this beta version of SGP. I encountered no show-stoppers, but a couple of annoying issues.
Similar to the issue reported here a few days ago by @Nathan_Morgan, I saw problems with loading sequences. My experience was a little different from his though. I found that when I loaded a sequence, whether it was created in the beta version or converted from a previously saved sequence, the sequence was “untitled” after it was loaded. Then after saving it to the same name or a different name, there was not an equipment or user profile associated with it (at least according to the title bar on the sequence panel), even though they did have associated profiles before saving. So every time I loaded a sequence I had to save it in order to name it, then apply a profile to it.
I am not a fan of the Notification Center, especially the popup panels that remain on the screen for 30 seconds in the lower right corner. My laptop has limited screen real estate, and the popup panels block parts of the SGP screen I would like to see. If the “new image saved” notifications were considered to be “Info” notifications, and could thus be prevented from popping up, that would be great. Or having the option to not display the Notification Center panels at all would suit me. I like to think I am in control even when I’m not, and I’m one of those users who pays close attention to the docking modules I have arranged on the SGP window. The Notification Center panels complicate that, and I haven’t found any way to turn them off.
On the positive side, the new feature that prevents the sequence from waiting for the autoguider to settle when the previous sub was not dithered is great - it saves a lot of valuable time for acquiring subs if you use short subexposures and do not dither after each one.
Don