Hi Vicky and All, There has been no inconsistency in our communication to the list concerning the fact that the next release of software would be the last that would be supported on the Classic machines.
On 29 August 2006 Jonathan Mosen made a post to advise of this fact. In my post of 15 May I stated that improved Word support would be a major component in the release following what is now known as KeySoft 7.5. I also stated that the Word handling improvements were not a trivial task, and from that I intended to convey that they were not going to be available in the near future. My statement to the list follows. Following that excerpt I have included Jonathan Mosen's post of 29 August 2006 concerning support of the Classic range: Excerpt from Maurice Sloane's post of 15 May 2007: "Many of you will also be aware that we also share your urgent desire to provide comprehensive support for handling Word documents on the BrailleNote. Unfortunately it is not a trivial task to implement a robust mechanism for handling the multifaceted Word documents that one is likely to encounter, and we do not wish to release a "half-baked" solution. Ideally we would have liked to have incorporated the new Word support in the coming SSL release, but due to the urgency of meeting the ISP's SSL changeover date, this is just not feasible. Please be assured that we have assiduously monitored comments from our Users concerning what you expect with regard to handling Word documents, and this will be the main thrust of the release following that providing SSL support. We also acknowledge Microsoft's willingness to assist in this regard." Jonathan Mosen's post of 29 August 2006: SUPPORT FOR BRAILLENOTE AND VOICENOTE CLASSIC In June 2005, HumanWare released the next generation of information management systems for the blind, BrailleNote and VoiceNote mPower. To thank our loyal customer base for their support, we made two commitments. Firstly, because we appreciate that funding for assistive technology may only be available to an individual once every few years, we undertook to release new versions of Key Soft for the BrailleNote and VoiceNote Classic for as long as possible. Secondly, we introduced our extremely popular transplant programme, allowing BrailleNote Classic customers the chance to have our latest technology for around a third of the cost of a new unit in the case of those owning 32-cell models. The transplant programme will continue into the foreseeable future , giving customers access to the many benefits available exclusively on BrailleNote and VoiceNote mPower. However, as we start to plan for exciting future enhancements to KeySoft, it is becoming clear that many of the features we wish to add are not technically possible on the Classic platform. On that basis, HumanWare is giving notice that KeySoft 7.2 will be the second to last upgrade available for the Classic family. There will be a final update for BrailleNote classic released next year. For this reason, once KeySoft 7.2 is released, software maintenance agreements will no longer be available for the BrailleNote and VoiceNote Classic. We wish to stress that technical support and servicing will still be available for BrailleNote Classic, which continues to be a powerful information management tool. Please also note that should you take advantage of the transplant programme, any counts remaining on your Software maintenance Agreement will be transferred to your BrailleNote mPower. Should you have any queries, as always, please don?t hesitate to contact your nearest HumanWare office. ________________________ Maurice Sloane New Zealand Sales & Support Consultant HumanWare Direct Dial: +64 3 940 2223 Mobile: +64 21 528 374 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: www.humanware.com "Vicky Collins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 12/07/2007 04:35 p.m. To "Joseph Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> cc "Braillenote List" <[email protected]> Subject Re: [Braillenote] KeySoft 7.5 Release Hi Maurice and All, Perhaps it was your statement in May of this year about hoping to have both the Word and SSL email encryption in the same release, not to mention your comments of last November about HW working on KS 8, that now lead folks to think/hope that KS 7.5 might not be the last release for the classics after all. I mean, since, according to your earlier message about this upgrade being released now to meet the SSL email encryption deadline, perhaps some were hoping that the classic folks wouldn't have to miss out on getting the Word support because of something beyond their control that ISP's are doing. Anyway, although I myself with an mPower and a PK don't have to worry about this particular issue, I can't help but think that the classic folks deserve more than a message essentially saying to just read the web site. True, maybe there is not much HW can do for the classic folks, as there is only so much room and memory in those units; however, if nothing else, maybe just a bit more of an explanation could have been given to the classic users. Vicky Collins [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. 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