Cheers for the rant. I get sick and tired as an IT amateur of those
persisting with Xp. My belief is they don't like change and that's that.
So cheers once again.
On 11/09/2013 18:44, Thomas Ward wrote:
Hi all,
I know this is probably going to sound like a rant, I am not trying to
come off that way, but there are a couple of things I feel needs to be
said. I just don't think certain users think before posting questions
like this to the list. So I'd like to say something about it to help
encourage some thought into the discussion before such questions
arise.
For example, a little while ago James asked how could he use the SAPI
5.5 voices on his XP computer. Well, on the surface it sounds like a
reasonable question, but it actually lacks a little forethought
considering the fact XP is about to be officially dropped by Microsoft
next spring. If this user had thought about the situation through he
would know that Microsoft is cutting back on updates, is preparing to
discontinue service and updates, and aren't going to port something
designed for Windows 8, which is a selling point, back to Windows XP
which is for all intents and purposes about to be discontinued anyway.
There would be no point in Microsoft in doing so.
The reason I am making an issue of this is simply this. The industry
standard for technical support and updates for a piece of software is
between five and ten years. XP users have been extremely lucky in that
Microsoft has continued to extend the support to 2014, but I don't
really see them extending it beyond that point. Windows XP was
originally released in 2001, way beyond the industry standard for
support, and now that Microsoft has officially announced the cut-off
date for XP they have been generous in giving XP users plenty of time
to upgrade to Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, whatever if they choose to.
However, it makes sense for the last year or so of XP's extended
support Microsoft would only release critical updates, patches, and
bug fixes to fill out the last year of support. They certainly aren't
going to put a lot of time and effort into back porting .NET 5.0, SAPI
5.5, DirectX 11, etc to XP since from their point of view XP will be
discontinued anyway and most of those XP users will eventually upgrade
to one of the newer Windows platforms if they want to avail themselves
of the updates to those components. So asking how one might get SAPI
5.5 for XP just really seems to underscore the fact that some XP users
are ignoring the fact that XP is about to be discontinued, and that
there are not going to be any new updates at all for it in the
foreseeable future. Its basically done and we can stick a fork in it.
Now, I know this will not set well with some users because they really
do not like Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8. Sorry to say but
that is just too bad, because weather we like it or not a business
can't operate on a 14 year old piece of software. The way companies
like Microsoft works is by selling products. That is new software.
Once a piece of software like XP reaches a maximum number of sales it
begins to lose money because Microsoft has already made their millions
and now have to pay employees a salary to maintain it for several
years after it came onto the market. The way to make more money is to
release a new piece of software that supersedes the old one and yes,
offer features that can't be gotten for the old software. Something
like SAPI 5.5 can be seen as one of those new features of Windows 8,
along with their new Narrator, that is considered an exclusive upgrade
you get by purchasing their new Windows operating system. You want it
you got to pay for it. That's how they make money on their software,
and the people who don't understand this fact can keep looking for
free handouts for XP, but they aren't going to get them because
Microsoft is in it for the money. Since that is the case XP users
really need to recognize that there is no money in XP for them, and
they really need to think about that fact before they ask if such and
such new software from Microsoft is available for XP. Chances are it
won't be.
So the point of this little rant is simply think a little before
asking a question. Realize that if you choose to stay with XP either
because of your financial situation or you simply don't like the newer
alternatives with XP's end of support coming up more and more
developers are going to stop continuing to support that OS and it will
become harder for them to do so. Although, I imagine some developers
here, particularly those using VB 6 may continue supporting XP for
some time to come, in the main just don't look for companies like
Microsoft etc to continue doing so because they have stopped for all
intents and purposes. I don't even know how long I will support XP
myself with my own software, because some components I use and want to
use are not available on XP, and XP users need to realize that their
beloved XP is just too old to run certain newer software.
Cheers!
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