Hi Josh, Well said, and I feel much the way you do. If I can support XP without seriously crippling my ability to directly support newer operating systems like Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 no problem. However, if there is a doubt between say better 3d audio with XAudio2 on Windows 7/8 then of course that is what I will do because even though the majority may still be using XP sooner or later those XP users will have to upgrade or simply get left behind. No sense crippling new software because certain people either can't or simply don't want to upgrade.
What is truly ironic about this situation is I've seen it all before from this community time and time again. Back when people were running MS Dos 6.2 and Jaws for Dos and Windows 3.1 came out many blind people didn't want to run Windows. Well, back then they had a choice because a lot of the Dos stuff was still viable, but when Windows 95 came out the die-hard Dos users said they'd never upgrade to Windows 95. Turns out eventually they did anyway despite their protestations to the contrary. Next thing you know everyone eventually upgraded to Windows 98, and many people said Windows 98 was fine for them. So when XP came out in 2001, the very OS people say that they now can't live without, the 98 users said they'd never ever upgrade to XP. XP is crap, trash, etc. Well, something must have happened to change their minds because many of those Windows 98 users can't give up XP despite all their protestations that they would not upgrade etc. Are we seeing a pattern here? Maybe some users here have short term memories, but I certainly don't. I can sit back and laugh about the arguments people are making about Windows 8 because it is the very same kinds of arguments Dos users made about Windows 95, 98 users said about XP, and so on. There would be a lot of complaints, bitching, moaning, and groaning for a few years, but eventually they'd end up buying a new computer with said OS on it and the argument eventually died out of lack of die-hard supporters. The only major difference now is there are so many XP users out there with working computers that it may take a little longer for all of them to upgrade, but make no mistake about it they will change or not have a computer to use in a few years. As the Rolling Stones said, "time is on my side." Cheers! On 9/12/13, Draconis <i...@dracoent.com> wrote: > Hi Tom and Charles, > > The idea of developing for the majority of customers, assuming that the > majority are using XP, falls apart when you take a long-term view. Like it > or not, everyone is going to have to abandon XP sooner or later, and > probably sooner. No more updates means no fixes to newly discovered security > holes, for example. If you don't care about viruses/your personal > information, then I guess you can use it, but I think most do care bout such > things. > > So, developing for the majority of customers who are currently using XP, > means that you're creating software that, in very short order, will be > useless at worst or require significant rewriting at best. It's kinda like > saying, "I'm going to buy this candy bar because I can enjoy it right > *now*…and I won't worry about the fact that I'm spending my bus fair to get > home tonight." > > The real problem here is that many, many users are mistakenly convinced that > they can use XP forever, just as many were convinced that they could use DOS > forever 15-20 years ago. > > As for cost, between VoiceOver, NVDA, and Orca, spending money on a screen > reader is a choice, not a necessity for most users. There are always > exceptions…but they are just that…exceptions. I haven't bought a new version > of a commercial screen reader in 7 years, and haven't missed them a bit. I > use VoiceOver on Mac primarily, and NVDA if I have to use Windows. > > We will support XP if we can do so without seriously crippling our ability > to develop new titles. When that day inevitably comes, we will move on. > Fortunately, the computer market is shifting, and a significant portion of > our customers are Mac users, where this problem is pretty much moot. For > about $20 you can upgrade to the latest version of the OS, and your screen > reader is included. > > Since Mac sales have been significantly better than Windows ones…we're not > too worried about it these days. After all, eventually, Windows users will > be forced to abandon XP, and when they are, we'll be there…whether it is on > a new version of Windows, Mac, or iOS device. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
