I am also affraid for the community at large.
We will be definately left in the dark after we go fully 64 and
especially if and when ms stop 32 bit production.
Xp has always done things ok, and some still say its faster.
I have not found any advantage access wise in win7 or the latest
office version.
However we still have a chance, all devs need to get off vb fully if they can.
Its a bit of a pitch but we can probably do it.
Bgt will probably be the next platform to write things in.
However, when windows stops vb support, the blind gamers community
will probably die.
I still like the old games.
Saying that the dos stuff could probably be converted to windows and
the vb6 stuff probably should be put into something that is supported.
Maybe as I say bgt or something.
but yeah, ms are the borg.
What I fear is no one will change or at least change fast enough.
We still have a large ammount of games relying on old tech, dos
games, vb games, free and payed for a like.
In the short term we can buy older systems with xp or buy xp.
However as it gets longer and longer we will find it harder and
harder to get things.
At 12:04 p.m. 12/12/2011 +0000, you wrote:
Hi Tom.
I do generally appreciate the point that better applications for
doing tasks like brousing the internet or text editing exist, -----
certainly I wouldn't go back to using the old word perfect 4 which i
learnt typing on as a teenager.
However with microsoft it seems quite often they just dump things on
people with no chance to change and expect the general public to
just go along with it.
Take ribbon controls. Back after the change from 95 to xp there was
a classic mode, which made elements of the xp ui resemble earlier
versions of windows. Do we see this in windows 7 or 8? heck no!
Many fully sighted users hate ribbons and the windows arrow, finding
them needlessly confusing, yet does microsoft care? ---- no!
As far as compatibility goes, the case for games seems very
different from the case for other software. Each game is to a lesser
or greater extent unique, indeed each game may be considdered an art
form to the extent that it is! unique.
Companies like Nintendo have recognized this, which is why there is
a wii virtual console etc. Microsoft however don't seem to give a
dam, despite the fact that windows has probably the largest
proportion of independent game developers for any operating system.
If including dependencies in windows isn't possible, why couldn't
microsoft create a package, something like a windows orientated
dosbox with 16 bit dependencies and vb registrations, expressly for
running older games on newer windows.
microsoft however don't care about either the players of indi
produced games, or the various indi developers who've worked on
them, which is why an open source alternative like dosbox was
needed. However this wouldn't be necessary if microsoft gave a dam,
but just like with the ribbon controls, microsoft just seem to
expect people to upgrade because something is newer.
i'm afraid for myself, ---- and indeed for probably a lot of other
computer users, my Pc is of value only based upon what I can do with
it, not based upon whether it has the latest technology or flashy
displays, ----- indeed I've never bothered upgrading my microsoft
word, sinse ms word 2007 which this machine comes with serves me
perfectly well.
One of those things is play old games.
Were my snes to actually break, there would be an alternative,
namely buying a wii (though sadly it wouldn't work well for me due
to access to the silly wii mote menues), however were my xp machine
to break, and were vb support dropped, i'd be saying goodbye to lots of games.
I suppose eventually some open source alternative to vb support will
appear, maybe a virtual machine option, but how useable that would
be for the average skilled user, and how accessible it would be I
don't know. Dosbox is afterall completely inaccessible, and the only
dosbox applications I have are ones that have been configured to run
as windows programs like the Prince of persia totalpack.
Already the Eamon games are unplayable on windows 7 machines without
running an apple emulator, which means they are inaccessible as
well, I wonder how long it will be before all the games we have now
that use vb will go the same way.
Beware the grue!
Dark.
---
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://mail.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.
---
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://mail.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.