4 ms·

why oh why can't they support Windows XP? Why should they? New features and updates only available to newer operating systems, drive upgrades! Makes perfect

by fname 16y ago

why oh why can't they support Windows XP? Why should they? New features and updates only available to newer operating systems, drive upgrades! Makes perfect sense to me, especially considering XP support won't be around forever. As it stands now, 20% of our development time is wasted on making stuff work on IE 5.5 (!) and 6 I'm not following... If it's a waste of time, why are you doing it? Drop support for those browsers in that case. Unless, of course, customers using those browsers make up a significant percentage of use, it doesn't sound like much of a waste to me.

steveklabnik 16y ago
> it doesn't sound like much of a waste to me. Maybe not in an economic sense, but many people consider it frustrating to spend hours and hours on something that wouldn't need to be done if just someone else would act.
- fname 16y ago
  if just someone else would act Which someone would that be? Microsoft or the Corporate IT folks reluctant to upgrade* ? * Due to some internal app that only works on IE6.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - eli 16y ago
    I still don't understand why MS didn't build a full IE6 rendering engine into IE8 that could be turned on site-by-site. Maybe too hard with all the ActiveX dependencies?
    - steveklabnik 16y ago
      It's like reverse Chrome Frame! I like it.
eli 16y ago
XP support won't be around forever. You're not kidding. Windows 7 SP1 is currently in beta. Once it ships, you will no longer be able to downgrade Win 7 to XP, which is going to make it extremely difficult to legally buy a new XP license.
- xpaulbettsx 16y ago
  Why won't you be able to downgrade? Afaik, there's no technical reason (and my day job is working on said SP)
  - pilif 16y ago
    He was talking about converting a 7 or Vista license into an XP one which is AFAIK the only way how you can still acquire an xp license if you are not a hardware manufacturer needing it for a netbook
    - josefresco 16y ago
      I can't imagine the legacy hardware/software hell that would require a downgrade from Windows 7 (soon to be SP1) to XP.
pilif 16y ago
It is a waste of time because we could do 20% more features in the time we waste to support a now 10 years old and soon unsupported software configuration. In the end other end users with better browsers suffer in that they cannot get the full amount of theoretically possible features (we are a small company with limited resources) and our customers suffer because the have to pay more and wait longer because their customers (our end users) in turn are stuck in the past.
- fname 16y ago
  Then draw a line in the sand. Decide whether it's better to alienate your IE5 and IE6 users so you can get the newer features into your customers' hands faster.

by fname 16y ago

steveklabnik 16y ago

> it doesn't sound like much of a waste to me. Maybe not in an economic sense, but many people consider it frustrating to spend hours and hours on something that wouldn't need to be done if just someone else would act.

fname 16y ago
if just someone else would act Which someone would that be? Microsoft or the Corporate IT folks reluctant to upgrade* ? * Due to some internal app that only works on IE6.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- eli 16y ago
  I still don't understand why MS didn't build a full IE6 rendering engine into IE8 that could be turned on site-by-site. Maybe too hard with all the ActiveX dependencies?
  - steveklabnik 16y ago
    It's like reverse Chrome Frame! I like it.

eli 16y ago

XP support won't be around forever. You're not kidding. Windows 7 SP1 is currently in beta. Once it ships, you will no longer be able to downgrade Win 7 to XP, which is going to make it extremely difficult to legally buy a new XP license.

xpaulbettsx 16y ago
Why won't you be able to downgrade? Afaik, there's no technical reason (and my day job is working on said SP)
- pilif 16y ago
  He was talking about converting a 7 or Vista license into an XP one which is AFAIK the only way how you can still acquire an xp license if you are not a hardware manufacturer needing it for a netbook
  - josefresco 16y ago
    I can't imagine the legacy hardware/software hell that would require a downgrade from Windows 7 (soon to be SP1) to XP.

pilif 16y ago

It is a waste of time because we could do 20% more features in the time we waste to support a now 10 years old and soon unsupported software configuration. In the end other end users with better browsers suffer in that they cannot get the full amount of theoretically possible features (we are a small company with limited resources) and our customers suffer because the have to pay more and wait longer because their customers (our end users) in turn are stuck in the past.

fname 16y ago
Then draw a line in the sand. Decide whether it's better to alienate your IE5 and IE6 users so you can get the newer features into your customers' hands faster.