5 ms·

I can understand some awkwardness, but surely the software is sold as working under certain versions and configurations of windows. If a customer is using it on

I can understand some awkwardness, but surely the software is sold as working under certain versions and configurations of windows. If a customer is using it on a version that isn't supported you can point that out to them. If you plan to support a new version of windows soon you can tell them that too, and maybe put their contact details on a list of people to email when the updated version is released.

wslh 13y ago
This is not how it works. For example, our customers are paying for "super" support and we have a contract for a certain SLA. If we don't have an upgrade it will cost a lot of money for them to deal with zillions of customers calling, filling forums with negative feedback, etc.
- marshray 13y ago
  But Windows 8.1 isn't even released yet. It says clearly "Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview should be installed on a test machine. Following the preview period, it is not possible to upgrade to a licensed working version" http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn237246.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_153_1_38 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn237246.aspx?... So they haven't shipped it to zillions of customers yet, and the incompatibility did get caught in time, it's just that you'd have much preferred to fix it before your big privileged vendor customer found it. Do I have this right?
  - wslh 13y ago
    No. The timeframe for solving incompatibilities is much reduced because they don't provided us from an earlier release and we are MSDN customers! we always received early releases.
    - marshray 13y ago
      Perhaps you've heard about the compressed release cycle the Windows and Windows Server teams are planning to maintain going forward. This is my first cycle here, but my impression this is not the old slow-roasted dogfood system that we had in the past. It's a new thing for everyone. I assure you that you aren't the only one finding it a challenge. I hope things will go smoother for you next time.
      - wslh 13y ago
        Happily we solved this issue but we are really seeing a degradation in the level of service provided by Microsoft to customers.
  - sergers 13y ago
    You have a good point. Company I work for has oversight over supported 5million workstations. We just finished qualifying windows 7sp1 and ie9. As soon as ie10 rolled in came the calls why doesn't this work in ie10. Well our answer was its not supported yet. We didn't approve this update and its not in the qualified release notes that were distributed. Unfortunately with a complete system app that requires dedicated workstations, you can't keep up with the latest and greatest right away. We skipped windows 8 and are evaluating windows 8.1 If you are making a massive system app, customers shouldn't have expectation it would work on versions/updates not specified as per a contractual obligation. If you are simply making addons, you should be in constant communication with the vendor so you support X if they are going to support X. Otherwise you gonna lose business... We have 3rd party vendors that are being dropped in our new release because they don't support it yet. For the big players we are working with them so we are going live with them I'm not sure I could complain, but we are a super vendor with all the privileges, we are still about 6-12months behind MS releases at least. Its all about setting expectations. And you can't officially support something that hasn't been GA'd yet.
    - wslh 13y ago
      This is not what happens if you are a top security firm such as Symantec and Trend Micro and your business is securing the latest operating system released.
      - sergers 13y ago
        True. Each software has their own cases in keeping up with releases. The software you specified has business in first to market/support. Their whole business is keeping up with the latest threats/releases to keep customers protected... BUT its not the best counterexample because not every version of their software supports anything. Eventually their software would become incompatible with ZZZ releases and you would have to purchase their new software to stay compatible. Sometimes stuff you make just works out of the box or with minor adjustments and workarounds that are or aren't supported officially. Sometimes you will have to reinvent the wheel which could take awhile. You need to set a clear expectation of what is. And appropriately communicate what wasn't but now is... Lol
  - rbanffy 13y ago
    > But Windows 8.1 isn't even released yet. That's the whole point - to have your software compatible with it the moment it's released. The only way to check is to have access to earlier versions sooner and be able to work around the incompatibilities. By favoring some vendors Microsoft makes it easier/cheaper for them to have better 8.1 support than it is for you.
- joseph_cooney 13y ago
  It sounds like your situation is a difficult one, and you've been set up to fail (not necessarily by Microsoft) if you have to support unreleased versions of Windows.
  - wslh 13y ago
    That's precisely why companies have an MSDN subscription: to have access to unreleased software. That is the context of this discussion and Microsoft customers can blame the company for that.

wslh 13y ago

This is not how it works. For example, our customers are paying for "super" support and we have a contract for a certain SLA. If we don't have an upgrade it will cost a lot of money for them to deal with zillions of customers calling, filling forums with negative feedback, etc.

marshray 13y ago
But Windows 8.1 isn't even released yet. It says clearly "Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview should be installed on a test machine. Following the preview period, it is not possible to upgrade to a licensed working version" http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn237246.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_153_1_38 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn237246.aspx?... So they haven't shipped it to zillions of customers yet, and the incompatibility did get caught in time, it's just that you'd have much preferred to fix it before your big privileged vendor customer found it. Do I have this right?
- wslh 13y ago
  No. The timeframe for solving incompatibilities is much reduced because they don't provided us from an earlier release and we are MSDN customers! we always received early releases.
  - marshray 13y ago
    Perhaps you've heard about the compressed release cycle the Windows and Windows Server teams are planning to maintain going forward. This is my first cycle here, but my impression this is not the old slow-roasted dogfood system that we had in the past. It's a new thing for everyone. I assure you that you aren't the only one finding it a challenge. I hope things will go smoother for you next time.
    - wslh 13y ago
      Happily we solved this issue but we are really seeing a degradation in the level of service provided by Microsoft to customers.
- sergers 13y ago
  You have a good point. Company I work for has oversight over supported 5million workstations. We just finished qualifying windows 7sp1 and ie9. As soon as ie10 rolled in came the calls why doesn't this work in ie10. Well our answer was its not supported yet. We didn't approve this update and its not in the qualified release notes that were distributed. Unfortunately with a complete system app that requires dedicated workstations, you can't keep up with the latest and greatest right away. We skipped windows 8 and are evaluating windows 8.1 If you are making a massive system app, customers shouldn't have expectation it would work on versions/updates not specified as per a contractual obligation. If you are simply making addons, you should be in constant communication with the vendor so you support X if they are going to support X. Otherwise you gonna lose business... We have 3rd party vendors that are being dropped in our new release because they don't support it yet. For the big players we are working with them so we are going live with them I'm not sure I could complain, but we are a super vendor with all the privileges, we are still about 6-12months behind MS releases at least. Its all about setting expectations. And you can't officially support something that hasn't been GA'd yet.
  - wslh 13y ago
    This is not what happens if you are a top security firm such as Symantec and Trend Micro and your business is securing the latest operating system released.
    - sergers 13y ago
      True. Each software has their own cases in keeping up with releases. The software you specified has business in first to market/support. Their whole business is keeping up with the latest threats/releases to keep customers protected... BUT its not the best counterexample because not every version of their software supports anything. Eventually their software would become incompatible with ZZZ releases and you would have to purchase their new software to stay compatible. Sometimes stuff you make just works out of the box or with minor adjustments and workarounds that are or aren't supported officially. Sometimes you will have to reinvent the wheel which could take awhile. You need to set a clear expectation of what is. And appropriately communicate what wasn't but now is... Lol
- rbanffy 13y ago
  > But Windows 8.1 isn't even released yet. That's the whole point - to have your software compatible with it the moment it's released. The only way to check is to have access to earlier versions sooner and be able to work around the incompatibilities. By favoring some vendors Microsoft makes it easier/cheaper for them to have better 8.1 support than it is for you.
joseph_cooney 13y ago
It sounds like your situation is a difficult one, and you've been set up to fail (not necessarily by Microsoft) if you have to support unreleased versions of Windows.
- wslh 13y ago
  That's precisely why companies have an MSDN subscription: to have access to unreleased software. That is the context of this discussion and Microsoft customers can blame the company for that.