4 ms·

How long do you expect upgrades to work before a break in compatibility? The difference between 10.4 and 10.8 is seven years. That doesn't seem like an outrage

How long do you expect upgrades to work before a break in compatibility? The difference between 10.4 and 10.8 is seven years. That doesn't seem like an outrageous amount of time to break compatibility.

rustynails 13y ago
My last computer retired - 1 month ago. It was more than 5 years old, running Windows XP. XP is still very popular and I would expect it to still be supported and it's 12 years old. Where did you get your 7 year magic number from?
- pssdbt 13y ago
  The 10.4-10.8 is in reference to OS X, and ~7 years is the amount of time between 10.4 (April 29, 2005) and 10.8 (July 25, 2012).
- GlennS 13y ago
  Microsoft products receive 5 years mainstream support and 10 years extended support. XP is currently supported for organisations who purchased extended support, but only because there was extraordinary demand for it. It ends in just under 6 months from now. Unless you're a large organisation paying a lot of money, you aren't likely to get 5 years of support for a particular version of most products. http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173 http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx
  - desas 13y ago
    There's a difference between end of support and end of backwards compatibility.
- ameoba 13y ago
  You can't talk about Windows XP like it's a single, fixed point in the release cycle. XP was released in 2001, giving you your 12 year number, but there were also major service packs released in 2002(SP1), 2004(SP2) & 2008(SP3). The last release of XP was only 5 years ago - more recently than OS X 10.4 Of the new software that still claims XP compatibility, much of it requires SP3.
  - NicoJuicy 13y ago
    SP 3 is free (Service Packs) and it's just because the .Net framework requires SP3. So actually, XP = XP SP3.
    - ameoba 13y ago
      Yes, it's free but that doesn't mean it's painless. Going to SP2 and SP3 broke backwards compatibility with some drivers and software. It increased the RAM/CPU requirements for running the OS comfortably. They weren't just harmless stacks of collected bug fixes.
Amadou 13y ago
How long do you expect upgrades to work before a break in compatibility? Forever? At least the linux kernel has an explicit goal of never breaking userspace. That doesn't mean other parts of userspace don't break themselves, but the linux kernel has as a development goal to never break binary compatibility for userspace. https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/12/23/75 https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/12/23/75
- RandallBrown 13y ago
  Okay, but would you really be that pissed off if a Linux application from 1991 didn't run on your latest install of your favorite flavor of Linux?
  - gcr 13y ago
    It's important to remember that the Kernel is a very small piece of the puzzle that decides whether your 1991 binary works on a system today. The real kicker is whether the glibc versions match, whether X11/Motif will still be around for a while, etc. But I still admire the kernel for their stance even if it can't solve every compatibility problem.
ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
If you are coding against a well documented and thorough API, why should the year matter?

rustynails 13y ago

My last computer retired - 1 month ago. It was more than 5 years old, running Windows XP. XP is still very popular and I would expect it to still be supported and it's 12 years old. Where did you get your 7 year magic number from?

pssdbt 13y ago
The 10.4-10.8 is in reference to OS X, and ~7 years is the amount of time between 10.4 (April 29, 2005) and 10.8 (July 25, 2012).
GlennS 13y ago
Microsoft products receive 5 years mainstream support and 10 years extended support. XP is currently supported for organisations who purchased extended support, but only because there was extraordinary demand for it. It ends in just under 6 months from now. Unless you're a large organisation paying a lot of money, you aren't likely to get 5 years of support for a particular version of most products. http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173 http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx
- desas 13y ago
  There's a difference between end of support and end of backwards compatibility.
ameoba 13y ago
You can't talk about Windows XP like it's a single, fixed point in the release cycle. XP was released in 2001, giving you your 12 year number, but there were also major service packs released in 2002(SP1), 2004(SP2) & 2008(SP3). The last release of XP was only 5 years ago - more recently than OS X 10.4 Of the new software that still claims XP compatibility, much of it requires SP3.
- NicoJuicy 13y ago
  SP 3 is free (Service Packs) and it's just because the .Net framework requires SP3. So actually, XP = XP SP3.
  - ameoba 13y ago
    Yes, it's free but that doesn't mean it's painless. Going to SP2 and SP3 broke backwards compatibility with some drivers and software. It increased the RAM/CPU requirements for running the OS comfortably. They weren't just harmless stacks of collected bug fixes.

Amadou 13y ago

How long do you expect upgrades to work before a break in compatibility? Forever? At least the linux kernel has an explicit goal of never breaking userspace. That doesn't mean other parts of userspace don't break themselves, but the linux kernel has as a development goal to never break binary compatibility for userspace. https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/12/23/75 https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/12/23/75

RandallBrown 13y ago
Okay, but would you really be that pissed off if a Linux application from 1991 didn't run on your latest install of your favorite flavor of Linux?
- gcr 13y ago
  It's important to remember that the Kernel is a very small piece of the puzzle that decides whether your 1991 binary works on a system today. The real kicker is whether the glibc versions match, whether X11/Motif will still be around for a while, etc. But I still admire the kernel for their stance even if it can't solve every compatibility problem.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

If you are coding against a well documented and thorough API, why should the year matter?