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Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

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    Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

    Would anyone care to hazard a guess at how many interations of the Windows OS (going forward) will continue to run version 11 ??? I am afraid that the new subscription schema has priced me out of the Alpha market and I am only just now struggling to get my old DOS database converted. That being the case, I am questioning the investment of any any further time into a project which has been sitting on my backburner for about 11 years.
    Bruce Cavenaile

    #2
    Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

    Bruce,

    Of course any such guess would be just that. But because MS pretty much has to build in some backwards compatibility modes (currently to XP and Win7 under which in my experience at least A5v10 works), that alone probably means v11 will work into at least Win9. But that too is just a guess.

    The problem Alpha faces is that they are going to lose (or have already lost?) most of their established desktop only users with the subscription only pricing coupled with the fact that they can't financially justify putting any more resources into their traditional desktop model whether it's v11 or what little new desktop stuff might be in v12.

    That said, one could argue that v11 (or v8!) as it stands now is way good enough for desktop only, dbf users if only one could count on it continuing to work in Win X in 2018. While I am pretty sure Alpha could tweak v11 to make it continue to be compatible down the road, without some financial incentive to so do it won't happen. If they decided to do it for a fee and made the charge to do so too high without any feature increases, most would just continue rushing to the exit door, and unless they committed to something in writing right now in regard to future compatibility of the base v11 product, it would do nothing to stem the current rush to the exit door anyway. And such a written commitment from Alpha, IMO, is exceedingly unlikely, i.e., they seem to be perfectly willing to abandon the traditional desktop only dbf market unless that market is willing to pay up on the new subscription pricing and thus pay for a whole lot of stuff they have no use for.

    The other thing they might do is break a desktop only version out of V12 using the old non-subscription pricing model. Ah, but here again that could only work if such a version had a bunch of nifty new desktop features, and if there were enough desktop only users left in the world to make it financially worthwhile. V12 clearly has no such feature list, and to build such a new list would require resources that Alpha either does not have or which it has, probably rightly, decided needs to stay in the mobile arena.

    All this of course is just opinion and semi-educated speculation. But it just doesn't look good for what you are asking about, unless it is relying on future MS compatibility modes, and even that is not a sure thing. Even MS is going off in new, �hot� directions.

    Raymond Lyons

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

      I think you're probably right on target as regards the future direction for both Alpha and Microsoft. On balance, I think I will continue to poke along with my DOS database conversion and also hedge my bet that I can keep it running for a reasonable time frame. It crossed my mind that running Windows 7 under an emulator on a Linux box may give me an indeterminate lifespan out of A5 version 11, seeing as how I have already shelled that money out......
      Bruce Cavenaile

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

        I have had clients recently move v10 apps onto Win8 64 bit pro no problems.
        Desktop apps.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

          Ray

          That sounds promising. I stumbled into another thread that mentioned some problems running v11 on Win 8 but it sounded like they were able to resolve the issues.
          Bruce Cavenaile

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

            Just needs to run in XP mode

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

              Originally posted by Ray in Capetown View Post
              Just needs to run in XP mode
              Win7 mode works for me.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                Originally posted by Ray in Capetown View Post
                Just needs to run in XP mode
                That is NOT a satisfactory solution. I am having to run XP mode under Win 7 Pro in order to continue using my old DOS database program and the process STINKS. That is what has finally pushed me into getting my data converted into Alpha5.
                Bruce Cavenaile

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                  Originally posted by Bruce Cavenaile View Post
                  That is NOT a satisfactory solution. I am having to run XP mode under Win 7 Pro in order to continue using my old DOS database program and the process STINKS. That is what has finally pushed me into getting my data converted into Alpha5.
                  What process? For me it's a one time setting and from then on nothing.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                    Raymond

                    The initial setup to get XP mode running was not a problem. It is the operation that annoys me, the time to get in and then get out. The fact that my Win 7 Explorer cannot transfer files between the environments also annoys me.


                    My biggest gripe was that I finally gave up on trying to get a printer driver to work in the XP mode environment, remembering that my old DOS database program requires a very specific printer driver.


                    At the end of the day, I export any report data to an old Quattro Pro for DOS file format, dump that out to the Win 7 Pro environment with XP mode copy of Explorer, open that QPro file in a current copy of Quattro running in Win 7 Pro, clean up the formatting, and finally print the report data. That is the "process" that upsets me......
                    Bruce Cavenaile

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                      I run several of my V11 apps in Win 8 all day long. V11 runs fine in Win 8 without runningit as XP. I just purchased V12 thinking it would be a little better or more updated buts its not. As for desktop, V12 is really V11 with no enhancements or improvements. I'm going forward in starting to learn web app development for use on a tablet or iPad but the apps I build will not be able to run well on a smart phone due to the size of the forms and the complexity. I think that Alpha will soon discover that driving off the desktop developers will be a big mistake in the long run. Seems people think that they can run all kinds of complex apps on a phone but I think the reality is that Alpha will loose all of thier desktop folks and after the first year most of the new guys will not renew. I was told that almost everyone upgrading to V12 are only signing up for one year.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                        Originally posted by Windstarsoftware View Post
                        I was told that almost everyone upgrading to V12 are only signing up for one year.
                        not true
                        Richard Rabins
                        Co Chairman
                        Alpha Software

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                          With reference to my posts #4 and #6.
                          As sent to me, the attached screenshot is what MY client got first, running with WIN 8. Before I got them to run in XP compatibility
                          It appears not a WIN compatibility issue but Alpha redirecting client to themselves for a required upgrade.

                          Please correct me if, in anyone's view, my assumption is incorrect, but it leaves me with a little sour taste about our principal (principled) supplier.
                          In all my experience no supplier has tried to harvest my clients. Inevitably ONE day everyone's client will receive this message.
                          Attached Files

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                            Bruce, I wonder if you and Raymond are talking about the same thing.

                            There's a big difference between running a virtual XP session in Win7, and simply running Alpha in Win7 with a compatibility mode setting of XP. It sounds like you're talking about the former and he's talking about the latter.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Ver 11 will run OK until Windows [x] release

                              Tom

                              I think you may have identified the source of our confusion. In order for Win 7 to run a program under Win 7 using "Compatability Mode", it must have at least have written as a Windows program fundamentally, perhaps not older than Win 2000.


                              My old DOS database was released about 1984 and will ONLY run in virtual XP mode. And, yes, I know it is WAY past time that I got serious about this conversion.....
                              Bruce Cavenaile

                              Comment

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