Windows 98??? Are you kidding me??? Who in their right mind would be running windows 98? I can see XP but nothing lower.
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- Thread starter johnb35
- Start date
Windows 98??? Are you kidding me??? Who in their right mind would be running windows 98? I can see XP but nothing lower.
Geoff
VIP Member
Exactly! By making software compatible with such old and obsolete OS's, you are severely limiting the capabilities of your software when paired with newer OS's.
Do you really think people buying new software will have a requirement that it works on Windows 98?
S.T.A.R.S.
banned
I have seen a LOT of customers still running Windows 98 and ME.
That's stupid I know and I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU,but I want my software to work even to those customers.
I have never seen people buying new OS just to be able to run the software they want to buy too.It's too much money for them.
The better the compatibility level the software has,the more times it will be sold.
There are some things people confuse in this area so I will give you 3 answers according to the letter colors I marked in:
BLACK bold letters:
The better the software's compatibility level is,the more people are gonna buy it because they won't need to waste money on the new Windows operating system just to be able to use the software which they must also pay for.Nobody is willing to pay twice.Not me at least lol.
RED bold letters:
Just because the software will be backwards compatible with old Windows operating systems does NOT mean that I am limiting the software's capabilities when paired with newer Windows operating systems.
Here is an example:
Let's say that the software uses the functionality called OPACITY which is not compatible with Windows ME and older.
That means that THAT specific configuration/setting/option (or however you call it) will NOT work on Windows ME and older,BUT it WILL WORK on Windows 2000 and later.
What this also means is that the software WILL STILL WORK on Windows ME and older,but the opacity functionality configuration/setting/option will simply not work because an old Windows operating system does not support it.So the software will STILL RUN just fine on Windows ME and older and it will function just fine only the OPACITY will not work UNLESS if the software is run on Windows 2000 and later.
So as you can see,I am not limiting the software's capabilities on new Windows operating systems.The software will have many nice options which you will be able to either turn on or off.SOME of those options will NOT be compatible with Windows ME and older,but most will.Those which are not then you simply won't be able to use them if you run the software on Windows ME or older.So in order to use them,you will need newer version of Windows operating system.But those basic the most used options WILL still work on Windows ME or older such as Windows 98.
Or let's say that some options will work ONLY on Windows 7 and 8.
Does that mean that the software then RUNS ONLY ON WINDOWS 7 AND 8?
Of course not.The software will still run and function just fine on Windows 98 and later,BUT those specific options which are compatible only with Windows 7 and 8 are simply not going to work on Windows older than Windows 7.
Now...I COULD HAVE modify the MAIN method of the software and make it to not work at ALL if let's say you run it on anything older than Windows XP and then show that famous dialog box which looks like this:
But I just didn't want to do something like that and disappoint the users who are still running old Windows version.I am trying to make it compatible as most as possible.So if you are on OLD Windows version then you WILL STILL be able to use the software just fine,but "NOT ENTIRELY".And by "NOT ENTIRELY" I mean that you will not be able to use ALL OF IT'S OPTIONS that it offers.
BLUE bold letters:
My dear friend you would not believe how many users on their computers still run Windows 98 (first or second edition) and Windows ME and do not have and intentions to waste money on the upgrade.
That's stupid I know and I completely agree with everyone who will say that.
But if you want to sell your software MORE then you must be ready for everything.
Because you never know...maybe just tomorrow someone calls and requests 10 copies of the software for 10 of their computers which are still on let's say Windows 98 second edition.
And if that happens what should I tell them lol?
Something like:"Sure no problem,but first you must waste money on 10 new copies of newer Windows systems first and THEN on the software you want."
And unfortunately in those kind of situations 99% of the time people will not buy the software because most of them cannot afford such a huge money waste:
-10 copies of Windows
AND THEN
-10 copies of the software
Even if the software is super cheap,...Windows is not...unfortunately.
So if people must buy new Windows JUST TO BE ABLE TO RUN the software which they must ALSO buy then in 99% cases they won't buy anything.
And that equals to:
Me not earning any money.
Now I am not saying that there where YOU PEOPLE LIVE so many computers run so old Windows operating systems,but here where I live believe it or not a LOT of computers STILL run on these old Windows operating systems.
So I need to be ready for everything...and waste a lot of nerves,headaches and time on a damn compatibility levels...that sucks I know...,but if you want to earn money as most as possible then the software must also be compatible as most as possible.
Cheers!
And sorry for the long post!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems
http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0
Dude, its not worth it. Look at those pages, especially the second one.
Windows 98 0 percent
windows 2000 .03 percent
Do you really think that people that are still stupid enough to be on windows 2000 or older will really want to buy your software? Machines don't last forever. XP came out in 2001 so most of those machines are 13 years old. With my computer repair business, I've come across a bunch of machines that have died due to bad motherboards, mostly bulding capacitors or other issues. Its not worth your time or effort to make sure its compatible with anything lower than XP. XP still has 26 percent share.
http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0
Dude, its not worth it. Look at those pages, especially the second one.
Windows 98 0 percent
windows 2000 .03 percent
Do you really think that people that are still stupid enough to be on windows 2000 or older will really want to buy your software? Machines don't last forever. XP came out in 2001 so most of those machines are 13 years old. With my computer repair business, I've come across a bunch of machines that have died due to bad motherboards, mostly bulding capacitors or other issues. Its not worth your time or effort to make sure its compatible with anything lower than XP. XP still has 26 percent share.
Geoff
VIP Member
Exactly. Why are you wasting time coding your software for 98 and 2000, when the market share is INCREDIBLY small?
S.T.A.R.S.
banned
I completely agree with both you.
Don't tell this to me.Tell that to all those bunch of people who are still on Windows 2000 or older lol.
And yes I am aware that Windows 98 is 0% and that Windows 2000 is approximately 0.3%.But if you come to Croatia and take a look at bunch of our damn office and school computers and even store computers,you would see that SO MANY of them are still on Windows 98 or ME or 2000.
So yea you are right when you say that it's not worth my time and effort.And it's really not.But what the hell can I do about it???
It's not my fault that so many people here are still on such an old Windows operating systems...
Oh yea...also...my mom works in dental infirmary and guess what
?Almost ALL computers there are ALSO still on Windows 98 second edition including the one my mom uses for work.
Only FEW of them are on Windows 2000 and even less on XP.
Unfortunately...
...And that sucks I know! :gun:
So THAT is probably the only reason why I waste so much time to make it compatible with those older Windows operating systems also.
But look at it this way.
Once I finish the first version then making the next versions is going to be a hell of a lot easier since I will just use the existing code to add new features and fix bugs WITHOUT loosing time to make the entire code compatible with older Windows such as Windows 98.
So this whole nightmare I am passing through right now is just for version 1.0.
After that future versions such as 1.1,1.2 and so on...are going to be built based on 1.0 code which is already compatible with older Windows systems so I will not need to waste almost ANY time on compatibility with older Windows systems.Instead I will JUST need to waste time on fixing bugs and adding new features in the next versions WITHOUT worrying about the compatibility levels since I have taken care of that in first version 1.0.
The first version is always the hardest one if you ask me...to me at least...
But after that things will go much smoother,faster and easier.
Also...why would anyone care if UAC 1.0 will be compatible with old Windows such as Windows 98 IF it's going to work perfectly fine on new/newest Windows operating systems such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.0/8.1?