Re: [boost] Windows XP support survey
The sad reality in a lot of industries is that we still have to support Windows XP for the foreseeable future. Though, I understand the desire to drop support for it. Believe me, everyone would be more than happy to just require Windows 7 as default and be done with it. However, it is hard to convince costumers to make the switch when there is only risk and no tangible benefit attached to it. In addition to this we do have the problem that we control complex (and expensive) hardware that consists of components that don’t have drivers for Windows 7 because the manufacturer discontinued them. For these people the end of support from Microsoft isn’t really an argument since the computers are not connected to the Internet and continue to work fine, not to mention that you can still buy extended support from Microsoft. The huge outcry from the C++ community when Microsoft wanted to drop support for XP in Visual Studio should be a clear indicator that a lot of people livelihoods still depend on it. Unfortunately since then the install base hasn’t really shrunken too much. So even Visual C++ 2015 will continue to support it. So, as long as a Visual C++ version supported by Boost can build for Windows XP and there isn’t a significant cost attached to it, Boost should also continue to support Windows XP.
On 7 May 2015 at 15:09, Thomas Trummer wrote:
The sad reality in a lot of industries is that we still have to support Windows XP for the foreseeable future. Though, I understand the desire to drop support for it. Believe me, everyone would be more than happy to just require Windows 7 as default and be done with it.
It's not just that. Nobody is testing XP support works.
So, as long as a Visual C++ version supported by Boost can build for Windows XP and there isn’t a significant cost attached to it, Boost should also continue to support Windows XP.
I think those wanting Boost to support XP should: 1. Pay for or supply to Boost a test server running Windows XP which runs Boost regression tests. This test server will need the extended Microsoft maintenance contract, or some sort of automatic KVM snapshot rollback to stop nasties getting onto it. 2. If everyone really needing XP compatibility were to donate $5000 to Boost via its donation page every year, I am sure that would be taken into account by the community and someone might step up to maintain a XP support distro. Asking for free of cost work supporting legacy platforms I think already happens far too much. Niall -- ned Productions Limited Consulting http://www.nedproductions.biz/ http://ie.linkedin.com/in/nialldouglas/
On 07.05.2015 17:09, Thomas Trummer wrote:
The sad reality in a lot of industries is that we still have to support Windows XP for the foreseeable future. Though, I understand the desire to drop support for it. Believe me, everyone would be more than happy to just require Windows 7 as default and be done with it.
However, it is hard to convince costumers to make the switch when there is only risk and no tangible benefit attached to it. In addition to this we do have the problem that we control complex (and expensive) hardware that consists of components that don’t have drivers for Windows 7 because the manufacturer discontinued them.
For these people the end of support from Microsoft isn’t really an argument since the computers are not connected to the Internet and continue to work fine, not to mention that you can still buy extended support from Microsoft.
The huge outcry from the C++ community when Microsoft wanted to drop support for XP in Visual Studio should be a clear indicator that a lot of people livelihoods still depend on it. Unfortunately since then the install base hasn’t really shrunken too much. So even Visual C++ 2015 will continue to support it.
So, as long as a Visual C++ version supported by Boost can build for Windows XP and there isn’t a significant cost attached to it, Boost should also continue to support Windows XP.
+1 There are a lot of shops here that are still using Windows XP, and I had to undergo measures to make my app work under Windows XP so they can run it. I assume there is an appreciable number of developers out there using Boost who face the same situation. My 2c, Gevorg
participants (3)
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Gevorg Voskanyan -
Niall Douglas -
Thomas Trummer