hi Thomas, a correction to the correction. lol. windows 7 came out in 2009. July 22, 2009; 4 years ago General availability October 22, 2009; 4 years ago dallas
On 18/12/2013, Thomas Ward <thomasward1...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Dark, > > Just a correction here. Windows 7 was released in 2010 not 2007. > Windows Vista came out in January 2007. I wanted to point that out as > you seem to be confusing the two here. > > However, I do take your point. The reason XP is still widely supported > by websites, some third-party programs, and so forth is that it still > holds a significant portion of the Windows PC market. Windows, Vista, > Windows 7, Windows 8,and Windows 8.1 has not been as successful as > Microsoft had planned, and as a result many software developers know > cutting XP off at this point is equivalent to cutting their own > throats. I'll give you a simple example of that in practice. > > One of the things I have been looking at is ways I can improve my game > engine so that Raceway and MOTA will run better on new Windows > machines. The problem is there are a lot of blind users that feel as > you do that XP is the best there ever was, the best there is, and the > best that will ever be and will not upgrade for any reason. So despite > any advantages I could add to my games by targeting a newer version of > Windows I would not be able to make as large a profit off my games if > I exclude half my customer base. As a developer I have to support > whatever a large portion of my potential customers are using. > > Of course, mainstream companies are less handstrung because they are > not selling to a minority market. At some point the number of > mainstream users running Windows 7, Windows 8, or 8.1 will out number > XP and it won't hurt them to drop XP support. Probably they will begin > this migration sometime next year after Microsoft drops support for XP > the way they did when Microsoft dropped support for 98 and Millennium. > Of course, one problem facing mainstream and accessible technology > markets is there are far more users using XP now, than there were 98 > users in 2006 when Microsoft dropped Windows 9x support. So > third-party support may linger a couple more years until the > mainstream market catches up to current Windows technology. > > The only way I can see personally to deal with the situation is > attempt to support both for as long as necessary. What I mean by that > with games like MOTA and Raceway they are already XP compatible > because they were designed that way from the beginning, and there is > no need to cut XP support off at the knees just because something > newer came along. I can however release an updated version of both > that uses some newer APIs like XAudio2 or have 64-bit builds for newer > 64-bit machines. That helps target people running new machines while > not removing support for XP in the process. that's the only way I can > see being fair to both groups of users at this point. In a couple of > years I can consider dropping support for XP in newer games and > hopefully people will have made the switch by then. > > Cheers! > > On 12/18/13, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: >> Hi tom. >> >> I do appreciate that in theory, things will stop running on xp, and I >> can't >> >> run new versions, heck I'm still running ie8. The problem is that all the >> compatibility stuff hasn't yet made any practical difference. I've not >> found >> >> any websites, services, applications or things I want to use that require >> a >> >> better machine than I have. Fundamentally if there was some really good >> new >> >> feature of the updated windows media player, some websites or net games I >> wanted to play or something else in updates that I couldn't do with xp, I >> would indeed upgrade the system and get used to it. >> >> Regarding security and hardware, well 64 bit actually is a bad thing for >> me >> >> since it ruins compatibility with dos programs, and once again nothing >> requires it. I can accept that the hardware might be more advanced, but >> that is of no bennifit to me personally if there is nothing I wish to do >> that requires it. >> >> of course, this situation will not go on forever. I fully expect in >> several >> >> years there will be some awsome new features of new os that I will want >> to >> play with, some games or programs that I can't run on xp etc, indeed I'm >> quite amazed that this hasn't already come up. Back in 2007 when windows >> 7 >> >> was first produced I fully expected by around 2010 or 2011, there to be a >> lot of games, websites, new and inervative media playback and other >> peaces >> >> of software that I'd need better hardware or a new os for, making the >> hassle of learning the new interface, kicking out compatibility and >> mucking >> >> about with virtual machines and other things worth my time. >> >> I'm actually amazed this hasn't happened yet, and despite the >> aspersions >> of certain individuals this is indeed why I have been so careful to >> research >> >> Windows 7 to the best of my ability and convenience. >> >> As I said I fully expect this situation to change in the future, but at >> the >> >> moment it hasn't. >> >> Beware the Grue! >> >> Dark. >> >> >> --- >> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org >> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to >> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. >> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at >> http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. >> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at >> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. >> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the >> list, >> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. >> > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. 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