I can't answer all your questions but it is informative to point out
that the software is constantly under development.
The most common reason to run multiple versions is to run a development
version alongside a stable version. I used to run development masters
alongside the stable version on Windows.
The fact is of running a later version is that not only is it supported,
but many issues are fixed and improved.
Version 2.18 is still supported and very likely you would not notice any
issues changing from an older 2.x version. However it will be dropped
shortly because 3.2 is due to be released in a week or two. This is why
it is imperative you should actually migrate to 3.0 as soon as possible.
Whether we like it or not the progression of software and operating
system development is a fact and as the version of Windows you are now
running is unsupported by Microsoft it would be highly advisable to look
at some sort of migration path to a currently supported operating system
as well as software since eventually Qgis support for Windows 7 will be
dropped. Apart from that the older versions of Windows are vulnerable to
security hacks since MS will stop producing security updates for them.
If a new computer running Windows is a bit too much to buy, a new PC
running Linux is quite capable, or even an older computer running the
latest 18.04 release of Xubuntu is quite capable of running Qgis well.
The Linux community unlike MS actively develops versions of the platform
for low resource environments unlike MS and you are not locked into the
Windows hardware upgrade cycle as new versions of Windows all demand
higher hardware specs. By comparison, most major distros of Linux have
just transitioned to 64 bit only, which in practice means computers not
more than 12 years old.
On 09/06/18 18:06, Springfield Harrison wrote:
Hello Responders,
Thanks very much for your suggestions and comments. Very helpful.
I must say though that the last few comments have again underscored my
nervousness about changing anything that isn't completely broken.
Firstly, why are there two installation processes and what is the
purpose of each? This implies making a choice after learning about
the benefits and disadvantages of each. What are the criteria for
choosing one over the other? How long is the process of understanding
the options?
Secondly, there seems to be no great consensus over the possibility
(or not) of conflicts between simultaneous installations. Again, this
makes me nervous.
Thirdly, why are some operators running two or three simultaneous
installations? Does this mean that the latest version is not adequate
for some tasks?
All these things give me pause and discourage me from wading in to
something that may have a lengthy learning curve and an unpredictable
outcome. In this case, the devil you know definitely seems to be a
worthy rule of thumb. At least, until it fails utterly.
In that regard, I discovered that at some point I had installed 2.8.1
and, remarkably, it would load my ostensibly corrupt configuration
file. I appear to be back in business.
However, this version still bogs down upon loading the various layers
but does not fail after the delay. There are about 100 layers, mostly
vector.
Anyway, not sure if this is particularly helpful but is my current
thinking on the upgrading process.
Thank you all again for your assistance…
Cheers . . . . . Spring Harrison
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