Microsoft lawsuit: how it might affect you.

I started commenting on version control in this thread and I decided I wasn't done. The lawsuit in the EU against Microsoft could have an interesting effect on our industry(s).

Along with the dollar amount of the judgement, the court told Microsoft that it must offer a version of Windows in the EU without all the multimedia gadgets. Summary: there will be a DIFFERENT version of Windows in the EU.

This means that Rockwell, AutomationDirect, ABB, Siemens, etc. may run into compatibility issues when they try to take their software across the pond. You might not think it'll affect you, but that ability to copy and paste from AutoCAD to Excel to MediaPlayer is creeping into all software. Those features you take for granted, despise, or ignore are still being integrated into your programming tools in order to make SOMEONE's life easier. The end result is, you could be looking at different release dates than your friends on the other side of the Atlantic (whichever side you may be on). Not to mention what this will do to manuals and support for the products.

Food for thought, right?

AK

I'm sure we all do some MS bashing from time to time, but in reality, what would the Info-world be like without MicroSoft?

Personally I dont want to know the answer to that question.

If you have a T1 or a fast DSL, try out SP2 for XP/Pro...it may be a glimps of whats really in the pike...
David

As a small scale software developer myself, I've got just 1 piece of advise;;;;.. Don't ever buy, or use a regionalized version of Windows unless you're some sort of glutton for punishment..... The last fiasco where MS was forced to stop loading IE had the effect of eliminating all the normally installed MS internet support files from many a computer... End result was that my software along with thousands of other packages just stopped working if IE was not loaded... The final solution is that I along with these thousands of other developers are now forced to ship these same commonly used MS support files with each of our products.. All this effort for the 5% or so who now don't have IE loaded, and are legally entitled not to do so..

It may be a different story with giants like Rockwell etc., but I just don't have the time or resources to deal with regionalized support and testing... As it is, I almost lost my development system when I tried installing a Russian keyboard, and then found that I had no way to enter my windows password... There's just so much that a small developer can cope with, and I'm now at the point where I simply tell people that if you wish to use my product then you will likely need to have an English version of windows installed..... If this suit goes through in Europe then I'll be making a similar statement to all,,,,,, Only "Real Versions" of Windows are supported..

Actually, fighting software installations is a good portion of controls work.

The lucky few of you that get to work exclusivley on one or two PLC brands & software packages should count your blessings.

Frequently, when I go on a service call I come across some old, obsolete and only DOS programmable PLC - that if I'm lucky the company is still around. My latest adventure was with Siemens Programware to program a Cincinnatti Milacron CNC controller. This WONT run in a Windows Command Prompt window - you have to boot to DOS from a floppy, and DOS wont recognize a FAT32 or NTFS formatted hard drive so it all has to be on one floppy with the DOS system (DOS 5, not DOS4.01 or DOS6.22.) Cincinnatti said to call Siemens -"it's their software." Siemens said no-one there knows about it, best try Cincinnatti "it's their specification and application"- or a 3rd party rebuilding shop familiar with this controller.

Just pointing out that all the software now doesn't install & operate correctly. (Remember the first, & second, time you installed RSLinx on a XP machine?)

Greg

I ment to add that it is the beta of 2005 xp pro....
David

XP/sp2 is service pack 2 for XP. Scheduled for later this quarter. Then there is (I believe) "XP reoloaded" Which is could be called XP special edition. It is a retail product scheduled for late 2004. XP2005 is code named "longhorn" and probably won't be out until 2006.

When longhorn comes out, give up on running most older stuff. Security will take precendence over compatability. Even SP2 is expected to break quite a few poorly written softwares.

SP2 to generate support calls

XP reloaded FAQ

To keep things simple I never toss my old computers. I have also copied my Dos 6.22 onto a CD for safe keeping.

elevmike said:

To keep things simple I never toss my old computers. I have also copied my Dos 6.22 onto a CD for safe keeping.

Click to expand...

Remember that NIGHTMARE???

DOS 6.0 had "DoubleSpace," then BAM! Lawsuit.
If you upgraded to DOS 6.22, to get at the cool new feature (what was it? Scandisk?) you had to un-DoubleSpace your drive.

Back then, I had a 52 meg harddrive full up beyond that using DoubleSpace. What happened to your files if you were in that position??? I never found out, because a virus killed my machine before I ever got around to installing 6.22.

AK