Hi Tom and Charles, The idea of developing for the majority of customers, assuming that the majority are using XP, falls apart when you take a long-term view. Like it or not, everyone is going to have to abandon XP sooner or later, and probably sooner. No more updates means no fixes to newly discovered security holes, for example. If you don't care about viruses/your personal information, then I guess you can use it, but I think most do care bout such things.
So, developing for the majority of customers who are currently using XP, means that you're creating software that, in very short order, will be useless at worst or require significant rewriting at best. It's kinda like saying, "I'm going to buy this candy bar because I can enjoy it right *now*…and I won't worry about the fact that I'm spending my bus fair to get home tonight." The real problem here is that many, many users are mistakenly convinced that they can use XP forever, just as many were convinced that they could use DOS forever 15-20 years ago. As for cost, between VoiceOver, NVDA, and Orca, spending money on a screen reader is a choice, not a necessity for most users. There are always exceptions…but they are just that…exceptions. I haven't bought a new version of a commercial screen reader in 7 years, and haven't missed them a bit. I use VoiceOver on Mac primarily, and NVDA if I have to use Windows. We will support XP if we can do so without seriously crippling our ability to develop new titles. When that day inevitably comes, we will move on. Fortunately, the computer market is shifting, and a significant portion of our customers are Mac users, where this problem is pretty much moot. For about $20 you can upgrade to the latest version of the OS, and your screen reader is included. Since Mac sales have been significantly better than Windows ones…we're not too worried about it these days. After all, eventually, Windows users will be forced to abandon XP, and when they are, we'll be there…whether it is on a new version of Windows, Mac, or iOS device. On Sep 11, 2013, at 7:05 PM, Thomas Ward <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Charles, > > I see your point, but as a matter of fact Windows is not my primary > operating system. I use Linux on most of my computers so for me > upgrading to Windows 8.1 is a small investment because it would only > be for one machine. > > However, to answer your question it would depend on how much of a > difference between Windows 8.1 and say this fictional 8.2 would be. If > there were features and updates I could not get in any other way and I > wanted them sure I'd buy it if I had the money. If not I might wait a > year or two to upgrade. > > The thing is you are comparing apples and oranges because the > situation of Windows XP and Windows 8 is a totally different > situation. XP is many years behind Windows 8 in terms of features and > components and will no longer be maintained. Upgrading from Windows 8 > to Windows 8.1 is a fairly minor upgrade in the scheme of things, and > if there was such a thing as Windows 8.2 it would likely be a minor > upgrade as well. So not upgrading would be less serious than the one > you are in with XP. > > Cheers! > > > On 9/11/13, Charles Rivard <[email protected]> wrote: >> You're thinking of getting Windows 8.1. Can 8.2 be far behind? If you want >> >> to stay current, here you go again. This might be an exaggerated example, >> but the same principle applies. Microsoft has to keep making money, and you >> >> have to give it to them. It's a never ending problem. And who gets more >> benefit from it? Microsoft. >> >> --- >> Shepherds are the best beasts, but Labs are a close second. > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. > 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/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. 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/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
