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Day 3: Multi-OS file access
I started this post to complain that Windows 7, installed on the "C" drive, would not allow access to the user files on the "D" drive, on which I have installed Vista. But since I noticed the problem, a passle of automatic updates installed on both the Vista side and the Win7 side, and now there doesn't seem to be a problem.
Another legacy app failed: Creative Memories Memory Manager, a digital photograph organization tool. Version 1 didn't run on Vista either, and the upgrade I downloaded from the Creative Memories website locks up and crashes. (Windows 7 apparently terminates programs automatically that hang on "Not Responding" for more than 30 seconds or so.) Version 2 did run on Vista, so this is a disappointment, but Mrs. Φ recalls having to get with MM tech support to make it work, so maybe they can help us through the process again. OTOH, the Creative Memory website doesn't claim version 2 works on Win7. It does say that version 3 works on Win7, but v3 is a $16 upgrade.
What do you think about charging money for "upgrades" that do nothing but work on newer operating systems? MMv3.0 does provide new features, so I suppose they are entitled to compensation for providing something new. But how difficult would it have been to put out a v2.1, say, that maintained the same features of v2.0 but ran on Win7?
Yeah, I know: they're a private company and can charge whatever people will pay, etc. Just sayin'.
2 comments:
What do you think about charging money for "upgrades" that do nothing but work on newer operating systems?
Yeah, sometimes new OSs have requirements or "features" that require apps to be reprogrammed differently.
Often, though, it is really just forcing them to code things the way that they should have been coded to begin with.
Once they have to open the hood, it's a really good time to make some changes and improve things. It's possible to make these improvements optional, but then they'd have to test two different versions of the software.
Doesn't prevent it from sucking, though.
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