(Original creator: adriang)
I recently read this article about Chrome 50 stopping support for some older operating systems, and the mention of Windows XP caught my eye.
From a Uniface perspective, Uniface Technical Support: Uniface Support of Windows XP (moved from the Frontline site) Purely from a technology perspective, it freed us up in regards to choices on MS Visual Studio and even how to implement certain functionality. I’m sure in the Uniface source code there is still code that states ‘if Windows XP’…!
Getting out and about, talking to customers, I’ve had a few conversations about Windows XP, mainly in the context of browser support and Internet Explorer 7, as in the big WWW, it’s pretty well out of control what OS, and what browser an end user can use. (Although I do remember this article about an Australian online retailer who was going to add an IE tax for their transactions.)
Something that has come up during conversations has been customers who are doing business in China, where there is still a significant amount of Windows XP use. I’m assuming that this is related to how easy it was to bypass the MS licensing model and the availability of older specification hardware which might struggle to run a new version of Windows.
I’m expecting that with Chrome soon to stop supporting IE, that will start to accelerate the move away from Windows XP, and I’m guessing some of the hardware manufacturers will be rubbing their hands with the anticipation of a peak in new hardware sales, and the recyclers are preparing for more obsolete hardware to be stripped for precious metals.
And on a personal note, it appears I need to buy a new Mac for use at home, as I’m also impacted by Chrome 50 not supporting my version of Mac OSX!