RE: Question for S/W Developers...

We support back to 2.2.0 because we still have 
a box running 2.3.0.  Our new box is 4.2.0 and
we will shortly support only back to 3.2.0+.
The decision is based on the customer base, as
we are small and must accommodate.  With over
300 installs, we see all types.  We actually
have a customer on 2.2.0 and are patiently 
waiting for them to upgrade.  We will drop support
according to our customer base, as they pay us 
an annual maintenance fee (15% of license) and
that buys a lot of tolerance.  We are restricted
in the new "features" that we can support and 
do not attempt to support them conditionally on
OS version.  This has actually contributed to a
more stable product, I think.

We use a slipstreaming version approach, so each
tape we ship has new objects/functionality, as
they become ready to ship.  Due to the mission-
critical nature of our software, customers ONLY
upgrade if the ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. (We do credit
card processing and also transaction processing to
control conveyors etc. in real-time.)

The REAL hassle is the media formats.  We have
CD, reel and QIC, and use a local conversion service
to generate ALL other formats.  It is a bargain at 
about $50 a tape.  Thank the IBM gods for CDs on the 
new boxes!  We use the Bradenmark CD software and it 
is GREAT.

Our Sockets product is different.  We go back to
3.2 on generic sockets, but are limited by the 
OS to supporting multi-threaded sockets on 4.1.0+.

Hope that helps...

Ira Chandler, Technical Services, ROI Corporation
ira@roiconnect.com   *   http://roiconnect.com

Original Msg ------------------------------
From: David Gibbs <david.gibbs@mks.com>
Subject: Question for S/W Developers...
... what version's of OS/400 are you currently supporting?
In addition, when do you decide to drop support for a version?
david
David Gibbs, Sr. Software Engineer, Mortice Kern Systems US, Inc.
mailto:david.gibbs@mks.com

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