XP only

AMacD · 11-25-2006, 10:32 PM

I searched far and wide and finally got the answer to my "Which OS" question. I am surprised that Sony does not state XP up front instead of "Windows". I have Windows2000 Pro and apparently it will not run their program. This means that I can read on the Reader but not buy any books from their store. As a retired Quality Assurance Engineer I find this extremely short sighted. So, can't read their books, can't read PDFs because they don't supply a reformat tool, and can't update firmware. That is 3 strikes and out. No Macintosh, no Linux, no Win2000, Win98Me, Win 98, Win 95, OS-2. That is a lot of potential customers. Pity!

NatCh · 11-25-2006, 11:45 PM

Welcome to MobileRead, AMacD -- you left out Vista from your list.

Yeah, there have been some rumors that they're looking at Macintosh, but the limitation on the OS's is a bit puzzling. The only thing I can think is that from the way the Connect Software is so marginal in several areas, maybe there just weren't enough resources allocated to it. Just a guess of course.

One thing to note, I'm pretty sure that the PDF reader app on the Reader is supplied by Adobe. So one could be excused for thinking that it works as well as Adobe wants it to work.

AMacD · 11-26-2006, 12:31 AM

A someone commented in another thread, not many people are going to spring for Acrobat just to resize a document. Having to import it into a word processor, reformat and print it in a different size is not an elegant solution. Virtually every review I have read said the PDF reader is useless.

I also wonder what their problem is in not allowing people outside the US of A to buy from their store? The web is universal, the borders are shrinking and I am sure there are many in other countries who would enjoy this device.

I guess I will have to just continue reading my e-books on my Palm until they wipe their bellies off so they can see where they are going. ;-)

HarryT · 11-26-2006, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMacD

I also wonder what their problem is in not allowing people outside the US of A to buy from their store? The web is universal, the borders are shrinking and I am sure there are many in other countries who would enjoy this device.

The issue is almost certainly a legal one. Many books have country-specific publishing rights - eg many books are published by a different publisher in the UK and US, unlike music, where CDs are distributed world-wide by a single company. I would imagine that Sony are going to have to negotiate country-by-country distribution contracts, which could be a slow process.

If you look at the membership of this forum you'll see that there are many people outside the US, such as myself (I live in the UK), who have bought a Reader nonetheless, despite the hoops you have to jump through to import one from the US. I don't personally care about buying "commercial" e-Books; my personal interests lie in out-of-copyright "classics".

atreis · 11-26-2006, 07:46 AM

I'm also puzzled (and disappointed) that the software won't run in Win2K... The one machine that it would be most useful for me to run it on happens to be Win2K. (I have other machines running XP so I'm not dead in the water, as other posts I've made make obvious.) Even if they don't have the resources to test on Win2K, they could still have allowed it to run as an unsupported configuration.

Aside from that, I'm quite happy with my reader. :-)

unkilbeeg · 11-26-2006, 05:36 PM

I'm not in the least dismayed that the software doesn't run on any OS I have.

I'm far more dismayed by the notion that I must use gatekeeper software in order to load content on the device. If it connects via USB, wouldn't it make sense to just allow me to mount it as a drive and transfer stuff that way?

Some of the documentation indicates that the gatekeeper software was necessary to convert external content into a compatible format. Thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case. RTF and homegrown PDF seems to work fine, as does plain text, all transfered via SD card. I've tested the demo units in the store with my own test formats, with moderate success.

kovidgoyal · 11-26-2006, 07:05 PM

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8360

unkilbeeg · 11-26-2006, 09:39 PM

Ah! That looks useful. If and when I spring for my very own reader, that means I can use its main memory.

I still think a design philosophy that requires a special program to connect is a bad idea. A simple drive mount, letting the user manage things though the filesystem, seems like a better idea.

Any luck with the LRF files?

kovidgoyal · 11-27-2006, 11:47 AM

It's easy to write VFS drivers based on libprs500 so the reader can be made to appear like a storage device to the operating system. I believe someone is writing GNOME VFS drivers already.

11-25-2006, 10:32 PM	#1
AMacD Al Posts: 66 Karma: 140 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bardstown, KY as home base, but RV following the seasons. Device: Kindle1 and Kindle2 and Palm T\|X	XP only I searched far and wide and finally got the answer to my "Which OS" question. I am surprised that Sony does not state XP up front instead of "Windows". I have Windows2000 Pro and apparently it will not run their program. This means that I can read on the Reader but not buy any books from their store. As a retired Quality Assurance Engineer I find this extremely short sighted. So, can't read their books, can't read PDFs because they don't supply a reformat tool, and can't update firmware. That is 3 strikes and out. No Macintosh, no Linux, no Win2000, Win98Me, Win 98, Win 95, OS-2. That is a lot of potential customers. Pity!

11-25-2006, 11:45 PM	#2
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Welcome to MobileRead, AMacD -- you left out Vista from your list. Yeah, there have been some rumors that they're looking at Macintosh, but the limitation on the OS's is a bit puzzling. The only thing I can think is that from the way the Connect Software is so marginal in several areas, maybe there just weren't enough resources allocated to it. Just a guess of course. One thing to note, I'm pretty sure that the PDF reader app on the Reader is supplied by Adobe. So one could be excused for thinking that it works as well as Adobe wants it to work.

11-26-2006, 12:31 AM	#3
AMacD Al Posts: 66 Karma: 140 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bardstown, KY as home base, but RV following the seasons. Device: Kindle1 and Kindle2 and Palm T\|X	A someone commented in another thread, not many people are going to spring for Acrobat just to resize a document. Having to import it into a word processor, reformat and print it in a different size is not an elegant solution. Virtually every review I have read said the PDF reader is useless. I also wonder what their problem is in not allowing people outside the US of A to buy from their store? The web is universal, the borders are shrinking and I am sure there are many in other countries who would enjoy this device. I guess I will have to just continue reading my e-books on my Palm until they wipe their bellies off so they can see where they are going. ;-)

11-26-2006, 07:46 AM	#5
atreis Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: PRS-500	I'm also puzzled (and disappointed) that the software won't run in Win2K... The one machine that it would be most useful for me to run it on happens to be Win2K. (I have other machines running XP so I'm not dead in the water, as other posts I've made make obvious.) Even if they don't have the resources to test on Win2K, they could still have allowed it to run as an unsupported configuration. Aside from that, I'm quite happy with my reader. :-)

11-26-2006, 05:36 PM	#6
unkilbeeg Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 80904 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bakersfield, CA Device: Sony PRS-500/Astak EZReader 5"/PocketBook 360/Kindle	I'm not in the least dismayed that the software doesn't run on any OS I have. I'm far more dismayed by the notion that I must use gatekeeper software in order to load content on the device. If it connects via USB, wouldn't it make sense to just allow me to mount it as a drive and transfer stuff that way? Some of the documentation indicates that the gatekeeper software was necessary to convert external content into a compatible format. Thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case. RTF and homegrown PDF seems to work fine, as does plain text, all transfered via SD card. I've tested the demo units in the store with my own test formats, with moderate success.

11-26-2006, 07:05 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,858 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8360

11-26-2006, 09:39 PM	#8
unkilbeeg Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 80904 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bakersfield, CA Device: Sony PRS-500/Astak EZReader 5"/PocketBook 360/Kindle	Ah! That looks useful. If and when I spring for my very own reader, that means I can use its main memory. I still think a design philosophy that requires a special program to connect is a bad idea. A simple drive mount, letting the user manage things though the filesystem, seems like a better idea. Any luck with the LRF files?

11-27-2006, 11:47 AM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,858 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	It's easy to write VFS drivers based on libprs500 so the reader can be made to appear like a storage device to the operating system. I believe someone is writing GNOME VFS drivers already.

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