Kobo Desktop no longer available for Windows XP

[dordale]

If I were in charge of which platforms to offer software that my company produces, I wouldn't offer software for XP simply because Microsoft has stopped supporting it. I *might* still offer older versions of my software that people could download--but these would come with very prominent warnings that they wouldn't be supported if problems arose.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Alastair_S

Why shouldn't he use WordStar? His profession is writing and no doubt his familiarity with WordStar, alongside what must by now be a well muscle-memory, allows him to produce work far more quickly and efficiently with that word-processor than with any other. This may also explain why he has remained with XP because 32-bit XP is the last release of MS Windows that officially allows full-screen DOS sessions (it is possible to obtain full-screen DOS sessions with some installations of Win 7, but it requires a lot of effort and is not guaranteed to work).

I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I have absolutely nothing against the OP using WordStar -- I still use WordStar for DOS in DOSBox under Linux. It's by far my favorite word processor. My clumsily made point (attempt at making a point, I should say) is that "obsolete" is in the eye of the beholder.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

It may be a very good reason to get away from it, but Windows XP still has almost double the marketshare of non-Windows operating systems.

I think XP still has double (or close to double) the market share of Windows 8.x.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Because XP is dead.

It's kind of hard to say an OS is "dead" when millions of people are still using it. But I can also understand why a company would be reluctant to offer software upgrades for a non-supported OS platform. I think it's more of a liability issue for them than anything else.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You again misread. I'm not saying to run Windows 8.1. I'm saying that if the computer CAN run Windows 8.1, then it's not obsolete. If the computer can run Windows 8.1, then you can run whatever OS you want. You can run Qt5. You don't have to worry about the processor being too old.

I do understand what you're saying. I'm just disagreeing with you. If a computer does what you want it to do, it's not obsolete. My twelve year-old computer can run Linux Mint -- and that's what I want to run -- therefore it's not obsolete.

Obsolete is defined ...

1. No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused; neglected;
        as, an obsolete word; an obsolete statute; -- applied
        chiefly to words, writings, or observances.
        [1913 Webster]

My computer is "in use" and it's not "neglected."

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by filmo

An author friend using Corel had to convert all of her stories to MS Office format because that was what editers wanted. This is only reason I find it odd that he is still using star office. I was also a big star office fan now using Libre Office.

I think you missed it. The word processor being discussed was WordStar, which is potentially much older than even the first version of StarOffice (1978 - 1999 vs 1985 - current).

[Alastair_S]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I have absolutely nothing against the OP using WordStar -- I still use WordStar for DOS in DOSBox under Linux. It's by far my favorite word processor. My clumsily made point (attempt at making a point, I should say) is that "obsolete" is in the eye of the beholder.

I see, so in other words we are both in agreement with regards as to what defines "obsolete".

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Alastair_S

I see, so in other words we are both in agreement with regards as to what defines "obsolete".

Yep. And I probably quoted you without attribution. Sorry.

[JSWolf]

If Kobo is going with Qt5 for the Windows Desktop program, then they do not want to try to support XP and have a support nightmare.

Old software can run on newer hardware but not all newer software can run on obsolete hardware. Qt5 cannot run on old processors that are not up-to-date enough. A lot of XP instals are on such obsolete hardware and Kobo is correct in doing what was done with Calibre and Sigil. As I said before, there has been 5.5 years between the time Windows 7 was released and now. So I do not feel for anyone who is running obsolete hardware claiming poverty for why not upgrading. Save $10 a month and by now there would be enough $ to upgrade the hardware and OS.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I do understand what you're saying. I'm just disagreeing with you. If a computer does what you want it to do, it's not obsolete. My twelve year-old computer can run Linux Mint -- and that's what I want to run -- therefore it's not obsolete.

Obsolete is defined ...

1. No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused; neglected;
        as, an obsolete word; an obsolete statute; -- applied
        chiefly to words, writings, or observances.
        [1913 Webster]

My computer is "in use" and it's not "neglected."

If you want to run a newer version of Kobo Desktop on your system and you cannot, because the requirements are too much for your hardware, then your computer IS obsolete.

That's the problem. Too many XP installed are on OBSOLETE hardware.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I do understand what you're saying. I'm just disagreeing with you. If a computer does what you want it to do, it's not obsolete. My twelve year-old computer can run Linux Mint -- and that's what I want to run -- therefore it's not obsolete.

Obsolete is defined ...

1. No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused; neglected;
        as, an obsolete word; an obsolete statute; -- applied
        chiefly to words, writings, or observances.
        [1913 Webster]

My computer is "in use" and it's not "neglected."

And my similarly-aged laptop runs Archlinux with Mint's Cinnamon desktop and likewise works perfectly, so it is not obsolete. But it wouldn't run Windows 8 very well, not on 2 GB of RAM, and with HD Integrated Graphics (no dedicated GPU) I strongly suspect it is old enough to fail the compatibility test...

Windows 8 is not some magical gold standard, any linux distro will remain compatible on modern versions with much older hardware than Windows 8 (and certainly more than Windows 7).

But I imagine that is all irrelevant, as you cannot run Kobo Desktop on linux anyway...

[burnafterreading]

if you ran the business which had to devote employees to supporting software for an OS that hasn't been sold in 10 years, would you do it? you have to pay these employees for their time to do this, so other than just posting a link i don't think Kobo or anyone else should do anything more. it's obsolete as far as the industry is concerned.

it's called progress. and it includes obsolescence. if progress didn't exist, we'd all be reading paperback books from a library that someone sneezed into or wiped snot on.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

And my similarly-aged laptop runs Archlinux with Mint's Cinnamon desktop and likewise works perfectly, so it is not obsolete. But it wouldn't run Windows 8 very well, not on 2 GB of RAM, and with HD Integrated Graphics (no dedicated GPU) I strongly suspect it is old enough to fail the compatibility test...

Windows 8 is not some magical gold standard, any linux distro will remain compatible on modern versions with much older hardware than Windows 8 (and certainly more than Windows 7).

But I imagine that is all irrelevant, as you cannot run Kobo Desktop on linux anyway...

Yes you can run some version Linux on such old hardware. But you cannot run software that's been compiled to need newer hardware such as Qt5.

[biskandar]

Hey, don't get me wrong, i love my thinkpad t61, and i love my windows xp very much till now.

And i need to keep it runs, since back then the kobobooks supported for the xp, and it works nicely done.

I'm sure that this reader application should be applicable across all the platforms, and i have many books bought from them, sigh...

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you want to run a newer version of Kobo Desktop on your system and you cannot, because the requirements are too much for your hardware, then your computer IS obsolete.

I suspect that part of the issue is that people want to be able to do things that you used to be able to do on hardware that used to support it. Unfortunately, that can be difficult to accomplish if old installers are taken down or if incompatibilities are introduced. Another issue is that some people are willing to make due with the slightly lower performance incurred by older hardware. Keep in mind that we're talking about buying, managing, and reading ebooks on Pentium IV's or later here -- not HD video production on similarly aged products.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: obsolescence is largely in the perspective of the user. Some people are happy at the trailing edge. Others are satisfied with nothing less than the latest and greatest. In some cases it makes sense for businesses to draw that line, such as Microsoft deriving most of it's revenues from Windows from new hardware sales so they need to produce software which utilizes that hardware. In other cases, it makes no sense at all for the vendor to draw that line. Ebook sales, management, and reading does not rely upon hefty hardware so it makes relatively little sense for Kobo to dictate the latest and greatest.