Kobo Desktop no longer available for Windows XP

[RobertJSawyer]

Trying to download Kobo Desktop on a Windows XP system from http://www.kobo.com/desktop results in this error message:

Please note that Kobo Desktop support has ended for Windows XP. You can update to the newest version of Kobo Desktop with a more recent operating system.

IF you already have Kobo Desktop installed on an XP system, the Desktop will update to the latest/last XP version, which seems to be 3.8.0, but on the main Kobo site there's nowhere I can see to download the Kobo Desktop installer for Windows XP so that the Kobo Desktop can be added to an XP computer that doesn't already have it installed.

Anybody have a direct link to the last XP version of the Kobo Desktop?

Many thanks!

[AnemicOak]

This post might be of help...

Originally Posted by samaya

response from Kobo

1- Uninstall the Kobo Deskotp
2- Restart the computer
3- Install the Kobo Desktop 3.8

You can download the Kobo Desktop version 3.8 and will still work with XP: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ilds/XP3.8.exe

-had to do the set twice, and another factory reset, then setup again, and working now

[RobertJSawyer]

Thank you, Brian! That did the trick!

[biskandar]

You save my world , thanks guys .

And why they are stop supporting windows xp ? there still a lot of xp users out there .

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by biskandar

You save my world , thanks guys .

And why they are stop supporting windows xp ? there still a lot of xp users out there .

Because XP is dead. Microsoft has end-of-lifed XP. No new computers can be bought that come with XP.

It's not in Kobo's best interest to keep on working with XP.

Now just because Kobo is no longer specifically supporting Xp does not mean that new versions of the desktop software won't run. Just that iif some version fails to run, then any new versions never will.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by biskandar

You save my world , thanks guys .

And why they are stop supporting windows xp ? there still a lot of xp users out there .

As JSWolf said--Microsoft has stopped supporting XP--not even releasing security patches for it. Which is a very good reason to get away from XP...

Originally Posted by dordale

As JSWolf said--Microsoft has stopped supporting XP--not even releasing security patches for it. Which is a very good reason to get away from XP...

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. That includes OS X, which Kobo also supports. (The figure is based upon web analytics, which is probably all that matters here since embedded systems, servers, and non-connected computers are outside the scope of Kobo's market.)

Another thought though: Kobo Desktop (at least on the Mac) is based upon Qt5. There was some discussion in another thread about Qt5 not (officially) supporting XP. That probably has some bearing here too.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by biskandar

You save my world , thanks guys .

And why they are stop supporting windows xp ? there still a lot of xp users out there .

XP users have known that XP was going to be end-of-lifed. They've know this for a long time. Any whining/crying about it just too bad. It's not like Microsoft just suddenly decided to stop XP support. So anyone that's complaining about XP being dropped has nobody to complain to but themselves.

Some might have to get a new computer or upgrade what they have in order to run Windows 8.1. That's so all computers running Windows 8.1 are at least up to the same level of processor which will run software such as Qt5.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

XP users have known that XP was going to be end-of-lifed. They've know this for a long time. Any whining/crying about it just too bad. It's not like Microsoft just suddenly decided to stop XP support.

I'm going to differ slightly on that. A business should be providing a product that reflects the needs of their customers, and not the other way around. Now it's entirely possible that the number of Kobo customers using XP diminished to the point that supporting XP via Kobo Desktop was no longer cost effective. If they dropped XP because of that, it's a good business decision. If they dropped XP support to pressure XP users to move on, that stinks of a poor business decision because their responsibility is to serve the customer as long as it improves their bottom line.

(Microsoft's support of XP is an entirely different situation since they have a vested interest in selling updated products and reducing the support costs for older products.)

[JSWolf]

If Kobo has moved the Windows version of Kobo Desktop to Qt5 to make development easier across platforms, then that is good. If XP has to go because of that, so be it. It still might run on some XP systems. But if it doesn't, it's because the hardware is obsolete. Basically anything that cannot run Windows 8.1 these days is obsolete.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Basically anything that cannot run Windows 8.1 these days is obsolete.

Only if you want to run Windows 8.1 -- which a startlingly large number of people don't want to run.

And, unless the OP of this thread has changed course in the last few years, he's still using WordStar (of all things!) for writing. (Yes, I'm going off on a tangent. Actually a tangent off a tangent.)

For reference ...

http://sfwriter.com/wordstar.htm

[Alastair_S]

Originally Posted by rcentros

And, unless the OP of this thread has changed course in the last few years, he's still using WordStar (of all things!) for writing.

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).

So returning to the original question, why don't Kobo offer a download of the last release of XP compatible Desktop along with a notice that this release is no longer supported and that anyone using it uses it at their own risk? This should satisfy XP using customers.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Only if you want to run Windows 8.1 -- which a startlingly large number of people don't want to run.

And, unless the OP of this thread has changed course in the last few years, he's still using WordStar (of all things!) for writing. (Yes, I'm going off on a tangent. Actually a tangent off a tangent.)

For reference ...

http://sfwriter.com/wordstar.htm

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.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

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.

Obsolete is really in the eye of the beholder. If ancient software on an ancient PC or ancient software on a modern PC allows authors to do their job, then these tools are probably not obsolete in their eyes. At least in the context of writing. Some people hold similar views of XP. Many more people hold similar views of Windows 7. Keep in mind: computers are appliances to many people. They won't replace their fridge or TV until it breaks down. They certainly don't expect the electric system to change, thus forcing them to buy a new fridge. They don't expect TV signals to change either, thus forcing them to buy a new TV, which is a good part of the reason why the transition from analog to digital took so long. (Even then, many people use some form of external tuner to get the job done.)

I'm not claiming that everyone holds that view. Clearly there are people who upgrade their TV to support the latest standards. There are also people who will buy the latest decked out refrigerator, rather than a basic model or a used unit. (Yet I suspect fridge upgrades for the sake of upgrading is relatively rare.) The same holds true for computers, probably to a much greater degree. Yet that much greater degree is largely due to the tremendous amount of progress in the technology. There are things that we do today that we couldn't do 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. Yet that is slowing down. The development phase of desktop computers has mostly stalled and even gadget lovers are bemoaning upgrading their computers because they'd rather upgrade their mobile devices. Yes, those are still computers. Yet people still treat them differently. In the long and mid-term I suspect that you'll find that companies dropping support for older desktop operating systems will be doing so at their own peril. This "upgrade your computer because it is obsolete" mentality will become as obsolete as some people claim that XP is today.

[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.