"Longhorn"... yes, it's on topic

[Grimlock Dragon]

Hello All,

I've been hearing that the next version of Windows (code named Longhorn) will be incompatible with Windows XP programs. This is another effort by Microsoft to force people to buy whole new operating systems. I was wondering if Exult would be able to run on this "Longhorn." Supposedly MS will put a compatibility mode in Longhorn to allow it to run XP programs, but I've had difficulty particularly with sound in running Win98 programs in XP's compatibility mode. Microsoft runs the chance of making a lot of people mad if they do this so soon after forcing a lot of people into XP (with all the driver incompatibility issues). The file system will be different in Longhorn also (not NTFS). And I'm beginning to wonder if we will be able to copy even personal files in the near future without permission from some corporate body... Linux may be a better alternative if it could get backing, which does run Exult. Comments?

Regards,

Andy

[RandyC]

Longhorn is at least 2 years off so much can change in that time with the development plans. I must admit I havn't heard of any non backward compatibility with older Windows apps (this seems a little odd to say the least). I'll look into this further but I doesn't make any sense for MS to prevent old applications from being run on Longhorn. I would take any thing posted on the net about Longhorn with a very large pinch of salt because of the length of time before it's release. There is going to be a XP second edition release coming in the new year though.

[esw]

Yeah, well I've always used windows, and XP came with my laptop. If they try and make it any more 'secure' and introduce more of this 'content protection' b.s. in the next version, I'll move to linux.

I can just see it: "Sorry, this MP3 file does not have a valid certificate." "Sorry, exult.exe is not microsoft certified" uggh.... I know I'm exaggerating a lot, but it makes me sick to think about. They have certinally moved in that direction from say, windows 3.1 to windows XP

[Christopher Strong]

If I had to use Microsoft products, I would leave the technology industry.

[drcode]

How about "Sorry, MS Windows is not Exult-certified"?:-)

Anyway, Exult runs on everything from the Amiga to the Zaurus, so I imagine there will be no trouble having it run on future Windows versions.

[esw]

I was feeling peticulairly annoyed with microsoft when I wrote that, because of the way the skinning system works in XP. But that's another story.

Anyways, exult is great . Who cares about the next m.s. os.

[nadir]

If Longhorn is radically different from Windows XP (which I doubt), it will certainly be possible to port Exult to it and compile it with the appropriate compiler (Visual Longhorn Whatever Compiler)

[SB-X]

Longhorn Visual .NET?

[SB-X]

(with built in Passport(tm) security controls)

[Darke]

s/security/insecurity/ knowing MS' track record. *grin*

[Colourless]

My opinion is there will not be a problem. Exult will run just fine. I think that people are really taking this Longhorn stuff to a bit of an extreme. MS will not break backwards compatibility as it would be shooting themselves in the foot. Compatibility is the big advantage that Windows has over all other operating systems. They can not force Longhorn down the thoats of the end users. People will just not buy it. People will not upgrade to it. It will not happen as all these people are saying. Microsoft is not stupid.

-Colourless Dragon

[fliptw]

if Anything, microsoft would limit Longhorn to only install on machines with a 64-bit CPU.

[nadir]

Exult was at some point 64-bit clean, but I don't know what the situation is now.

[fliptw]

if exult lacks asm code, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

[nadir]

It's not as simple as that.

[fliptw]

asumming of course, all the underlying libraries are ported properly.

either way, both 64-bit wintel chip families will keep IA32 compatibilty for a couple of years.