On Tue, Jan 3, 2023 at 12:16 PM, Joseph Lee wrote:

At least 30 days after that, these add-ons will be declared end of life and legacy (from me).

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What does this mean from a practical standpoint for users as time marches on?  I would have to presume that even in legacy mode these add-ons would continue to function for a while with NVDA, at least through the 2023.X period.

Also, you are in the best position to give an educated opinion as to whether any/all of these can get "life extensions" via manifest updates, as opposed to code updates, and there may be someone willing to take over manifest updating who is not willing to also take on code updating.  "Passive forward and backward compatibility" are both real things, and original developers are best positioned to note whether either one is likely to exist with zero code change, and for how long.
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Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 19045; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit

"Be Yourself" is the worst advice you can give to some people.

       ~ Tom Masson

Hi,

These add-ons will work as long as the parts of NVDA they invoke are present and working throughout 2023.x releases. But once 2024.1 is released, they may not work properly, more so if NV Access decides to move to newer Python 3 releases. The part on Python 3 upgrade will affect Resource Monitor and Sound Splitter as manifest edits will not be enough.

Cheers,

Joseph

I think also the obvious is always true, ie, if as now there are already 2 add ons that are being presented to windows 7 users that will not work when downloaded, it does not mean you are worse off, just that you are the same, so to speak. IE its not going to zap working add ons for that particular system, though it might have been better not to have presented the new ones if the operating system could have been read by add on updater and then the add on not presented, so to speak.
Brian

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On Wed, Jan 4, 2023 at 04:20 AM, Brian's Mail list account wrote:

though it might have been better not to have presented the new ones if the operating system could have been read by add on updater and then the add on not presented, so to speak.

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Not that this isn't correct, but it would likely have required going back to out-of-support versions of Add-On Updater and updating that code to query the OS.  That was not necessary at the time that the original code was written, only as time marched on.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  Developers must focus their time and energy on "the world as it is now," and cannot expend any time dealing with software that only runs on out-of-support systems that has become "buggy" because of changes that have occurred as time has marched on.  It's just not reasonable to believe that anything Windows 7 related can or should be actively supported.  We're getting very, very close to the time where NVAccess is going to make the long overdue decision to drop support for Windows 7 in NVDA.

Those who deliberately choose to remain with out-of-support OSes can and will have pain to deal with as a result.  Choices have consequences, and that particular choice is not one that any software house should be expected to provide support for.
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Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 19045; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit

"Be Yourself" is the worst advice you can give to some people.

       ~ Tom Masson

Hi,

To be done effective January 9, 2023.

Cheers,

Joseph

Hi,

Querying the OS: yes, that's what Add-on Updater 23.01 will actually do if add-on updates metadata specifies minimum Windows version flag. What Brian is seeing is intented behavior: I wanted folks to know that they shuld move to supported Windows releases as son as possible. Effective January 9, 2023, Add-on Updater will no longer present add-on updates incompatible with the Windows release you've got provided that add-on update source is set to community add-ons website.

Cheers,

Joseph

On Wed, Jan 4, 2023 at 11:52 AM, Joseph Lee wrote:

What Brian is seeing is intented behavior: I wanted folks to know that they shuld move to supported Windows releases as son as possible.

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I understand what you intend, and it's a great thing.

But my broader point is this:  You (the end-user you) must (not should, must) move to a supported Windows version.  If you choose not to, you should not have any expectation of any support or compatibility over the long term.  Once things break, they're broken.  This has been the case since PC time immemorial.

We have got to stop sugar-coating things.  And as far as I'm concerned NVAccess has done no one any favors by continuing support for Windows 7 long past its expiration date while many add-on developers have justifiably not done so.

If you are not on a supported version of Windows you have no one to blame but yourself.  You can still upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 at no cost if you happen to have a machine from that era and will still be in support for about 2.5 years.  After that, it's Windows 11 only [or Windows 11 and whatever Windows version(s) Microsoft may be supporting by late 2025].
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 19045; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit

"Be Yourself" is the worst advice you can give to some people.

       ~ Tom Masson