How to make an app that runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP
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I am trying to develope an application that runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. I develope on a nice new/fast PC running Windows XP. After getting most problems worked out on the desktop I started testing on other version of Windows. Boy was I surprized how the same executable would run differently on different version of Windows. Here are some examples: I have a dialog box that has a property sheet with 3 property pages. On the pages there are buttons that call up a CColorDialog. It works fine on XP, but hangs the machine on ME. For this case I re-designed the dialog to be stand alone property sheet with the same 3 property pages. This approach works on XP and ME, still need to try on others. Another example is the CRectTracker. On XP the code uses a CRectTracker and the handles and cursor change when the tracker is displayed. On ME the cursor disapears when the CRectTracker::Track function is called. I am quickly comming to the conclusion that to have an application that runs on 32 bit windows, it cannot be any more complicated that a list box and a few buttons.:( Does anybody from Microsoft read these pages? So my question is how do you develope an app for all these version of windows? Do you develope on 95 (the worst one) and once you have it working there, there is a good chance it will work on the others? Do I need to build the exe on a PC running each of the different versions? Is building the exe on XP and delivering it to a customer running 95 an approach that will work?I don't even have access to some of these versions. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any ideas Craig Smith
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I am trying to develope an application that runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. I develope on a nice new/fast PC running Windows XP. After getting most problems worked out on the desktop I started testing on other version of Windows. Boy was I surprized how the same executable would run differently on different version of Windows. Here are some examples: I have a dialog box that has a property sheet with 3 property pages. On the pages there are buttons that call up a CColorDialog. It works fine on XP, but hangs the machine on ME. For this case I re-designed the dialog to be stand alone property sheet with the same 3 property pages. This approach works on XP and ME, still need to try on others. Another example is the CRectTracker. On XP the code uses a CRectTracker and the handles and cursor change when the tracker is displayed. On ME the cursor disapears when the CRectTracker::Track function is called. I am quickly comming to the conclusion that to have an application that runs on 32 bit windows, it cannot be any more complicated that a list box and a few buttons.:( Does anybody from Microsoft read these pages? So my question is how do you develope an app for all these version of windows? Do you develope on 95 (the worst one) and once you have it working there, there is a good chance it will work on the others? Do I need to build the exe on a PC running each of the different versions? Is building the exe on XP and delivering it to a customer running 95 an approach that will work?I don't even have access to some of these versions. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any ideas Craig Smith
I will probably get flamed for posting my comments on this one but here is my two cents: 1) Windows 95? Are people using an OS that is 8 YEARS OLD? 2) Millenium users...I feel sorry for them, that is the worst Windows probably released. Windows 98/2000/XP need to be targeted in my opinion although I am by no means an expert. P.S. Windows XP cleans up a lot better than it's predecessors so that is something you want to watch out for when targeting older platforms.
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I will probably get flamed for posting my comments on this one but here is my two cents: 1) Windows 95? Are people using an OS that is 8 YEARS OLD? 2) Millenium users...I feel sorry for them, that is the worst Windows probably released. Windows 98/2000/XP need to be targeted in my opinion although I am by no means an expert. P.S. Windows XP cleans up a lot better than it's predecessors so that is something you want to watch out for when targeting older platforms.
It really depends on your target market. If you are writing apps that target your average home user, then chances are that a fair number of them are still using Win95/98. In my market (healthcare), we still find a lot of standalone developers using our tools on Win98, but most of the runtime environments are WinNT 4.0 SP6a - they are reluctant to upgrade in a hurry even though W2K SP3 is probably far more stable. Haven't run into anyone using our tools with ME though - probably just as well :-) Dave
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I am trying to develope an application that runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. I develope on a nice new/fast PC running Windows XP. After getting most problems worked out on the desktop I started testing on other version of Windows. Boy was I surprized how the same executable would run differently on different version of Windows. Here are some examples: I have a dialog box that has a property sheet with 3 property pages. On the pages there are buttons that call up a CColorDialog. It works fine on XP, but hangs the machine on ME. For this case I re-designed the dialog to be stand alone property sheet with the same 3 property pages. This approach works on XP and ME, still need to try on others. Another example is the CRectTracker. On XP the code uses a CRectTracker and the handles and cursor change when the tracker is displayed. On ME the cursor disapears when the CRectTracker::Track function is called. I am quickly comming to the conclusion that to have an application that runs on 32 bit windows, it cannot be any more complicated that a list box and a few buttons.:( Does anybody from Microsoft read these pages? So my question is how do you develope an app for all these version of windows? Do you develope on 95 (the worst one) and once you have it working there, there is a good chance it will work on the others? Do I need to build the exe on a PC running each of the different versions? Is building the exe on XP and delivering it to a customer running 95 an approach that will work?I don't even have access to some of these versions. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any ideas Craig Smith