Where is this all heading?

[Bitbeisser]

The forms source can then be (for the most part) transferred from one OS to the other and might need some slight adjustments to fit the common style of the target system, but how this is actually handled "under the hood", I could give a rodent's posterior... 

Hola Ralf!

I guess this is where you and I are different programmers... I like the nuts and bolts approach at the windows API level (I don't do cross-platform stuff)  and don't find it in the least uncomfortable.  In fact, I prefer to know what's going on "under the hood" because most often it's me who gets stuck fixing it.  

So what's your take on our future?

Well, for me, that means I am fairly easy able to switch to a different environment all together. So I don't really care too much about in which direction Windows will be heading, though I am still able to see it as a "necessary evil".

The larger project that I mentioned earlier is designed to be multi-platform, not really depending on a single technology/OS. Some parts therefor will take a bit longer to "get right", mainly the UI stuff, as the actual user application (data entry/retrieval, invoicing, etc.) can run on any Windows (ok, I will limit it to Windows XP and up), Mac OS X or Linux (currently preferring Ubuntu Business Desktop 11.10, but evaluating other options like (Open)SuSE and Mandriva for example).

The server part will be based on a SQL server, where I have currently for development MS SQL Server 2008 Express R2 on Windows Server 2008R2 (the only 64bit OS version I run), MySQL 5.5 on both Windows Server 2003/Scientific Linux 6.2 (was CentOS 6.0 until last month) and MariaDB 5.3.5 and PostgreSQL 9 on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. Plan on testing with IBM DB2 as well as Oracle Express 11g in the not too distant future, but don't have a spare server machine to make separate installs for those two right now...

A future web services module will run on Apache and possibly Nginx,  do not plan in any way to run/support IIS for that.

And last but not least, there is a "mobile apps" part, which is currently planned for Android phones and more importantly Android based tablets (like the Asus Eee TF101), and possibly with support at least for Apple's iPad (where the stupid AppStore is the main obstacle, as that isn't really a way to install proprietary applications).

So both myself and my potential customers have some choices and can head into their future rather what Microsoft (or Apple for that matter) thinks the future will be...
And planning and working on having these options now will allow me to have a head start when things come crashing down in the Windows world...

Ralf

[CommonTater]

Hi Ralf... sounds like you're a busy guy. 

I've never worried much about Cross Platform work since most of what I do is in Home Theatre setups... networking, file shares, small client/server pairs and such.  But looking into Linux this week has gotten me very interested in GTK+ ... and perhaps C++.  Now for an old organ grinder like me that's a huge paradigm switch, which I plan to take as a challenge.

The fortunate thing is that XP is actually the OS of choice with most so called "audiophiles" and "videophiles".  They seem to believe --and I mostly agree-- that the multimedia performance on XP is better than any other OS out there; as my recent adventures would seem to confirm. 

FWIW... I say "so called" because in many cases these are non-technical people who consistently make the mistake of equating price with quality.  When you see someone paying $60.00 for a power cord and over $100 for an HDMI cable, you just have to believe they're not working from a solid base in reality. 

So, anyway... I still don't know where all this is taking me.  It's been a very trying week for me...  But I do know that I won't be updating to Windows 8 any time soon. 

It will be interesting to see what Windows 9 has to offer...

[Bitbeisser]

Hi Ralf... sounds like you're a busy guy. 

Self=employed and just trying to find ways to feed the hamster... 

I've never worried much about Cross Platform work

Seeing how Windows is developing, I try to keep all my possibilities open. I have done cross-platform stuff in the past, first DOS-Unix/Xenix, then early Windows-OS/2 and now I try to get a head start on how things might be going in the next 10-15 before I am able to retire...

since most of what I do is in Home Theatre setups... networking, file shares, small client/server pairs and such.

My main job right now is in IT services but I am trying to get back into full-time software development. And this project i mentioned looks like a perfect opportunity.
I have worked on such an application 27 years ago, back then PCs just had come out and the packages was developed in Business Basic on what was called back then "Mini-computers" (DG Nova 2/3, Nixdorf 8870U), actually doing a transition to Intel 80286/80386 based systems running OASIS (now TheOS) and Xenix. All in text mode but with a very easy to use and efficient database management build-in...

But looking into Linux this week has gotten me very interested in GTK+ ... and perhaps C++.  Now for an old organ grinder like me that's a huge paradigm switch, which I plan to take as a challenge.

Naaah, don't touch C++ unless I absolutely have to...
On Linux, FreePascal with Lazarus as the IDE is my preferred choice, allowing me run run (almost) identical code on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux...

Ralf