January 12th, 2022

Windows 7 and the future, Part 2

The upcoming new version of Kithara RealTime Suite, slated for release in Spring 2022, includes an important change regarding support for certain Windows versions, which we want to point out in advance. We have decided to stop support for Windows 7 and 8.0 starting with version 11.02. This means that from that point on, only Windows 10 and 11 will be compatible with our software whereas Windows 8.1 can be used exclusively in test mode.

Why take this step?

As notified in the blog entry "Windows 7 and the Future, Part 1", Microsoft no longer issues Windows 7 certificates, which left the use of the test mode the only makeshift solution. Since the latter did not represent an appropriate method, we have come to the logical conclusion to cut this temporary measure as well (excluding Windows 8.1).

The advantages outweigh the disadvantages

The discontinuation of support for older Windows versions always presents new opportunities as well. For instance, we will be able to adjust and maintain our software more efficiently ;without being held back too much by the lowest common denominator. Newer versions of the operating system also usually provide new programming features that are not compatible with older Windows versions. In the long run our developers will benefit from a more streamlined software and therefore users as well thanks to easier implementation of new features as well as faster bug fixing.