ASNA Visual RPG (AVR) Classic 5.0 will be introduced this December. AVR 5.0 is the follow-on to AVR 4.x. It is specifically targeted to provide support for COM-based AVR for Windows 7 and Windows 8. Do note that AVR 5.0 will not support Windows XP for either development or deployment.
Windows XP reaches its end-of-support on April 8th, 2014. This means the end of hot fixes from MS for any security exposures that arise. Thus, Windows XP becomes a highly volatile and dangerous desktop OS after April 8th, 2014. In fact, general support for XP ended in 2009. To get any kind of XP support today you must have an MS extended commercial support contract.
MS hasn’t established an end-of-service date for Windows 7 yet, but if Windows 7 support lasts as long as XP’s did, Windows 7 support will persist for several more years—and Windows 8 even longer. That said, it’s probably not wise to assume your AVR Classic will persist throughout the full life-cycle of Windows 7/8. Third-party control dependence, as well as any changes MS may yet implement in Windows 7/8, precludes knowing exactly how much longer your AVR Classic apps will continue to run effectively on Windows 7/8.
The advent of AVR Classic 5.0 provides a comfortable cushion for ASNA customers to prepare for the ultimate replacement of their AVR Classic legacy code base. Use this time wisely!
We’ll be revisiting this topic heavily in 2013 at ASNA. We’re going to do all we can to help you leverage your AVR Classic applications well into the future!
