Before programmers take for creating the first version of the code (designated as so-called. Milestone – M1, M2, M3), Microsoft, like many other companies engaged in software development, is in talks telemetry study, carried a lot of analysis like. This step is one of the more labor-intensive. Once will begin creating and formatting code, the stages designated as Milestone we have the first working product, namely alpha version. The next step is the product of beta – after lasting at least several months of beta testing achieved so called. your candidate (RC – Release Candidate – which means virtually full turnkey solution), the next phase is called “ready for production” (RTM – Ready To Manufacture). Only at this stage we can speak of a fully finished program or system that will be made available when stores, will be in phase GA (General Availability), which is commercially available product. These stages are, however, only part of the software lifecycle – design and production phases of software development.
Support and lack of support
Each user of commercial software, when they will start to use it normally receives not only a set of functions included in the same application, but also the manufacturer’s technical support. The time of this support depends on the manufacturer and can be very different (in the case of Windows XP, it was almost 13 years!), But technical support is a feature of any commercial software application. In turn, the lack of support does not automatically mean the lack of software usability. Statistics obsolete already use Windows XP show this clearly. In July this year. the Polish Internet is still almost 20 percent. machines connecting to the Network identified themselves as computers running Windows XP. As it finally is: the lack of support and further work? Yes, it works, but continue to use the software niewspieranego can bring dire consequences, especially when it comes to data security. Windows XP is not some small game abandoned by their creators, but a large collection of code on which depends the usefulness of the computer and the applications used by the user. Lack of support in the form of providing an update in conjunction with outdated technology, is a serious problem.
First of all, every computer running Windows XP, it becomes an easy target for cyber criminals who take over remote control of victim machines by exploiting vulnerabilities in the software. No patches means that any new holes discovered in XP will no longer be patched, and this in turn means that even a system with installed security software (anti-virus, firewall, etc.) will not be immune to attacks! In short, to make an online bank transfer using a computer running Windows XP will soon be as safe as scattering money on the street and counting on the fact that nobody is tempted by easy “profit”. Continued use of the software already niewspieranego it really too much risk – not worth it to take in order to “savings” resulting from the fact that you do not buy a newer version of the system. Besides, no one is forcing anyone to buy, because the alternative is a free Linux, providing a much higher level of security.
Mobile Applications – Eldorado developers?
Within in recent years the mobile application market has changed dramatically: the vast popularity of smartphones and tablets resulted in an unprecedented increase in the number created applications for mobile platforms. No wonder, for any programmer to create software that has a chance to become popular, is a potential opportunity to get rich quick. An example illustrating a contemporary version of the big myth “from rags to riches” story is even the creator of perhaps the most irritating, and at the same banal mobile game Flappy Bird. Dong Nguyen – Vietnamese programmer who developed the program and published it in popular mobile software stores – within a few days became a rich man, and his work has been downloaded about 140 million times, before the creator overwhelmed by its popularity has not decided to remove him from shops mobile. The most interesting is that Dong Nguyen staged his game entirely for free, and profits earned him ad views built into the game. That was enough to free title assured its creator more than $ 50,000 of income … a day.
mobile market giant
Certainly, every programmer who creates or intends to create software for mobile platforms, has something to fight for. In published last year, the consulting giant projections – Gartner – it was estimated that the total number of mobile application downloads in 2013 will amount to 102 billion. This result is almost unimaginable, but subsequent years will bring new records. According to analysts Gartner in the current year, users of smartphones and tablets married almost 140 billion applications, and in 2017 this figure is expected to reach nearly 270 billion. This result, which manufacture the classic software for desktop systems can only dream of. Remember, however, that although in both cases we are dealing with software,
it in terms of functionality and applications is difficult to compare these two groups of products.
Software abandoned = useless?
A separate issue is the software of all kinds: included in the common group called abandonware. This term describes the software, whose founder is no longer available
in any way nor provide any support. Most often the word is used in relation to the very old games and programs, long unsupported, “forgotten” by their creators. Companies that develop programs currently classified in this group, most often already do not exist. Do not call the term “abandonware” older versions still drop-down software, regardless of age. For example, Adobe Photoshop 1.0 is a program that debuted on the market in 1990 – despite the passage of almost a quarter of a century, this is the app still sold, so in any case does not belong to abandonware’u. In addition, many users mistakenly believe that abandonware is identical software programs made available free of charge. Although many programs abandonware websites are available free of charge, does not mean that we have to deal with freeware or public domain (unless the tool from the beginning made available free of charge). In the case of abandoned applications that were once commercially available, proprietary rights are still important – yet no program is so old that these rights have expired and the product put into the public domain. Thus, the use of software belonging to the group abandonware is according to the laws of most countries (including Polish) illegal. Despite this, many administrators abandonware sites that provide software not particularly afraid of any legal sanctions, mainly because some companies-software developers no longer exists. It does not change the fact that the provision of “forgotten” software, used to be offered commercially, is piracy. Also, the use of these applications, if they were obtained from an unauthorized source, according to Polish law it is a crime. Moreover, the very term “abandonware” in general does not exist in the legal system of any country. Meets Rather, unfortunately, still vague (also in Polish law) the term “orphan works”, for all tracks (including software), for which copyrights have not expired, but there is no possibility of reaching owners of those rights.
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