Logos Ending Support for Windows XP and OS X Leopard

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Aug 27, 2012 in Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Featured, Software, Windows | 0 comments

Logos CEO Bob Pritchett announced through the company’s support forums that they will end support for Windows XP on October 26, 2012. What does this mean for users running Logos 4 on Windows XP?

1. It means that users will still be able to use Logos 4 and their current collection of books and resources. That won’t change with this announcement and policy shift.
2. To use new versions of Logos 4 going forward a users must upgrade or use Windows Vista SP2 or newer which of course includes Windows 7 and the forthcoming Windows 8.
3. To buy books in the future a user might need to use a system with the later versions of Logos that only run on Vista SP2 or newer, although not all new books will carry this requirement.

So why the change? Mr. Pritchett announced that when Windows updates their .NET framework, a development technology that Logos uses in their software, the new version will not run on Windows XP. Since Logos needs the newer version to achieve future functionality, they too will update their .NET framework to take advantage of some bug fixes and performance increases. Quoting from the forum:

Logos 4 depends on a number of Microsoft platform components, including the .NET framework. With the October 26, 2012 release of Windows 8, Microsoft is upgrading the .NET 4 platform to .NET 4.5, which is an “in-place” install replacing .NET 4 (which we’re planning to move to for many reasons, including performance and bug fixes).

.NET 4.5 will run on Windows Vista SP2 and later version of Windows, but specifically NOT Windows XP.

October 26, 2012 is the release date for Windows 8; at that point it will be 11 years since Windows XP was released (Oct 25, 2001), and it will be three full generations (Vista, 7, 8) out of date.

Very few Logos users remain on XP, and continuing to support XP in new releases takes development and testing resources, as well as making it more difficult to use other capabilities only offered on newer versions of Windows.

It looks like some users can possibly persuade the powers at Logos to change their minds. Pritchett stated that people now have a “chance to speak up if there’s a really compelling reason we should not drop XP on October 26, 2012.”

I support this move. It’s hard to move forward knowing that some might get left. However, Logos made it clear that users of Windows XP can still use current versions of Logos. Some in the forum asked if the current versions that still run on XP will receive bug fixes. Logos did not offer an official answer. I can understand the desire for those who want to see Logos improve without their needing to update their operating system. Many users of Logos don’t have the funds or technical skill to undertake such an upgrade. That’s the cost of doing busing in a fast and changing world.

I want to see Logos improve and especially long for some performance advances. Let’s hope this move provides these advances.

For those who need to update before the deadline, I recommend going for it as soon as one can. Windows 8 on a desktop or laptop will not be fun. It’s a tablet OS and doesn’t feel right on my laptop. It was designed for touch not mouse or trackpad! Get a Windows 7 machine. People who buy one now can get a very inexpensive Windows 8 upgrade which will allow the user to try it out, but go back to Windows 7 if you don’t like the new interface.

UPDATE: They also announced an end to support for Mac OS X Leopard as well stating:

Dropping 10.5 support in future releases will free up development and testing resources and allow us to do more in Logos Bible Software.

BibleWorks 9 Running on a Windows 8 Tablet

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Aug 3, 2012 in Digital Bible Study, Featured, Software, Technology, Video, Windows | 0 comments

I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of Windows 8 on a computer, but it looks like it will run beautifully on a tablet, so I hope that the Bible software companies will embrace the platform to make it an awesome tool for Digital Bible Study. Bibleworks already has. They sent me a link to a video of their app running on a Windows 8 tablet.

You can see how well it works for yourself below. If you want info about the tablet itself, a Samsung Series 9, then back it up to the beginning. There’s also a ridiculous “intermission” just before the start point below and ending.

It looks like its running nicely. I look forward to getting my hands on a Windows 8 tablet once they ship this fall.

Here’s the gauntlet being thrown down. I want to see the other Bible software makers run their app on Windows 8 tablets. You can do it and I’ll happily show it off for you.

Olive Tree Bible Reader for Windows Now Available

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Jan 21, 2012 in Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Software, Windows | 0 comments

Olive Tree Bible Reader for Windows was finally released after releasing an Alpha preview earlier. Users can now install their excellent app for reading and studying the Bible on almost every popular operating system available including Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and others.

If you read my post about the Mac version or my Christian Computing Magazine article, then you already know what the app can do. If not, hit those links to learn more about the app. I won’t rehash all of that since the app behaves almost identically.

The good news: if you know how to use Bible Reader on another platform, you won’t find this Windows version much different. Paraphrasing Steve Jobs’ words about the iPad – you already know how to use it.

Great Bible app! If you build a nice library of language tools and commentaries you can do all you need to do right inside the Windows Bible Reader app from Olive Tree which you can get free.

Like their other apps, my biggest wish would be that they add automatic syncing of notes, bookmarks and highlights. I’ve been told it may be coming soon. Let’s hope that’s coming soon as you and I think of the phrase instead of the biblical coming soon which means it could happen time between now and the end of time.