Question for you IT Bods

[bomberesque]

I use a planning tool, called Primavera 3.1, commonly known as P3. This is a very old package, little changed since it ran on DOS way back when.

Latest info from the developers is that they have tested P3 on Fista 32bit and it runs but they state that they haven't tested it and won't support it on Fista 64 bit. I take this to mean that it won't work on V64 and they're not going to put whatever effort in is required to update the code

So, question time. When my company (big coroate type) migrates to Fista (planned 2009) what chances are there that I'll be able to run this package? Can Fista run 32 and 64 bit, or is V32 an interim OS to help everyone migrate over with their existing software, which they will then have to rebuy 64bit versions of (leaving P3 unable to operate)?

Ta

[cheeseandham]

Latest info from the developers is that they have tested P3 on Fista 32bit and it runs but they state that they haven't tested it and won't support it on Fista 64 bit. I take this to mean that it won't work on V64 and they're not going to put whatever effort in is required to update the code

Lazy bastards

So, question time. When my company (big coroate type) migrates to Fista (planned 2009) what chances are there that I'll be able to run this package? Can Fista run 32 and 64 bit, or is V32 an interim OS to help everyone migrate over with their existing software, which they will then have to rebuy 64bit versions of (leaving P3 unable to operate)?

Fista 32 is just the 32 bit version of Fista, Fista 64 is the 64 bit version, they are the same OS, just compiled to run on different architechture (the 32 or 64 bit CPU), so it's not an "interim version" (AFAIK). Most 32 bit software, (your P3 included) should work unless it does something peculiar due to bad programming or uses unsigned drivers.
Microsoft FAQ
btw, you could always run it on a Virtual Machine, we've had some success recently migrating Windows XP and 2003 to run on VMplayer using VMConverter.

[bomberesque]

hmm, so it depends which version of Fista they're going to. Unlikely we'll know that until they send the IT bods in with the discs....

Also, it's a multi-user network based tool and it runs slowly enough at the moment, so I'm assuming the need to run it through a virtual machine will extend to each user workstation and that this will cause a performance hit aswell.

Surprise surprise, Primavera are pimping their new version...

Still, 22 years (it was originally released in 1985) isn't bad, I suppose it's way beyond time it got a ground up rewrite. It's making the old-guard jittery though...

[FatherJack]

I'd have thought they'd likely go for the 32-bit version. Not tried it, but the 64-bit one sounds rather unstable and won't run a lot of old apps. Not the most intelligent choice for a company that uses c.DOS-era software.

[bomberesque]

Still, such decisions around here are not made on any planet known as Earth, so there's no telling really.

Actually the whole industry (construction in general, not just my bit of it) uses this tool, mostly coz MS Project is like a "my first planning programme" next to P3 and no-one's ever developed anything better, at least not with enough momentum behind them to get market penetration. Originally the database it worked through was Btreive, which I think is proprietary, and frankly stinks, at least in the context of P3. It was 16bit all those years ago and I assume that they've upgraded it it as far as 32 bit but decided not to take it further. The new system works with sql server or express and I understand that system has some legs on it.

Mostly it's a question of do we migrate now or in 2011, when teh pull support for P3 anyway. personally I say NEW TOYZ!

Ta for advices

[FatherJack]

Btrieve wasn't that uncommon - we used to have quite a number of databases using it across a number of platforms including Netware. It was a pain getting rid of them all, some still have standalone boxes with copies of the data in case they ever need to refer to it.