Codeguru Update eNewsletter – July 22nd, 2008





CodeGuru.com

Earthweb.com Network
Tuesday July 22, 2008


This Week’s Topics






Comments from the Editor

Is it dangerous to not upgrade a CMS or
other software to the latest version? Is it fair to call someone stupid
for not having their software on the latest, greatest version?

As you might know, in addition to Codeguru, I oversee VBForums and
several other sites for Jupitermedia. Today on VBForums, a member said
Jupitermedia was being stupid for not having the forum software on the
most recent version of the vBulletin software. It should be no surprise if
you’ve followed my editorials for a while that I disagreed with this
person in the forum.

Obviously, new versions of software are often meant to be more secure
or to offer more features that people want. If they didn’t, nobody would
upgrade. After all, who wants to upgrade to a less secure product? In
fact, even when a product is more secure, there often still have to be
compelling features to get people to upgrade. Windows Vista is a prime
example of a more secure piece of software that simply hasn’t compelled
the masses to upgrade. Similarly, just throwing in new features won’t
necessarily get people to upgrade either; Microsoft Office 2007 revamped a
lot of bells and whistles in the product, including the ribbon bar, yet
people also didn’t jump on it.

So, are people who are not upgrading to these newest versions simply
stupid? Is that what the member in the VBForums forum implied?

In truth, experience has taught CIOs and other IT managers that
upgrading to the latest and greatest can be costly. It also can be risky.
It takes time and money to upgrade. It not only takes time from the IT
staff to install and support the new software, but it also takes time for
users to become familiar with the changes that might have occurred.
Microsoft Office 2007 is a prime example of a product that initially slows
down most people who migrate to it. The changes in the ribbon are
different from previous versions.

Upgrading immediately also can be risky. If you updated to Windows
Vista on the day it was released, there is a good chance that not all of
the drivers were available for your hardware. I personally had driver
issues that caused me to uninstall it on my Vista-ready machine. Although
most companies test to verify their software won’t cause issues, testing
is not a perfect science; thus, problems get through. Often, these
problems show themselves quickly and a company can resolve them. I have
since re-installed Windows Vista on that same machine and it is running
smoother than Windows XP did.

A similar example to the risk of immediately upgrading can be seen in
programs such as Ashton-Tate’s Dbase IV. If you have never heard of
Ashton-Tate or if you don’t know what Dbase IV is, you can see the risks
that can happen with new versions of Software. Dbase III was an
industry-leading product from Ashton-Tate in the late 1980s. In the early
1990s, an upgrade was released. Those who immediately jumped on the update
found that it was full of problems. The problems eventually led to most
people dropping Dbase for a competitive product called Paradox from
Borland. If you haven’t heard of Paradox, well then, we will simply state
that some lessons are hard to learn.

If you work in a large corporation, there is a good chance that the
software you are using is not leading edge. Is that bad? In my opinion, it
isn’t bad if you want to reduce risk. In most cases, it is better to be
safe.

Is Jupitermedia dumb for not immediately upgrading to the newest point
releases of its forum software? In my opinion, the answer is no. On the
flip side, there are values to be had from upgrading sooner rather than
later as well. Of course, that is a discussion for another newsletter!

Until next week…

Brad!
—————————
Bradley L. Jones


Recently Published Books

For those of you keeping up by reading
books. The following are just a few of the new books that have been
recently released. If you’ve read any of these, feel free to write a
review to be posted on CodeGuru. See the submission
guidelines
.


Microsoft
.NET Framework 3.5 – Windows Presentation Foundation Training
Kit

By Matthew A.
Stoecker for Microsfot Press
540 pages for $69.99 w/ CD
(Hardbound)
For MCTS Exam 70-502


Windows
Command-Line Administrator’s Pocket Consultant

By William R. Stanek for Microsoft
Press
580 pages for $34.99


Windows
Server 2008 Administrator’s Companion

By Charlie Russel and Sharon Crawford for
Microsoft Press
1280 pages for $59.99 w/ CD (Hardbound)


New & Updated Articles on CodeGuru

Following are short descriptions of new
articles on CodeGuru. If you are interested in submitting your own article
for inclusion on the site, then you will find guidelines here.


Video:
Shelving Source in TFS

By By Paul Hacker
Discover how to take advantage of version
control features in Team Foundation Server without fully checking in
software.


The
Amazing GroupBox, Part 2

By Hannes du Preez
Gain the ability to contain controls and add
a little preview for your control in design time.


ColorComboBox
By Ali Rafiee
Learn to create a
ColorComboBox color picker that uses ToolStripDropDown.


A
TR1 Tutorial: Smart Pointers

By Marius Bancila
Learn about the new
smart pointers available in the standard library, shared_ptr and weak_ptr.


Op-Ed:
Fish or Cut Bait

By
Paul Kimmel
If a person or group does something successfully one time,
ten times, or a hundred times, there is an increasingly better chance that
group will succeed again. All of the books in the world won’t turn a ten
year old kid into Gordy Howe or Wayne Gretzky. There is an element of
talent. Find the talent.


[Updated]
Customize an IE Context Menu to Add CodeGuru
Favorites

By
kirants
Learn how to customize the internet explorer context menu to
add Codeguru Favorites items.


Discussion Groups

Check
out the CodeGuru discussion forums

Forums include Visual C++, General C++,
Visual Basic, Java, General Technology, C#, ASP.NET, XML, Help Wanted, and
much, much, more!

… HOT THREADS …


Opening
a file (VC++)


Dynamic
Memory Allocation — Which is best? (C++)


Is
there a way to insure Windows XP will respond to an interrupt within a few
microseconds every time? (VC++)


New Articles on Developer.com

Geocoding
with the Rails GeoKit Plugin

By W. Jason Gilmore
Learn how to geocode
addresses using the GeoKit plugin, as well as calculate distances between
points and identify all points within a specified radius!


A
Grid for Every Application

By Art Sedighi
What attributes of an application make it a good
candidate for the Grid? What should you look for in a Grid vendor to make
your life easier as you move your applications onto the Grid?


Introducing
a Lightweight UI Toolkit: Bringing Desktop Development into Java
ME

By Ibon
Urrutia
Are you a JavaME developer bored of Forms and Lists? Do you
want to create mobile apps with user interfaces of the 21st Century? Try
to do it with the LWUIT library.

More by Author

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