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Since the introduction of Microsoft Office 2013/2016 and Office 365, we have been busy upgrading all products to run on 64-bit Windows and Office 2013/2016 Applications. So far, our testing of 32-bit Office Applications running on 32-bit or 64-bit Windows systems is completed and our products are compatible with Windows 7 Pro. Please bear in mind, that since we are aiming at businesses, we do not perform testing on what we consider non-business products, such as Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic and Home Premium; Windows 8 Core and RT, Windows 8.1 Core and RT, Windows 10 Home. Although there is likelihood of many of our products running on these versions, we would suggest discussing this with us first. As businesses start to move to Windows 10, we will be testing products on that operating system. Our consideration is primarily aimed at businesses and those businesses that have IT personnel, and those that take the advice of the mainstream businesses that are avoiding the downgrade to Windows 10. We believe managers want staff productivity not shiny new operating systems giving them a whole lost of new headaches, so the strategy of most businesses is to stick with Windows 7 until such time as Microsoft has sorted out the numerous issues it built into Windows 10 which will, hopefully, coincide with the end of mainstream support. It's a case of rather have some incompatibilites and workarounds to solve than the eventual insecurity of Windows 7. Please note that our applications do not support operation on 64-bit Office installations yet and that situation will remain such for the foreseeable future. In any case, there would be exceptional circumstances for anyone to install th 64-bit versaion Office, since there are a huge number of incompatibilities with current and existing applications, that the efforts required to develop for 64-bit has not not yet been feasible, nor cost-effective, for the most part.
As we all know, Microsoft’s products are packed full of bugs and bits that don’t work, so we're trying to iron out some major flaws and re-code our software solutions. Not only have they left in known bugs from previous versions, but they've kindly introduced new ones!
When all is said and done, in such a fast-moving environment as computers, one is to expect that development cannot keep up with the trends of other hardware, software and a flurry of people trying to break things (also known as hackers!), therefore we will continually expect to be patching, upgrading and sorting out new issues until ... well, doomsday, I suppose!!
Our Specialty is DATABASES. Yes, someone’s gotta do ’em! So, it may as well be us! So, whatever your business, we endeavour to accept your challenge.
More interestingly, we are designing all our core products for use on HD monitors, since these are becoming common-place. Historically, screen sizes have been a nightmare because there were so many different sizes to cater for and we needed to pick one for any design product. This was fine for sites that have one workstation, but any additional ones often meant the users had their monitors configured differently, thereby making the job of making the design fit within the screen.
Read more to find out about what we've recently been developing and what we're developing right now.
| Future |
| Although there are developments under review, we are currently implementing private development projects. |
| Q3 2017 |
| Outlook: Concentration on debugging existing systems and applications. |
| Q2 2017 |
Due to demand, we have been forced to compromise in the screen sizings and have noticed that many low-end notebooks run screen resolutions of 1366, so we are now porting our software to work on two different resolutions, both Full HD (1920x1080) and HD (1366x768), respectively know as FHD (Full High Definition) and HD (High Definition). Please note that ALL other resolutions may operate in a smaller window on yout PC, or will have missing sections due to the screen being too small. Choosing a screen is always important, not just for running our software. If you absolutely insist on using other resolutions, we have no objection to resizing out applications to suit your requirements, but it will come at a cost for modification. We expect to have the option available towards the end of Q4 2017 |
| Q1 2017 |
| We are striving to make our applications more user-tailored insofar as the end user is able to have many more aspects of the applications definable. Although most of this work is behind the scenes, users will begin to see new menu items for making modifications to many more aspects of the way the application operates. Additionally, there are many more definable aspects in the making to enable tailoring of the system to suit different users, but are hidden from the users themselves, since making changes to some aspects can either break the integrity or perform domino actions that may be undesireable, so these settings are accessible only by the devolopers. This operation is system-wide and will be developed over time, no end date is foreseen. |
| Q3-Q4 2016 |
| This time has been spent obtaining feedback from clients, organising it into managable lumps and prioritising the next phase of development. So, if you have suggestions, we would always like to hear from you. |
| Mar 2016 |
| Revamped Menuing System. Although we are excited about the new menu layout, operation and skin, it is only in early stages and over the next few months, the menus will evolve into a more user-friendly look and feel. The main idea behind it was purely cosmetic, but when we ventured into it we decided we could do a lot more to it and provide additional functionality and assistance to those needing feedback from their clicks. Shifting buttons around and re-coding parts of it will enable other functions of use to the end-user to be displayed and operational. A great deal of effort goes into how the menu works behind the scenes and one of the things we pride ourselves on and have done ever since the menu system was implemented over twenty years ago, was to ensure that it made the operation of the whole database simple and intuitive. We believe it still lives up to the standard we set for it to do. Adding complex additional functionality to a menu can be a dangerous thing to do if not carried out correctly as cluttering causes confusion and distraction to the user and when you are simply trying to navigate around the database, making things difficult for the user will be frustrating and can cause any regular users to “hate” using it, So we NEED to carry out any changes with caution. Click in the short video below to see how it operates this month. If you have any criticism, let us know! |
| Feb 2016 |
| Security has been a thing on everybody's mind, so this month we concentrated on security aspects of the databases we create by adding login screens. Now, we've always disliked adding further steps to get into a database, but necessity calls for us to re-look at the way a user gets into a system. Since a lot of sensitive data is often stored inside database, we need to be ever more vigilant! Take a look at our login screen and see if you think it is acceptable. |
| Jan 2016 |
| During January we often discuss what worked during the previous year, what failed and what feedback we've had. 2015 brought many suggestions to our portfolio of products, many of which are implemented across the range, so there is a consistent feel from any product our clients use. We make various changes over time and as we use some of our own products in-house, we use them day-in; day-out, this allows us to critique our own development changes and re-visit that change and try again. That’s why your feedback is important to us, as we take notice of what the people that use our products have to say. Oftentimes, we hear a new idea, mull it over for some time, try to see what impact it’ll have on the whole and decide how to implement it. If we decide to can the idea, we then have the task of coming up with valid reasons for doing so when a client has suggested it. We then need to convert that reason into a satisfactory reason for the client. It’s all about rationalising all input and looking at the pros and the cons to see the viability of any change made. So, there’s lots in the pipeline for 2016 and we hope that the improvements make your job using the software, easier, simpler and more attractive. Sometimes a change is as good as a rest, so we may implement some things because people like to have a new view, just as many people change the background of their PC desktop regularly- we just like to see something different. |
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