We’re de-supporting some really old stuff
With our SmartClient platform, we always try to push the boundaries of what can be achieved in the latest browsers. At the same time, we support users on older browsers and older versions of SmartClient. This is a bit of a balancing act.
We work with many institutions that are risk-averse. Unfortunately, browser vendors move faster than such institutions would like. When a browser vendor just breaks something, often the effort and risk of backporting a complex fix to an older release, where code is rather different, just doesn’t make sense.
So, since it benefits more users, we tend to port a lot more fixes to the most recent dot release than to prior releases of the same major version.
Given the above, it is clear that older releases just worsen over time, and at some point, it makes sense to stop supporting them … Which brings us to the purpose of this blog post:
We are planning to stop supporting release 9.1 | 4.1 and 10.1 | 5.1. Please see the de-support milestones below and plan accordingly.
Release 9.1 | 4.1 De-support milestones
| MILESTONE | DATE |
| Released | 3rd March, 2014 |
| De-Support schedule announced | 23rd Aug, 2019 |
| Security fixes only after | 31st Dec, 2019 |
| De-supported | 28th Feb, 2020 |
Release 10.1 | 5.1 De-support milestones
| DATE | |
| Released | 10th Dec, 2015 |
| De-Support schedule announced | 23rd Aug, 2019 |
| Security fixes only after | 31st July, 2020 |
| De-supported | 31st Dec, 2020 |
The best time to upgrade
If you are still on 10.1 | 5.1 or earlier, there is no better time to upgrade than now. It has been several years since it was released, and much has changed. Our platform has become faster and much more capable, and new browser versions are released weekly.
Contact us to upgrade.
IMPORTANT: It never makes sense to add new features to an application on anything other than the latest release. Browser vendors are constantly breaking things, and we don’t port the more complicated stuff back if it’s principally cosmetic or can be worked around because it’s not worth the risk. Hence problems start to accrue in aging releases well before they are officially end-of-lifed.
Upgrade to 12.0 and enjoy these new features
Here are just a few of the benefits you’ll get by upgrading to release 12.0:
- New Skins: Obsidian, Stratus & Tahoe
- Resize Fonts and UI Controls
- SVG Support for images
- Event selection for calendar/timeline
- Touch device field dragging
Mavenized samples for GWT- Typescript support
- WebSockets support for real-time messaging
- Highlighting pending values
- Grid Inline Operator Filters
- Menu Embedded Components
- Adaptive Layouts, Menu Components and button widths
- Tree picklists
- Microsoft
surface / mixed input support - SASS templates
- Show/hide icons on focus
- Selenium 3.0 support
- Selenium: Easy way to check if images/icons load successfully
- Component XML: Screen Reuse, Custom Components, Visibility Rules
- Frozen columns with vertical auto-sizing
- Grid support for auto-sizing to wrapped header titles
- min and maxWidth for ListGrid auto-sizing
- Component min and max heights & widths
- Histogram Chart
- Scrolling Chart
- VB DataSource validators
- Audio playback
- Audio notifications
- Simplified REST handler
- Enhanced automated test APIs for Drawing system
- Full tab order & modality support for custom components
- Reusable query snippets
- Dashboard & Tools: Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V
… and there’s much, much more!
Upgrading is easy … but if you want help, we’ve got your back
Our forums are a good source of info / support when upgrading. If you need assistance, Isomorphic Consulting can align with your needs: We can provide help and direction, upgrade your applications for you, or even perform Application Modernization to help you take advantage of the latest platform capabilities. Just contact us for more info and to discuss your needs.
Thanks!
The Isomorphic Team.
