Until now I have always used VisualStudio 2005 on an old XP machine for project compilation to make 100% sure my applications will be backwards compatible for XP users. My fear was, that if I built with a newer VC version on Windows 7, I would be required to add lots of runtime libs, DLLs, .NET frameworks, and whatnot to my installer, just to get the application running on XP. Or even worst: Need to build different targets and installers for XP and Vista/Win7, as there are a couple audio features that were introduced after XP.
Now that I need to make the move to 64 bit, I am pretty sure this paranoia is unnecessary and I wonder what build environment and configuration other Juce developers are using if they want to ensure (32 bit) backwards compatibility with XP.
Should I move to the latest VisualStudio and compile on Win7? (I think for 64 bit targets I need to do so anyway)
How are you ensuring XP backwards compatibility?
I would be very interested in learning about your build setups and experiences! Thanks!
[quote=“ans”]Should I move to the latest VisualStudio and compile on Win7? (I think for 64 bit targets I need to do so anyway)
How are you ensuring XP backwards compatibility? [/quote]
still on VS2005 + VisualAssist on a 64-bit Win7. Stuff built there runs fine on XP, and you can build 64 bit - just make sure to enable the 64-bit component option in the visual studio installer (or is it a separate package? I don’t remember)
Thanks, sounds motivating, although I could not yet seem to get it 2005 working on Windows 7. This “Run as Administrator” thing, only working from the context menu, feels very shaky. There seem to be serious compatibility issues. I also suspect the old PlatformSDK might no longer be optimal.
I am inclined to order the 2010 studio, but it is so bloated with loads of features and weird web and whatnot proprietary platforms that I don’t want. I’m less concerned about the wasted money, it’s just that I don’t want my products to depend on all that bloat.
Those of you who are on 2010 already, how does it work for you? Do you have any issues deploying to XP?
I downloaded and installed VisualStudio C++ 2010 Express and must say, on Win7 it’s a vastly better experience than 2005. The Introjucer project exporter does a good job for 2010 and, after setting a few user-level defaults in VC, my projects compile just fine!
A quick check on a few XP virtual machines that I am keeping around for testing does not show any “Can not find DLL in hell” errors or anything when I start my apps. Wow.
Although I could not find a 100% virgin XP install to test on, I am confident that a Win32 Juce project built with 2010 on Win7 does not have any dependencies beyond what’s available in a default XP install.
Cool. I am pretty sure this is thanks to Jules’ clean and careful library design.
Will test now if I can get a 64 bit build and report back.
Hah! Building for x64 with Visual C++ 2010 Express works exactly as described in the above linked article.
There’s one extra thing, though: A “Platform Toolset” setting on the user-level configuration pages (“Properties Manager”), which defaults to “v100” and needs to be changed to name the SDK 7.1.
Thanks for your feedback! I used the webinstallers and a different order (installed the framework before VC 2010)
The “repair” manual from MS seems to work (but as the forum guy says, you have to reinstall the C++ Compilers from the SDK install-dialog , not repair the whole SDK (I have done first),
i will try to reinstall the SP1 now again - and fiddle here and there … will give a feedback…
