[Tutor] Python 2.3.5 out in January??

[Alan Gauld]

> the 2.3 line.  It's *possible* that volunteers for 2.3.6 will
appear.
> That would be unprecedented, but not impossible ...
> ============end TP's post================
>
> I ask here because I'm sure it's a newbie question. It's got me
wondering
> if Microsoft is still working on Windows 3.1..  ;-)

Its not at all unusual for commercial vendors to support an old
line of releases long after the new version goes out. Patches
for Windows NT4 are still potentially available up till the end
of this month... So not 3.1 but NT4 and Win2000 are both currently
supported and developers are working on them - but usually only
for bug fixes etc.

Part of the reason for this is that many users - particularly
in big companies - rely on automated delivery mechanisms to
upgrade their applications "on the fly" and it takes time to
develop the delivery configurations. Also versions might require
hardware upgrades- extra RAM for example - and the cost of those
upgrades may not be available in this years budget so you have
to wait till next year... In other cases its legacy code - for
example we have delayed moving some of our PCS off NT4 because
they use bespoke hardware that needs an ISA bus - which isn't
supported in XP... The cost of redeveloping the hardware has
proved extortionate!

So yes, vendors do support old and new in parallel. Typically
for two full releases or two full years depending on which is
soonest...

Alan G.