Monday, November 29, 2010

U3: rather dead than alive

Microsoft Windows, the world's most popular operating system, has turned 25 this month. A quarter of a century has passed since the release of Microsoft Windows 1.0.

25 years is not much for a human being. But for a software, it is a quite impressive age.

Regrettably not every software project is that long-lived.

As you probably know, we have been offering a special portable version of Atlantis for U3-smart memory flash drives since 2007. Initially, the U3 technology looked quite promising. But, sadly, it does not show signs of life any more. The official site of the U3 technology, u3.com, has been a nearly dead link for months now. Visitors to "u3.com" are automatically redirected to a site completely unrelated to the U3 technology and which is still "under construction". Not the brightest prospects for the U3 project it seems...

Understandably, the developers of Atlantis Word Processor cannot keep supporting a technology already abandoned by its own creators.

We will keep releasing updates to the U3-smart version of Atlantis until mid-2011. Existing owners of U3-smart Atlantis will be able to pick up these final updates through the "Help | Check for Updates..." command of Atlantis. Then, we will stop offering the U3-smart version of Atlantis Word Processor altogether.

But, please, do not worry. Atlantis Word Processor still remains a fully portable application that you can install on any memory flash drive. Only Atlantis Word Processor will no longer support the discontinued U3 technology.

2 comments:

Hasle said...

PortableApps (http://portableapps.com/) are offering a way to package programs – even commercial programs – to fit their launcher/menu. Will you offer a PortableApps version of Atlantis?

(I use the normal portable version of Atlantis with the PortableApps Menu with great success. But it would be nice to have a .paf.exe-installer.)

Atlantis Word Processor Team said...

At this point, we do not plan supporting any alternative "portable" platforms or packages. As you know, the standard version of Atlantis can be easily installed on any memory flash drive.