[js1138]

Yes, I can recall database programs that took forever to work with Wondows 2000, ones that still don't work with XP. I worked for a software company that dumped 40 million dollars on a database program that had to be re-written from scratch several times as the development tools evolved. I quit just before the purge, but to the best of my knowledge, not a single developer survived that fiasco.

All the really talented programmers I've known have a tendencey to overreach the technology, then wonder why things don't work with new releases of the OS. All te successful programmers I've known have a tendency to use vanilla code. I've got programs written on UNIX C fifteen years ago that compile and run under XP.

[general_re]

Sometimes it can't be helped. I can remember taking a month just to test NT4 service packs before deploying them to the users, and all those desktops basically did was function as glorified VT100 terminals, hooking up to this nasty old COBOL app running in a broom closet somewhere. But we lived in constant fear of breaking that old thing - not that it was likely, and we never really found any showstoppers, as you might expect. But when breaking the mini means costing the company large amounts of money on a per-minute basis - and on a more personal level, when breaking it means that you get to leave at the end of that day with all your stuff in a box - you tend to get a little paranoid... ;)