Operating System and Entertaiment Partners (EP) Software

Microsoft has recently announced the impending release of Windows 7, the follow-up Operating System (O/S) to their less-than-successful Windows Vista.  As such, some PC vendors are now shipping their new machines with Windows Vista 64-bit Home Editions by default.  This is partially in anticipation of those machines being quickly and freely upgraded to Windows 7 when it is released, and partially to justify selling larger machines whose resources may not be able to be fully utilized by the 32-bit Operating Systems.

For the EP community, this choice is problematic for three reasons:

1. Windows Vista is a resource-intensive, finicky operating system at the best of times.  Many studies show that 93% of businesses have stayed with Windows XP for all of their critical business applications due to well-publicized Microsoft Vista operational issues.
2. Home editions, purposefully restricted by Microsoft, have not traditionally provided the security and robustness necessary to run line of business software.  This is especially evident with software that has been optimized to protect data sources, secure privacy, and ensure that correct credentials are used in the network transfer of very sensitive data.
3. While the 64-bit architecture does allow users to access more than 4Gb of main memory, and take advantage of multi-core architectures, many current hardware drivers, third party programs, and even some of Microsoft’s own programs have not yet been rewritten and tested to run reliably on this platform. 
    

As well, legacy 16-bit applications, such as EP’s stand-alone classic version of the EP VISTA accounting software will not run in this environment. It is important to note that none of EP’s software requires (or materially benefits from) these extra hardware resources, as our software has been architected to run very efficiently in small to medium business system requirement environments.

Without question, the current best choice for a business Windows operating system continues to be XP Professional 32-bit edition.  This O/S will run all Windows-based EP software, including the various versions of EP On Location (EPOL) the associated location-based payroll utilities from Canada, and all of the versions of EP VISTA accounting software from LA.   To be clear, XP Pro 32-bit is the ONLY Operating System that is certified and supported to run all current versions of the suite of EP software.  We have also confirmed that when one installs XP Pro 32-bit running in a Virtual Machine, either on the Macintosh or a Windows platform, it runs perfectly well. However, the implementation of a Virtual Machine requires not only a bit more expertise, but also valid licenses for the O/S.  Each virtual machine also requires its own licensed Anti-Virus program and other office software.  We offer no support for Linux hosted Virtual Machines.  As an alternative, Windows Vista Business 32-bit comes in as a close second choice, with only a couple of EP software issues.

Our Canadian development team is currently testing EPOL V4 on the 64-bit platform, and rewriting the Secure File Transfer (SFT) and Cheques On Location (COL) software for full operational compatibility with the new Windows 7 64-bit environment.  With the changes that Microsoft has made recently on its last Service Packs, we have recently also had great preliminary success in running our most current EPOL V4 versions on both the Vista Home Premium and Business 64-bit Editions.  As a statement of direction, we will support the 32-bit and 64-bit platforms of both the Home and Business versions of our products on Windows 7, upon its release.

We are also working closely with EP in Los Angeles to provide a full compatibility matrix with the EP family of products on various Operating Systems.  We will keep you updated as we go.  Until then, please continue to select Windows XP Professional 32-bit as your Operating System.  Please contact our support department before choosing any another option.  By remaining in contact, you will ensure the compatibility of your Operating System with the EP product(s) you wish to run on your business machine.