Re: When do you start addressing new SW versions?

[Joe Schrengohst <jschreng -at- CISCO -dot- COM>]

At 08:20 AM 7/1/1999 +1000, Susan Harkus wrote:
>John,
>..maybe you could just refer to the releases you know and "later
>versions.." You don't want to leave your future Windows 2000 users
>hanging with the question.. "but...what about me?"

****************************************************************************
I know that this is commonly done; however, there's no way
possible to know whether a product will work with the "later"
versions of another product (e.g., Windows2000).

That's a problem, because in the US you incur a legal obligation
to provide or produce the features or functions that you document
in the manual(s) that accompany a product (despite the disclaimer
that says "unfit for human consumption"). That's why companies
with legal departments won't let you insert anything that alludes to
"future capability." Fortunately, very few people have ever tried to
force a manufacturer to comply with this sort of claim.

If John were to write something like "If you are using XYZ, or later
versions of XYZ, go to step 5." then I believe that his company
would be obligated to ensure that their product would perform with
all the "later  versions" of "XYX" that may ever be produced.

And that's a pretty tall order because we all know of companies
that can't get their own products to work with each other, much
less someone else's "future" products.

At 08:20 AM 7/1/1999 +1000, Susan Harkus wrote:
>John,
>..maybe you could just refer to the releases you know and "later
>versions.." You don't want to leave your future Windows 2000 users hanging
>with the question.. "but...what about me?"
>
>"If you are using XYZ, or later versions of XYZ, go to step 5."
>
>You often see "or later" in configuration tables which specify the minimum.
>For example, Windows NT nn or later.
>Susan Harkus

Joe Schrengohst
Contract Technical Writer
Cisco Systems
Network Software Services Unit
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
E-Mail:  jschreng -at- cisco -dot- com
Cisco Phone:  (408) 527-9844
Cisco Fax:      (408) 527-1488
Home Phone:  (775) 782-4129
Home Fax:      (775) 782-5585


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