PAC Display/Control on Vista?

SNAP PAC Systems

PAC Display/Control on Vista?

JeffH 10-01-2007, 10:22 AM
Does anyone have any experience with PAC Display or Control on Vista? We would like to install the PAC software on top of Vista Ultimate (so we can use the MUI for non-english speaking users) but I do not see any notices regarding Vista compatibility. As we do not have any Vista computers in our office it is difficult to test, and I am having trouble getting the management to provide funds for computers with Vista without knowing if PAC will work.
Thanks,
Jeff

Re: PAC Display/Control on Vista?

kdowney 10-02-2007, 10:16 AM

Opto 22 does not currently support PAC Project for Vista. However, I would be interested in seeing if anybody has their system successfully running with Vista.

Re: PAC Display/Control on Vista?

JeffH 10-02-2007, 4:01 PM
Does Opto 22 have any plans for supporting Vista?

Re: PAC Display/Control on Vista?

kdowney 10-03-2007, 9:36 AM
Yes. The QA process has begun and we have not run into any problems with it thus far. However, we are not very far into the test process yet.

Re: PAC Display/Control on Vista?

gmitchell 10-14-2007, 9:33 AM

Perhaps the question should be "Does Microsoft have any plans for supporting Vista?”. PACProject is pretty stable on the Win2000/XP Professional platform, but we have seen various problems with Vista. More than an “Opto problem” it’s a “Microsoft problem”, as Vista appears to be incompatible even with its own bug fixes. The Microsoft equivalent of Hara-kiri is to allow Vista to automatically install its own priority updates.

Although its now pretty difficult to buy a computer with XP Professional, even Bill Gates now accepts the fact that Vista is unsuitable for many applications and its better to reinstall XP as your OEM system. Its legal to do so, fully supported by Microsoft and there is even a new logo for the whole downgrade program. Check out the details from the Microsoft website. Looks like a whole new marketing tool, “Downgradable Software”!

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/f/4/5f4c83d3-833e-4f11-8cbd-699b0c164182/royaltyoemreferencesheet.pdf.

Re: PAC Display/Control on Vista?

bex 07-21-2008, 2:05 PM
Just spoke with a sales-rep about this. He said that they have run Opto Control and Display on a vista machine and have not had any problems so far.

Our main concern is that in a few months Windows will stop selling XP licenses. For good. We are in the midst of developing OEM units that will be deployed worldwide (ie. Australia, Ireland, etc) and I live in Georgia, USA. If bugs turn up down the line with Vista, I can't just hop on their pc and try to fix it. Additionally, our units will be processing biomass between 400 and 500 degrees C and producing extremely flammable gasses. I would feel uncomfortable using a control computer running an unsupported OS.

PS. Why no Linux??? WHY?

Re: PAC Display/Control on Vista?

gmitchell 08-04-2008, 3:33 PM
Bex

I understand your argument, but it’s important to have it clear that your process control and safety for your application does not and should not depend on the Windows Operating System.

Whatever flavor of Windows operating system you are using, it is simply to install and run the compiler (PACControl) The developed code is downloaded to a PAC controller and should never need the PC again in order to execute the code.

It’s your responsibility as the programmer to develop and include the necessary code to check all process and safety interlocks every scan, and automatically take action independently of the operator. Regardless of whether you are using Opto22 or any alternative product, process security should never be based on the supervisory PC.

Worst case scenario is that your PACDisplay being used to monitor the process crashes, either to bugs in the Runtime, interaction with the operating system,or simply the operating system.

If you are only running one PC, this could be annoying but it’s just the same as an operator not looking at the screen. I would advise against using some of the jazzy advanced features of PACDisplay such as automatically writing values to the controller on alarm point configuration etc, as these could cause problems if the PC or network is not available when a process problem occurs.

I hope you have anticipated remote dial in or network access for your overseas applications. All versions of Windows allow this functionality, and you never know when you may need to connect remotely in debugger mode or check out a display configuration problem.

If the customer does not let you connect through his IT infrastructure, even a 3G GPRS USB modem can give you a dial-in connection, which just might save the day.

And finally: How many Microsoft support staff does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Four. One to ask "What is the registration number of the light bulb?", one to ask "Have you tried rebooting it?", another to ask "Have you tried reinstalling it?" and the last one to say "It must be your hardware because the light bulb in our office works fine..."