Flare previous-version support

[kevinmcl]

How does MadCap handle updates/fixes within a major version of Flare, once the next major version has launched?

I've always had Bronze Maintenance, and I've always upgraded not long after a new major version comes out, so I don't really know this.

If (say) Flare 8.0 comes out, is that the EOL (end of life) for Flare 7.x?
Or could there be any Flare 7.x patches for those who (for one reason or another) aren't ready to upgrade to 8.x?

It's not obvious from http://kb.madcapsoftware.com/default.htm#cshid=Patches which says "Flare V7.2 Patches"... and not "...7.2 Patch"... so it almost implies that there was a 7.2 patch after the first 7.2 patch.

Either way is not a fault, it's just a business model. But if support for 7.x ends with the launch of 8.x, that would be different from the model under which my employer operates, and so I would need to educate a manager here who wants to drop my Bronze Maintenance yearly renewal. It would also be different from the model that (say) Microsoft uses. You can get occasional new update patches for OS versions and for Office software years after newer versions have been on the market. So, my manager thinks that there's no real disadvantage to letting the "insurance" lapse, because he assumes MadCap would keep kicking out little fixes for (say) 7.x for at least a few years, even though 8.1.1 is now out. I'm not convinced that's true. When I left 7.x behind, it was at 7.2, and that has not visibly changed. But maybe there'll be a 7.3 or a 7.2.2 in August... will there?

So, what's the poop?

Thanks,

- kevin

[RamonS]

Not sure what the official poop is, but going by history MadCap never put out a patch or update for a version other than the current one.