There is a thread over at the DAZ Poser Forum by a user with problems with Poser 8.  They filed a ticket, and Support told themthat Poser 8 was not supported under Windows 7 and they needed to upgrade.  However, according to the SM support site:

 Smith Micro titles for compatibility on Windows 7

Below is the list of programs for use on Windows 7. Please note that you must be running the latest release of each of these programs:

Anime Studio 6 Debut
Anime Studio 6 Pro
Anime Studio 7 Debut
Anime Studio 7 Pro
AquaZone Oceans Of The World
CheckIt Registry Cleaner 2.0.3
CheckIt Diagnostics 8
Manga Studio Debut 4
Manga Studio EX 4
Personal Photo Manager Deluxe
Poser Debut
Poser 8
Poser Pro 2010
StuffIt (Deluxe, Standard and Expander) 2010

https://support.smithmicro.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2239

If this is indeed the case, I'm absolutley appalled.  :mad:

I've been trying to help folks out over the last few weeks with Windows issues with Poser, and I now feel it's a total waste of time.

As has been reported on all forms, the most likely problem is that IE11 was installed by the autoupdater.  it breaks poser 8+.  there is a patch for poser 9,10, PP2014.

Try rolling back the IE11.

Bill

They did do that Bill, and it didn't work.  Support told them Poser 8 wasn't supported under Windows 7,  they needed to upgrade, and gave them the link.  It's not my place to quote the email here, but it's over at DAZ.

However, thier support site say it is supported, as noted above...

well, I have poser 7, 8, PP2012 and pp2014 all running on win 7.  I blocked the IE update as soon as our group found the problem.  Without IE11, all versions work.  What SM will support is a different thing.

Bill

I'm running PP2010 on Windows 7 and it works fine--but I didnt allow IE to upgrade, so maybe that is why. I also got the new PP21010 service release, but havent launched it yet, and I understand (perhaps wrongly) that it will allow Poser to work with the new IE version. I'll try it one of these days...

It almost sounds that SM doesn't want to deal with the latest instance of IE which is just playing havoc with Poser.  Looks like you can't have the best of both worlds.

Quote - It almost sounds that SM doesn't want to deal with the latest instance of IE which is just playing havoc with Poser.  Looks like you can't have the best of both worlds.

That's possibly the case, but you just don't say "tough luck!" after you have been saying for years that it's compatible if you want to maintain credibility...

Quote - That's possibly the case, but you just don't say "tough luck!" after you have been saying for years that it's compatible if you want to maintain credibility...

Agreed.   And I'd like to add that those of us who do want to have IE11 and Poser Pro 2012 can't do so as no update has been released.   Funny how when you pay more (for Pro) you don't get support but Poser 9 does get the update.   At this point I'd rather wait for the next iteration of Poser before being forced to upgrade to PP2014 just to be able to use my browser of choice.

As if that isn't bad enough, they went and changed the Compatability page, removing several apps, including Poser 8 and Poser Pro 2010.  The original version can be found in Google's cache:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0F651naggdEJ:https://support.smithmicro.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2239+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

I still had it up in the Browser in my render machine; a screenshot of a portion of the page is attached for purposes of criticism and education as permitted under 17 USC, Sec 107 (1976).

There is more to this than just SM products.

Microsoft has broken many of there own programs as well.

Dynamic CRM, Outlook Web Access, intranet handling, icon handling (by the clock in the task bar), some of the assemblers that use IE, etc... All broken...

Before we start slinging mud, make sure we know who to throw it at first....

Doesn't make much sence to code around something that is broken (changed?) in the op system, until Microsoft addresses it first.

No idea if things are related, Microsoft wont say. There are plenty of non Microsoft things that are broken as well.

Can't imagine how that would happen if Microsofts stuff broke as well....

Look at it this way, if Microsoft stuff is broken there is an underlying issue that was self inflicted on their end.

Makes sense to blame it on the programs that worked before the op system updates, doesn't it.... Not....

For all we know, Microsoft has told people "Tuff Luck" as well. Progress always makes programs obsolete. Microsoft knows how to speed that up.. How quickly people forget hardware and programs that only worked in Windows 98...

Agreed; but the right thing to do would have been for SM to simply say Poser 8 is not compatible with IE 11, and give instructions on how to deal with IE 11 for those who don't need it, and offer a cheap upgrade to Poser 9 for those who do need the new browser.  Unfortunately that's not what they've done... :sad:

Yeah P8 suddenly went wonky and quit and all SM wants is for you to fork over more money to upgrade.   I hate to say this but maybe Daz Studio may be the way to go.   I for one am hesitant to buy anything else from SM if they don't support their base.  (and I was looking to uprade to the newest  version, now I am rethinking this)

That would depend on how you look at it. None of us know what Microsoft has planned next. And you can bet that is it broke their own stuff, they plan on breaking even more.

IE11 was pushed thru as a standard update, which means that future updates will inevitably require it to be installed. Presently it is just a matter of unistalling it, that wont be the case when updates require it. (There is a date for this, but I don't remember where or what it is. It will be a mandatory update.)

Going out on a limb here, this is going to be far worse than the launch of IE10 that only required a few simple fixes to NET and a few other things. IE11 adds a lot more to the plate.

I did not include all of the things that are broken because of IE11, but rest assured that the list is staggering and wont get any smaller. There are some programs that will get updated simply because the fix is simple. Others are simply not going to be updated because of end of support of things developers have no control over.

Poser 8 was released in 2009 and most users had XP or Vista on the MS side. Windows 7 was available at the time, for about a month. Poser 8 was designed to run under 32bit.

How many years should SM support something? Hmm... Here is your answer., err... MS's answer..

When was the last time you saw a Windows Update on an XP64 Pro machine? XP32 still gets some, till April 8th, 2014. Then XP (32 and 64) is done as far as MS is concerned.... Vista get the axe in 2017, possible sooner by the 2 year rule...

There is a bunch of stuff that MS will axe in 2015 as well, so this will happen all over again next year as well..... Support for all sorts of MS stuff will disappear....

The major update for Poser 8, is Poser 9, then Poser 10, etc. Chances are good that developement for the next version has already been penned out on paper. Supporting 3 versions back is the most you see from just about every company when it comes to software. And if support of the op system that it was designed for dies so does the program support, doesn't matter how many versions there are.

April 8th is not that far away.

XP and 32 bit support is dead, get used to it. The same thing is going to happen to just about every other 32 program coded for xp out there as well.

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?

If your curious, search how many things get dropped April 8th....

First of all.  Thanks for the info on IE11.   I restored and turned off automatic updates.  I thought there was a possible conflict with another program I had installed.  But evidently Corel  is not suspect.  :)  Does anyone know if it's  just IE!! and are the security updates for IE11 even needed?  (probably not) or for that matter any of the other updates Microsoft lists suspect? 

I view support as a very important issue as to whether I buy from any company.  I still have a brand new Apple IIGS (Wozniak signature no less) in the box in the basement.  When it turned out to not be compatable with any of my Apple programs, I queried Apple and they replied "If you want support get a Mac".  I will never buy another Apple product of any kind for the rest of my life!  So no Ipods.

Microsoft may be the culprit but SM needed to be on top of this.  (Or at least it would been nice of them to drop me an email.  They do have the address as they send me stuff all the time). 

"Proactive is better than reactive any time"

I guess I look at support a little differently.

I could care less if Poser 8 works on newer hardware, I have 2010, 2012, 2014 and can't think of a single benefit 8 has over any of them. I support SM by upgrading, not by wanting old versions patched because another company broke it.

Poser 8 is over 4 years old, and worked fine until MS broke it in Windows 7. You have to cut off support somewhere, and Poser 8 got cut for reasons that seem obvious to me.

....................................................................................................................................

If a guy comes to your house to put a new window in your house then someone throws a rock thru it. Is it the guys fault that installed it before the rock went thru it??? 

Should the guy that put the window in known (and waited) for the rock to wizz past him into the house before putting the window in? Or is the fault whoever got the rock heading at the house in the first place?

Smith Micro put your window in....Microsoft threw the rock.....

Microsoft should have emailed Smith Micro about the rock long before they threw it....

Now your window is busted and you want to blame SM for not having a crystal ball to see the guy from MicroShaft with the rock....

(Sarcasm intended)

I understand your point.  But...........in my neck of the woods, we shoot the rock thrower!  ;)  

 One can only vote with whatever they have power over.  My power in this case is my single purchase of any item.  Perhaps you're right about Poser 8 not being any better but if it works for what I want then it may be all I need.  I tend to upgrade programs when they show immeadiate progress for what I use them for.  As I said I have been thinking about upgrading but I also value the support that comes with that object. 

 Why an internet explorer should interfer with something that doesn'y need it to run is something of a puzzler.   I use 64 bit programs all of the time but the older stuff still works just as well.  Microsoft wants every one to go to W8 but many have so numerous problems that they go back to W7.   So they force the issue. 

And no offense taken from your pointed sarcasm.  (I picked up that right away)

Poser uses ports to talk to the library, etc, that IE are in control of. There is some other stuff as well, just using the ports as an example.

You can thank Uncle Sam for the port issue, they made it a condition in the Netscape case by forcing MS to make IE part of the op system or exclude it... So now it is required to use the op system, and the ports.....

"You can thank Uncle Sam for the port issue, they made it a condition in the Netscape case by forcing MS to make IE part of the op system or exclude it... So now it is required to use the op system, and the ports....."

Go figure!

As I said Thanks for the info.  We'll have to see how this plays out!

Interesting...

I was having my problems with Poser Pro 2012 through Windows 8.1, and the program won't run - it had something to do with Adobe AIR and needing to fix something through Poser.ini.  Could it be that it has something to do with Internet Explorer?

Maybe it is because I have Poser 2014 that I feel that it is a little unfair to blame SM for this problem.  OK 2014 will not work with IE11, big deal, I just did not allow IE10 to update but even if this did not work there are other browsers and for free.   This appears to be a simple solution at no cost, where is the alternative to a 3D program that is free.  I accept that there may be Daz DS but I have a lot more to learn there compared with the learnign curve on a new browser.

When I changed from Windows XP to Windows 7 one well known anti virus company wanted me to pay full price for the Windows 7 version even though I had a current subscription on virus updates with 10 months to run.  No updates, no deals, full price.  Compared with this I think SM is doing rather well and if I have to'freeze' my Win 7 OS to run Poser as it does now I am happy to do so.

At the end of the day if we, as consumers, decide not to update software that is are choice but we really shouldn't expect the rest of the world to stick at the same point and hold our hands.

Quote - II was having my problems with Poser Pro 2012 through Windows 8.1, and the program won't run - it had something to do with Adobe AIR and needing to fix something through Poser.ini.  Could it be that it has something to do with Internet Explorer?

If you had to switch to the external Library by editing Poser.ini, yes, that is the same problem. 

The difference between SM and Microsoft is that MS is selling hundreds of millions of units with 2012 sales of $74 billion and a profit of $24 billion.  In 2012 Smith Micro lost $25 million on sales of $43 million, so SM has far less margin for error. (Note that Graphics products are not their primary business) They are selling perhaps hundreds of thousands of copies of Poser; it's a niche product marketed at non-technical people, many if not most of whom could care less about the underlying technology; It's a tool to make their art.  When you are in a situation like that, you can't afford to unnecessarily tick off your customers, particularly when you are competing against a free program in this area.

Now that Poser 9 has been has been patched, it likely would be far cheaper in the long run to have sent a bulletin to the registered users of Poser 8 on the situation, with both a procedure to remove IE11/ prevent IE 11 from being installed , and to offer an upgrade of Poser 8 to Poser 9 for, say, $25, than it would be to spend money on supporting Poser 8.  Ironically, Poser 7 and earlier continue to work without issue.

What I object to is that SM is instead being sneaky about it, which not only is a crappy way to treat one's customers, but will likely be more expensive for them in the long run...

Dsclaimer; I use PP2014, was an early adopter of PP2012, and haven't used Poser 8 in years.

I can totally understand not supporting P8 but once you issue a fix for P9, P10 and PP2014 yet leave out PP2012 you are penalizing the customers that chose the more expensive version of P9 by not giving them any other choice than to upgrade to PP2014.  

 Pro upgrades are not as cheap as the others and for many of us during the holidays it's almost impossible as there are other priorities.   At least some official word from SM on whether they are working on a fix for PP2012 or not would be something.  

Quote - I can totally understand not supporting P8 but once you issue a fix for P9, P10 and PP2014 yet leave out PP2012 you are penalizing the customers that chose the more expensive version of P9 by not giving them any other choice than to upgrade to PP2014.  

 Pro upgrades are not as cheap as the others and for many of us during the holidays it's almost impossible as there are other priorities.   At least some official word from SM on whether they are working on a fix for PP2012 or not would be something.  

I agree.

The crux in this matter is not that SM is not providing support in the way of upgrades to P8.  It's that in business if you want customers to continue to buy your products: you have to show them you support them.  SM has a problem in that there is an alternative out there.  I never said I expected them to provide an update but I did expect them to remember that I own one of their products.  (actually every Poser since P4).  A note from them advising the problem and the quick fix would have done that.  Computers and data bases have made that kind stuff fairly easy (Obama Care excepted).  Corel for example, I still use Corel draw/paint which is way out of date.  But I still get offers from them.  The data base is there.  Why not use it?

We P8/P12 users are not alone.  A customer called me today and in conversation advised that his high end accounting problem had quit working and he was calling to tell me that my payment would be a little late because they were having to make checks out by hand.  When I asked about which windows he was using he hadn't switched to W8 because it wasn't supported by his program.  I advised him of the problem and ten minutes later he called back to thank me. I get my money on time :)  His IT people were still working on the problem when he told them to "restore"  (He knows diddly about computers so he was thrilled when he got tell his IT prople what to do!)

Osper, did you advise your friend to bash the developer of the accounting program because they did not warn them about it as well?

There are far more options in accounting programs than ones that use Poser stuff, they should switch asap....

(sarcasm intended)

Just curious, because it is the exact same senario. MS broke it and it has to be the developers fault according to some trains of thought....

My guess is that the developer of the accounting program could care less about the version they released 4+ years ago as well. I am sure they will fully support the newest version thou.

There is a pattern here....

This has gone about far enough. The horse is dead. Everyone has stated their opinions (and angst.) I see a downward spiral here that will end in the thread being removed.

Let's move on.