Last week we completed a CD ripping project, as usual, spread over several computers - in this case we'd used four machines. Then it occurred to me that for the first time in ages we hadn't used a Windows XP box. Starting next week we have a new computer joining our array and with that there will be no more XP in The Hutch. So what?
Well, if we supply your music back to you on DVD you won't notice any difference in our service so you can skip the rest of this. If, like many users, you would like your music on a hard drive there could be a problem. Some years ago Apple pioneered long file names in its operating system, Microsoft followed with Vista and Windows 7. If we're ripping a collection (particularly with classical music) these modern implementations of iTunes will allow folders to be created with file names longer than supported in XP. In practical terms this can mean that the library our client loads at home may be a few tracks short if XP can't handle the length of the file names.
What can be done? Our preferred choice is for our client to step up to a later operating system. If this isn't going to happen we can look at their music data and take a stab at shortening the fields that are used in Mac OS X or Windows 7 to create the folders. That does mean that you will be missing some of the data but you will "get" more tracks. It's a better alternative to us saying with hostility "We don't support Windows XP".
