MINDEX and Windows 7
The current version of MINDEX is a 16bit application and runs quite satisfactorily under all Microsoft Operating Systems up to XP-Pro. It also runs under a 32bit version of Windows 7 although Microsoft have seen fit to cripple many of the non-GUI features with W7 and so screen sizes are an issue as are some printing functions.
Given that most users will migrate to Windows 7 within the next two years, we at are currently rewriting MINDEX as a 32bit GUI application. The existing 'text' based screens will all be replaced with GUI screens and we will emulate the existing screens wherever possible. Single key-press choices will remain and most of the features that currently exist will be retained. This is a huge task and involved 4-5 man-years of conversion effort - at Jun-2013, we have three full-time programmers working in it and from Jan-2014, will have five. This new version will have a working title of 'MINDEX-II'.
All existing interfaces to HISS/PAS systems or to EEG
equipment will be retained so users will not notice any differences other than a
significant performance increase.
Testing and debugging will take place around Aug - Dec of 2014 and we anticipate
that the full release of the Windows-7 version will be Mar-2015.
Each upgrade
will require a site visit with at least one day of on-site testing.
Support for existing non-Windows-7 MINDEX systems will
continue until Dec-2017 as by that stage, we'd expect all systems to have been
upgraded to the Windows-7. Where existing support contracts are in place, that
support will be rolled over to the new MINDEX-II version for the outstanding
duration. We don't anticipate any overall increase in the support fees.
The text-based reports editor that 5% of users are still
using will be read-only in the new Windows-7 version and all reports will be
done with Word.
Where automated report exporters from the old (non-Word)
text editor are implemented, they will need to be redeveloped to export reports
from Word and the output formats can be matched to be identical to the
current file formats.
12-Jun-2013
Update
We now have five full-time programmers fully redeveloping MINDEX and
anticipate that formal testing will start in July of this year 2014 and be
completed by Sep 2014 with a release date of early Dec 2014.
In the next few
months, we will be contacting every user to ascertain exactly which reports are
being used in the Statistic Menu. The existing version of MINDEX currently
includes 388 different report generators that date back to the early 80's
but there is clearly no need to replicate all of them unless they are still
active. For example, has anyone ever heard of the Korner KH13 report? !!
Around Aug-Sep of this year, we will also be contacting all users to ascertain
their wish to upgrade to MINDEX-II. Some users have indicated that they wish to
remain with the current text-based MINDEX running under XP and in those cases,
we will continue supporting them until the end of 2017.
16-Mar-2014