Dell is still selling desktops with XP since the large corporate clients are still using XP.  I had a client order one yesterday.  It looks as if the entire Latitude line still has XP available.   Just check the Dell website.  I cannot get the link to paste correctly.

But I imagine that all the retail outlets only have Vista machines.  It needs more hardware, which mean more cost.

Good luck in your search.

Jeff

Tom thanks for the kind words about Simsol and PowerClaim. While MSB and Xactware may have missed the Vista grand opening and that is causing some stress for adjusters there is the fact that each changed ownership in 2006. Actually the ownership of MSB had changed from Boston Ventures to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA) before 2006 but Boston Ventures maintained management of MSB through 2005 and as I understand it earned a $90 million bonus for hitting 2005 projections. Perhaps focus can be lost when the dealing is being done.

Rick you raised a valid question and may be on target. We know Borland was in its heyday in the late 80’s and early 90’s with nice market share in several areas and while the Borland name has been brought back into use today the company has a very different focus. My early development days about 38 years ago were with RPG-2 and in the early 90’s we were more on the hardware side of technology and starting in 1995 when we got into software development as a company we decided to be basically a Microsoft shop until their operation system falls into disuse which still is years away I expect. While what you mentioned about perhaps the foundational development technology of IntegriClaim not having evolved over the years had crossed my mind I never gave it any serious thought because our own plate is full because even being a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner developer the technology treadmill to stay current seems to get faster and faster. 

Below is some info on Borland Paradox I read this morning and it does to seem to lend support to your thoughts. We know through others that Ron Pylant was working on DDS during the Northridge earthquake and at that time Borland would have been an attractive option to going the Microsoft route. At NACA in January 2007 some that attended the MSB training class stated they were told in 18 months IC would be replaced with a new system and earlier in this same tread someone by the name Devin Bonaire posted on 12/08/2006 that it would be 36 months and he went into the mindset of MDA today.

If IntegriClaim has boxed itself in not being able to move past the Windows XP operating systems it was not a surprise to them I am sure. After Boston Ventures bought DDS in 2001 and rolled it into the new company called MSB and the founder left the company one can see how the direction could go from producing leading edge technology to then making the bottom line look good so someone like MDA would pay $$$. Based on Tom’s post we will know the bottom line per the MSB rep he spoke with that in the next five weeks they are going to be ready for Vista. If by chance they are locked out of the Vista market for the next three years that will be the same as forever in the world of technology.

Rick thank you for your detailed post and the history lesson as well. Woops the technology treadmill did not stop why I was typing this post so I have to now run to catch up. : )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_(database)

Paradox for DOS was a relational database management system originally released by Ansa-Software. In September 1987, Borland purchased Ansa-Software, including their Paradox/DOS 2.0 software. Notable classic versions were 3.5 and 4.5. Versions up to 3.5 were evolutions from 1.0. Version 4.0 and 4.5 were retooled in the Borland C++ windowing toolkit and used a different extended memory access scheme.

Paradox is a relational database management system currently published by Corel Corporation. It was originally designed for DOS but a Windows version was released by Borland in 1992.

Rick last fall at a tradeshow a MSB rep told us he had seen mock up screens of NexGen (as he called it) and at that time a team was gathering user input that would be used when they create the new estimating software solution. This may mean they are investing in new technology if they can not go forward due to the old technology no longer being upgradeable if that is actually the case based on what you were told by a MSB tech. This drives home the fact that developing with tools from companies that change course with no way forward is risky business but 15 years ago Paradox was hot. While Xactimate 24 will not run on Vista due to their using the older MSDE database engine at least they can just replace it with the free and better replacement called SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and keep selling their version 24 as long as they wish without rushing the development a new solution to market. Not everyone is in love with Microsoft but they do take steps to preserve one’s assets.

How much is Integriclaim when activated?