Compatibility Issues and Responsibilty

[Frog]

A discussion about the current CorelDRAW version not working properly with Accurip (and the previous version with Filmmaker) put a question into my head.
Where does the responsibility lie?
Should a company like Adobe or Corel make the effort to have their updated versions mesh with existing RIPS and sep programs and plug-ins, or does this fall rather, on the third parties' shoulders?

I am sure that it will be factually noted that most "legitimate" software companies can't waste too much time with small players like Corel, but let's try to not just make this the usual pissing match.

What do you guys think?

Oh, and any discussions about the use of "lie" or "lay" should have their own thread in the new grammar and language section. LOL!

[inkman996]

I think it firmly should fall on the 3rd party shoulders. It is up to them to provide a service that interacts with which ever software they release for. They promise it to be able to do x then it should be able to do x. If Corel changes something that requires a patch from 3rd party software providers then they should provide it. Corel is in the business to create software for us not 3rd party commercial products.

[Command-Z]

It's on the third-party to make their product work with the main product.

It takes a LOT of work to make these products... many hours of time to develop and test. Not everything goes right. The bigger the app, the more goes into it. That's why they're expensive.

Even a "small" company like Corel is always busy updating and fixing bugs to ensure their product works well with the operating system itself. It's not the responsibility of Microsoft to ensure Windows works with Corel products.

They don't have the time or resources to manage the countless third-party plug-ins and RIPs. They do offer some level of support to the third=party developers, but the ultimate responsibility goes downhill.

[ebscreen]

Main product developer sets the standards for third party apps to jive with. Not main products issue if they don't.

That said, in the years that I've been in this business it really seems like Adobe in particular has done nothing
but shoot straight downhill. That's coming only from an end user of a few of their products. In reading about
computer security (krebsonsecurity.com) it would appear that Adobe Reader alone is a huge security risk
and the cause of a lot of malware intrusions.

Too big for their britches if you ask me.