It seems that we just finished investing in technology when “something new” comes around the corner, many times more often than any of us can justify the cost to change. Of course, the longer we wait the more difficult and costly the change. Moving too quickly can otherwise be too expensive.
With the release of version 4.5.1 Merchant Plus! is now supported for the latest and greatest versions of Windows Server (2012) and Microsoft SQL Server (2012). This is just in time for those facing support deadlines with Microsoft products as well as a big performance gain for most of our clients.
To make it easy, here is a simple guideline:
If you are running SQL Server 2000
- You are currently not getting support or security updates from Microsoft.
- If you are running SQL 2000, you are not PCI Compliant.
- You will not be able to install our next major release (Merchant Plus version 5.0) when it is available.
If you are running SQL Server 2005
- A significant performance benefit is realized when upgrading as additional memory and multiple processors can now be utilized.
- Microsoft support will end in April 2016 (Windows Server 2003 support ends next year).
If you are running SQL Server 2008
Unless other changes need to be made, there isn’t a huge benefit to upgrade just now. It will be supported for five more years and already includes the performance gain realized when moving from SQL Server 2000 or 2005.
Windows XP
In April this year, Windows XP will no longer be supported by Microsoft. Therefore it will no longer be secure and must be removed from any network where credit card processing operates to maintain PCI-Data Security Standards.
Windows 8 ( and 8.1)
Support for Windows 8.0 (and 8.1) will be available in Merchant Plus! version 5.0, scheduled for release later this year.
