Smyth Retail is happy to announce the release of Merchant Plus! version 5.1 which includes limited support for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. This release is required if any client workstation is using Windows 8.1.
However, it is important to note that this version can not be used at all and will not work on Windows XP computers as well as any environment using SQL Server 2000. If you are using Windows XP or SQL Server 2000 you can not upgrade beyond version 4.5.2. Please contact us if you are using either of these products: if you are processing credit cards, you are not PCI compliant as you can no longer get the required security updates for this software from Microsoft. For more details on the lifecycle of any microsoft product, visit this handy webpage.
The good news is that we are ahead of most of our partners in supporting Windows 8.1, there are several common products we use that are not yet supported:
- Ithaca Series 150 Dot Matrix printers (deprecated for some time now)
- The Epson TM – H6000 Slip Printer is not supported on Terminal Services
- Ingenico eN-Touch 1000 (deprecated a long time ago).
- Ingenico i6550 – not tested as it is no longer PCI compliant
- UIC PP795 is limited to Local environments using RS232
- POS-X is not supporting ANY of their products on Windows 8.1
- HP Touch screens not tested
- Monarch/Paxar tag printers have not been tested, but a driver exists. Let us know if you have this need so we can coordinate testing.
As you can see, Windows 8.1 will not yet fit most point of sale environments, but they can be used as back office workstations in most environments using currently supported products. Frankly, it appears that most of the industry and especially large companies will be bypassing Windows 8, like every other recent Microsoft release. We expect stronger adoption of Windows 10 when it is rolled out.
Do not upgrade to Windows 10 yet.
Merchant Plus! support for Windows 10 is expected in 2016. See our post on being careful not to inadvertently update to Windows 10 here.
As always, we maintain a list of recent and upcoming expiration and deprecation dates on our obsolescence web page.
