There are a number of clients who have happy TimeControl 5.x installations and for one reason or another aren’t ready to move up to the TimeControl 6 family. While there are numerous great reasons to go to TimeControl 6, we understand that upgrading right away isn’t for everyone.
We’re happy to report that while we are not putting new functionality into TimeControl 5, improvements in its infrastructure continue. We’ve found with the help of a couple of clients who were determined not to say no, how TimeControl 5 can be successfully installed into Windows 2008 R2 (yes, R2, the 64bit version!)
We’ll make sure we include these steps in future TimeControl 5 Installation documentation but for those who want to try this sooner, here are the steps required. First, do your installation as normal in your Windows 2008R2 64bit server environment. We have only tested this 64bit installation technique on that version of Windows Server using IIS7. Next:
1. Create an application pool and in *Basic Settings* make sure you set the *Managed Pipeline* to *Classic* (Click on the image at right to see the full-sized screen)
2. The under *Advanced Settings* set the *Enable 32-Bit Applications* setting to *True*
3. Then set the web site to this application pool by going into the *Basic Settings* and select the *Application Pool* to the new application pool that was just created.
4. Now restart the Application Pool and the Web Site to make sure the new settings are accepted and voila, you should be good to go.
It’s a paraphrase from the hilarious 1986 movie Short Circuit but we’re talking of course about TimeControl, not a newly self-conscious robot. While all the news from HMS has been about TimeControl 6, we wanted to put in a good word for the ongoing support and availability of TimeControl 5. There will be many organizations who are keen to deploy the venerable TimeControl 5 and put off an upgrade to TimeControl 6 for the time being. TimeControl 6 is an exciting new interface based on an exciting new architecture but that alone is enough for some IT departments to ask to put off installing it. Many IT departments have a standard that insists that new versions be available for at least several months before they’re installed. Others will prefer the rapid keystroke response of an ActiveX compared to the HTML version of TimeControl. For organizations who need TimeControl Industrial, they’re still looking at a TimeControl Industrial 5 environment.
Of course existing clients who have TimeControl 5 deployed may need additional licenses and HMS will not force them to move to TimeControl 6 in order to have them.
TimeControl 5 will be supported for the foreseeable future. In fact, we have some clients who are still being supported on TimeControl 4 and this year we have a couple who have just upgraded from the old TimeControl 3, purchased originally in the 1990s.
So, if you’re looking to move forward with a purchase of TimeControl, you have the choice now of requesting us to ship TimeControl 5 or TimeControl 6. If you ask for TimeControl 5, you’ll automatically be entitled to your upgrade of TimeControl 6, ready to deploy whenever you are.
The official blogsite of TimeControl
