Online Filing and Windows Vista

[mkreidler]

Dear all,


we now drove some first tests of Online Filing in combination
with Windows Vista. We encountered a couple of issues for
which there are no workarounds on short notice.

Hence, until further notice, Windows Vista cannot be supported.
It is one of our goals that Online Filing v4 can work under
Windows Vista, but we cannot guarantee, since some of the
encountered issues are not in our part of the software, but
in required 3rd-party software.


Best wishes,

Martin

[IanL]

Could you give specific details on what doesn't work under Vista?

Thanks

[akipelto]

Hello

Most notable PC companies is already shipping new desktops as Windows Vista compatible.

For example our Patent Office is delaying PC upgrades because all operational software is not running in Vista. That includes ePoline.

Can anyone tell exactly when ePoline v4(?) and Gemsafe(?) is available and supporting Vista? It would be nice to plan and budget upgrades a little ahead.

Is "Beginning of Q2 2008" still the best guess as reads in forum topic 426?

Secondary issue in our office is that Forum topic 423 is still unsolved. Some forms do not work with server installation. Hope that is solved also at version 4.

RGDS:
Aki Peltonen
Forssén & Salomaa Oy

[MikkoP]

Hi Everybody,

What is the situation with this problem at the moment? Vista computers are shipping and it would be preferrable to transfer to Vista in new computers because most of the retailers are shipping new computers with Vista license.

Has anybody made it working with or without help from Epoline? Smartcard seems to be the major problem.

Is the expected Epoline V4 release date still beginning of Q2/2008?

Best Regards,

Mikko Piironen
Papula-Nevinpat

[alexthurgood]

What is the situation with this problem at the moment? Vista computers are shipping and it would be preferrable to transfer to Vista in new computers because most of the retailers are shipping new computers with Vista license.

Has anybody made it working with or without help from Epoline? Smartcard seems to be the major problem.

Hi Mikko,
The problem is that MS couldn't care less about legacy applications developed for its older platforms and wants you to upgrade. They've even recently dropped support under Office for Vista for some their own older document formats because of security considerations. How can one expect bespoke/legacy software vendors to keep up ? Well, if I were a tad provocative, which I am, I would say, its up to the software vendors to make sure their products are upwardly compatible and platform independent. Of course, in reality no software developer can really predict which direction any given future platform will take, but it could be said that an organisation such as the EPO could've had the foresight to design independence into the encryption software used. Instead, they chose a bespoke vendor (not a small one by any means, but still) that implements its own "proprietary" version of PKCS#11. Hmmm...


I do say, I must agree with the comments about not being able to find XP pre-installed PCs on the general market, and that this is an unacceptable situation. As eOLF is Windows based, I am forced to buy a Windows PC just to get the *%@& thing to work, and I can't even do that because it won't run under Vista !!!! (he sighs, thumping head against brick wall).

Alex

[twesthues]

Dear all,

here is an update on the situation based on my own observations:

we have managed to get eOLF 3.20 and my.epoline.org portal to work in MS Vista both Home and Business but with some limitations:

A) My.epoline portal usage with smartcard works if:
1. the smartcard has been issued after COMO i.e. the 11th November 2007 - easily recognizable by the new EPO compliant design (similar to the http://www.epo.org header) and the valid to date being later than 10.11.2010
The smartcard software that runs under MS Vista is Gemalto v5 - this is in preparation for general release but could be supplied on request
2. When using IExplorer in MS Vista, the new option 'protected mode' (normally seen at the bottom right of the browser) needs to be switched off
3. Firefox works correctly - one only needs to be careful when selecting the necessary certificate from the smartcard that the digital signature one is chosen.

B) Installation of eOLF 3.20 works with one limitation, namely the Amyuni component is not installed but throws an error message that it is not MS Vista (Home and Business) compliant during the installation - acknowledging the message and continuing with the installation results in a working file manager.

The effect of the missing Amyuni component is only affecting the National plug-ins which are still in version 2.10 flavour - it does not affect the PCT plug-in though. All version 3 and later forms work correctly. All parties are working towards a migration of their plug-ins for v4 which would then no longer require this Amyuni PDF component but uses the FOP engine as e.g. the PCT and the EP forms already now.

There are particularities concerning the MS Vista concept of user account management: software can be installed under a standard user account by temporarily authorising the installation with the administration account - the system works without problems afterwards.

Obviously, the PDF converter offered by EPO, namely Amyuni 2.10-8i, at this time is also not Vista compliant but there is a new Version which unfortunately, has not passed initial internal testing and further liaison with the supplier is required.

So far so good - test and see for yourself - it works.

I hope you'll find this information useful.

Thorsten

[twesthues]

All,



I was just informed that due to pending decision and licensing issues - the Gemalto v5.1 cannot be supplied on request at the moment. I will update this entry as soon as there is more news.

Sorry,

Thorsten

[Omega]

Any News ?

[twesthues]

There is some news
http://www.epoline.org/portal/public?we ... edownloads

The rest as expressed above still applies.

Regards,
Thorsten