So I Got This Software Sales Job...

[Zaune]

... although 'job' is a bit of an exaggeration; my role is to hand out free-trial CDs -which I have to burn myself- in hopes of someone liking it enough to buy a 12-month license, in which case I get half the take.
Unfortunately, I can't get the software in question to work. It's designed to work on any OS from Windows 98 onwards, but none of my attempts with wine or the old 98 box I keep around for old games have ended in anything other than 'illegal operation' measures.
Would it be a terrible imposition and/or against forum rules if I put a download link up and asked you guys to test it and see if you had any more luck?

[Thanas]

Yes. This is copyrighted software, so unless you can show a written agreement by the copyright holder authorizing you to release it to the public for free, then any action like this will get you banned real fast.

[Zaune]

This page should cover it, I think.

[Thanas]

Alright, go ahead.

Though honestly this software company looks quite unprofessional. I could probably throw together a better website in a few hours.

[Zaune]

I have a few reservations of my own to be honest, and not just with the website, but the brief demo I got of the software looked solid enough. Anyway, I'll await the input of better programmers than I.

The archive containing the software can be found here, but that link is only staying up for 24 hours; it's being hosted by a friend as a favour.

[Ariphaos]

...vbrun300.dll

Visual Basic 3.0

What. The. Fuck.

This was not written for Windows 98. This was written for Windows 3.1

[Ariphaos]

Not sure if it will give me enough time to edit, anyway.

Alright, go ahead.

Though honestly this software company looks quite unprofessional. I could probably throw together a better website in a few hours.

What I am guessing is going on, is that the original author of the software in question, realizing it was horribly out of date, sold the code and the rights to some marketing type with relatively few skills who would try to hawk it on people. This happens a rather lot.

But given the guy lists his real name in WHOIS and registered the domain in 2009 (and the business in 2008), what I'm guessing is that he, himself bought the rights from said marketer type long after its potential useful life ended.

[Zaune]

Well, the developer did say legacy support was a key part of the design philosophy...

[Ariphaos]

It looks like there are hardcoded 16 bit paths. (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, etc)

You can try running it in compatibility mode under 98.

I note that this guy seems to have a thing for showing off his donkey collection.

[Zaune]

What I am guessing is going on, is that the original author of the software in question, realizing it was horribly out of date, sold the code and the rights to some marketing type with relatively few skills who would try to hawk it on people. This happens a rather lot.

I'm not so sure; the website writer function must have been a bit more recent, and this thing can allegedly work with touchscreens as well. (And I know those are older than most people think, but I'm guessing modern ones aren't that backwards-compatible.) The leaflets I got with the program also make reference to it being four years in development, and to a delay while the company got it to work.

No, I'm pretty sure that the owner of the computer repair shop in Southampton who handed me the CD has spent the last few years of his life single-handedly writing this Retail Management System in his spare time. Using VB3.0.

And I actually kind of like the supplied background images. Not the fact that they're duplicated in each module's directory, or that the program can't display images of any format except .bmp, but the images themselves have a certain idiosyncratic charm.

[Stark]

It's not unusual for new pretty frontends or modern features to be hacked into ancient frankenstien-ware and sold as 'new'. At least generally it does actually work, however, and is just clunky, primitive and buggy.

[Ariphaos]

I'm not so sure; the website writer function must have been a bit more recent, and this thing can allegedly work with touchscreens as well. (And I know those are older than most people think, but I'm guessing modern ones aren't that backwards-compatible.)

Perfectly backwards compatible. They function as a sort of mouse. Very standardized. I wrote software for them in 2000.

The leaflets I got with the program also make reference to it being four years in development, and to a delay while the company got it to work.

No, I'm pretty sure that the owner of the computer repair shop in Southampton who handed me the CD has spent the last few years of his life single-handedly writing this Retail Management System in his spare time. Using VB3.0.

That still doesn't explain the 16 bit paths.

[Zaune]

Oversight, perhaps?

[phongn]

Oversight, perhaps?

An unfortunately common oversight (and a bad one).

[Zaune]

Well, now that I've established the root cause of the problem, I've set wine to emulate Windows 3.1. Maybe that will enable me to run it...

Or not. Buggerific.

Has anyone actually got this thing to install and run?

[phongn]

Well, now that I've established the root cause of the problem, I've set wine to emulate Windows 3.1. Maybe that will enable me to run it...

Or not. Buggerific.

If you're going to test a Windows application, test it in Windows and not some reverse-engineered compatibility layer.

[Zaune]

The only Windows box I have access to is a 98 one, and I didn't have any more luck running it on that. I'm going to try it in compatability mode once I figure out how.

[Ariphaos]

Make sure your windows 98 install is
C:\WINDOWS
at least.

I think you can set compatibility mode in the shortcut's properties.

Edit: And I hope this is morbid curiosity rather than a sincere hope that you'll be able to sell this.

[Zaune]

Bit of both, I suppose. I still hold out some hope that it will turn out to be merely dated rather than actually bad, and thus marketable to the small retailer who won't know any better exceed the software's inherent limitations...

*sigh* Look, it's this or the dole queue, alright?

[Darth Tanner]

*sigh* Look, it's this or the dole queue, alright?

Although beside the point of the thread how exactly are you employed with this seeing as you don't draw a wage and are totally reliant on commission? Is this even legal with minimum wage legislation? You'd be much better off on the dole than trying to hawk worthless CDs that you have to make yourself.

[Zaune]

I'm currently on the dole, and have been for long enough that this is my last desperate hope of ever actually getting off it.

[Ariphaos]

I'm currently on the dole, and have been for long enough that this is my last desperate hope of ever actually getting off it.

The issue is it's going to distract you from potentially better solutions that come along. You're going to need to find shops still using windows 3.1 (they exist) that still need software solutions for that platform (a much smaller number) that are for some reason not moving past Windows 3.1 but still willing to fork over hundreds of dollars for software.

For all the time you spend doing that, you can be refining your skill set and actually selling something yourself.

[Zaune]

Thanks for the input, guys. I know this isn't an ideal career choice, but I'm desperately short of other options; my references are stale, my qualifications are outdated (I took my A+ in 2008, and as you might imagine I can't afford to upgrade from XP) and my social skills are rusty. Nor can I do a lot to improve my skillset; the Jobcentre flatly refuses to fund evening classes unless I can prove they'll make me more employable, and an internship anywhere not in walking distance is going to cut my living expenses budget by a fifth.

Oh, and should I be comforted, worried or a bit of both that CNET accepted QuickSales for download from their site?