Avid Contributor I

Question

Vista & upcoming 6.4 release

Forum|Forum|10 years ago
August 18, 2016
10 replies
943 views

Tried searching for "Vista 6.4" but could not find a relevant discussion (eg via Beta)
My main desktop PC runs Vista (still supported by MS, of course)
Works fine for me not intending to change it for around a year or so
I'm in the middle of big house upgrade that will include wired ethernet and a Sonos system;
have 10 Sonos units currently set up under 6.3 & ready to deploy around the new house when it is finished
Have several android 4.2+ tablets with 6.3 app installed for local room control.
Got the "Sonos 6.4 is coming. Here’s what you need to know." official email yesterday:
Seems I will be able to cope with the tablet app change, but am saddened that a my OS, still fully supported by MS, is being trashed by Sonos.
So my question is:
Is my best bet to just resist 6.4 updates until later when I've changed my PC, or will I be able to retain the lost PC functionality via the tablets?

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J

John B

The tablets will do all but one or two really obscure things a desktop controller will do and can do one or two things it can't. Functionality is virtually identical. MS support for Vista ends next year and Sonos only sacrifice backwards compatibility when unavoidable.

You have no reason to complain.

Damon77

Enthusiast II

You will still be able to control your Sonos with the controller on Vista, you just can't add players, change settings or add services.
Of course you will be able to do all those things with a controller on a fully supported device, just not on the Vista one, so if that's not a problem you can update without problem.

Stuart_W

World-Class Superstar

I believe your best bet would be for you to abandon the Sonos controller on your PC as you have other ways to control your Sonos.

BTW Sonos have not "trashed your OS" as it is still working perfectly well. It is unreasonable to expect Sonos to maintain backward and forward compatibility with Operating Systems that are as old as Vista no matter that it is "still supported by MS" [But only until April 2017 if you have Extended support which I bet you don't otherwise mainstream support was withdrawn 4 years ago].

Arc + Sub (Gen 1) + 2 x Play 1/ Stereo Play 3s/ Era 100 Stereo in Kitchen, One Stereo in Bedroom, Play 1 stereo pair in Study, Play 1in Bathroom, Sonos Move 2

J

John B

We could make some guesses at numbers here....

Number of Sonos users worldwide still using Vista = 1000?

Of those, number using desktop as their main controller = 100?

Of those, number with extended Vista support = somewhere between 0 and 1?

Of course, that could easily be out by a factor of 10. But all that Stuart says is correct anyway.

L

Lunchboxl

Lyricist I

My PC is still running Vista and it is my go to device to use when I have problems with Sonos since it has a normal keyboard and a much larger screen compared to a tablet or my iPhone. I would assume Sonos tech support would no longer be able to
use my PC for troubleshooting, too. So I am a little disappointed that I will lose complete control of my Sonos system through my PC.

Chris

Lead Maestro

Why are you losing complete control of your sonos system through your PC.

If you update the rest of your system but don't update the PC software it will continue to function - you just won't be able to do setup functions on the PC. If you need to do any setup functions use another device (in those rare occasions).

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

ratty

I would assume Sonos tech support would no longer be able to use my PC for troubleshooting, too.

This should be unaffected. Often as not Support would remote into a PC then use a browser to access player URLs locally.

R

RhodesRunner

Lyricist I

Referring to a previous comment, there are many more people still using Vista than you think. As a computer tech, I see them all the time, some with Sonos controllers. I use the controller on my Vista machine (as well as everything else I own). I understand that certain functionality must fall by the wayside in the name of progress and implementing new features. That said, I upgraded my controller on the Vista machine anyway. However, I'm surprised to see that I can no longer initiate a library update from the controller. Seriously?? Will this basic functionality be added in at a later date?

On another note, is there a browser-based interface that can be used? Just curious.

Thanks, and thanks for your great products and myriad of controllers supported.

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

However, I'm surprised to see that I can no longer initiate a library update from the controller. Seriously?? Will this basic functionality be added in at a later date?

It's only very basic play commands that are available on the system for any controller not running the same version as the players. Software controllers that are partially supported have those same limited controls. That's unlikely to change in the future as partially supported devices generally won't get future updates up until the time when they can't be supported at all, at which point they'll stop being able to control anything.

On another note, is there a browser-based interface that can be used? Just curious.

There is not, but that's a suggestion that we've gotten a number of times. I'll add your voice to the request for you. We are starting to add support for more third party apps with Google Play Music being able to stream right to Sonos through the Android app, and soon you'll be able to stream directly from Spotify apps to Sonos as well.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

R

RhodesRunner

Lyricist I

Still interested in a browser-based controller. Just saying...

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