Keeping Old Software Alive
Recently I set up Azure Virtual Desktop on Windows LTSC to support a small set of older applications we still need from time to time. It was the kind of project that looks, at first glance, like a straightforward compatibility exercise, but in practice it turned into a useful reminder of how much institutional computing is really about continuity. The problem was familiar enough. We have a few applications that are still needed for specific workflows, but which do not fit neatly into the present-day desktop environment. They are not important enough to justify a full modernization project, but they are also not obsolete enough to disappear. They occupy that awkward middle ground familiar to anyone who works in higher-ed IT: software that is technically legacy, operationally necessary, and politically difficult to retire. ...