[Qgis-user] Unable to load project

[Patrick Dunford]

I can't answer all your questions but it is informative to point out 
that the software is constantly under development.

The most common reason to run multiple versions is to run a development 
version alongside a stable version. I used to run development masters 
alongside the stable version on Windows.

The fact is of running a later version is that not only is it supported, 
but many issues are fixed and improved.

Version 2.18 is still supported and very likely you would not notice any 
issues changing from an older 2.x version. However it will be dropped 
shortly because 3.2 is due to be released in a week or two. This is why 
it is imperative you should actually migrate to 3.0 as soon as possible.

Whether we like it or not the progression of software and operating 
system development is a fact and as the version of Windows you are now 
running is unsupported by Microsoft it would be highly advisable to look 
at some sort of migration path to a currently supported operating system 
as well as software since eventually Qgis support for Windows 7 will be 
dropped. Apart from that the older versions of Windows are vulnerable to 
security hacks since MS will stop producing security updates for them.

If a new computer running Windows is a bit too much to buy, a new PC 
running Linux is quite capable, or even an older computer running the 
latest 18.04 release of Xubuntu is quite capable of running Qgis well. 
The Linux community unlike MS actively develops versions of the platform 
for low resource environments unlike MS and you are not locked into the 
Windows hardware upgrade cycle as new versions of Windows all demand 
higher hardware specs. By comparison, most major distros of Linux have 
just transitioned to 64 bit only, which in practice means computers not 
more than 12 years old.


On 09/06/18 18:06, Springfield Harrison wrote:
> Hello Responders,
>
> Thanks very much for your suggestions and comments.  Very helpful.
>
> I must say though that the last few comments have again underscored my 
> nervousness about changing anything that isn't completely broken.
>
> Firstly, why are there two installation processes and what is the 
> purpose of each?  This implies making a choice after learning about 
> the benefits and disadvantages of each.  What are the criteria for 
> choosing one over the other?  How long is the process of understanding 
> the options?
>
> Secondly, there seems to be no great consensus over the possibility 
> (or not) of conflicts between simultaneous installations.  Again, this 
> makes me nervous.
>
> Thirdly, why are some operators running two or three simultaneous 
> installations?  Does this mean that the latest version is not adequate 
> for some tasks?
>
> All these things give me pause and discourage me from wading in to 
> something that may have a lengthy learning curve and an unpredictable 
> outcome.  In this case, the devil you know definitely seems to be a 
> worthy rule of thumb.  At least, until it fails utterly.
>
> In that regard, I discovered that at some point I had installed 2.8.1 
> and, remarkably, it would load my ostensibly corrupt configuration 
> file.  I appear to be back in business.
>
> However, this version still bogs down upon loading the various layers 
> but does not fail after the delay.  There are about 100 layers, mostly 
> vector.
>
> Anyway, not sure if this is particularly helpful but is my current 
> thinking on the upgrading process.
>
> Thank you all again for your assistance…
>
> Cheers . . . . . Spring Harrison
>