All good things must come to an end, even Windows 7. After January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running Windows 7. But you can keep the good times rolling by moving to Windows 10.

The GADS OS software versions prior to 2019 required .NET Framework 4.5.2 or higher. The release of .NET Framework 4.5.2 was announced on 5 May 2014.

Beginning with versions 19.x.x.x, the GADS OS software will require .NET Framework 4.6.1 or higher.  The release of .NET Framework 4.6.1 was announced on 30 November 2015. This version requires Windows 7 SP1 or later.

The GADS OS software uses a version numbering scheme composed of four sets of numbers.  Here's how to decode it!

          {major version number}●{minor version number}●{build number}●{update number}

The first number is the major version number, and it refers to the year the particular version of the application was compiled (e.g., 15=2015,14=2014, etc.).

The second number is the minor version number, and it refers to the month the particular version of the application was compiled (1-12).

The third number is the build number, and it refers to the day of the month the particular version of the application was compiled (1-31).

The fourth, and last number, is the update number, and it is used to identify the update number if more than one compile of the source code is "released" on a given date (0,1,2,3,...). 

Therefore, if your version is shown as 13.4.15.0, then your version was compiled on 4/15/2013 and was the first released (0) version on that date.

So, there you go…  You now know how to read GADS OS's version numbers!

There have been no major updates/releases yet for 2015.  Once the NERC GADS Working Group finalizes the cause code list for 2015, we’ll have an update announcement; otherwise, there have been no changes in either code or NERC GADS requirements to warrant a new release at this time.

The 15.x.x.x release will require Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5.2. (The first number in the version is the release year so 15.x.x.x is a 2015 release)

GADS OS prior to Version 15.01.01.00 is based on Framework 3.5 SP1 that was released on 08/11/2008. There will no longer be Microsoft mainstream support for the Framework 3.5 SP1 version after January 13, 2015 (service pack support end date: 04/09/2013) … i.e., no longer supported on this date.

Microsoft recommends that customers and developers using .NET Framework 4, 4.5, or 4.5.1 complete the in-place update to .NET Framework 4.5.2 before January 12, 2016 to continue receiving technical support and more importantly security updates.

Framework 4.5.2 was released on 05/05/2014 and is released for the following supported platforms: Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista SP2, plus Windows Server 2012/2012 R2, and Windows Server 2008 SP2/2008 R2 SP1.

There are no significant code changes in going from 14.x.x.x to 15.x.x.x; just compiler changes required to target Framework 4.5.2.