Home / Community & Support / Developer Productivity Tools Forums / Community Forums > Let's talk about telerik (the good and the bad) > The cost involved in upgrading and using Telerik controls

• Peter Skouhus

  Posted on Jun 30, 2008 (permalink)

  Migrating custom skins created in RadControls for ASP.NET to RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX requires a lot of time because of the following:
  
   - Steep learning curve to adapt to the new architecture.  Our system goes live in three days and we do not have time for this.  Our system was already working in the previous version of Firefox.  The system having problems with Firefox 3 is irrelevant since the new controls should have been backwards compatible with the old one to begin with.
  
   - Layout structure is different from previous version. The class and style names have drastically changed from the old version to the new one. The variables contained in CoreTemplates.xml (now part of the window control) has been reduced to two.
  
   - Basically, any layout used in the previous version is now rendered OBSOLETE in the new one.  It is not simply a matter of copying code from the previous version to the new version. Only the images were reusable, the change in the structure required redesigning on our part.
  
  We experienced the above (not including stress, irritation and cost) for upgrading the RadWindows control only.  Imagine what we have to go through if we upgraded all controls in the system!
  
  How can we be sure that this will not happen again in the future?
  
  Conclusion:
  
  We're not entirely sure if Telerik is the right one for us, thanks goodness we are only in the process of evaluating, and have only done two or three projects using these controls.  However, we do realize these projects now will have to be redone (upgraded), and this would take approximately 3 weeks for one developer, a cost and stress we could do without. One thing is for sure: this is not just a matter of copying over a few dll’s and then you are up and running.  
  
  Are we happy a customer?  Yes and no.  We like the controls, but the risk of using Telerik's controls due to the way they upgrade without any regards for backward compatibility will probably not justify the usage in the future.  It’s simply too risky.  We were told by Telerik to upgrade to make the controls work with the new version for Firefox. That says it all.
  
  This is a posting for Telerik, and we will be happy to see a response from Telerik wherein the issue at hand is addressed.

  Reply

• Poul Henningsen Master

  Posted on Jun 30, 2008 (permalink)

  Peter, check this forum post. I think you'll find the answers to most of your questions.
  
  Cheers, Poul

  Reply

• Peter Skouhus

  Posted on Jul 4, 2008 (permalink)

  I am reposting the following for message for Telerik:
  
  
  We are having a real issue right now.  We have to tell a client that they have to pay for 1.5 weeks of work while we update their system to the new controls.  The client does not have any technical knowledge and as such may or may not think that we take them for a ride.
  
  As a minimum do you have a page on your site explaining this in terms so that non-technical people can understand it, and why:
      a) an application has to be updated from the old "Rad Controls for ASP.NET" to the new "Rad Controls for ASP.NET AJAX" and
      b) why it costs money
  
  Please don't take this post negatively, as we REALLY need to give feedback to the customer.  We will be very grateful to Telerik if they can assist us on this matter.
  
  Thanks.

  Reply

• Ivo Ivo

  Posted on Jul 4, 2008 (permalink)

  Hi Peter,
  
  I am pasting below our previous response in addition to the info we have already provided in the FAQ
  
  What are the limitations of the previous version that require an upgrade of your project? Is there anything we can help to address those?
  
  RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX are our next-generation ASP.NET controls, which are built on top of the industry-standard Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX framework. The ASP.NET AJAX suite delivers faster performance, unified programming model and enhanced functionality. The benefits of the ASP.NET AJAX controls compared to the classic ASP.NET controls are summarized below:
  
  

  • New client-side features, which are based on the underlying ASP.NET AJAX framework
  • Faster performance due to the on-demand loading of scripts 
  • Simpler deployment as all controls are now shipped in a single assembly 
  • Unified programming model; learn one control and know them all 
  • Built on top of the industry-standard Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX framework 
  • Minimized memory leaks 
  • Common skins for all controls 
  • More controls, including tools that were never available in RadControls for ASP.NET, such as RadScheduler, RadColorPicker and RadSlider

  For more details on the advantages of the ASP.NET AJAX controls, we invite your clients to visit: http://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/why.aspx
  
  Everyone who would like to take advantage of the performance optimizations and new features of the ASP.NET AJAX controls can upgrade their project. Please note, however, that Telerik will continue to support the classic ASP.NET controls until the end of 2010. Also, be advised that RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX are not backwards compatible with RadControls for ASP.NET.
  
  Although the time for updating varies, depending on the size and complexity of the project, as well as on the experience of the developer involved, moving to the latest build would indeed require that you set some time aside. While for some products, such as RadAjax, the transition is going to be painless (see RadAjax for ASP.NET vs RadAjax for ASP.NET AJAX), for other products, the migration will be more difficult due to the new architecture, use of single assembly, new API, and other changes introduced in RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX. 
  
  For every control we have a help topic dedicated to the upgrade from ASP.NET to ASP.NET AJAX version and the changes in the respective APIs.  For example, this is the topic for RadGrid: 
  http://www.telerik.com/help/radcontrols/prometheus/?grdMigrationToPrometheus.html
  
  Kind regards,
  Ivo
  the Telerik team

  
  Instantly find answers to your questions at the new Telerik Support Center

  Reply

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