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.
- 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.