[GNC] Installing 3.11 in Windows

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 8/2/23 5:57 PM, Stan Brown (using GC 2.6.19) wrote:
> After putting it off again and again, I'm finally ready to upgrade to a
> more recent version.
> 
> 1. I'm on 2.6.19 now. I know conventional advice is to upgrade to the
> last minor version of each major version in turn. Do I really need to
> upgrade to 2.6.21 before 3.11? If I really need to I will, but if it's
> not necessary I'd just as soon save the time.

See: https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Release_Schedule/Archive

My understanding is you want the 'concurrent' version at least which 
would be 2.6.20 (21 was a special bug fix)

But if you have to take one more step anyway, you might as well jump to 21.

However, that isn't strictly necessary from my understanding, just 
recommended.

Retain the installer for 2.6.19 and a copy of your book and any 
customizations. (reports, CSS, etc.)

Then go ahead and move to 3.11.

If I understand correctly, the purpose of the last minor release 
recommendation is that it should be able to read the file after you 
upgrade to the next major release. So a downgrade, if needed, would not 
be cumbersome or fraught with peril. I could be mistaken however.

But I'd think regardless if you retain the installer and file backup, 
downgrading would simply entail restoring both and staying put until you 
can figure out what problem you encountered with the next jump.

> 2. I'd like to have GC 2, 3, and 4 on my computer at the same time,
> installed to different directories of course, so that I can compare
> reports from those versions of my data file. But the Windows installer
> of 3.11 doesn't seem to offer a way to set the installation directory.
> Am I missing something, or will it truly install only to the default
> directory?

That is strange, but I'd bet there is a command line way to do it. Of 
course, you'd have to make custom shortcuts for launchers pointing to 
their respective executables and possibly use multiple copies of your 
data file.

> 3. If I'm planning to run GC in English only, can I safely un-tick the
> "Translation Files" item in the installer?

I don't see why not. That's what I'd do though. (I've never run it on 
Windows that I recall except maybe for testing, but it has been many moons.)

Regards,
Adrien