labview 8.6 compatible with current National Instrument products

[Kok Chywn]

Based on the the Title above, I currently have a LabView Software version 8.6. If i choose not to upgrade to the current version, will the software still be compatible with all National Instrument products? I'm hoping to create a centralized data logging center with this.

Thanks

[Dennis_Knutson]

The LabVIEW Life Cycle Policy. 'Centralized data logging center' is pretty vague. As you can see, support for new software and hardware is already limited so it really all depends what sort of hardware and software you need to use. Personally, I would recomend you update now.

[Yupeng_Jia · Accepted solution]

hi chywn, which specific NI products are you planning to use? Here are a few links on NI website that may answer your question:

Which Versions of LabVIEW are Compatible with Which NI Drivers?

NI-DAQ and LabVIEW Version Compatibility (for Windows)

[smercurio_fc]

Interestingly enough, if I read that chart correctly, it doesn't seem to tell the whole story. In the particular case of LabVIEW 8.6, for instance, it says that Mainstream Support ends in 2011. So, drivers released in 2012 would, presumably, not include support for LabVIEW 8.6 since that's what the line "Current device driver distributions continue to install support" indicates. However, the current release of DAQmx, released in 2012, still supports LabVIEW 8.6. I suspect, though, that once LabVIEW 2012 is released, the next version of DAQmx won't support LabVIEW 8.6. 

[rolfk]

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@smercurio_fc wrote:

Interestingly enough, if I read that chart correctly, it doesn't seem to tell the whole story. In the particular case of LabVIEW 8.6, for instance, it says that Mainstream Support ends in 2011. So, drivers released in 2012 would, presumably, not include support for LabVIEW 8.6 since that's what the line "Current device driver distributions continue to install support" indicates. However, the current release of DAQmx, released in 2012, still supports LabVIEW 8.6. I suspect, though, that once LabVIEW 2012 is released, the next version of DAQmx won't support LabVIEW 8.6. 

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This sounds likely. NI has had a policy to support the three latest LabVIEW versions so far and 8.6 is by that definition already of the radar. However you also have to consider that they are not going to remove support for a particular LabVIEW version in minor driver releases. Rebuilding a driver release because of removing entire components in it is always a risky business and needs a lot of additional validation to make sure that this removed component didn't somehow include a dependency that may have been needed by some other component still in the release but not expicitedly claiming for it. And that chart should be more understood as a promise to support those LabVIEW versions at least up to that point, rather than a fixed statement that support will be completely removed at a certain point. Once they release DAQmx 10.0 it sure won't support LabVIEW 8.6 anymore!