Can FM8 and 2017 independently co-exist?

[ADocs]

Hi,

I know this is a giant leap in terms of upgrading, but I'd just like some reassurance.

I have downloaded the trial version of FM(2017) on my laptop to try it out, and it works fine alongside FM8. But before I install it on my production desktop machine I wonder if it would be best to completely uninstall FM8 before downloading the new version. Do the two versions share any resources, or will FM8 uninstall 'cleanly' at a later date without affecting FM(2017)?

Thanks.... mike

[Ian Proudfoot]

Hi Mike,

Yes, they work perfectly together. I have all version from FM9 to FM 2017 installed. Each version is self contained and has no influence on the other. I have never noticed any interaction problems after uninstalling FM.

You may need to be careful if you have any FM plug-ins or add-ons as they may not be so helpful. Some only work with a specific version of FrameMaker while others install themselves everywhere and try to share resources.

I hope that helps

Ian

[ADocs]

Thanks to all for your replies.

I'm running Windows 10 and Acrobat X1 Pro, and must admit everything's been very stable with FM8 since the Win 10 upgrade. But thanks for the heads up regarding the plug-ins etc. which I hadn't really considered.

My situation is that one of my customers is about to upgrade from Word to FrameMaker FM(2017) while another will continue to use FM8 for the time being, so I'll need to run both versions in parallel for a while so that I can exchange files with them both without going down the MIF route.

I'll let you know if I run into anything unexpected.

Thanks.... mike

[Bob_Niland]

What version of Windows?
If 7 Professional, 7 Ultimate or 7 Enterprise, you have another option (reinstall FM8 in a completely separate VM).

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

As Ian says, keep an eye on things like the version of Acrobat that gets bundled with FM - you can inadvertently mung up your full Acrobat install with newer versions of that "headless" distiller if you don't notice what's being installed.