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And then you get some companies (don't know why the word "Corel" leaps to mind here) who stand still - if you are lucky - by adding sufficient bugs to balance out the new features... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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I was sitting here wondering how it could be improved with WPF/C#, and started looking to see what it's current status was. If they did it right, it only takes them a month or so to update it for the new tax laws, so I'm willing to bet that they don't have more than one or two permanent programmers working on it. When I was there, we had three guys. Whey they bought it, they had 4 guys in Idaho, and kept the three we already had (counting me). I guess when their four guys were comfortable with the code, the decided to cut the original developers loose (I was the only one given the option to move to Idaho, because I had the most tribal knowledge).
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I was the only one given the option to move to Idaho
Was that supposed to be a benefit?
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy.
In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. – Buddha
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Idaho isn't bad, John, despite the inbreeding. Some good software has come out of that state, I assume because there's damned little to do in their 9 month winter but stay indoors and code.
Once upon a time I bought an accounting program developed in Idaho by Cougar Mountain Software, called ACT. It was a full implementation of all that I ever learned about Accounting, including T-ledgers and audit trails and infinite reporting on any silly thing that might pique an auditor's twisted interest; it could manage up to 9,999 companies, and cost $99.00. It wasn't user friendly, and it didn't have a cute GUI to help guide the stupid to knowledge, but it worked flawlessly and was wonderfully affordable.
Go build it, John, and they will come. Heck, if you include a decent inventory management module, I'll buy it.
OT- Where are you in Texas, approximately speaking? I'm planning a trip down Waco way next April, to meet with a bunch of other firearms enthusiasts, but it would be a pleasure to include a visit with you while I'm in the neighborhood, if we can arrange it.
Will Rogers never met me.
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I'm in San Antonio, so it's about 3 hours north of me.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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That's certainly doable. I'll contact you when the date is known for sure...
Will Rogers never met me.
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Wave as you drive by. 
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It could be worse - at least a few of the companies I've worked for aren't in existence anymore. Same thing for much of the software I worked with.
Scott
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You should not feel disappointed. You should feel proud. Your software was obviously so good that it has not needed significant changes in all this time. That is a rare sign of quality.
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I'm disappointed they haven't kept up with more modern platforms.
In my experience, this is common with financial software, especially products that perform tax calculations. The fear of regression failures enountered when moving to a newer platform usually overshadows common sense that could lead to a well planned and well architected migration.
/ravi
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If it was me, I'd take it as meaning that what I wrote years ago is still irreplaceable.
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At least it's around. Most of the companies I've worked for have ceased to exist. A few still exist, but have either dropped the products I worked on or rewrote those products (in one case to disastrous results.)
(The embedded stuff I worked on and am working on now has much more sticking power.)
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I'm not surprised at all, but I'm really disappointed in them. I've worked for companies who were locked in to such products and couldn't afford to start over. Failing to keep critical software up to date shortchanges both the developer and the users.
Since you're intimately familiar with the product, why not update it yourself and approach your former customers with an offer they can't afford to ignore? There are worse ways to fund your retirement...
Will Rogers never met me.
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: When they decided to move development of the software from San Diego to Idaho (in 2000), I quit, and moved to Texas
Get over it 
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy.
In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. – Buddha
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I'm kinda surprised the software is still being sold, but I'm disappointed they haven't kept up with more modern platforms.
They're waiting for you to come back??? 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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Been there, and it is disappointing to see all your hard work stalled but marketed like that. We work on these projects and code to the best of our abilities, but you can't expect non-coders to begin to understand what it takes to do this stuff. They just look at selling it and making money. In the end you take what learned from the project and build on that in subsequent projects. It's all a learning experience...
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If it ain't broke, why fix it?
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Don't be disappointed, it means you did well.
While I believe most software should be re-envisioned every few years, sometimes you hit the mark.
I left a company, they sold the DOS product. The buyer QUADRUPLED the price, lost 15% of the customers because of increased maintenance, and changed NOTHING in the code for a few years. They
were printing money, eventually the demand died out, and it went away (along with DOS in general).
Think of the old VW Bug. Mexico brought it back to life. Easy to repair, simple parts. Why change it?
BTW, I have a FAX at home. And I just used it last week to obtain a permit (govt is always behind the times, LOL).
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At least they are still selling it. One company I was working at, after three years of really hard work and overtime by a half-dozen people, creating an innovative product that linked C, COBOL, Assembly and SmallTalk was purchased by a larger company as an "agent of change".
We had paying customers. The company that bought us PAID THEM OFF TO STOP USING THE PRODUCT! A strong lesson in how much your work is really appreciated and just little overtime is really justified (outside of an explosion in space and dying astronauts, of course).
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Another way of looking at it is that is a testament to the effort and skill of the software developers.
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It's It
===
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing low, sweet chariots of fire in the Whole Earth catalogarithm and blues sometime if it ain't baroque chamber music man in the middle of it
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I've just had a shudder thinking about the recent movie they made about it.
I'd rather be phishing!
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There were some good things about it.
Number 1. I've never seen it.
Number 2. Seen it, have not I.
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Thanks! 
Oh, the thunderbirds. ok.
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