Hi there,
with regard to the NPAPI plugins not being supported by chrome from september - is Percussion saying that we can no longer use chrome to access the CMS? If this is the case what if the other browsers ie Firefox and Explorer follow in chromes footsteps? Is there a solution being worked on? I have users questioning what is going to happen.
Hi there.
My guess is that Firefox will drop support for plugins in the next year. They haven’t issued an official statement, but I think Google’s decision with Chrome will push Mozilla in that direction. I don’t think Microsoft will drop support for plugins for the next release of IE; they have too many corporate clients who depend on plugins for internal apps. My guess is that Apple will probably drop Safari support for plugins in the near future.
If all that happens, Percussion CM System would only be accessible in IE on Windows, and not at all accessible on Macs.
Percussion was working on getting the CMS UI to work with AjaxSwing (http://www.creamtec.com/products/ajaxswing/); I’m not sure if they still are. This would allow access to the CMS without resorting to an applet. Last I heard, it was mostly working, except for Impact Analysis (which is a big issue for us). However, you’ll have to purchase a separate license for AjaxSwing; Percussion isn’t willing to integrate it into Percussion CM System.
You’ll have to dedicate some server resources into running the software, since it’s a Java app that sits in front of the CMS. It’s also a potential point of failure. I’m not sure what will happen to CMS users if AjaxSwing crashes during their session. I also don’t know what typical uptimes are like for the product. And Percussion doesn’t have any documentation of it in their help section for CM System (http://help.percussion.com/cmsystem/index), so you’ll need help from their Professional Services Organization (PSO) to get it running.
I’m not at all clear on Percussion’s long-term plans for Percussion CM System. I get the feeling that they view it as a legacy product. They certainly don’t promote it on their website or in their social media. I think if they were serious about getting new customers for it, they would dedicate staff to rewriting the UI in HTML/CSS/JS.