As Fred has explained here, supporting both the creation of ascii and unicode executables in the compiler is becoming a burden and we would like to end support for ascii compilation in order to streamline the library code and make it easier to maintain the PureBasic package in the future. However, the above thread has shown that people wish for a longer transition period, and we would like to honor this wish.

So we decided to remove the ability to compile in ascii mode in the PB version that follows after the next LTS version (that is, the LTS version coming after the 5.2x LTS cycle ends).

There are no exact dates for the releases, but the timeline looks like this:

• The current 5.2x LTS version will be supported until at least 09/17/2015
• After that date, a new LTS version will be released with support for 2 years. This version will still have full ascii compilation support.
• The first non-LTS version released after the next LTS cycle starts will have no ascii compilation support

This means that the first non-LTS version without ascii support will be released in about a year. By staying with LTS releases, you have the ability to use an ascii mode compiler with a fully supported PB version for at least another 3 years starting from today. This should give enough time for a smooth transition.

No changes will be made to the language or data types (The .c, .a and .u as well as the pseudo-types and library commands will remain as they are). The only difference is that the “compile in unicode mode” switch in the compiler will be permanently set to “on”.

Please understand that we do listen to the concerns voiced in the discussion thread and that we do not make this decision lightly. I think we have a quite good track record of supporting older technology as is evidenced by the very long support for Windows 9x which just recently ended and by the fact that we still support Windows XP even after MS dropped all support for it. However, in order for us to be able to introduce new technologies (like x64 compilation in the past, or now support for the web with Spiderbasic), we simply cannot support old stuff indefinitely. In order to move forward into the future, we have to leave some stuff behind from time to time. We hope you can understand that.