And it is also Microsoft now, as the bug is in Microsoft’s System Info utility. Microsoft acknowledges that there is an issue with that utility, but has not fixed it, and not said if they will fix it. (Which since it’s been bugged since Vista, will likely NOT fix it.)
Darned if you do, darned if you don’t.
In most software revision cycles, there comes a time when the code must be frozen, in order to meet some management rollout target date. So, sometimes, things do not get fixed, in time for release.
This happened here. What was done, (for release) in response to the MS utility error, was to relax that graphics memory requirement, in SketchUp’s startup cycle (which uses a subset of the Checkup code.)
But it was too late for the Checkup utility, to be fixed.
It is not. The issue has been logged. But, as is usual, after the main SketchUp release in November, most of the team goes on vacation, after busting their butts all summer long.
The serious work on the major maintenance release(s) usually begins after the new year holiday break, and comes sometime in late January or in February. (Even though, this cycle, we got a quick first MR, released soon after the initial v17 release.)
This is how it has always worked since Trimble took over and the cycle gradually settled on a November release with versions 2013 through 2015.
So, expect ongoing maintenance, like any software utility.
Just FYI, I did a search and found a Microsoft page that gives sample code for getting graphics driver information direct from a WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) compliant driver, using one of the Direct-X graphics libraries. I gave this information to the team member responsible, and he added the link for this MS example, to the issue ticket. (But this information was found too late to affect the released utility.)
So, we’d hope that in the next month or two, a revision will be released, that fixes this, and other open issues (UI readability, etc.)
Because, the consumers in most western countries, have allowed and somewhat expect, that products (especially software) to have flaws right “out-of-the-box.”
So, partly it is the consumers fault, and partly the fault of western product managers and marketing, and well partly “Mr. Murphy’s” fault.
(Playing devil’s advocate here,…) IF they had NOT released a check utility, and instead forced users to go through a technical online document that explained the more stringent requirements for SketchUp 2017, … what would have happened ?
Most people would not have thoroughly read the document, nor even if they did, understood whether their system met the requirements. (We get this now from people who do not know that the utility exists. They do not read the requirements page, or know what it means with respect to their own system. They just waste the time downloading the full application and attempting to install it on sub-par systems.)
So, … they’d have been bitchin’ for a utility that checked their system anyway.
In conclusion, does anyone LIKE the fact that the utility is currently partly flawed ?
I think not.
