application compatability

  • Thread starter Thread starter Norman Schwartz
  • Start date Start date
N

Norman Schwartz

Is there a method to determine what application on my computer running under
XP Home will or will not be compatable with Vista?

N. Schwartz
 
Hi Norman,

No easy way, but here are some basic rules of thumb:

- Most software created in the past few years will run, some may require a
patch
- Check with the application vendor for known compatibility issues and
workarounds
- Run the Vista upgrade advisor
- If the application is to support a particular bit of hardware, make sure
there is a Vista compatible driver for the component. If not, try forcing an
XP driver, quite often these will work
- 16-bit software will not run in the 64-bit environment, so if you have
legacy software you need to run the 32-bit (x86) version
- Install software with elevated privileges (right-click setup, use 'run as
administrator'), but you should not have to run with elevated privileges
- Uninstall any antivirus software before upgrading an existing installation
and install a Vista compatible version afterwards. Do not, under any
circumstances, upgrade with antivirus software running.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
You could try the Windows Upgrade Advisor and Application Compatibility
Toolkit for Windows Vista:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx

The only known application compatibility testing available for Vista is
targeted at Enterprise customers:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows/appcompatibility/default.mspx#EOB

If you have an application/s that you are not sure about, your best route is
to contact the manufacturer of the application or check the website to find
out about compatibility with Windows Vista. Mosta 32 bit applications should
run just fine though on Vista, except utilities such as AV's and Win16 apps.
 
You can for about a thousand of the often-used programs by using the upgrade
advisor as Norman says but it is not possible to predict how every program
out there will run without trying them. You can also search in Wikipedia
for one the very long lists of software others have tried. Keep in mind
that such third party lists are made up of individual contributions and not
verified for complete accuracy.

The safest way is to check the website of the manufacturer for each of your
programs and see if they have any information on Vista compatibility for
their programs.
 
I hope you have all recent programs with a large volume of users. Many
early great XP programs are no longer available, don't install or run
correctly on Vista and have little or no chance of updates. It has been a
long time and software vendors move on, get eaten up, spit out and in many
ways abandon lower volume products, especially when they get absorbed into a
larger company where they are orphaned (the good ideas being sucked into
other products).
 
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