Microsofts responsability ?

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If microsoft is always coming out with new versions of their operating system
,should they not also be responable to make them compatable with all previous
versions ? How hard could it be for them ? At the very least they should
provide us with a patch program or something to fix these problems . I wonder
if billy boy will ever read this ? Ya , and in a perfect world .......

I wonder where their complaint department is ?

krazy
krazy bad karma there Billy !
 
crazy carma said:
If microsoft is always coming out with new versions of their operating
system
Click to expand...

They've not released a desktop OS for over 4 years!
,should they not also be responable to make them compatable with all
previous
versions ?
Click to expand...

No it's down to people who make the software to ensure compatibility. It's
not up to the car manufacturer to make sure the 3rd party seat covers, funky
neon lights etc from your old car still fit.
How hard could it be for them ?
Click to expand...

Actually it's extremely hard. And they're one of the few companies that
spend a lot of time on it. Compare them to their competition. Linux
requires a near constant juggle of different version numbers to get things
to work properly and Apple practically burnt all compatibility with OS X and
cause problems even in their yearly re-releases.

And I'm still running games from when I was a kid on Windows.
At the very least they should provide us with a patch program or something
to fix these
problems . I wonder if billy boy will ever read this ? Ya , and in a
perfect world .......
Click to expand...

I'm sure "Billy Boy" has given the Windows team a huge grilling over
compatibility many a time.
I wonder where their complaint department is ?
Click to expand...

Since you probably got Windows with your computer it's who manufactured the
computer.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove 'nospam.' to reply by e-mail*
 
Thanks for your reply Paul , I agree with your points , and I understand how
difficult it is to write even the simplest programs , but is Microsoft not
the creators of all the windows os ( 3.11 ,95 ,98 ,NT ,2000 ,xp etc...? ) why
can't they keep some sort of basic code that is common to , and compatable
with all their systems ? each time they improve the next version they seem to
lose somthing from the previous versions , why can't we simply run a 3.11
program on xp for example ? and why the big change with xp ? I never had such
compatability issues when upgrading from 3.11 to 95 to 98 . Don't get me
wrong , I think xp is great , it allows the user to do so much more with much
less hassle and easier setup , but I'd still like to be able to run older
programs , here's hoping they get it right the next time out .
 
Depending on what you're trying to install, most of the "older" games will
run perfectly well on Windows XP. Some need to use Compatibility Mode
(details are in Help and Support), and this TechNet article will help you:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/lgcyapps.mspx

Basically, what Compatibility Mode does is allow the older program to
"think" it is being installed on the operating system for which it was
designed. You also need to pay attention to the game's requirements, and
some need to be installed using Compatibility starting with the installation
itself by going to Start/Run/Browse and locating the install.exe or
setup.exe file on the root of the CD. You can right-click that file, follow
the pattern to use Compatibility Mode and have it install.

After the install, make sure to update the program from the web site of the
creator, then right-click the icon you'll use to launch the game and make
sure the proper Compatibility settings are ready. You also need to make
sure the proper display and color settings are selected.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
 
crazy carma said:
Thanks for your reply Paul , I agree with your points , and I understand
how
difficult it is to write even the simplest programs , but is Microsoft not
the creators of all the windows os ( 3.11 ,95 ,98 ,NT ,2000 ,xp etc...? )
why
can't they keep some sort of basic code that is common to , and compatable
with all their systems ?
Click to expand...

There's a number of problems doing this. It is in theory possible, they
actually partially do it with Virtual PC. However they'd all need to be
re-written to communicate with each other (which would impact on
compatibility).

If you all had them running will full access to the system all the way up to
kernel mode, which you'd need for as much compatibility as possible. Then
you'd lose all the advantages of Windows XP.

Namely stability, because you'd have the Win9x kernels, drivers and
applications bringing down the whole system. You'd also lose all security,
you could make XP infinitely secure, but then someone would just target
Windows 9x, which has no concept of users or permissions and would just
write all over the drive.

In short it would be absolute chaos, and absolute chaos running really
slowly.
each time they improve the next version they seem to
lose somthing from the previous versions , why can't we simply run a 3.11
program on xp for example ? and why the big change with xp ? I never had
such
compatability issues when upgrading from 3.11 to 95 to 98 . Don't get me
wrong , I think xp is great , it allows the user to do so much more with
much
less hassle and easier setup , but I'd still like to be able to run older
programs , here's hoping they get it right the next time out .
Click to expand...

Like Chris said there's compatibility mode.

But for applications that just won't work, you can use Virtual PC, which
will allow you to run another OS within Windows XP itself, again it won't be
100% compatible, 3D games won't work because the drivers aren't allowed into
kernel mode so they just emulate a common 2D chipset.

It won't be getting any better with the new version of Windows, they're
locking down pretty tight security wise, which will break some more older
applications. But they're going to great lengths to minimize this,
virtualizing the registry and even the file system I believe.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove 'nospam.' to reply by e-mail*
 
Thanks for your reply Paul , I agree with your points , and I understand how
difficult it is to write even the simplest programs , but is Microsoft not
the creators of all the windows os ( 3.11 ,95 ,98 ,NT ,2000 ,xp etc...? ) why
can't they keep some sort of basic code that is common to , and compatable
with all their systems ? each time they improve the next version they seem to
lose somthing from the previous versions , why can't we simply run a 3.11
program on xp for example ? and why the big change with xp ? I never had such
compatability issues when upgrading from 3.11 to 95 to 98 . Don't get me
wrong , I think xp is great , it allows the user to do so much more with much
less hassle and easier setup , but I'd still like to be able to run older
programs , here's hoping they get it right the next time out .
Click to expand...


Are you willing to put up with a Windows system that will take 4GB of RAM and
require 80GB of hard drive just to maintain compatibility with older versions
of Windows? Hell, XP is BIG already.

Also, to maintain compatibility, would not all the Widows programs, utilities
and games HAVE TO come from Microsoft? Aren't they already too big??
 
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