Windows Vista works to make old programs compatible

Compatibility concerns have got to be one of the biggest questions in the decision to upgrade to Windows Vista, especially since there are still many good classic titles that date back to Win ’98 or even ’95, for that matter (else why would EALA have to do a C&C: The First Decade release?). And as the geeks of TechBlog reveal by playing with Vista and an oldie title (although it’s not a game title).

Even now in XP, you can set the compatibility of an old program by running said program in Compatibility Mode – you guys do remember to set Compatibility Mode for the classics, right? (In many cases, saves a lot of b**ching if you do so.) Microsoft decided to bump the feature up in Vista. Using the XP-optimized HP Media Vault program as a test subject, TechBlog tried installing it in their Vista testbed. No dice: the installation program didn’t recognize Vista.

But Vista recognized the installation program and realized that it was looking for XP. A window pops up asking TechBlog if they would love to run the program again using “recommended settings”. And the recommendation worked.

Beyond what’s in Vista already, Microsoft is also offering “shims” to developers to make their oldies-but-goodies work with Vista. These “shims” are small routines that help a program run in Vista OS. The Vista Application Compatibility Toolkit also contains tools for devs to create their own shims. If anyone in Microsoft HQ is reading this, get these out to game devs as well.

Compatibility concerns have got to be one of the biggest questions in the decision to upgrade to Windows Vista, especially since there are still many good classic titles that date back to Win ’98 or even ’95, for that matter (else why would EALA have to do a C&C: The First Decade release?). And as the geeks of TechBlog reveal by playing with Vista and an oldie title (although it’s not a game title).

Even now in XP, you can set the compatibility of an old program by running said program in Compatibility Mode – you guys do remember to set Compatibility Mode for the classics, right? (In many cases, saves a lot of b**ching if you do so.) Microsoft decided to bump the feature up in Vista. Using the XP-optimized HP Media Vault program as a test subject, TechBlog tried installing it in their Vista testbed. No dice: the installation program didn’t recognize Vista.

But Vista recognized the installation program and realized that it was looking for XP. A window pops up asking TechBlog if they would love to run the program again using “recommended settings”. And the recommendation worked.

Beyond what’s in Vista already, Microsoft is also offering “shims” to developers to make their oldies-but-goodies work with Vista. These “shims” are small routines that help a program run in Vista OS. The Vista Application Compatibility Toolkit also contains tools for devs to create their own shims. If anyone in Microsoft HQ is reading this, get these out to game devs as well.