Windows Vista Team Blog : Business Deployment, Works with Windows Vista

Partners helping fix Vista Software Compatibility Issues

James Senior — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:43:00 GMT

When chatting with people about the deployment of Windows Vista within their organisation, one of the topics that comes up is software compatibility. It's a no brainer that their business applications continue to work whilst they are enjoying the benefits and features of Windows Vista. Microsoft have worked hard to ensure we had a large number of software vendors ready to offer their software as "Certified for Windows Vista" or "Works with Windows Vista". These certifications mean that either software is designed specifically to take advantage of new features in Windows Vista or is compatible with Windows Vista.

Whilst these certifications go along way to answer questions about software compatibility, there are still bespoke software solutions or legacy applications that might not have been tested by Microsoft to gain the certification. For businesses in this situation there are a range of tools that will help test the compatibility of applications on Windows Vista. Microsoft provide a great toolset, for instance, called the Application Compatibility Toolkit which is worth checking out for the analysis of your software portfolio.

Our partners have also taken the initiative when it comes to application compatibility testing and fixing of issues. ChangeBase, a company based in London, England have recently launched their new software "AOK" which analyses applications and then fixes any issues that might cause problems, leaving you with the green light to get on with your deployment. They recently published a press release highlighting the great work they have been doing with AstraZeneca who have roughly 70,000 desktops across 60 countries. You can find out more information about ChangeBase and the application compatiblity software at their website.

TechNet Radio Chat on Windows Vista Readiness

Baldwin Ng — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:54:00 GMT

Tune in and listen to the radio interview of Microsoft Product Manager, Baldwin Ng and IT Pro Evangelist, Chris Avis as they discussed how the newly released Windows Vista Hardware Assessment solution accelerator has become the popular tool in helping businesses determine their readiness for Windows Vista migration.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88283

Baldwin Ng baldwin.ng@microsoft.com

Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerator

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment v2.0 Beta Program Now Open!

Baldwin Ng — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:28:00 GMT

Good news! The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment v2.0 Beta Program is now open for registration! Please join our beta program and test drive new features including OU-targeting, machine names import, localized UI/readiness reports and more.

Visit the Microsoft Connect site to join: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88282

For those of you who are not familiar with Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, it is basically a network-wide PC readiness assessment tool that helps organizations understand their readiness to migrate to Windows Vista. It provides organization-wide reports on hardware compatibility, device compatibility, upgrade recommendations and more. The coolest part is that this tool does not require any software agents to be installed on individual computers.

Visit our TechNet Web Page and download the tool (v1.0) today at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=83405

Baldwin Ng (baldwin.ng@microsoft.com)

Sr. Product Manager, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator