Windows Vista Team Blog : Featured News, Analyst Report

Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 Released

Peg McNicol — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:41:00 GMT

Hi I'm Peg McNicol, the product manager for application compatibility in Windows Vista.

In the midst of all the excitement around the general availability of Windows Vista, it's almost strange to talk about IT Pro & developer tools, but if you are an IT Pro, or developer, this should be pretty exciting too. Today the final version of the Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 was released. If you are already familiar with ACT 5.0 make sure you download the new bits and the refreshed product guide here. If you want to learn more about the tools and resources around application compatibility for Windows Vista - please visit our TechNet site.

For people new to ACT, it is a single toolset that can help detect, diagnose, and mitigate compatibility issues found in Windows Vista. I think the single coolest feature of this tool is that you can deploy it in your current environment, Windows 2000 or Windows XP and get an inventory of your applications and see how they'll work with Windows Vista. Other highlights include the Standard User Analyzer (SUA) tool; there have been many changes made to improve overall security and reliability in Windows Vista, and this tool looks for possible issues resulting from those changes for users running as Standard Users, which is what every user in a business environment should be in this new paradigm we’ve delivered. There’s also the new Internet Explorer 7 Test Tool to test apps for use with the latest version of Internet Explorer, and the Setup Analysis Tool which detects any issues your setup packages might have with installing on Windows Vista. Finally, IT Pros can use the new and improved Compatibility Administrator to pull compatibility fixes from a database of existing fixes and apply them to apps one-by-one, or in predefined groups.

Overall, this toolkit is going to be a huge timesaver for the IT Pro community and a great resource for developers to analyze and test their apps. Even if you are just starting to think about planning or deploying Windows Vista, you should download ACT 5.0 and start taking an inventory of your current environment so can scope your workload and be ready to go when the time is right for your company.

Download ACT 5.0 now

IDC Says Windows Vista Will Create 100,000 New Jobs in US

Nick White — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:32:00 GMT

IDC is publishing a report containing new data on the impact Windows Vista will have on the IT industry and on the broader U.S. economy in 2007. The report is based on IDC's Economic Impact Model (EIM), and is similar to the study of six countries in the European Union that the firm released in September. (Full disclosure: Both reports were commissioned by Microsoft in order to give us an objective measure of the potential impact of Windows Vista on local IT ecosystems and local economies. We are often asked how a new version of Windows affects the Microsoft ecosystem and broader markets, but until now hadn't had a way to quantify it.)

One of the more fascinating findings in the study is that Windows Vista is expected to create more than 100,000 new jobs in the U.S. in 2007 alone. According to the report, "While some of this gain would likely happen as a result of general market growth, between 2006 and 2007 Windows Vista's share of total IT employment is expected to go up by more than one percentage point -- a big number in an employment base of 10 million." Many of these new jobs are expected to come from new hardware, software or services businesses that are geared to run on Windows Vista. Say what you will about Microsoft or the Windows business, but new jobs are almost always a good thing, and it's exciting that IDC expects Windows Vista to create new opportunities for people.

A few more highlights from the study:

For each dollar of Windows Vista-related revenue Microsoft receives in 2007, the IT industry at large will reap more than $18 in revenues.
Microsoft partners will invest about $10 billion preparing and rolling out their Windows Vista-related products.
Microsoft partners and others in the IT industry are expected to generate over $70 billion in revenues in 2007 directly tied to Windows Vista.
In 2008, 80% of Microsoft client operating systems shipped into enterprises will be Windows Vista.

A full copy of the report is available here. Have a read, and feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the results, or on how you think your job or business or local economy will be affected by Windows Vista.