Thread: XP -> Win 7, Program Compatibility

  1. #1
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    XP -> Win 7, Program Compatibility

    This is a thread were anyone can list any software issues on a XP to Windows 7 transition. Any other issues are irrelevant to this thread. Mostly just what software runs and not runs off Windows 7 that you have been using on Windows XP. Necessarily, software that has been updated to run on windows 7 doesn't qualify for this thread, duh!

    Many of us use certain applications that are either somewhat dependent on the OS architecture or that are old versions because we didn't find the need or the money to upgrade. Meanwhile they are still valuable to us. That's the type of stuff.

    If the thread becomes a source of information for you, make sure to check the dates of the posts and the program versions. Many of these programs will invariably be updated to run on Windows 7 and if they are free or offer free upgrades, you may be mislead into thinking they won't run if you don't take that care.

    Note: For Home Premium and Ultimate Users, Windows XP Mode will be available free of charge. It's quite possible that some of the issues with applications may be resolved by simply running them under XP Mode, but since Windows XP Mode will require an additional 1GB of RAM (mostly because it requires Virtual PC, I guess) it may not be for everyone comming from a XP machine considering the already high requirements for Windows 7 (1GB).

    ...

    Software that Runs:

    - Shell extensions appear to work without any glitches. I use HashTab 2.3.0 from 2007, Synesis Shell Extensions 2.0.2 from 2006 (I don't use Date Renamer, File Case, Read Only and Remote Reboot), and Baxbex Open Expert 1.40 from 2002. All function normally.

    - Bet I'm not the only one wondering, Paint Shop Pro 9. It runs. As does 8 and 7! They knew how to do it back then.

    - The excellent Corz Checksum 1.1.4.0 works. As does the Simple Checksum extension.

    Software that Glitches:

    - JPSoft Take Command 7.01 from 2006 (commercial). I use this old version because later ones took TC into new areas that I didn't appreciate. There seems to be some issues with Caveman mode (I tested it using a ncurses app and TC crashed). It also seems incapable to list hidden files on system folders.

    Software that Doesn't Run:

    - Nothing so far(!)
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  2. #2
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Can't edit the post anymore... so just making an update:

    Correction: Take Command 7.01 does indeed run flawlessly in Windows 7. Any problems I was having had to be because I was running 7 on a VM, and VMWare latest build doesn't support Windows 7 yet. Now that I'm running it off a real machine, TC has been behaving splendidly. Yey, I got my fav command prompt back!

    Software that Runs:
    - DosBox runs perfectly. As do old windows games in compatibility mode following the same instructions for Windows XP. Tried Warcraft II and Red Alert successfully.

    Software that Glitches:
    - Celestia latest version (1.6.0) has notorious problems. The screen doesn't draw correctly as text disappears offscreen. There's some issues with certain textures, the immediately obvious was the excellent Runar Thorvaldsen's Sun textures. The mouse misbehaves also, loosing for instance the ability to right-click objects.

    I'm however doubtful any of this has anything to do with Windows 7, or Celestia for that matter. I'm more inclined to believe it's a my ATI drivers (ATI Catalyst™ 9.7 Suite for Windows 7, at the time of this writing), since Celestia uses OpenGL exclusively and Vista runs Celestia without a glitch.

    Software that Doesn't Run:
    - TuneUp Utilities 2009. Doesn't run at all and is flagged as incompatible by Windows 7. It can be made to run in compatibility mode. But given the nature of these applications, I'm not planning to use these tools at all (including other beauties like CCleaner) until their vendors advertise full Windows 7 support.
    Last edited by Mario F.; 08-09-2009 at 12:00 PM.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  3. #3
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Software that Doesn't Run:
    - Screen Calipers 4.0 from Iconic. Completely fails to load. I also have licenses for Screen Protractor and Compass, but haven't tried them since they work exactly the same way and the results should be the same. A Shame. Very useful tools. Error report generated and sent to Microsoft.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  4. #4
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    why would you send the error report to MS its not their application that crashed, also I doubt these low end vendors have the MSDN level necessary to receive these error reports.

  5. #5
    C++まいる!Cをこわせ!
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    You really don't read any information about Windows, do you? Ever tried reading the Windows 7 Engineering blog?
    It's always good to send error reports, because Microsoft can then see popular applications which do not work properly or crashes, etc. They can investigate why and help developers fix it, or even make a workaround in Windows (yes, it has happened; there are a lot of app fixes/workarounds in the code).
    So always report application errors.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

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