Windows 7 Improved Compatibility

Microsoft has remained steadfast that Windows 7 is the same as Windows Vista on software and hardware compatibility. This only means that everything that would run on Windows Vista should run on Windows 7. This also means that applications that run on Windows XP may no longer run on Windows 7, the same scenario that exists on Windows Vista.

Recently, Microsoft has changed their stand and have announced that Windows 7 would have better compatibility capabilities which mean that it would be better than Windows Vista on compatibility and would most likely run Windows XP applications as well.

Microsoft confirmed that they are testing over 1,200 applications for Windows 7 where 300 of these applications are international applications that were missed out on Windows Vista.

Microsoft has also named 30 applications that were broken on Vista but were working on Windows XP and now working fine as well on Windows 7. These application include: traditional Chinese version of Cyberlink DVD Suite v6 and German version of QuickTime 7.1.6.

I am sure that Microsoft has thought about this a while back but decided not to announce about the better compatibility of Windows 7 to avoid alienating consumers on Vista. They are still hoping that there would be a big upswing of Vista adoption. But as it turned out, the bigger upswing came from netbooks.

Microsoft have thought it best to focus their marketing and efforts on Windows 7 hoping for a massive migration to the new operating system. They are doing the right thing.