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Software Missing From Vista's "Official Apps"

PetManimal writes "Microsoft has just released a list of 800 applications it says are 'officially supported' on Windows Vista. What's special about this list, however, are the programs that are not included: 'Popular Windows software that is conspicuously missing from Microsoft's list includes Adobe Systems Inc.'s entire line of graphics and multimedia software, Symantec Corp.'s security products, as well as the Mozilla Foundation's open-source Firefox Web browser, Skype Ltd.'s free voice-over-IP software and the OpenOffice.org alternative to Microsoft Office.' Another area in which Vista has found to be lacking is gaming, as discussed earlier on Slashdot."

7 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. If it won't work with what you need... by pudding7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...then don't use it.

    1. Re:If it won't work with what you need... by biocute · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly.

      I have heard statements like "If only Mac has this and that software, I would switch in a second" or "If only Linux has more games, I would leave Windows forever".

      So now that Windows doesn't have support for this and that software, it has given users a chance to revisit those statements above and make a decision.

    2. Re:If it won't work with what you need... by h2_plus_O · · Score: 5, Informative

      So now that Windows doesn't have support for this and that software
      Actually, it does. Don't confuse logo certification with anything but what it is: a process where a MS-certified testing organization (like these guys) verifies that your app Conforms to specific guidelines that you really want your apps doing anyhow if you want them to run on Windows. This is what they check for, so there are no surprises.

      It's not like your app won't work if it's not certified (otherwise how would they test it?). Being logo-certified just means you get to put a sticker on your retail box so that shoppers who only know that 'it's gotta work for me and I have windows' have some way to know it's been verified to pass those tests on their OS.

      --
      If there's one thing I won't stand for, it's intolerance.
  2. This is a non-story? by MyNameIsEarl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Doesn't this just mean that if you can't get an Adobe product to work on Vista you need to go to Adobe as you would under any other OS? Why should MS need to help you make an Adobe product work on their OS, Adobe should be the ones making it work. I use Adobe as my example so the Open Source fans don't get in an uproar about MS keeping the competition down (not that they aren't, but I don't feel they are here).

  3. Wait for SP1 by jmorris42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh course Vista is a turd now, like every other Microsoft release. Which is why anyone with a lick of sense waits until the first service pack before deploying. Then it will only suck, but that is about as good as Microsoft knows how to make a product so those stuck on Windows have learned to live with that level of pain.

    Of course ya just gotta feel sorry for the poor schmucks who buy a new namebrand PC between the release of Vista and SP1 since they don't get a choice. Which is just one more reason why only the uneducated masses buy a namebrand PC.

    --
    Democrat delenda est
  4. Lacking in gaming... by SuperKendall · · Score: 5, Funny

    Another area in which Vista has found to be lacking is gaming...

    And people still claim Vista's not an OS X ripoff. What more proof do you need?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Who says it doesn't work??? by moronikos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hell, they all probably work. Firefox sure does. They just haven't been certified. The certification process takes a while and you have to pay for it. Microsoft sets the requirements and some 3rd party company administers it. After the 3rd party company has certified your product, then you can put the Vista (or XP) logo on your product. You also get listed on Microsoft's web site as having a certified product. Not being on the list means you either 1) haven't bothered to be certified, or 2) you failed certification. It doesn't mean the software doesn't run on that platform.