Working Around Vista Apps' Incompatibilities

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft says there are over 1,000 applications you can run on Windows Vista with few, if any, issues. However, Windows apps number in the tens of thousands. Add to that the facts that x64 Vista versions don't support legacy 16-bit code, and that the Windows Resource Protection in Vista breaks some apps, and you've got a big issue. InformationWeek lists a host of workarounds in How To Manage Windows Vista Application Compatibility. Among the tips discussed are Vista's compatibility mode, its Program Compatibility Assistant wizard, and a little-known form of file and registry virtualization that's built into the OS. What problems have you encountered with incompatible apps, and are any issues you've encountered deal-breakers that could further roil the already muddied adoption picture for Vista?"

Comments

Broken Apps

[memojuez]

Vista won't even recognize older Microsoft Apps, like Office 2000, as a legitimate application. After finally getting installed, after a hundred Cancel or Allow pop-up boxes, Outlook was still broken. The fix offered at the MSDN Tech board didn't work, Vista wouldn't allow me to do it.

Even if it did, every time Outlook was started, it wanted to do its final install and first run configuration. Same with the other Office Apps as well.

Vista = Forced Obsolescence.

It's not rubbish.

[Erris]

... if you don't use this DRM infested media, there is no difference between using Vista, Mac OSX or Linux.

Do digital restrictions in OSX or Linux:

• Disable your old media?
• Keep you from modifying your kernel
• Have "trip bits" at the hardware level?
• Disable outputs when you do so much as slip an audio CD into a drive? As is the case of Zune, they probably "protect" everything regardless of author intent.

I'll give you a quick hint: there are no digital restrictions in free software.

The consensus opinion is that Vista's digital restrictions set it up for failure. Really, it even annoys fanboys to the point where no one wants it. My opinion is that they just make obvious M$ intentions but don't represent any change of attitude.

DRM is snakeoil, much like Windows itself. All digital restriction schemes have the same attitude and end goal. The way M$ does it now represents the absurd lengths required make them even look like they could work. Big publishers want to control your digital media in a way that they could not with paper or even broadcast. It's not going to work but we need to fight it every step of the way. The easiest way to avoid it is to not buy things filled with such obvious contempt for the customer.

Re:It's not rubbish.

[jb.hl.com]

Hi there twitter! Let's play Debunk The Zealot!

Disable your old media? That article relates to Zune, not Vista. Try again.
Keep you from modifying your kernel? Well, the first response would be "well, it's closed source, what the hell do you expect?" But playing along, those protections would be ideal for keeping rootkits out of home PCs...but of course, Microsoft is between a rock and a hard place with you. They're insecure and buggy, but if they do something about it, they're trampling on your rights. Let's ignore that you can, on boot, disable disabling unsigned drivers for a second.
You didn't even cite anything for your trip bits stuff, so moving on to your last thing...you linked to a Zune article again. Not Vista, Zune. This is like me slagging off Fedora munching my data and then linking to an article about Ubuntu munching my data. Which I'm sure you'd be against.

Then, apropos of nothing, you link to a Slashdot article entitled "What Vista Is Really Like" (which at first glance appears to be another "OMG VISTA SUX" Slashdot circle jerk) and another classic link to your new favourite article, the "nobody wants Vista" article (which consists of a notoriously-unreliable online poll with a tiny sample size...do you realise how many Windows users there are, and how small a percentage of them 2223 people is?) Finishing up with a classic twitter "Let me tell it like it is" paragraph, complete with M$ (nothing about "greed heads" though-I love it when you say that, it makes you sound like a hippie.) Wonderful.

Re:The most promising workaround

[ZakuSage]

In all seriousness, WINE is really gotten a lot better over the past little while. It's actually making gaming on Linux a viable option for me. Today, with only minimal extra effort, I was able to get Command and Conquer 3 working perfectly in WINE on my Ubuntu 7.04 box, something I thought would've been impossible just a few months ago.

Don't forget VST's

[SonnyJimATC]

Plus the fact that a branch of it can now be used to run VST audio effects programs that would normally only run under windows. Now I can use my VSTs with a cheap soundcard and still get under 40ms latency.

Anti-Windows FUD is ugly too

[Henry V .009]

I've been running Windows Vista since beta. When the release came out on MSDN, I ran the upgrade from XP to business edition on one of our client computers (we have approximately 100 apps that we support for users, all installed). The only thing that broke was McAfee and one other very minor app. I was extremely impressed. The problems with Vista are highly exaggerated. I bet that less than 5% of the posters to this thread have ever run Vista.