Apps not 'certified' for Vista may still work on the OS
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InfoWorld - Although some widely used applications from top software vendors haven&#39;t been certified for use with Windows Vista, they may nonetheless work with the Microsoft&#160;OS.
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Microsoft plans to block access to some features by unlicensed versions of OS.
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(InfoWorld) - MicrosoftÂ has released the beta of a tool that will test business PCs to see if they are compatible with Windows Vista. Users can download the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0 Public Beta online now. The application helps business users see how much effort it will take to migrate desktops in a company to Vista by testing the hardware and device-driver capability of PCs against the OS and issuing reports about those results, according to Microsoft's internal Windows Vista blog. In addition to testing hardware for Vista, the software also will check to see if a PC is compatible with the Office 2007 suite, according to Microsoft. To download the beta, users need a Windows Live or Passport log-on so they can first register for the beta program. Since making Windows Vista available to business customers last November, Microsoft has offered a host of tools to help customers with the deployment of the new OS with two more coming earlier this week at its TechEd 2007 conference in Orlando. Released at the show, the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs helps IT administrators set encryption policies for laptops in an enterprise using the encrypting file system and new BitLocker features of Windows Vista, while the Virtual Hard Drive Test Drive allows enterprises to run a virtual version of Vista on PCs to see how it will interact with existing applications.
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Compatibility issues A delayed update to Microsoft's application development suite looks unlikely to fully work with Windows Vista.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's Windows Vista OS doesn't pose antitrust issues so far, according to the latest status report on Microsoft's compliance with the U.S. antitrust settlement. The company has addressed all of the bugs identified relating to how third-party middleware software interacts with Vista, according to the report, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Microsoft has increased its cooperation with the court's technical committee in several ways to help ensure that middleware vendors have their software ready for Vista before the OS ships, the report said. The document defines middleware as software programs such as instant messaging programs, media players, e-mail clients, and Internet browsers. Around 30 vendors are working with regulators and Microsoft on how their software works with Vista, the report said. The U.S. government and states that were a party to the antitrust suit against Microsoft have conducted "extensive testing" of interim builds of Vista and Internet Explorer 7 to ensure compliance with the November 2002 antitrust settlement, the report said. As part of that settlement, Microsoft agreed to license communication protocols to IT vendors interested in developing server software that works smoothly with its Windows operating system. After complaints, Microsoft is rewriting some of the technical documentation for its Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP). The status report said Microsoft has made the new documentation easier to understand, but the company needs to stay on schedule for delivering further documents. Microsoft has until November 2009 to provide the information. The European Commission has also beenÂ scrutinizing Vista, following its 2004 antitrust ruling against Microsoft. So far, the Commission has taken no action against Vista. Microsoft has warned that if regulatory interference delays Vista's European launch, it couldÂ hurt Europe's economy. Microsoft plans to release Vista to business customers on Nov. 30. In 2004, the CommissionÂ fined Microsoft â¬497 millionÂ ($613 million at the time) for abusing its monopoly in the desktop OS market, ordered it to release a version of Windows XP without Windows Media Player software, and mandated it to license and document protocols used by its server products. Microsoft is appealing the decision before the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
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MicrosoftÂ on Thursday released an update to Windows Vista that will shut down unauthorized versions of the OS that allow users to skip the product's activation system.
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A report penned by one of Microsoft's top security experts argues that Windows Vista had fewer known security flaws in its first year of release than other major industry operating systems. On the blogs, skeptics abound.
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DRM restrictions may have caused Microsoft's Vista virtualization flip-flop.
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Microsoft has released a list of 800 applications it has officially verified as running  bug-free on Windows Vista.
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LicenseWise and Windows Vista Hardware Assessment help users navigate Microsoft offerings.
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The reason it's called "beta testing" is to anticipate and isolate problems. But a big problem reported by some -- not all -- Vista SP1 testers is causing Microsoft to take a step back.
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Bad reviews won't hurt Vista. Neither will the Mac. Or Linux.
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Because of a bug in Windows Vista's antipiracy technology, some users are being told that they need to reactivate the operating system after installing new device drivers or software.
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Nine months since its release, lots of hardware and software products still don't work with Microsoft's operating system, including some that are certified as Vista compatible.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. released tools to help companies deploy Windows Vista, acknowledging that there are deployment and application-compatibility pains enterprise IT managers face when updating business desktops to the new OS. The company unveiled the new tools, Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs and Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) Test Drive, atÂ the TechEd 2007 conference in Orlando Tuesday. The first helps IT administrators set encryption policies for laptops in an enterprise using the encrypting file system and new Bitlocker features of Windows Vista, said Stella Chernyak, a Vista product manager at Microsoft. The second is a file that can be downloaded from the Internet that allows enterprises to run a virtual version of Vista on PCs for a 30-day evaluation period to see how it will interact with other applications in their systems. The VHD Test Drive is available online, and more information on the Data Encryption Toolkit can be found on Microsoft's Web site. Business adoption of Vista has been a big concern since the OS was released to business customers last November. Many companies said they would hold off on fully deploying the OS longer than they usually do mainly because of concerns about application compatibility. Indeed, Chernyak acknowledged Tuesday in an interview that lack of application compatibility is the biggest challenge enterprise customers face when they deploy Vista. She said this is why Microsoft released the Vista Application Compatibility Toolkit simultaneously with the general availability of the OS instead of some time after, which it has traditionally done. The VHD also gives enterprises a chance to see what applications will be affected by the new OS so they can make compatibility adjustments before investing in Vista. Three of Microsoft's large enterprise customers, Continental Airlines, Charter Communications and health-care company Cerna Corp. also will have major Vista deployments in their enterprise by the end of the year, Chernyak said. Microsoft claims most enterprises are on schedule to a full rollout of Vista 12 to 18 months after its release, which is about normal for a new Windows OS, she said. Still, not everyone is rushing to deploy Vista, and smaller companies in particular are wary of adopting the OS until making certain it will work with everything in their systems. TechEd attendee Ryan Engh, infrastructure manager at 130-person mutual funds company Wasatch Advisors in Salt Lake City, said his company is still about 12 months from beginning a Vista deployment, though two IT staff members are "playing with it" to see how it will interact with applications in the system. "We'd be more aggressive if it wasn't such a drastic change in the operating system," he said. Engh said he was not aware of the new deployment tools from Microsoft, but likely would not use them anyway because he is currently more concerned with application compatibility than actually deploying the OS. "I'm not so worried about the deployment, it's just if the application will actually work on the system," he said. "We're not even worried about [deploying Vista] yet." Microsoft also said at TechEd that it would make its previously announced Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) available by July for Windows Vista with a new feature for monitoring desktop errors so IT managers can identify errors and send a fix across all enterprise desktops at once. MDOP, unveiled in January, consists of software from Microsoft's purchases of Softricity, AssetMetrix, Winternals Software, and DesktopStandard. It rolls up virtualization software from Softricity, asset-management software from AssetMetrix, group policy-management software from DesktopSoftware, and diagnostic and recovery tools from Winternals into a product designed to help companies manage desktops in an enterprise. The Softricity and Winternals components of the pack are already available for Windows XP, said Winni Verhoef, a senior product manager for Microsoft. All of the components of MDOP will be available for Vista in July except the Winternals diagnostic and recovery tools, which won't be available until next year. It is taking Microsoft a bit more time to port those tools to Vista because they had to be rewritten for the new architecture of the client OS, he said. MDOP costs about US$10 per desktop and is available only to Microsoft customers who have purchased its Software Assurance service. Â
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Now that Vista and Office 2007 are officially out the door, Windows enthusiasts have been busy scrounging up what they can about the next versions of both products. Not much has turned up besides code-names and potential features, but a number of blog posts prompted Microsoft to say publicly that it's not saying anything.
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If you have an iPod, and plan to install Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, Apple has one word of advice for you: don't. Issues with iTunes 7.0.2 and the next-generation operating system are creating havoc for some users.