App Compat Tools

This highly-automated tool will help you quickly determine baseline compatibility with Windows Server 2008.   Download here.

Note: Please use the above latest version of the Works with Tool with digital signature dated October 17, 2007.

Developed by The Technical Committee (The TC), the ISV Settings Manager (ISM) is an application designed to assist developers in making correct registry settings for their applications on Windows® XP and Windows Vista®. It assembles registry keys gleaned from Microsoft’s® MSDN website.

Frequently, third party applications designed for the Windows platform suffer limited visibility and functional availability. After installing such an application, a user experiences difficulty in discovering the application on the main user surfaces – start menu, quick launch, desktop, folder task band and notification area. The user may experience further difficulty in making that application the default for functions like Auto Play, File Associations and Open With. As a result, other applications that are better designed for the platform enjoy prominent selection even when competing applications exist.

The ISM houses all the registry settings needed for applications to attain equal visibility and manage defaults on Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. While this information is scattered throughout MSDN, the ISM centralizes this information so that developers have an easier job discovering and selecting registry settings for their applications.

You can dowload the ISM and find other Technical Committee content here on MSDN.

The Technical Committee Client Simulator

Developed by The Technical Committee (The TC) for the Independent Software Vendors, the Client Simulator is a useful tool used while creating, revising or publishing a browser, mail client or media player application for Windows Vista.

The Client Simulator is an application designed to emulate the suggested behavior of a browser, media or mail client on Windows Vista® operating systems, when registering and handling its defaults.

This tool and other Technical Committee tools and testing procedures can be found here.

There is a new release of the AppVerifier tool (see description here) available for immediate download.  Application Verifier helps developers identify potential application compatibility, stability, and security issues.

Now AppVerifier has AMD64 and IA64 support.  Go here to download the latest version of the tool

The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is a small beta application that can be run on current Windows XP based computers to find out if the system is ready for a Windows Vista Upgrade. By running the Upgrade Advisor, it will scan your computer and generate an easy-to-understand report of any known compatibility issues along with recommendations on how to get the PC ready for Windows Vista

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor Beta Application

Overview

System Requirements

Welcome to the Hands On Lab.

Windows Vista will run most applications designed for Windows XP SP2. However, there are changes that will be needed to a few applications impacted by new features in Vista. This exercise will cover all the common and significant issues that some XP SP2 applications face when running on Windows Vista.

The hands-on lab will introduce you to the essential differences between the Windows XP SP2 and the Windows Vista environments. The hands-on lab description document is divided into 10 sections covering the most impactful topics or compat issues that you might encounter.

Hands-on Lab Applications and Documents