Does all old software work on Vista?
- Thread starter johnny
- Start date
There are programs that will fail to work on a newer version of Windows. From multi OSing here some older games fair better then a few newer ones while desktop applications may have to be replaced with a Vista ready edition. XP couldn't even consider running one old 16bit game known as Duke 3D while the original 8bit version could run through a virtual dos window. At this point everything on Vista as far as games and apps is simple trial and error in order to see what will and what won't.
The_Other_One
VIP Member
It's really hard to say something like "all programs from 2003 won't work" 
I recall using the beta, I had some issues with Photoshop CS. Nothing major, but some gitches XP didn't have. I'm sure other programs will just as it happened when going from one OS to another...
As PC Eye said, very old programs that still ran in 16bit won't work. I seem to recall someone mentioning some 32bit apps used 16bit installers, thus the program would work, but you couldn't install it.
I recall using the beta, I had some issues with Photoshop CS. Nothing major, but some gitches XP didn't have. I'm sure other programs will just as it happened when going from one OS to another...As PC Eye said, very old programs that still ran in 16bit won't work. I seem to recall someone mentioning some 32bit apps used 16bit installers, thus the program would work, but you couldn't install it.
I think you already know now that it was easier to see that ole 8bit dos game run through a virtual dos window in Vista then trying to get Metal of Honor: Alliead Assault a far newer XP game to even install. For the PCI 1500 MCE card the software despite a Vista driver is useless. I'm so glad,,, I'm so glad... I'm so glad I "multi OSed" here! 
Vista is the 2nd not primary here.
Vista is the 2nd not primary here.
tlarkin
VIP Member
depends on the application. when we first introduced vista beta 1 on our systems at work nothing worked at all. When we introduced beta 2 on a test system at work, it worked better but nothing was compatible. Drivers failed, applications broke, network support fell through the floor and down into a deep abyss where the naked eye could not see it.
Then we got our hands on the final release via our MSDN subscription. I have vista business on my desktop at work. I have the beta (yeah beta) software/drivers for everything I need it to work with at my job. For the most part the newer software works. Not very smoothly at times but it works. The legacy software is a whole other story. After many frustrations I made a virtual machine of windows xp (since trying to install it on a seperate partition was a HUGE pain and the vista installer took a decade, I made a VM instead) to run the legacy apps I needed for work. Now, this is a work machine, so no gaming is done on it.
My work desktop specs are:
HP 5150 dx business class desktop
2gig RAM
AMD 64 3400+
150gig SATA2 HD
Radeon x600 PCI express video card 128MB
Vista runs like crap compared to XP. So, I went back to Linux and am running that and vista on my machine now. I pretty much never boot into vista unless i want to tinker with it these days.
In my experience legacy applications for a lot of things won't work. If you are using any kind of huge distributed app, like photoshop it should probably work. Obviously MS office should work as well. I believe the MS rep told me Office 2000 and above will run on vista but nothing lower. That is to be expected I think.
I would recommend you download the vista compatibility checker from MS's website and run it or go through their knowledge base. A lot of times if an application is not compatible a patch or update will make it compatible. Now whether or not it runs stable is another question.
Then we got our hands on the final release via our MSDN subscription. I have vista business on my desktop at work. I have the beta (yeah beta) software/drivers for everything I need it to work with at my job. For the most part the newer software works. Not very smoothly at times but it works. The legacy software is a whole other story. After many frustrations I made a virtual machine of windows xp (since trying to install it on a seperate partition was a HUGE pain and the vista installer took a decade, I made a VM instead) to run the legacy apps I needed for work. Now, this is a work machine, so no gaming is done on it.
My work desktop specs are:
HP 5150 dx business class desktop
2gig RAM
AMD 64 3400+
150gig SATA2 HD
Radeon x600 PCI express video card 128MB
Vista runs like crap compared to XP. So, I went back to Linux and am running that and vista on my machine now. I pretty much never boot into vista unless i want to tinker with it these days.
In my experience legacy applications for a lot of things won't work. If you are using any kind of huge distributed app, like photoshop it should probably work. Obviously MS office should work as well. I believe the MS rep told me Office 2000 and above will run on vista but nothing lower. That is to be expected I think.
I would recommend you download the vista compatibility checker from MS's website and run it or go through their knowledge base. A lot of times if an application is not compatible a patch or update will make it compatible. Now whether or not it runs stable is another question.
When looking over the Vista compatibility list when grabbing a 1/31 full version it stated PowerDVD 6.0 and 7.0 alike were compatible? That was far from fact there! Cyberlink responded with the next version 8.0 would be backward compatible to XP. Likewise I still have XP for primary use due to not having even seen some Vista ready versions of some softwares out yet.
But this is the typical trial and error time to see what does and doesn't even install on Vista. The Cyberlink PowerProducer went right on but not the PowerDirector or PowerDVD ports of the software that came with a tuner card. The Vista driver was available what good that does? But each new version of Windows that comes out will have it's own drawbacks trying to find out what you can use on it. There's plenty of old stuff that won't run on XP. That was the 9x-ME crowd there. A few things from 2000 probably won't either.
But this is the typical trial and error time to see what does and doesn't even install on Vista. The Cyberlink PowerProducer went right on but not the PowerDirector or PowerDVD ports of the software that came with a tuner card. The Vista driver was available what good that does? But each new version of Windows that comes out will have it's own drawbacks trying to find out what you can use on it. There's plenty of old stuff that won't run on XP. That was the 9x-ME crowd there. A few things from 2000 probably won't either.
I bought a tv tuner card in December that is now useless on Vista. The main reason for installing Vista as a second not primary OS was to get familiar with the new version as well as finding out what does or doesn't. This is common when upgrading in the past where it's trial and error. Some stuff will go right on while others may install and not run or simply refuse to even install. When buying new softwares and addon devices make sure you see "Vista ready". Most will be backward compatible to XP.
2gb of ram doesn't see any performance loss with Vista here while sound drivers were the inititial concern. Currently I see about 343mb of ram used by the paging file. The amount of items you have running in the background are the main concern with either XP or Vista as far as resources. Vista does finally offer some builtin support for the average user htat lacked in XP. But like with any other swap to a vewer version of Windows plan on having to go with newer versions or simply new softwares to replace old ones.
The compatibility mode only works to a certain point. I've tried that on a long list of programs in both XP and Vista alike to still have to either update the software with a patch or replace it. The Ultra TV software used here on XP could certainly use a patch. Cyberlink's PowerDVD needs replacement as well as their PowerDirector that came with the tv tuner card recently added just before Vista arrived. A driver only? Vista's Media Center doesn't even see it with the driver in.
Yet older 2000/XP games run right away. Games are generally wider ranged then desktop applications except for Metal of Honor: Allied Assault a 2005 game that won't even install. HL2 went right on. Fear, Prey, and some others. The compatibility mode can only help once you have a program running but it runs into minor compatibility issues.
Yet older 2000/XP games run right away. Games are generally wider ranged then desktop applications except for Metal of Honor: Allied Assault a 2005 game that won't even install. HL2 went right on. Fear, Prey, and some others. The compatibility mode can only help once you have a program running but it runs into minor compatibility issues.