Windows Vista has been plagued with a range of compatibility and
support issues since its commercial availability at the end of January
2007. Although users have been putting the heat on Microsoft
– because programs that functioned with little or no issues on
XP fail to deliver the same performance and functionality in Windows
Vista - it is not actually the Redmond Company's fault.
In fact, Microsoft has prepared Windows Vista just for such an
occasion. While obviously Microsoft's hands are tied when it comes to
delivering support for third party applications, compatibility is a
different matter altogether. This is one aspect that Microsoft has
nailed by preemptively providing a fix.
“Program compatibility is a mode in Windows that lets you run programs
written for earlier versions of Windows. Most programs written for
Windows XP also work in this version of Windows, but some older
programs might run poorly or not run at all. If an older program
doesn't run correctly, start the Program Compatibility Wizard to
simulate earlier versions of Windows,” revealed Microsoft.
You will simply have to right click the setup application or executable
(*.exe) and, from the context menu that will pop-up, select Properties.
Choose the Compatibility tab, check the box in the Compatibility area
next to “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and then select
the operating system that you used to run the application in.
Microsoft delivers a consistent set of options. In fact, applications
can be run in compatibility mode for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
ME, Windows NT 4.0 (SP5), Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2 and Windows
Server 2003 (SP1).
