Channel 9 - Entries tagged with Application Compatibility

Application Compatibility: The Inside Scoop

Robert Hess — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:53:39 GMT

With every new version of Windows, there is a huge effort to make sure that applications that worked on the previous version continue to work as expected. For this episode, I've invited Chris Jackson (also known as the "App Compat Guy") to join me and share some details on not only what Microsoft is doing to ensure the highest level of compatibility from one version to the next, but also how developers, IT administrators, and even users can work through compatibility issues.

In addition to talking about how application compatibility issues affect Windows applications, we touch on similar issues that befall web applications. Hopefully, the details discussed in this show will help you make sure that your applications continue to work on future versions of Windows and IE.

Here are also some additional resources you might find useful:

Application Compatibility Cookbooks:
As Chris noted during the show, we regularly provide Application Compatibility Cookbooks to aid developers in understanding how to make sure both their existing and planned applications work properly on the next version of Windows. Here are links to the beta cookbook for Windows 8 as well as the ones we published for Windows 7 and Windows Vista:

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.6
The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.6 contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Windows 7®, Windows Vista®, a Windows Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer® in your environment.

Testing Application Compatibility for IE9 at Microsoft
This downloadable document discusses the various issues that should be considered when preparing your web applications to run on IE9.

Prepare Your Site for Web Standards
MSDN has prepared a set of documents and guidelines for helping developers get their web applications ready for IE10 and the new HTML5 standards.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Of course, one of the key steps to making sure your applications are compatible on a particular version of Windows is to actually try it. If you haven't done so, it's a good idea to download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and try your application there to see what issues it might have.

Northeast Roadshow - Windows 7 Application Compatibility

Jim O'Neil — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:46:00 GMT

In this first of a three part series on Windows 7 for Developers, Jim O'Neil discusses the guidance and tools available for smoothly migrating applications from Windows XP and Vista to Windows 7. Included in the discussion is the Windows 7 Application Quality Cookbook, Application Compatibility Toolkit, and the incredibly nifty Windows XP Mode.

You can find the slides for this session at the Northeast Roadshow Code Gallery.

Application Compatibility - Debugging

Jason Olson — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:37:30 GMT

In this video, we sit down (well, stand up actually) with Chris Jackson and Gov Maharaj to chat about debugging application compatibility issues (and some of the things Microsoft has done to mitigate typical app compat issues we've run into).

Hopefully we'll get a follow-up video with Gov to talk specifically about debugging tips and tricks.

Apologies for the whiteboarding. I didn't get the best angle on it so it can be hard to read.

Enjoy!

Application Compatibility - MSI Installer Issues

Jason Olson — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:35:49 GMT

In this video, we chat with Robert Flaming about application compatibility issues around Windows Installer for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Mark Taylor, from our first Application Compatibility video, sits in as well to fire off some important questions (well, questions that are perhaps more educated than I would ask ).

So if you work on a product that is using Windows Installer and you are planning on deploying your product to Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, make sure to tune in! This video is almost all audio (very little need for video), so feel free to download the audio file for that next car ride you have if you wish!

Some links of interest:

Enjoy!

Application Compatibility - Overview

Charles — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:05:32 GMT

In this video, our good friend Jason Olson chats with Maarten Van De Bospoort, Mark Taylor, and Pat Altimore about Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility.

We discuss a bunch of topics in this video that are very pertinent to the topic of Application Compatibility on Windows Server 2008, from Session 0 Isolation to IIS 7 to Mandatory Integrity Control, among many others (I will give any of you five geek points if you can work in "Session 0 Isolation" or "Mandatory Integrity Control" into your next dinner party conversation!). Expect to see some deep dives on the various topics mentioned in this video (and others) in the coming weeks and months.

Some links mentioned in the video and others of interest:

http://microsoft.mrmpslc.com/InnovateOnWindowsServer/

http://devreadiness.org/default.aspx

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/default.aspx

Tune in!

TechNet Radio: A first look at Microsoft's Unified Communications solutions

erickingfrog — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:08:56 GMT

Join Sukhvinder Singh Gulati, Sr. Lead Program Manager, for a first look at Microsoft's newest unified communications solutions. Sukhvinder will discuss products like Office Communications Server 2007, Office Communicator 2007, Office Live Meeting 2007, Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging, and devices like Microsoft Office RoundTable. He'll explain how Microsoft is integrating all your unified communication needs in one single portfolio of products, making it easier to manage and administer your communications.

Eric Ostrowski - Your Show Host and TechNet Radio Producer
Kevin Remde – IT Pro Evangelist
Sukhvinder Singh Gulati - Sr. Lead Program Manager

Windows Vista AppReadiness: Finding and Sharing Information about the Applications that Work and Don

Charles — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:37:24 GMT

Microsoft is in the general purpose, mass market operating system business (client and server). You've heard of the client operating systems which fall under the Windows brand. You know of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista. Many of you have written Windows applications that you expect to function correctly when new Windows versions come to market. The Windows team bends over backwards when it comes to backwards compatibility.

Of course, some applications do not just work on new versions of Windows. Why not? Developer error? Sometimes. More often than not it's that subtle and not so subtle changes in the underlying system will break functionality you took for granted (perhaps it wasn't really functionality that Microsoft provided explicitly, but rather one of those undocumented "features" that probably shouldn't have been surfaced to public callers, but, oh well...).

You've seen Windows Vista application compatibility videos on Channel 9 before. Here, I sit down with Bruce Burns, Application Compatibility Guru and Director, Stella Chernyak, Director, Windows Vista Product Management, and a familiar face on C9, Dave Wascha, Director, Windows Vista Product Management. Wow, only senior people in this conversation!

Bruce and team, in partnership with the Windows Vista product management team, have created a really useful website where you can both search for and submit information on Windows application "readiness" for Windows Vista: "Does app X work on Vista?" or "Hey, Microsoft, App Y does not work on Vista." You get the idea...

Learn about Windows Vista App Readiness, Compatibility in general, and meet some of the minds who focus much of their efforts on making sure Windows applications survive Windows evolution.

Enjoy!

Cakewalk: Making Music with Sonar

Charles — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:47:51 GMT

The guys at Cakewalk are passionate about music and providing the technology that enables audio enthusiasts & professionals to create great music. Noel Borthwick, Cakewalk CTO and Carl Jacobson, Woldwide Marketing Director, spend some time with Inside Out talking about their lessons learned as an early Vista adopter for their audio application Sonar, which also is the only application of its kind for the 64-bit platform.

They also talk candidly about the development process and experiences with managed code, certification documentation and virtualization.

The Challenges of Application Compatibility

Rory — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:40:29 GMT

Time and time again, I've encountered online arguments in which Geek A is telling Geek B that Company C does a poor job of maintaining backward compatibility.

In these cases, I'm never quite sure what it is that Geek A means. Does Geek A have any idea how difficult it is to maintain app level compatibility over the years as the underlying OS changes and evolves?

Maybe Geek A should watch this video...

Session 0 Changes and Vista Compatibility for Services running as Interactive with Desktop

Charles — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:22:50 GMT

Vineet Sarda, Compatibility Consultant, describes the basic impacts of session 0 isolation of services in Windows Vista. This demonstration shows some of the Changes that have been Made for Session 0 and how Services that are running as “Interactive with Desktop” will show UI to the Logged on User

Windows 2000 to Windows Vista: Road to Compatibility

Charles — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 19:52:12 GMT

As operating systems evolve so too must the applications that run on them, but at the same time, the new OS must support the applications that ran well on previous versions.

If you're a developer, then you know the drill: You get your app to run on OS A, then we come up with OS B and you need to do work to make your app run on OS B. Of course, the Windows team spends a great deal of time writing code to make it as easy as possible for you to transition your app from OS A to OS B without having you rewrite your app...

Sometimes your app just works (no code changes on your part), sometimes you have to tweak a tiny bit of code, sometimes you have to make a fair amount of changes to your code, and sometimes you are left scratching your head wondering how in the world you're going to get your app to run on the new platform.

Well, meet Doug Wood, Maarten Van De Bospoort, Vineet Sarda, and Pat Altimore. These are some of the folks who spend their time ensuring you don't have to pull your hair out to get your app running on our new OS offerings.

Here we talk about the most common gotchas in XP to Vista app migration, dig into the compatibility problem space in general, and address developer concerns when it comes to making their code run successfully on our latest general purpose operating system. Tune in. Learn.

Check out Vineet's C9 Screencast covering session 0 isolation of services in Windows Vista and what to look out for if you are a services developer...