Windows Vista compatibility problems – Part 1 – When the software compatibility gremlins strike

Windows Vista compatibility problems have plagued the beleaguered operating system since its launch in 2007. Of course, when moving to a new version of a program or an operating system, compatibility problems are nothing new. In the world of computing, nothing stays the same for long. Our insatiable appetite for faster, smarter and higher capacity computer systems drives the technology industries to keep innovating and reinventing our favourite gadgets and consumer electronics devices. Nowhere is this more true than on the most complex piece of consumer electronics, the home computer. As processors get faster and RAM and hard drive sizes increase, operating systems expand their features to take advantage of this increased capacity. New versions of Windows are often met with disdain from users who are disappointed that their older software no longer works. In this article, we’ll explore what options you have for running that stubborn piece of legacy software on your new PC.

Why can’t Microsoft maintain compatibility with older software?

If you’re upset that your favourite game or application is not running on Windows Vista or Windows 7, you might scoff when we say that Microsoft actually do consider backward compatibility to be important. It’s amazing to think that Windows has actually been around since late 1985. Take a peek at a screenshot of the first version of Windows, Windows 1.01 on the left. As you can probably tell, computers have come a long way since a desktop looked like that. If Microsoft had engineered Windows Vista or Windows 7 to run all the software that Windows 1.01 users could run, it would have seriously hampered the new operating system and would simply not be practical or sensible.

The world is a different place now compared with 1985. With nearly 25 years of changing technology and dozens of different revisions of the operating system, it is surprising that so much older software still works on modern versions of Microsoft Windows.

Later on in the article, we’ll show you how you can, after a fashion at least, run Windows 1.01 programs on the very latest version of Windows, Windows Vista 64-bit (or even Windows 7 64-bit!). We’re not sure that many people will want to do this, but it’s interesting to observe nontheless.

So, hopefully we’ve now convinced you that sometimes backwards compatibility needs to be sacrificed in the name of progress. That’s as maybe, but what if you have an application or favourite game you simply must run on your super duper modern PC? Well, even if the application won’t initially play ball, there are still a few tricks you can try. We’ll take a look at your options now and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.