Compatibility has always been a big issue for Windows. Microsoft has played a balancing act between providing compatibility for a wide range of hardware and software on the one hand and making the operating system stable and efficient on the other.
It's a tough act. Many users expect to be able to run their ancient DOS or Windows programs and outdated peripherals on the latest version of Windows. For a long while, Microsoft has obliged by building backwards compatibility into the Windows 95 line of operating systems. In doing so, though, it sacrificed stability and efficiency.
With Windows NT/2000, Microsoft's business operating system, the company let backwards compatibility take a back seat in order to make the OS more stable and a better performer.
With Windows XP, Microsoft has come close to achieving a real balance between compatibility and stability. Built on the NT/2000 core, there's no doubt XP has the same solid stability of its predecessors. As for compatibility, XP is a whole lot better than Windows NT/2000, but it doesn't quite measure up to the standards set by Windows 98/Me.
For most users, compatibility problems with XP will be hiccoughs rather than disasters, but some people are going to find moving up to XP requires new hardware and, perhaps, ditching some old software.
Is my system compatible?
The best way to figure out whether Windows XP and your computer system are a match made in heaven or doomed to squabble is to check out the hardware and software compatibility lists online. Microsoft provides at least three different lists, with lots of overlap in each. You'll find the links at the end of this article.
The NT Compatible site listed in those resources is a good independent source of information on compatibility. Ignore the name – this site has information on NT, Windows 2000 and XP compatibility.
Microsoft also has an XP Upgrade Advisor. This program lets you assess whether your system can handle XP and whether there are any potential compatibility issues. It's a big download (around 30 megabytes, although the site inaccurately says it is 50MB) so you may not want to download it unless you have a fast cable of DSL connection.
Installation checkup
If you already have a copy of XP in your hot little hands and you're not sure yet whether your system is compatible, you'll find the XP Setup routine contains built-in compatibility checking. You can save yourself a lot of headaches if you:
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Read the compatibility report which is generated automatically at the beginning of the installation and take note of its findings.
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Remove any items that are likely to cause problems. If the compatibility checker finds any likely problems, uninstall or disable any incompatible software and remove any incompatible hardware (if possible) before continuing. Particular software to watch out for is CD burning software, system utilities and antivirus software. Check the manufacturers' sites for updated drivers and software and install them before trying to run XP Setup once more. And watch out for your USB hardware, as XP seems to be particularly finicky about which USB devices it will support. Once again, check the manufacturers' sites for updated drivers.
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Abide by any warnings from Windows. I deliberately ignored XP's warning that the USB Smartcard reader I installed was likely to cause problems. The result? A blue screen of death, a series of reboots, and the forced removal of the offending Smartcard reader. (In fact, it gave me a chance to use one of XP's nifty features: Device driver rollback. Worked a treat!)
Compatibility Mode
XP tries hard to provide compatibility with all sorts of programs. But if a program won't run directly on Windows XP, you may well find that it will run under Compatibility Mode.
Compatibility Mode is XP's way of 'fooling' an application into thinking it's running on Windows 95 or Windows NT or some other version of Windows. Using Compatibility Mode, you can select whether to run a program in Windows 95, 98/Me, NT 4 or 2000 mode. You can also set screen resolution and maximum colour display, and disable visual themes. The Program Compatibility Wizard lets you test each setting in turn to see if it works.
Find out whether your software and hardware are compatible with Windows XP at the following sites: The Hardware Compatibility List Windows Hardware and Software Catalog |
© 2001 Rose Vines
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