Nathan Davis13 December 2006, 2:21 AM
Microsoft has finally spilled the beans on whether it will release an application compatibility list for Windows Vista. It basically doesn't exist and probably never will.
Unsure if some of your new or old apps will work under Windows Vista?
Don't look to Microsoft for help -- it has revealed that it won't publish a Vista application compatibility list.
We can only assume the list -- and even talk of it -- made the software giant go red in the cheek.
APC has previously asked Microsoft about such a list but we just got a waffly answer about Microsoft's commitment to compatibility, and no answer to the actual question about whether there'd be a publicly available resource.
Microsoft's Brad Goldberg has now told veteran Microsoft-watcher Mary Jo Foley that Vista won't receive the same level of customer service as XP in this area.
"... we are trying to do things differently than we did with XP SP2," he says, adding that the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) for Vista will launch earlier than the first one for Windows XP, which was for Service Pack 2.
The ACT is a toolkit of utilities that test software and can basically make the applications work based on known issues such as lowering graphics settings.
Of course, Microsoft will no doubt continue to test and approve software for Vista compatibility, both 32-bit and 64-bit, but it just won't tell the public in one location exactly which applications do or don't work under the new OS.
Never fear, though. If you want a list to check through, the community comes to the rescue, but be aware that this is not an official source. The regular dosage of two grains of salt applies to this page of truthiness.
This is in light of us discovering that Microsoft's newly launched game development kit for the Xbox 360, according to its FAQ, does not work on Vista. XNA Game Studio, as it is called, is a system where you basically pay Microsoft a subscription for the privilege to both create for and play your own games on the console.
XNA currently only installs on Windows XP SP2 or later. Microsoft expects to have full Vista support by the end of the first half of 2007.
This certainly isn't the first Microsoft product that doesn't support Vista, another being the recently unleashed Zune personal media player.
If Microsoft is having difficulties with its own gear not working under Vista, it doesn't surprise us many others are, too.
An official list would be, let's say adequate.