Microsoft’s solution to Vista’s compatibility woes included the Virtual PC 2007 utility which allowed Windows customers to run a virtualized copy of Windows XP or 2000 and still run their legacy applications in a suitable environment while transitioning to the latest version of Windows. Windows Vista’s kernel version change also affected how certain applications tried to install on the system, since applications were hard coded to check for a specific version of Windows. It is a beneficial change that has greatly helped the security initiative in Windows.

Meaning, some applications were designed to write to parts of the system that were considered vulnerable to attack and malicious activity. This ultimately affected how older applications would function, because many older applications were written with the intention of running under Administrative privileges. Windows Vista’s compatibility story was a tough one, simply because of the fundamental changes that were made to enhance the system’s security foundations. Compatibility Mode worked in some cases and others it did not. With the release of Windows XP, Microsoft introduced Compatibility Mode, which let older applications run on the OS emulating supported versions of Windows with the ability to save settings so that your applications will start in the correct mode every time. Microsoft takes it very seriously and considers it a hallmark of the Windows platform, making it easy for users to transition to a new release with little or no hiccups.

Compatibility is always a sensitive issue when it comes to a new version of Windows.

Laptop with xp os