Windows 7 / Getting Started

Choosing the Best Tool

You can use five primary tools to mitigate application-compatibility issues: Program Compatibility Assistant, Program Compatibility Wizard, ACT, Windows XP Mode, and application virtualization. The following sections describe each tool and when it is appropriate to use each tool versus using other tools or technologies.

The first two tools provide approaches for users and one-off support issues but are not for use in a large-scale deployment. The remainder of this tutorial focuses on using the ACT to inventory, analyze, and mitigate compatibility issues, because this is the tool that organizations primarily use in large-scale deployment.

Note The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP ) Toolkit 4.0 is a free tool from Microsoft that you can use to plan your Windows 7 migration project. It can help you assess your environment's readiness for Windows 7. For more information about MAP , see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Testing Application Compatibility
  2. Understanding Compatibility
  3. Why Applications Fail
  4. Choosing the Best Tool
  5. Program Compatibility Assistant
  6. Windows XP Mode
  7. Application Virtualization
  8. Understanding the ACT
  9. Support Topologies
  10. Compatibility Evaluators
  11. Planning for the ACT
  12. Choosing a Deployment Method
  13. Preparing for the ACT
  14. Sharing the Log Processing Folder
  15. Installing the ACT 5.5
  16. Collecting Compatibility Data
  17. Analyzing Compatibility Data
  18. Prioritizing Compatibility Data
  19. Assessing Application Compatibility
  20. Managing Compatibility Issues
  21. Filtering Compatibility Data
  22. Rationalizing an Application Inventory
  23. Testing and Mitigating Issues
  24. Modeling the Production Environment
  25. Using the Compatibility Administrator
  26. Deploying Application Mitigation Packages