Compatibility Evaluators

In addition to collecting application and hardware inventory, the ACT includes compatibility evaluators. Compatibility evaluators are run-time detection tools specifically designed to log behaviors as they occur on the user's computer and locate potential compatibility issues. You should use the compatibility evaluators prior to deploying Windows 7, as they cannot identify problems with an application if the application cannot run. The ACT includes the following compatibility evaluators:

• Inventory Collector Examines each of your organization's computers, identifying the installed applications and system information.
• User Account Control Compatibility Evaluator Identifies potential compatibility issues because of an application running under a protected administrator (PA) or standard user account on the Windows 7 operating system. When running, the User Account Control Compatibility Evaluator (UACCE) monitors your running applications to verify interactions with the operating system and identify potentially incompatible activities.
• Update Compatibility Evaluator (UCE) Identifies the potential impact of a new Windows update. Using the collected update impact data, you can prioritize your testing and reduce the uncertainty in deploying updates.
• Windows Compatibility Evaluator Identifies potential compatibility issues resulting from deprecated features in the new operating system, Graphical Identification and Authentication (GINA) dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), and the isolation required by Session 0 applications. Do not run the Windows Compatibility Evaluator (WCE) on Windows 7. If you've already upgraded to Windows 7, you already know about any problems that the WCE has reported.

Note Microsoft removed the Internet Explorer Compatibility Evaluator (IECE) from ACT 5.5. You can detect compatibility issues with Internet Explorer 8 by using the Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT). Microsoft removed the IECE because using the IECTT provides a better experience when testing for Internet Explorer compatibility.

A DCP can include one or more compatibility evaluators, depending on what you are trying to evaluate. The ACM groups the evaluators based on tasks as described in the following sections.