ACT 5.5 Releases April 3rd

An email managed to squeeze its way into my inbox over night announcing that the Application Compatibility Toolkit version 5.5 would be available for download on April 3rd (Redmond Time). This is the version that fully supports Windows 7 RC and Windows Vista SP2.

Here is a preview of some of the features for this release:

· Support for Windows 7 RC and Windows Vista SP2

· Integration of data from the Windows Compatibility Center

· Improved data review and auditing for the information that is sent to Microsoft

· Updated documentation for the Windows compatibility fixes

· Ability to customize your Quick Reports view

· Ability to "label" your individual data collection packages

· Ability to participate in the Customer Experience Program

It is worth pointing out that the Internet Explorer Compatibility Evaluator (IECE) agent has been removed from ACT 5.5. You can continue to detect compatibility issues with Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta, by using the Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT), which is installed with the ACT, and can be found in the Developer and Tester Tools folder.

If you want to take part in discussions on ACT there is a great public news group here https://microsoft.public.deployment.app_compatibility

This post was contributed by Richard Trusson a senior consultant with Microsoft Services UK.