Application Compatibility Toolkit

If you are thinking of deploying Vista and are concerned about the compatability of your curently deployed applications, Microsoft has released the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT 5.0), available as a free download. Basically the ACT will advise as to which applications are compatibile with Vista and which are not, or are going to run into problems.

This is a great tool, I've used it a few times now and it really doe do what it says in the tin! To quote the official documentation:

"The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.0 contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Microsoft® Windows Vista, a Windows Update, or a new version of Windows® Internet Explorer® in your environment."

 

You can use the ACT features to:

  • Verify an application's compatibility with a new version of the Windows operating system, or a Windows Update, including determining your risk assessment
  • Become involved in the ACT Community, including sharing your risk assessment with other ACT users.
  • Test your Web applications and Web sites for compatibility with new releases and security updates to the Windows Internet Explorer Internet browser

 

ACT 5.0 can be downloaded from:

https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=24DA89E9-B581-47B0-B45E-492DD6DA2971&displaylang=en