"darkride_comando" <darkridecomando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:B1B63341-6F1A-406A-9F52-FCE1F5FC9D19@microsoft.com...
> does vista have a fix that will allow devices that are working on xp and
> older systems to be compatable?
Not devices, no.
> I just bought a new laptop with Vista installed, I also bouht a new
> webcam.
> The cam works with XP on my old machine, but gets no video on the Vista
> machine.
If you purchased the camera at the same time as you purchased the laptop I'm
a little confused as to why you didn't make sure you were buying a camera
that would work with your new system. You probably won't want to hear this
but frankly some of the blame there rests with you.
> I thought that Vista would at least support Legacy drivers and devices.
> Why
> does Vista not run certain applications due to "compatability issues" and
> also not support older devices?
Well you see with the applications thing, some apps behave "nicely", that is
they only do the things that you're supposed to do when it comes to working
with the OS and other apps. These apps tend to work on a newer OS without
too much trouble. Less well behaved apps tend to have more trouble.
I've just played an old game through again, Deus Ex, which first came out 7
years ago in 2000 and it runs on Vista just fine, so it isn't like Vista
just doesn't deal with old software at all.
As for device drivers not working, it's worth reminding you at this point
that Vista is a *new* operating system. It works in a different way to XP as
you've surely noticed if you've been using it. Old device drivers don't work
on Vista for much the same reason that the modern Italian language is
different to Latin; things evolve and move on.
> Quite frankly, if I had XP setup disks, I would dump Vista like a hot
> rock!
Go for it. Disks are available for sale out there.
> I basically have a boat anchor that won't run my older business apps.
Again, if you're running a business and you leaped into Vista without
checking the apps you need will work then some of the responsibility sadly
lies with you. Surely a business owner understands the principles behind
managing and minimising unnecessary risks to their business?
I'm sure you've actually made use of the built in help function by now and
found that there is quite a lot written about application compatability
which may prove useful. Have you worked through all the suggestions there?
> Must I wait for Microsoft to fix their bugs?
Yes. Microsoft have problems of their own they need to fix. Vista is not a
bed of roses at the moment, that is for sure. It's worth remembering that XP
provoked pretty much the same reaction in people like yourself when it was
first released (though I personally think Vista is struggling more than XP
did) and yet XP turned out OK in the end. I have my doubts about Vista but
it's too early to write it off just yet.
> or is microsoft putting the
> responsibility off onto the suppliers to work out microsofts errors?
Well it _is_ the responsibility of hardware manufacturers to provide drivers
and support for their own products. This isn't Microsoft passing the buck
onto anyone and I'm not sure why you would think that it is.
--
Robert Moir
http://www.rhymeswithgeek.com
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